Everything to Know About Art Appraisals

As we approach tax filing season, we thought it would be a good time to brush up on everything you need to know about art appraisals. Our art appraisal guide below walks you through all the important considerations to keep in mind when getting your artwork appraised. 

What Is an Art Appraisal?

An art appraisal is a report prepared by a qualified appraiser to determine the monetary value of an artwork. An appraisal can be used for a number of different reasons; some of the most common being for charitable donations, tax and estate planning, and insurance purposes. Depending on the intended use of the report, the appraiser will use a different valuation type and method. These amounts can vary substantially so it is important to specify the purpose at the time of ordering the report from the appraiser. The most common valuation types are Fair Market Value (FMV) and Retail Replacement Value (RRV), the former for charitable donations and tax and estate planning and the latter for insurance purposes.

In preparing an appraisal, the appraiser will assess a number of factors pertaining to the artwork and use these to contextualize it with comparable artworks that have transacted on the open market. These factors include:

• Artist

• Year

• Medium

• Size

• Edition

• Condition

• Provenance

• Exhibition History

• Publication History 

The appraiser will first inspect the artwork, either in-person or via hi-resolution photography. They will then research the market and obtain comparable sales results by contacting primary and secondary market vendors. This may include auction, private sale, gallery retail, or a combination thereof. Their findings will be summarized in an appraisal report that includes all the relevant information about the artwork and its monetary value, to be used for the intended use. 

Jane Hammond, Beginning With the Honeycreeper, 2003, oil on wood, 50 × 69 × 4 inches. Collection of Grand Rapids Art Museum, Gift of Cathy and Michael Casteel.

When to Get an Art Appraisal?

The monetary value of an artwork can fluctuate significantly over time as there can be changes to its rarity or to the overall market for that artist’s work. For insurance purposes, it is important to have art appraised regularly. This can be as often as once a year, particularly if the artist’s market is very active, such as with emerging or mid-career artists who sell at auction frequently.

On the other hand, appraisals for charitable donations or tax and estate planning purposes can be completed just at the time of the event. In the case of charitable donations, the IRS requires an art appraisal for any artwork, or group of artworks, that is valued over $5,000. The report must be effective no earlier than 60 days before the date of contribution (either the date of the physical transfer of the artwork to the institution or the date that Deed of Gift was executed by the museum), and anytime up to the donor’s tax filing deadline. 

It is important to plan ahead and contact an appraiser as soon as you have decided what you would like to do with your art. Art appraisals can take as little as two weeks but some artworks require considerable additional time to research and obtain comparable values from galleries, especially for artists with less active markets. 

How Much Do Art Appraisals Cost?

The cost of art appraisals varies depending on the appraiser’s qualifications and the amount of time required to complete the appraisal report. Standard appraisals for a single artwork require an average of 2-3 hours to complete and typically range in cost from $1,000-$2,000. However, appraisals can take up to 10-15 hours in the case of artworks that require extensive research, such as those that are exceedingly rare or valuable, and will cost considerably more. 

How to Choose an Art Appraiser?

It is important to select an appraiser with appropriate experience and expertise. The IRS requires appraisals to be prepared by a qualified appraiser. There is no “license" to appraise art, rather art appraisers must be USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) compliant and receive designation from a recognized professional appraiser organization, such as the Appraisers Association of America (AAA) and International Society of Appraisers (ISA).  

In order to maintain their standing with the appraiser organization, art appraisers must have met certain minimum education and experience requirements, and regularly perform appraisals for which they receive compensation. A more experienced appraiser typically has superior market knowledge—developed through years of experience as an appraiser and/or working at an auction house, gallery, or museum—and a higher level of certification from the appraiser organization. 

While it can be beneficial to work with a local appraiser who can view the artwork in-person, appraisals can also be completed via hi-resolution photography, and can often be done at a lower cost since there is no travel time. 

Get Your Art Appraised Today

If you are interested in getting your art appraised, contact us or submit a form and we will be happy to provide you with an estimate for an appraisal through our trusted appraisal partners. We have negotiated preferred rates with our partners, with reports costing as little as $900 for a single artwork and generally completed in two weeks or less.