In luxury real estate, wall art serves the purpose of both decoration and investment vehicle. As wealthy buyers treat art as both a lifestyle purchase and an asset class, some brokers and agents are paying more attention to how fine art can shape the home experience, from staging and storytelling to long-term relationships with clients.
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Global art sales at major auction houses Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips rose 11.1% to $4.55 billion in 2025, while New York auction sales rose 23% to $3.2 billion, according to Merrill’s Spring Art Market Report. The report also noted that more than $1 million in arts spending has shifted beyond the Northeast to the West, Southeast and Texas.
This overlap is the focus of The Agency Art House, an art advisory and production arm affiliated with Mauricio Umansky’s luxury goods brokerage, The Agency. Led by Arshi Kapoor, the division works with buyers and collectors to create luxury homes with original artwork sourced from galleries and artists.
Ahead of his appearance on Luxury Connect, Mr. Kapur spoke to Mr. Inman about art as an asset class, the limits of traditional staging, and why art can be another way for agents to reach high-net-worth clients.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Inman: For readers who may not be familiar with it, how would you describe The Agency Art House and how it fits into luxury real estate?
Mr. Kapur: Agency Art House is primarily an art advisory service. There is also an art staging department. We build a collection of asset classes for clients interested in purchasing artwork at all price points, including luxury real estate buyers. A natural synergy is created. Many luxury home buyers also invest in art, which is an unregulated and opaque market with high barriers to entry and limited access.
The advisory side helps clients build collections in a transparent, education-based manner. The staging side works with galleries and artists to display original artwork in luxury properties. Many traditional staging uses generic artwork that doesn’t really support the value of a luxury property. We strive to create a more memorable walk-through experience.
Most real estate buyers are not art collectors. Some people do, but many people don’t know where to go or how to step into a gallery. The director brings that world into the home. Almost every home we staged had art for sale. Either the buyer, or the buyer and the seller, purchased the artwork along with the house itself.
How does the advisory process actually work?
Mr. Kapur: Agents don’t have to be affiliated with The Agency. When agents who are selling a home contact us, we typically tell them to introduce the client in a warm and casual manner. Next, set up a discovery call. It’s not a high-stakes situation or pressure, and you’re not showing them your work on that phone call. The goal is to understand their needs, wants, long-term goals, short-term goals, financial goals, and aesthetic goals.
Once you understand that, set up with an art advisor based on your needs, price range, and other criteria. I personally work with all art advisors and know what they send to their clients, so I’m very hands-on. From there, a long-term relationship develops about what goes where, what price range makes sense, and what pieces to include in the collection.
We are full service. We arrange the installation, logistics and insurance of more advanced works of art, and arrange connections with bankers and appraisers if necessary. We treat artwork like an asset class, just like real estate. Mauricio always says that art is like real estate on the walls.
Where are your customers based? Is this primarily a Los Angeles, New York, or Miami business?
Mr. Kapur: We work with people at all price points and levels. We have customers in Atherton, Indian Creek Island, Los Angeles, Aspen, Texas, Alaska, New York, Miami, and Washington DC. Our customers are located all over the country. We also have clients in Portland.[, Oregon]. We also have customers in Delaware. We have clients everywhere.
The question is, where are the works of art sourced from? For me personally, being in a private home gives me access to an exclusive art collection that no one has ever seen before. What we do is buy back works from older generations and pass them on to the next generation.
Art had high barriers to entry. Many people who have made money in finance, hedge funds, and technology have no knowledge of how to raise money. That knowledge has often been passed down through ultra-wealthy families. We’re opening it up and giving the next generation the same education and access that made money for the past 30 years.
Why work with an art advisor instead of going directly to an auction house?
Kapur: Art advisors also work with auction houses, so they can negotiate better terms or assess suitable routes. The entertainment world is small. We have a very small group of vetted and strong art advisors who all work together.
You should evaluate the fee structure for any artwork you sell or purchase through an auction house. Auction houses typically take a 20 percent to 30 percent commission, plus other fees.
At The Agency Art House, our commission structure is very transparent. We take a 10 percent commission and our clients know where we buy and sell art from. In some cases, the gallery will pay a commission within the price range. In some cases, the gallery pays a portion and the client pays the rest. However, the structure is transparent.
We work like watchdogs for our clients. We don’t work for a gallery. Everyone in the art industry has some level of interest in selling your work. What an art advisor should do is say “no” when something is not right and “yes” when something is right.
Moreover, it is not just a transactional transaction. We can help you create a plan for how to preserve, store, display, and ultimately sell your artwork. People change, and so do collections. If a customer bought something five years ago and doesn’t like it that much anymore, they might want to sell it for a profit and reinvest it into something that suits them now, just like real estate or any other asset class.
Agents often say they are helping their clients buy or sell the most expensive assets they own. In your world, that’s not necessarily the case. Will you develop the same kind of high-touch, almost therapist-like relationship that agents have with their clients?
Kapur: That’s right. But there is a difference.
When an agent sells real estate to a client, that client is not buying real estate every day or every month. Even the wealthiest individuals don’t close on properties every other day. With an art advisor, one house has multiple walls. Additionally, clients have children, parents, and other people involved in their lives. Our relationship becomes very close. We know a lot about our clients from a taste perspective.
That could be helpful to agents. One client was referred by a Seattle agent and went on to purchase a multi-million dollar piece of art. Since we were close to our client, we knew when she became interested in purchasing in Santa Monica to be closer to her children. I called the agent who introduced us and was able to find someone to work with the client in California.
We have more touchpoints and more information about taste preferences, demands and customer changes. If you’re an agent, you’re working with the same clients, so everything works together.
What do you want agents to understand about the staging side of your business?
Kapur: One of the big things is that all the artwork is for sale. When you sell art from your home, you also take care of the agent who brought you the deal. They receive a small commission from our commission rate.
This is a great way to decorate your home with a great piece of art while also bringing in a little extra income for your agent. Often, especially in larger markets, people buy a home with everything in place and make an offer on all the artwork.
For me, that’s one of the big things I want to talk about on Luxury Connect. This means extending staging and the staging model to different states.
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