Appraisals of Original Art Objects

 

While TFAO does not appraise art objects, there are many resources for these services. Before considering an appraisal we strongly suggest that you first read Authentication and Evaluation of Paintings. While slanted towards paintings, its principles are applicable to other kinds of artworks. Depending on the type of appraisal that you need, there are various solutions. Tax appraisals, insurance appraisals and sales appraisals may have dissimilar purposes and requirements -- and yield different results. Before obtaining an appraisal decide on the use for it and plan accordingly. Here is a referral list for your consideration, plus other useful information:

 

Options:

1. Hire a fee appraiser. To find names, TFAO suggests that you first contact a local art or history museum to find information on individuals or companies near you who perform appraisals. Below is a partial list of professional appraisal societies and other resources.

American Society of Appraisers, P. O. Box 17265, Washington, DC 20041, 1-800-272-8258; 1-703-733-2108.
All disciplines, referrals given; regarding Fine Arts specialists who are designated as Accredited Members or Accredited Senior Appraisers -- ASA has 113 such specialists. Appraisers who have a designation in Fine Arts not only have to meet all the education and experience requirements for achieving a personal property designation, but they undergo specific testing in Fine Arts appraisal and their experience must be in that specialty. To qualify for the Accredited Member designation (AM), an individual must have at least two years of full-time appraisal experience and a college degree or its equivalent. To qualify for the Accredited Senior Appraiser designation (ASA), an individual must have a minimum of 5 years of full-time appraisal experience and a college degree or its equivalent. ASA is an international, not-for-profit, independent, multi discipline appraisal organization that was established in 1936 and incorporated in 1952. The society's purpose is to establish an effective profession-wide affiliation working cooperatively to elevate the standards of the appraisal profession. There are more than 6,000 ASA members in 88 chapters and branches located throughout the United States and abroad. To read an article furnished by the ASA which discusses tips on finding and evaluating appraisers, please click here.
 
Appraisers Association of America, 386 Park Ave South, Suite 2000, New York, NY 10016, Ms. Helaine Fendelman, President, 1-212-889-5404.
Focus on personal property appraising, including fine art What Is An Appraisal? and How to Find an Appraiser.
 
ArtBusiness.com A Web-based art appraisal & research service
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The International Society of Appraisers A nationwide network of professional appraisers headquartered at Riverview Plaza Office Park, 16040 Christensen Road, Suite 102 Seattle, WA 98188-2965. Phone 1-206-241-0359
 
Many art dealers are experts on value and provide fee appraisals. Some dealers are members of professional associations such as the Art Dealers Association of America, Private Art Dealers Association, Fine Art Dealers Association, and the National Antique & Art Dealers Association. In its web site, the Fine Art Dealers Association says " Because evaluating an artwork demands thorough knowledge of the artist's work, as well as the current market for both public and private sales, it is imperative that a dealer has current working knowledge derived from hands on experience. The ability of a dealer to discern the subtle nuances that can differentiate a "6" from a "10" comes from years of experience and study. " The Art Dealers Association of America argues the advantage of retaining art dealers for appraisals: "An art dealer's livelihood depends upon that dealer's ability to make aesthetic and economic judgments about works of art. For this reason, dealers are best qualified to make valuations of works of art within their areas of specialization."

 

2. Take advantage of "appraisal days" at museums.

"Appraisal days" are held annually by an increasing number of art museums. For a nominal fee, usually in the area of $10, members of the public may obtain verbal opinions on the value of objects of art from experts. Call your local museum to learn where and when such an event will take place. Or, your city may be on the tour of the popular Antiques Roadshow sponsored by PBS.
 

