Understanding the finer points of art appraisals

Most people don’t consider the impact and purpose of insurance or that it covers just about every type of peril, risk or enterprise someone can conceive. It touches every area of daily life and very few things happen without insurance.

Specialty insurance covers a wide range of risks and one of those areas involves fine art and collections. Modern art, sculptures, collectibles, paintings, etchings and wine are just some of the items that fall into these categories.

Cindy Charleston-Rosenberg is the founder of The Art Appraisal Firm and past president and a certified member of the International Society of Appraisers. In the latest Insurance Speak podcast, she discusses art appraisal, the risks associated with collecting, and how appraisers determine and assess values for insurance coverage and other purposes.

Not everyone is an appraiser or has the credentials to assess the value of collectibles. “Appraising is a distinct profession with a robust credentialing process,” explains Charleston-Rosenberg. She outlines in detail how insurers can locate appraisers with the proper training and expertise needed for an appraisal.

Insurers generally want an item appraised for its replacement value in the event of a loss or damage, while galleries may want a work appraised for its resale value. Multiple factors go into both types of appraisals including an item’s provenance, determining its authenticity, who the artist or author is, the quality of the piece, as well as the size, scale and even the subject involved, as well as other elements.

Charleston-Rosenberg underscores the importance of due diligence in establishing the value of any work or collection. This may include looking for auction records, verifying the credentials of any experts and their conclusions, looking at previous bills of sale and utilizing the expertise of multiple experts. She advises being wary of any individuals who state they are qualified to appraise anything. Experts can be generalists with a wide range of knowledge on many subjects or they may have expertise in a very narrow niche area.

To learn more about the various types of appraisals, how to find a reputable appraiser, as well as some of the more common mistakes collectors make, listen to the podcast above or subscribe to Insurance Speak on Spotify, Apple Music or Libsyn.

Related:

American collectors buy for passion & investment

Handling priceless works after an insurance loss is an art

Secrets to restoring the irreplaceable