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Art Appraisal, Authentication, Conservation and Research Information
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Appraisal, Authentication, Conservation and Research Information


W hile RLM does not authenticate, evaluate or conserve art objects, there are many resources for these services. Here is a referral list for your consideration, plus other resources:

 

Appraisal services:

 
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.
 
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 .
 
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
 
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
 
Telepraisal
A Web-based art appraisal & research service
 

Appraisal Note: What questions do buyers and sellers consider when negotiating on the price of a one-of-a-kind painting or sculpture? These elements of value are not listed in order of importance.

About the artist

  • What percentage of a deceased artist's output remains in private hands?
  • If a living artist, what is the expected remaining productivity of the artist?
  • If a living artist, is the artist full-time or part-time?
  • If a living artist, how many works are produced each year and what is the trend?
  • Is the price trend for the artist up or down?
  • Is the price trend for the class of subject matter (western genre, pop art, etc.) up or down?
  • What are recent comparable sales for the size of the work, the subject matter, the medium and other variables?
  • What is the highest sale to date for the artist?
  • What is the highest sale per square inch for the artist?
  • What is the price ranking of the artist relative to other artists?
  • Who were the artist's teachers and who were the artist's students, and what degree of fame did members of each group reach?
  • What awards were earned by the artist and how important are they?
  • How many articles have been published about the artist, by what publishers, by what authors, and when?
  • How many books and catalogues have been published concerning the artist, by what publishers, by what authors, and when?
  • What collectors and what museums own the artist's work?
  • Which galleries sell that artist's work?
  • Where and when have there been museum exhibitions covering the work of the artist and what is the trend?
  • How central is the work to the most sought after period and subject matter of the artist?

About the object

  • What is the medium (oil on canvas, watercolor) used for the work?
  • What is the method of production (studio, plein air) of the work?
  • If signed, what is the quality of the signature?
  • If bronze, is there a foundry mark?
  • Is the work dated?
  • Are there gallery or framing stickers on the back? Is there anything written on the back or on the artwork or mat?
  • What is the height and width of the work?
  • Is there a title to the work?
  • What is the quality of the frame, if any?
  • What is the providence (history of ownership) of the work?
  • What is the condition (holes, tears or stains; pieces missing or broken, wear on the patina) of the work?
  • What certificates are available for the work concerning authenticity and condition?
  • What are the credentials of the authenticator?
  • What written appraisals are available?
  • What are the credentials of the appraiser?

 

Artist Biographies and Bibliographies

Duke University has a helpful list of books. Also see Biographies of Seven Famous African-American Masters of American Art
 

Art Libraries

University/Museum Libraries list by ARLIS/NA . Search the collections for an artist you wish to research.
 

Auction Houses:

Auction companies will often provide an auction estimate without charge based on a photo and description sent to them. Estimates provided this way can be a fairly rough gauge of 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. Bear in mind that 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 websites. 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.
 

Authentication and Conservation

American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works Directory:
American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 1717 K Street N. W. Suite 301, Washington, DC 20006. A valuable resource guide. Call the Institute at 1-202-452-9545 for names of local conservators. According to a recent article in Forbes magazine, (see the revealing June 16, 1997 article "Eternity is Delusional," by Doris Athineos) a conservator will write a report on a work's condition, propose treatment if needed and estimate cost and time for about $250 for each work of art. Conservators also render opinions on authenticity of art works. See the Institute's articles on " Caring for Your Paintings, " " Caring for Your Works on Paper " and " Guidelines for Selecting a Conservator ." Staff at a local museum may be willing to share with the person calling the names of professional conservators.
 
How to Care for Original Oil Paintings
By Robyn Bellospirito, PO Box 302, Locust Valley, NY 11560, http://members.aol.com/bellspirit/welcome.htm
 
University of Delaware Library, Newark, DE.
The library features on the World Wide Web " Library Networked Databases " on art conservation.
 
Western Association for Art Conservation, Los Angeles, CA.
The WAAC Newsletter (ISSN 1052-0066) is a publication of the nonprofit Western Association for Art Conservation . Back issues are located at http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/waac/wn/ on the Web. For further information please contact Chris Stavroudis, Sec/Treas., 1272 N. Flores Street, Los Angeles, CA 90069-2904. email: cstavrou@ix.netcom.com, tele. 1-213-654-8748, fax 1-213-656-3220
 
Caring for photographs, prints and calendars...
What is a print?; Tips on preserving and protecting photos from the American Museum of Photography; Handy tips on caring for reproductions on paper -- scroll down to the third article. See the Print Council of America Book List covering the care of prints.
 

Dictionary

If you hear or see an art term that is unfamiliar to you you may find the 3,300-term Artlex.com useful. If your word isn't there onelook.com will search over 600 dictionaries at the same time for you.
 
