Like book publishing, art dealing was long considered a gentlemanly profession, a kind of closed circle, open to a sophisticated elite. Today, selling art—whether through dealers or auction houses—has become an international industry and navigating it takes know-how. For collectors, having an art advisor is as key as retaining a trusted attorney and a top-notch accountant. The best advisors combine an aesthetic fluency and a solid business sense with an appreciation of both the art of art and its status as an asset class.

Wilmette’s Laura Lester has spent her career appreciating art and its fiscal appreciation. An undergraduate degree in Art History from Indiana University Bloomington and a Master’s degree in Modern Art, Connoisseurship, and the History of the Art Market from Christie’s Education, plus stints as director at two of the country’s leading galleries—Kasmin Gallery in New York and Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago and New York—more than prepared her to establish Lester Fine Art LLC, a full-service art advisory specializing in modern, post-war, and contemporary art.

Lester began her career at New York’s Gagosian Gallery, a behemoth in the modern and contemporary market, with multiple exhibition spaces in New York, Paris, and London, as well as outlets in Beverly Hills, Basel, Rome, Athens, Geneva, and Hong Kong. “I had a wonderful experience there for nearly four years,” says Lester. “I learned so much about how dealers, collectors, advisors, and artists work together.”

She continued to hone her skills as a specialist at Christie’s New York. “I gravitated to an auction house for my next role because I wanted and needed more exposure to artworks as objects,” she explains. “As a cataloguer in the Post-War & Contemporary Art Department at Christie’s, I learned how to rigorously assess an artwork to evaluate condition, how to comb the back of paintings for labels, conduct thorough research, construct a provenance, and determine authenticity. Together, my first two jobs constituted an incredible foundation for a career as an advisor.”

In her next role as director at Kasmin Gallery, Lester worked closely with art advisors and began to see herself in such a role. “I loved that they had these special relationships with their collectors, guiding them to follow their passions, and building something that brings them daily happiness and intellectual fulfillment,” she recalls.

Like any art advisory worth its salt, Lester Fine Art provides expertise in vetting artworks, negotiating terms, and managing post-sale logistics, such as framing, delivery, and installation. The business is built on the relationships Lester has formed with collectors, curators, artists, galleries, and institutions and the belief that, while an eye on investment potential undergirds many a transaction, a fervor for art is fundamental. “Most of the collectors I am working with are buying for love and passion. While I ensure that the prices my collectors pay are fair and in line with the artist’s current market, purchasing art with the expectation that it will appreciate is always very speculative. It can be more secure when you are investing in long-established artists with prices well into seven figures, but the collectors I work with are generally not buying at that level.”

Ever since Van Gogh’s Irises sold for over $50 million in the 1980s, art and the prices fetched have become fascinating to the general public. Last year, an Andy Warhol portrait of Marilyn Monroe set a record for American art when it sold for $195 million. And while such sales gather massive media attention, much of the market operates at a much less heated level. Most of Lester’s clients, for example, are spending $10,000 to $300,000 and they are not buying to flip. Her clients, most of whom are in the Midwest, range from novices to veteran collectors. “Working locally allows me to provide a very high level of service,” says Lester. “I spend time with my clients in their homes and offices regularly, measuring walls, taking photographs for renderings, and getting to know their taste. I supervise deliveries and installations and hold their hands as much as they need. I am always available to hop on a plane at a moment’s notice to see a painting.”

Lester takes special pleasure in advising individuals new to collecting. “I absolutely love the opportunity to start from scratch with someone, to provide them exposure through visits to galleries, art fairs, and artists’ studios, or a weekend prospecting trip to New York or L.A. A visit to EXPO CHICAGO, the yearly highlight of Chicago’s art world, is a must.” But whether the client is a newbie or an old pro, Lester’s service remains the same. “My job is to expose individuals to a wide range of carefully vetted artists based on their preferences, budget, and collecting goals. I want each collection to be an authentic representation of the collector’s taste, and I want art to bring them joy.”

For more information, visit lesterfineart.com.

LESTER’S FAVORITE ARTISTS OF THE MOMENT