3. Obtain a free appraisal.

Auction companies (see list of Auction Houses) will often provide an auction estimate (appraisal) without charge based on a photo and description sent to them. Estimates provided this way can be a fairly rough gauge of auction value. Auction houses sometimes tend to evaluate objects at the lower end of the value range so as to encourage a sale. Lesser experienced evaluators at auction houses are often unaware of the true value of works by important artists whose works have infrequently been sold at auction. Prices estimated and paid at auctions are often considerably less than retail prices charged at galleries -- many art galleries purchase a large portion of their inventory at auctions. Markups of two to two and one-half times from auction price to retail price are common. Christie's and Sotheby's have information on how to buy at auction on their web sites. When contacting an auction house bear in mind that it is often best to choose an auction house that is located close to where the art was created, not close to where the seller is located.
 
Get an offer from an art dealer. Dealers often sell art in inventory for two times or more than what they pay for it. As a rule of thumb expect that you will receive from a dealer about one half of what the dealer will later sell the same art work for in the gallery.
 
Art museums do not appraise art works. An exception is "appraisal days"noted above.
 

4. Perform your own appraisal.

Unless you are an expert is very difficult to estimate the value of an original work of art although you may be able to determine if the work has any likely value.
 
For a preliminary indication of value search for the artist on the Web. Artcyclopedia provides links to images of art work held in museum collections. The fact that a museum has an image by an artist on the Web is a positive sign that the artist's work may be of significant value. If you have a first name and are not sure how the last name is spelled, search for the last name using several guesses of the last name until you find a match with the first name. Then look at several pictures of the artist's work to see if the style of art matches. If the painting is not signed, you will need to do more footwork to find out who painted the work. Look up the artist in Distinguished Artists. If an artist is included in the list that is another indicator that the artists's work may be of material value
 
There are online and paper-printed sources of auction results. A popular online service is AskArt. They charge a fee to view the auction prices for tens of thousands of American artists and provide other interesting information on artists without charge. There are also other online services that perform this service. Judging value based on auction results is not as easy at it may seem. Many elements go into arriving at a value. Over 30 of them are listed below.
 
Works by talented living artists may not have yet gone through auction or be in museum collections. There are tens of thousands of capable artists which will not be identified through the three sources listed above. In those cases use of Web search engines may produce names of dealers who sell the artist's works. The dealers can then be asked the prices of works in inventory. The Web search may uncover a book or lecture mentioning the artist; contact with the author can lead to identification of an expert who may then comment on value.
 
If all of these steps fail to identify an artist there is a low probability that a work by that artist is of significant value.

 

Appraisal factors: What factors do buyers and sellers consider and what questions are asked when arriving at the value of a one-of-a-kind painting or sculpture?

The following elements of value are not listed in order of importance and are not all-inclusive.

About the artist

About the object

 

Dunbier on Fine Art Valuation

In the column Fine Art Valuation by Roger Dunbier, sometimes irreverent, provocative and always informative Dr. Roger Dunbier speaks out on issues regarding the valuation of fine art:

Note to sellers: For resales of art objects, there may be an obligation to pay to the artist a percentage of the sale amount. If the appraisal is being made in contemplation of a sale, sellers should consult with advisors familiar with state and federal laws. For an article on this subject please see the Wall Street Journal's March 5, 2009 article titled "The Case of the $80 Royalty Check: a Mystery for Patty Milich, Art Sleuth" by Sarah McBride.

 

The above names and addresses are provided only as referrals for your further consideration. Please use due diligence in employing these or other consultants or vendors. Traditional Fine Art Organization, Inc. takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information herein. Information from the named firms may be inaccurate or out of date. Traditional Fine Art Organization, Inc neither recommends or endorses the above referenced organizations. Although Traditional Fine Art Organization, Inc. includes links to other Internet sites, it takes no responsibility for the content or information contained on those other sites, nor exerts any editorial or other control over those other sites. For more information on evaluating web pages see Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc.'s General Resources section in Online Resources for Collectors and Students of Art History.

TFAO's catalogues provide many more useful resources:

Search Resource Library for thousands of articles and essays on American art.

Copyright 2008 Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation. All rights reserved.