 

Digitizing Initiatives

A project proposal by Reddy, Raj and Gloriana St. Clair for The Million Book Project states "NCES reports that 84 percent of libraries around the country are open between 60 and 80 hours a week. This digital library would be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year for a total of 168 hours a week, over twice the time most libraries are open. More than one individual will be able to use the same book at the same time. Thus, popular works will not be checked out and thus unavailable to others." Likewise, the texts available on the Web via RLM may be accessed by more than one reader at a time at all times during the year. A manual has been developed at Carnegie Mellon University in 2003 for use in the National Science Foundation-funded Million Book Project.
 
The Digital Library Federation (DLF) is an organization which is establishing standards and "best practices" for digital collections. The work of the DLF is of interest to and is being monitored by RLM . One of the partners of the DLF is the California Digital Library which " has become one the largest digital libraries in the world."
 
Project Gutenberg is an Internet producer of free electronic books (eBooks or eTexts). "The Project Gutenberg Philosophy is to make information, books and other materials available to the general public in forms a vast majority of the computers, programs and people can easily read, use, quote, and search." RLM has canvassed hundreds of organizations and individuals to advise them of the PG service and encourage them to send inforamtion on American art history books with expired copyrights.
 
As of October 2003 Amazon.com is making available to registered users both text search and page image display for a large segment of the books it sells ("millions of pages"}, believing that the results will enhance book sales. In a Wired.com article written by Gary Wolf titled "The Great Library of Amazonia" dated October 23, 2003, the Amazon.com project is discussed in detail. The article states further that "[Lawrence] Lessig, in partnership with Stanford University librarian Michael Keller, will soon announce a free program to digitize any out-of-print book whose copyright holder wants to make it available to the public." Presently, RLM offers free digitizing and Web publishing service to publishers and other copyright holders of texts relating to American representational art.
 
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations is dedicated to improving graduate education by developing accessible digital libraries of theses and dissertations.
 
JSTOR , features a digitized collection of academic journals and is planning as of October 2003 the addition of journals in art history including Art Bulletin and Art Journal . Access to the JSTOR archive is available only through affiliation with a participating higher education institution or through an individual account with a participating publisher. Art Bulletin and Art Journal are published by the College Art Association.
 
The Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS) has a Reference & Information Services section interested in Internet resources on the visual arts. RLM is a member of ARLIS.
 

National Endowment for the Arts

Search the database.
 

Prints and Other Reproductions

General
 
Please see A Faithful and Vivid Picture: Karl Bodmer's North American Prints (9/23/02) for a glossary "intended to assist in understanding the terms used" in the art of printmaking. Please also see:
 
Valuations and Purchases
 
Gordon's Print Price Annual contains auction prices and Lawrence's Dealer Print Prices contains retail prices. Both volumes are available in some public and museum libraries. As an alternate to Gordon's Print Price Annual, try Contemporary Print Portfolio. A Guide to Auction Prices, Jeseph E. Zanatta, editor, or ArtNet . If you discover that an artwork is fraudulently represented, report it to the National Fraud Information Center at 1-800-876-7060. If you are interested in purchasing reproductions or prints (not one-of-a-kind originals) see Sources for Paper-printed Reproductions and Framing . If you want to buy a print of a painting that is not available through our sources, go to askart.com and look up the artist. Find out which museums own the artist's work. Call the museums to see if a museum owns the painting. If you find the museum that owns the painting call the museum's bookstore staff to see if they will sell you a print of the painting. Also see our notes on the secondary market below. Some art museum curators can help you in determining printmaking techniques, but they are not allowed to assign dollar values to works of art.
 
The Secondary Market for Prints
 
When you, a collector, seek to resell your print you become involved in what is called the "secondary market." To find another collector who wants your print, thanks to the Internet, you can auction your print through one of the online auction companies at a low cost. If your print is valuable enough, one of the bricks-and-mortar auction houses may take it for consignment. There are three further strategies which will lead you to art dealers who buy prints. The first approach is to contact the retail gallery that first sold the print or another gallery that sells similar prints. Ask the gallery for referrals to dealers that buy prints similar to yours. The second approach is to go to a gallery that sells prints and ask a salesperson to show you a recent issue of Art Business News , which is the trade publication for the art print business. Ask to see the "secondary market" advertising section in the back of the issue. You will find there names and phone numbers of many dealers who purchase prints. The third approach is to use a search engine on the Internet. Type in the name of the artist followed by "secondary market" and see what the search engine retrieves. You may be pleasantly surprised.
 
