Managing and Building Your Fine Art Collection: The Art Appraisal Process

WHAT IS AN APPRAISER?

An appraiser provides an opinion of value in the form of a professional appraisal report. You will need an appraisal if Fire, Burglary, Divorce, Estate Liquidation, Resale, or Charitable Donation describes your art service needs. You need a professional appraisal to know and document the value of your possessions based on guidelines established in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), valuation theory, and expertise and understanding of the art market. The IRS updated regulations to identify “qualified appraisers” and “qualified appraisals” based on HR4, The Pension Protection Act of 2006, signed into law as of August 17, 2006. The IRS recognizes USPAP guidelines.

Protecting and enjoying your fine art collection is an investment in time. You’ll want to identify a professional appraiser by contacting trade associations such as the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), the Appraisers Association of America (AAA) and the International Society of Appraisers (ISA). You can also work with auction houses and private dealers who are experienced appraisers, however, they may not be members of appraiser trade associations.

Ask for references and get referrals. Make sure your professional has experience in valuing the property.

HOW DO I PREPARE FOR AN APPRAISAL?

Before your appraisal, organize the following items and information:

 Bill of sale, receipts, certificate of authenticity
 Name(s) of artist, title(s) of work and year (if available), medium and dimensions of artwork to be appraised
 Provenance (history of ownership)
 Report of repairs made, condition of artwork
 Exhibition and publication history of artwork

Organizing in advance will cut-down on the time spent for research or onsite inspection. Prices for appraisals vary by region. Appraisers charge a flat fee or per hour/ day/person rate. Request an estimate and approve a letter of agreement. This is your contract for services.

Your professionally prepared written report will include a scope of work, definition of value method applied, item description(s), photographs, glossary, bibliography, appraiser’s credentials, and opinion of value among other items. A report can take several weeks or months to complete. Every appraisal has different variables that dictate production. However, the end result is worth the wait. Update your appraisal every three to five years.

Don’t risk losing thousands of dollars. Call Afua Trading Fine Art and Educational Services. We offer fine art appraisal and consulting services: 908-317-5547.

How to Prepare for An Appraisal

Our next tip on the appraisal process will prepare you for an art appraisal. You will understand what an appraiser does, how to hire a qualified appraiser, and what materials you need to gather before an appraiser to save you some money.

Look for our next tip to arrive in the next few days.

Thanks for returning to the site. We hope these tips offer you valuable insight on becoming a consumer savvy fine art collector.

Why Appraise Your Fine Art Objects?

Disasters happen. How many unexpected “crises” or “interruptions” did you encounter last year? This year? Were you prepared? Be honest. In our busy culture, lots can happen…in an instant:

Fire
Burglary
Death
Divorce
Moving
Liquidation

An appraisal of your fine art objects and personal property is a way to gather information before a disaster strikes or prepare for selling your objects. Do-It-Yourself appraisals will help get you started but if you possess more than an armful of fine art possessions (paintings,photographs, prints, sculptures, antiques, collectibles, memorabilia) you need a professional appraisal to know and document the value of your possessions based on the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), valuation theory, and expertise and understanding of the art market.

Appraisals can be required for a variety of purposes including donation, insurance, estate liquidation, and equitable distribution. A professional appraiser will know from which valuation approach to apply in your circumstance. Legal requirements may be applicable.

You must know what you own and the value of what you own.

Do You Know What You Own?

Do you know how to identify your fine art objects? Is your object an antique? vintage? rare collectible? There are several questions one must ask of a fine art object: What is it? How old is it? Where did it come from? How much is it worth?

Look at the prices of furniture, cars, books, and china. The price of many of these items has skyrocketed over the last 10-15 years. Market values of these items fluctuate due to inflation. A current market value appraisal establishes worth of your object and provides a professional assessment for your insurance claim.

Take the room test. Blindfold yourself and describe (from memory) the contents of a small bedroom. How many objects can you identify and describe, accurately? If you can’t describe it, how can you put a value on it when a disaster happens?

If you’ve done your own personal inventory you may not have included all the pertinent information needed to prove ownership. An appraiser provides a description, condition, and current value of your object(s) based on circumstances in which you require an appraisal.

Don’t risk losing thousands of dollars. Call Afua Trading Fine Art and Educational Services. We offer fine art consulting services for art appraisal, collection management, sales and purchases:
908-317-5547.

