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Determining the Value of a Work of Art

How does an appraiser determine value? An appraiser performs a systematic analysis of sales records of objects similar to the item being appraised. Information is gathered from galleries, auction houses, computer databases, and other sources. Ideally, an appraiser will find recent sales of objects very similar to the subject property, thereby providing an accurate measure of value.

Sometimes comparable sales records are unavailable. This is where the skill, training, and experience of the appraiser become crucial. A knowledgeable appraiser can assess the quality, age, artistic merit, and craftsmanship of property and analyze information in order to provide an accurate estimate of value. Even history of ownership, or provenance, can have an impact on value. To see this you need to look no further than the auction property owned by Jacqueline Onassis or Princess Diana. Many ordinary pieces sold for very high prices simply because they had been owned by people of celebrity status.

Many other factors go into determining the value of a work of art, including the artist's reputation and desirability in the marketplace. The following factors are considered: provenance, time of sale, authenticity, condition, rarity size, medium, subject matter, and age.

Provenance
Provenance is the history of the ownership of the piece — who possessed the item and when, and where has it been? These factors can have a significant effect on value and can add a bit of glamour by the association of a famous name. For instance, that an item was owned by Barbara Streisand, Rudolf Nureyev, the Duke or Duchess of Windsor, or Andy Warhol is enough to enhance its value.

The Estate of Jacqueline Onassis sold paintings by Wooten, Drolling, Rauschenberg and Shikler on April 23, 1996. The prices paid for the Onassis paintings were two, three and even ten times higher than the anticipated highest estimate. Moreover, the prices paid were far higher than the prices paid for other works by the same artists three years later, in 1999. The mediums were the same, but the provenance substantially increased the earlier sale price.

Time of Sale
The date of the valuation of the art work will also affect the value. Consider an example of prices for artwork by Andy Warhol, Andrew Newell Wyeth, and Edward Willis Redfield over three time periods, 1989-1992, 1993-1996, and 1997-1999. In most cases the prices increased dramatically over time. Interestingly, Wyeth's prices dropped in 1993-1996 but rebounded by 1997-1999.

Authenticity
Appraisers do not authenticate works of art. They identify them as best they can with their knowledge and expertise. Authenticating art is usually the domain of the expert.

The best way to determine authenticity is by provenance. Consulting with the best reference works or comparison with documented examples are also important. In order to sell a work or to know with certainty whether it is real, the work should be authenticated. It should be noted, however, that not all paintings need authentication in order to be appraised.

A signature is not always a "written guarantee" of authenticity. In fact, it may actually be the least dependable piece of information on a painting and is often deceptive. It may have been placed on the painting by someone other than the artist. It may have been placed years or decades after the painting was completed. Before the 17th century, signatures on works of art were uncommon. Artists sometimes signed with symbols. For example, the nineteenth-century American artist James Whistler, of "Whistler's Mother" fame, signed with a small butterfly. Signatures are not always conveniently located in the corners of a painting. If it is in one of the corners, it may be hidden by the liner (the narrow band closest to the picture) or have slipped below the frames's lower edge if the painting sits too loosely in its frame.

Condition
The closer a work of art is found to be to its original condition, the more it will retain its value. Since perfect condition is difficult to come by, it alone can be enough to make the work of a lesser artist more valuable. Repairs and restoration may improve a work's outward appearance but actually undermine the artwork's value. Re-lining, over-cleaning, and improper mounting of a painting can detract from value.

Rarity
In essence, the fewer good quality items available in a collecting area, the greater the value of each item. Moreover, rarity can overtake all other factors in determining an object's market value. However, if a piece of art is of poor quality and is the only one known, it will still be worth very little. If there is too much available or what is available comes up for sale too frequently, the value will decrease. The laws of supply and demand command the marketplace.

Size
In general, it is wise to steer clear of extremes in size. Paintings that are too big and can't fit readily into available wall space may be shunned in favor of more traditional sizes.

Medium
The materials used to create a work of art have an effect on value. Oil paintings are usually more valuable than watercolors, drawings, prints, or pastel drawings because oils are a more demanding medium for the artist, and they last longer.

Subject Matter
If the artist is known best for a specific subject, those paintings will be more desirable. When an artist isn't clearly identified with a specific subject (i.e., Dega's dancers and Gauduin's Tahitian women) the value will be determined to a certain degree by individual tastes. If you are going to be living with something for a while, it should please you. In general, tradition and pleasant subject matter is most desirable to most collectors. Still lifes, landscapes and figurative paintings are desirable to almost everyone.

Age
One of the first things to look at is the support of the painting, of which the canvas is the most basic. Canvas usually consists of a piece of linen primed with a coat of gesso to prohibit it from absorbing paint. The linen is pulled tightly over the edges of a wooden frame — the stretcher — and nailed to the back. In pre-industrial times, linen, which was hand woven, was usually rough and uneven and sometimes lumpy, with raised threads. Old linen canvas darkens with age. So, if the back of a canvas is too clean or white, the canvas is probably not too old.

All-over crazing — craquelure, in French — caused by years of altering humidity and dryness in the air is a good indicator of age. Dings, wrinkles, gouges, punctures, tears, and buckling are some of the outward signs to look for when determining the age of a piece.

After considering all of these factors, the appraiser is able to complete the evaluation. The product of an appraisal is a well-documented report that contains detailed descriptive information about the subject property, including a photographic inventory. The description should include the name of the artist, age, medium or materials, provenance, condition, and dimensions. An accredited appraiser will prepare the report in accordance with the strict USPAP guidelines befitting quality work.

Rochelle Eisenberg, ASA who is the principal of Art Directives, Inc., the Fort Washington, PA firm of art appraisers and consultants, has served ASA locally and internationally in several capacities, including as President of the Philadelphia Chapter. Accredited in Antiques & Decorative Arts as well as Residential Contents, she has studied at Winterthur, the Barnes Foundation, the University of Pennsylvania, the New School in NY, and taught at George Washington and Temple Universities and the University of Pennsylvania.

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