Books on Prints:
  • Collectors Guide to Early Twentieth Century American Prints , Collector Books; ISBN: 1574320343, Paperback - 224 pages (August 1998)
  • T he Complete Guide to Art Prints: How to Identify, Invest & Care for Your Collection, by Jay Brown, Krause Publications; ISBN: 0873417046, Paperback - 160 pages Limited edition (February 1999)
  • Currier's Price Guide to American and European Prints at Auction : Current Price Ranges on the Original Prints of over 2600 American and European Artists , by William P. Carl, William T. Currier, Currier Pubns; ISBN: 0935277196, Paperback 3rd/Rev edition (March 1995)
  • A Guide To Collecting Antique Historical Prints, by Christopher W. Lane, Donald H. Cresswell, Carolyn Cades, Richard Genga, Philadelphia Print Shop Ltd; ISBN: 0963692429, Paperback - 46 pages 0 edition (September 1, 1995)
  • How to Identify Prints : A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical Processes from Woodcut to Ink Jet , by Bamber Gascoigne, Hames & Hudson; ISBN: 050023454X, Hardcover, (September 1995)
  • Miller's Collecting Prints & Posters, by Janet Gleason, Janet Gleeson, Louise Martin (Contributor), Richard Barclay (Contributor), Antique Collectors Club; ISBN: 1857327268, Hardcover - 160 pages (November 1997)
Online Index to Print Catalogues Raisonné
Online Catalogues

 

Resources for Collectors and Students of Art History:

-- The Art Inventories section of SIRIS contains over 300,000 records, with the complete card catalog accessible online over the Internet describing American artists, paintings and sculptures. -- The Inventory of American Paintings executed before 1914 is a national census of works created by American artists working prior to 1914. If the artist was born by 1880, all of the artist's works are entered regardless of date. Paintings in oil, watercolor, tempera and pastel are included.
-- The Inventory of American Sculpture is a national census of works created by artists born or active in the United States up through the 20th century. Indoor and outdoor sculptures are entered, including outdoor sculpture reported through the Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) program.
-- The Archives of American Art collections include papers of artists, art dealers, art historians, collectors, and others; records of art galleries, museums, and art organizations; videos; and interviews from AAA's oral history project. To navigate to the search page, click on "search catalogs" on the opening page, and on "Archives & Manuscripts" or "Art Inventories" on the next page. You're now at a list of sections for search. Click on the one you want and begin your search. Use small caps and last name first without commas in the search box. When you find a document that is on microfilm, you can read it at one of the regional research centers (call for an appointment) or have it sent to your library on inter-library loan.

 

Tips on evaluating paintings:

Is the art an original (one-of-a-kind) painting or is it a multiple or print?

Here are tips on finding out if your art is a one-of-a-kind original by some artist.

a. Do a visual inspection.
 
-- An original watercolor will have a rough surface when looked at from an angle; a print will have a flat and even surface.
 
-- An original oil painting on canvas mounted on stretcher bars will have a rough and uneven paint edge on the sides of the canvas where the viewer usually does not look. If a side is even it's probably a reproduction.
 
-- A print may be mounted on cardboard or another kind of board. Borrow a high power magnifying glass (the kind jewelers use) or a microscope and look at a color picture in a magazine. If the magnification is powerful enough, you will see microscopic colored dots in a pattern. Next, use this same magnifying glass or microscope and focus on the image you are studying. If you see the same type of array of dots in your picture you have a print.
 
-- Some reproductions are very well done and may have no dots to see. They can be on canvas or paper on board and even duplicate the brush marks of an original painting.
 
-- lithographs and other multiples hand-made by the artist usually have an artist's signature and the number of the work out of the series, e.g. 5/15, meaning the fifth work of a series of fifteen in total. The signature and numbers are hand-written by the artist.
 
-- machine-made prints usually do not have hand-made signatures.
 
-- machine-made prints often have stock identification numbers on the back of the art work.
 
b. Ask a professional artist in your town to take a look at your painting. Artists often know originals from reproductions.
 
c. Take the painting to an owner-operated framing shop in your town. Find an owner who is well-respected and who has owned the frame shop for several years. Ask the owner if the painting is a one-of-a-kind original or a multiple or reproduction of some type.
 

Is the painting authentic or is it a fake?

Some tips:

a. Even if you have proved that the painting is an "original," that doesn't mean is it painted by the artist you think painted it. For more valuable paintings (in the tens of thousands of dollars) the buyer may want an authentication report.
 
b. The more famous the artist, the higher the risk of forgery. Even highly trained art dealers and museum officials get caught once in a while with fakes.
 