Tips on Appraising, Managing, and Donating Your Art Collection

Starting March 2007, Afua Trading Fine Art and Educational Services will provide monthly tips to assist you in managing your art collection. Topics will include why you should have your artwork appraised; how to inventory your art collection; why donate your artwork to charity, among others. The monthly tips will be coupled with a resource in print or multimedia format to include in your personal art resource library.

We welcome your feedback on our monthly tips and growing resource library for your fine art collection and management needs.

International Caribbean Art Fair, November 2007, NYC

For artists, collectors, appraisers, and other visual art related professionals, check out a forthcoming exhibition on Caribbean Art held at the Puck Building this November 2007, International Caribbean Art Fair.

African American Fine Art Auctions (NYC)

On February 3rd and 6th two auctions of African American Fine Art were scheduled to take place. Welancora Auction House started the process featuring Post-War and Contemporary Art from the collection of the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art. Swann Galleries followed with a robust supply of African-American art works from the 19th century to present day.

I attended the Swann Galleries auction. The auction took place on two floors. Telephone bids were as aggressive as bids from the audience. This auction featured twelve black female and fifty-seven male artists. The majority of the artists were deceased. The works included paintings, prints, and sculptures.

The most noteworthy sales were that of works by Walter Williams, Lois Mailou Jones, Alvin Hollingsworth, Kara Walker, and Beauford Delaney. Two nineteenth-century works (Edward Bannister and Charles Porter) were sold. Works by Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence dominated in volume and sale price. One could also recognize bids from institutions using same qualifiers. Screenprints of 30 years or more did particularly well.

I hope you were able to attend either auction as they both represent the growing presence and importance of African American Fine Art in the marketplace. I encourage you to view the web sites of these auction houses for sale results and further information.

New York City's Black Fine Art Week Activities

It has been a very busy six days in New York City as swarms of black fine art lovers flock to a myriad of activities celebrating the artistic achievements of visual artists representing the African diaspora.

On January 31st the 11th Annual National Black Fine Art Show kicked-off with a benefit gala reception and preview. The benefit recipient: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The 31st also noted the opening day viewing of Swann Galleries' Department of African American Fine Art lots to be auctioned on Tuesday, February 6th.

The weekend of February 3-4 featured the National Black Fine Art Show and its accompany educational series, coordinated by the Museum of Contemporary Art in the African Diaspora (Brooklyn, NY) and an auction of Post-War and contemporary art at Welancora Auction House (Brooklyn, NY). Later this month, Swann Galleries will auction African American Ephemera, Memorabilia, and Printed Manuscripts.

Black fine art collectors and art enthusiasts will round-off the month with a plethora of community-based events commemorating the political, social, and cultural achievements of black America.

Legacy: Homage to an American Master, Charles W. White

Last evening I attended the opening reception for Legacy: Homage to an American Master, Charles W. White. The exhibition, which spanned 3-4 floors of space, was coordinated by Art In The Atrium, Inc. and presented a short talk by Charles W. White's son, C. Ian White of the Charles W. White Archives, Altadena, CA.

The exhibition includes over two dozen examples of White's work (including book and record cover illustrations) seen in relationship to the work of artists exploring comparable themes, formats, and mediums. Both national and local artists represent the broader network of artists included in this exhibition. Those artists include Benny Andrews, Sonia Lynn Sadler, Alonzo Adams, Deborah Willis, Leroy Campbell, Woodrow Nash, Gwen Verner, and Adger Cowans among many many other talented exhibitors. For an example of White's work, Love Letter, 1971, visit this page at the National Gallery of Art: http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pimage?54675+0+0.

On Saturday, February 10 at noon, Art in the Atrium presents a talk on Charles W. White by Andrea Barnwell, Director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Arts. RSVP by February 2, 2007, Tele: 973-540-0615, Email: VIKICC@aol.com.

Legacy: Homage to an American Master, Charles W. White is available for viewing through March 30, 2007 at the Atrium Art Gallery, Morris County Administration and Records Building, 5 Court Street, Morristown, New Jersey 07960. Gallery hours: 8:30am - 5pm Mon - Fri.; 8:30am - 9pm Wed. 2/7, 2/21/3/7, 3/21; and Noon - 4pm Sat 2/10/07.

Welcome

Afua Trading Fine Art and Educational Services would like to welcome you to our blogspot. Our mission is to cultivate an understanding and appreciation of fine art and photography collecting; advance your study of visual art and history through the latest scholarship in "visualizing history"; and encourage sharing of this knowledge and appreciation through community engagement and charitable giving.

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