art advisory & acquistion
My passion is to guide you in finding art you will love.
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The process of collecting great art begins with an on-site consultation (in person or on facetime). This interview helps me learn about your unique vision, personal tastes, cultural interests, and your budget. This is followed up with a customized portfolio of artists that include artist bios, work samples and descriptions of their process and meanings behind their work.
Once artwork is selected, all the details are handled. This includes: negotiations, arranging shipping and insurance, interior placement, and installation.
My personal motivation is that you fall in love with art as much as I have and truly experience the joy of “living with art”.
services & logistics
On-Site Consultation
Collection Development
• custom presentations of available art
• access to an extensive global
network of galleries & artists
• gallery tours
• artist in-person studio visits
• virtual studio/gallery visits
• private home collection visits
• international art fair tours
• private city tours
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Education & Research
• secondary market consultation
• art investment and appreciation
evalution and consultation​
Negotiation & Acquisition
• negotiating all sales
• appraisals for insurance
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Transport & Installation
• packing and storage of artwork
• art restoration
• custom framing
• worldwide shipping
• delivery and crate removal
• pedestal building
• art installation
• moving and re-installing artwork
• styling of home
• photo documentation of artwork
• interior photoshoot
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faqs
click on questions to reveal answer
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What is the difference between an Art Advisor and an Art Dealer?Art dealers have retail spaces and represent specific artists. Art advisors do not have a retail space and have unlimited access to artists directly or through dealers.
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What are the fees? How much does it cost to hire Toma?A discount is negotiated with the gallery dealer, which is passed directly onto my client. My fee is based on a percentage of the retail price of the artwork.
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Will my art increase in value over time?When we are looking for investment opportunities, you will be guided to the artists who have the best chance to appreciate. By this, I mean artists who have an established market with more than one dealer nationally and/or internationally. The up-and-coming artists who are collected by museums, institutions and are collected by serious and noteworthy private collectors. These young, established artists in my opinion are less risky to collect and over my years of advising and collecting, many have doubled or tripled in value making this an important investment. The increase in value does take time and there is no guarantee as markets can change. Another consideration with investing in art are the capital gains. Often artworks can be donated/gifted to a museum or institution to offset these gains. The bottom line, with me, is that you will LOVE the piece of art you acquired and will want to enjoy it for many years to come.
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What is involved in an Art Installation?1) Transporting the artwork to the place it will reside. 2) Carefully unpacking and inspecting the art by a skilled art handler/preparator. 3) We discuss placement if that has not already been decided. Often, I provide photo shopped images of the artwork on the wall, superimposed in the space, so the client can visualize what it looks like ahead of installation. 4) The artwork is carefully installed, taking into consideration the type of wall and structure where it will hang. 5) I also work to balance the collection throughout your home working to fill the main walls first.
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Tell me about your Curated Art Trips in other cities?I have created small, art-focused, trips for collectors. They include studio visits with sought-after artists, top gallery visits with the owner/director, private home collections tours as well as curator-led museum exhibition walk-throughs. Fine dining and transportation are often included. It’s a lot of fun.
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I’m a new collector with a smaller budget, can you help?Yes. We would start by looking at emerging talent and local galleries. We can also consider limited-edition prints and multiples, as well as works-on-paper by well-known artists. We can plan your collecting strategy according to your goals. My job will be to broaden your choices of art in a way that is effective and enjoyable.
Toma’s extensive knowledge of contemporary art, professionalism, relationships with galleries, and sunny personality make her an exceptional collaborator for art museum professionals.
- JoAnne Northrup
Executive Director and Chief Curator
Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art