c. Homework you can do yourself can pay off handsomely. For instance, if there is a catalogue raisonné of the artist's works published (a book containing photos and other identification information on the works of a deceased artist) you can see if your painting is included in the book. Catalogue raisonné books can be very expensive. You can ask a reference librarian at a public library to obtain a copy through an inter-library loan if you can identify the book well enough. Help out the librarian by obtaining, if possible, the exact name of the book, the author's name, the ISBN number, the publisher's name and the date published. Sometimes a search engine on the Web can find this book information by entering in the search box the artist's name followed by the words catalogue raisonne (example: "Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonne")
 
d. For more valued artists go to Artcyclopedia.com on the Web and learn which museums own the artist's works. Conduct Web searches using the artist's name to see who wrote articles and books on the artist. Also look in the indexes of Resource Library Magazine to find out which museums have exhibited the type of art you have or works of the artist and have possibly published catalogues on the artist. Museums and authors are good sources to contact to ask about referrals to a respected authenticator for the artist. Caution: unfortunately some museum employees have arrangements with dealers or gallery owners to refer prospects to them. These arrangements may not be in your best interests.
 
e. Curators at art museums may have the expertise in a genre, period, school, or artist to assist you in the authenticity of works of art, or they may be willing to refer you to an expert who can answer your questions.. At some museums, there are certain days set aside for members of the public to bring in artworks for review by staff. Curators, dealers and art consultants may be hesitant to advise people of fraudulent art when they see it, for fear of legal action on the part of the owner.
 

What is the condition of the painting?

Some tips.

a. If the painting is on canvas and there is no paper behind the canvas, check the back of the canvas for very small holes, patches, or repairs that are not visible from the front side. Then take the painting outdoors and hold it up to the bright sunlight looking through the back side of the canvas. Cracks in the surface and other defects will show up that you are unable to see indoors looking at either the front or back of the painting.
 
b. If you look at the front surface of the painting with a safe ultraviolet or "black" light in a darkened room you can see highlighted areas of overpainting, inpainting and other indicators of the history and condition of the paint. Well, maybe. Crooks can apply a layer of masking varnish over new paint so that the new paint looks old!
 
c. It's best to let the buyer know early on the everything you know about the condition of a painting as it will almost always be a point of negotiation. For example, paintings with damage, whether repaired or not, may have drastically different value than well-preserved art.
 
d. To find out the size of the image, for oil on canvas paintings it's the outside dimensions of the stretcher board (not the frame). State the height first, followed by the width. For watercolors, its the size of the paper sheet containing the image.
 
e. If the painting is very valuable, the buyer may have a conservator inspect the painting's condition before closing the purchase deal. The buyer wants to make sure he or she is not overpaying, and may want to know the amount of money it will take to get the painting into top condition. For less valuable paintings the condition is still important but the use of experts is not as important.
 
f. For more valuable paintings, before price negotiations, you may want to obtain your own condition report from a respected conservator. Perhaps the painting already has a condition report. If so you have a leg up on the process. The reputation of the conservator issuing the report is very important. Ask museum curators and conservators for referrals before you hire an "expert." See the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works Directory: American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 1717 K Street N. W. Suite 301, Washington, DC 20006. This is a valuable resource guide. Call the Institute at 1-202-452-9545 for names of local conservators. See the Institute's articles on " Caring for Your Paintings, " " Caring for Your Works on Paper " and " Guidelines for Selecting a Conservator ."
 
 

What is the provenance of the painting (its history)?

Some tips:

a. Knowing the history of the ownership of the painting helps establish its legitimacy.
 
b. Sales receipts and exhibition stamps on the back of the painting are helpful.
 
c. Sometimes the history of a painting can add value. Some owners and ownership stories are more important than others. For example, a strong exhibition history of a painting at museums can add 20-30% or more to value compared to a similar quality painting that did not have an exhibition history. The history and quality of the frame surrounding the painting can also add substantial value.
 

Is the artist well-known enough and of sufficient value for us to help you? Here are ways for you to find out:

 
a. look up the artist in Artcyclopedia.com on the Web. Artcyclopedia.com provides links to images of artworks held in museum collections. The fact that a museum has an image by an artist on the Web is a positive sign that the artists'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.
 
b. look up the artist in Resource Library Magazine 's Distinguished Artists . If an artist is included in Distinguished artists that is an indicator that the artists's work may be of significant value
 

 

rev. 11/26/03

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. Resource Library Magazine and Traditional Fine Art Organization, Inc. take no responsibility for the accuracy of the information. Information from the named firms may be inaccurate or out of date. Resource Library Magazine and Traditional Fine Art Organization, Inc neither recommend or endorse the above referenced organizations. Although Resource Library Magazine includes links to other Internet sites, Resource Library Magazine and Traditional Fine Art Organization, Inc. take no responsibility for the content or information contained on those other sites, nor exert any editorial or other control over those other sites. The names, logos, trademarks, and service marks of Resource Library Magazine and Traditional Fine Art Organization, Inc.that appear on this site may not be used in any advertising, publicity, promotion, or in any other manner implying our endorsement, sponsorship of, or affiliation with any product or service, without our prior express written permission.

Be sure to visit more of Resource Library Magazine with articles and essays on American art, calendars, and much more. Here are links to selected sections of the magazine:

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