Meet Arushi Kapoor, the 28-year-old powerhouse art advisor who is making art accessible to the younger generation of collectors.
Did you know that Arushi bought her first piece at just 10 years old? There is more. She owned her own gallery in Los Angeles in her early 20s and published her book Talking Art at just 16. The brand-new mom with a daughter who is just a few weeks old has launched ‘The Agency Art House,’ a groundbreaking new collaboration with Mauricio Umansky’s The Agency, one of the world’s leading luxury real estate brokerages.
For someone who grew up between New Delhi and Los Angeles, she admits that art has always been a part of her life. “My parents are collectors, so some of my earliest memories involve visiting galleries, museums, and artist studios. I became an art collector myself at a young age. I studied at the Marshall School of Business, USC, where I deepened my understanding of both the creative and business sides of the art world. Being immersed in many very different cultures and geographical locations, shaped my perspective on how art can be both a deeply personal expression and a global dialogue,” she says.
While art was a constant source of excitement for her since childhood, it was in her late teens that she truly grasped its transformative power. “I was always asking questions on why South Asian art wasn’t given the same prestige globally and interviewed top Indian contemporary masters to write Talking Art by Arushi Kapoor in my late teens. Discovering how contemporary art could challenge perceptions and spark dialogue made me realize this was more than just a passion, it was a calling.” During her time at university, she collaborated closely with artists, curators, and galleries, and wore many hats as a gallerist, art advisor, dealer, collector, and guide for individuals in the art world. “While I was at USC, it became clear that my path lay in bridging the worlds of creation and collection, particularly for a new, younger generation of collectors,” she adds.
She started The Agency Art House in 2024 with Mauricio Umansky, after having spent over a decade building my career in the art world across galleries, advisory, and private collections. “Throughout those years, I realized how intimidating and opaque the art market could feel for new and even seasoned collectors. I wanted to create a space where building an art collection could be a transparent, approachable, and empowering process,” she says. The idea was to make the experience of looking at top art and thinking about it as an investment more accessible without compromising on quality or connoisseurship.
Traditional galleries often operate within a closed network, and she wanted The Agency Art House to be different: open, client-centered, educational, and highly personal. “We blend the expertise and relationships I have developed over the years with a fresh, lifestyle-driven approach to collecting. Whether someone is acquiring their very first piece or adding to a significant collection, we meet them where they are, offering not just art but a deeper engagement with culture, investment, and self-expression,” she says.
At The Agency Art House, she and her team are reimagining what it means to be an art collector today. It’s no longer about just having millions at your disposal, it’s about taste, vision, and aligning your financial and personal values with the pieces you choose to live with. “We make hard-to-get contemporary art feel accessible and relevant through curated pop-up exhibitions in luxury properties, bespoke experiences at leading galleries and international fairs, and tailored, carefully assembled collections presented directly to clients in personalized PDFs. Education is central to our philosophy: through intimate panels, studio visits, collection tours, and online conversations, we empower new collectors to engage confidently with the art world, understand the significance behind what they’re acquiring, and ultimately build collections that are both meaningful and enduring,” explains Kapoor.
She believes that art is like real estate for your walls. It not only transforms a space, infusing it with soul, identity, and narrative, but also emotional resonance; art holds significant financial potential. “Like property, thoughtfully acquired artworks can appreciate meaningfully over time. Investing in art is an investment in culture, history, and the future, a tangible, living asset that carries both personal and generational value. New age collectors, looking at historic appreciation in values of art, increasingly recognize that art is not just about aesthetics; it’s a sophisticated and dynamic asset class in its own right,” says Kapoor.
Speaking of new trends, she avers that South Asian contemporary art has been performing exceptionally well, not just at auctions, where it has consistently attracted double-digit growth, but also within a flourishing private market. “Artists like M.F. Husain, S.H. Raza, Paresh Maity, and Subodh Gupta, among others, are commanding significant attention from collectors worldwide, solidifying the region’s position as a dynamic force in the global art landscape. There is always space for new voices, new visions, new ideas, and new collectors. If you want to collect, reach out to a good advisor to guide you,” she signs off.
