First Step Towards Selling Your Artwork

Artwork sales are slowly starting to move upward again in galleries and at auction after a two year drop. The economy has affected almost everyone.

At Guernsey and Associates, Fine Art Appraisals we get at least two to three calls a week from people just wanting to know what their artwork is worth. Lately this isn’t usually out of curiosity. Often they want to sell their art. What should you do if you want to generate cash flow by selling a painting, sculpture or work on paper?

At the risk of sounding self-promoting, first thing you should do when intending on selling an artwork is to contact a fine art appraiser. An ethical appraiser has no bias when it comes to the value of your artwork. Appraisers should never offer to buy your artwork – if they do - run!

Most appraisers offer Verbal Approximation of Value (VAV’s). A VAV is a non-written report - information is given to the client verbally. The appraiser will inspect your artwork determining the quality, looking for a signature and date, evaluating the condition, and making notes on style, medium and size. They will then research for comparable market information to base their opinions on. A “comparable market” means past sales of similar artworks by the same artist or by similar artists, condition, medium and size. Similar works are sought out that have sold in a similar market in the last five years. Sales made no later than from a five year spread are analyzed. Be wary of an appraiser who states “there were no comps available”, as a good appraiser can always find suitable comps. Fees for a VAV vary between appraisers.

A qualified appraiser (one with an educational and professional background that makes them an expert in the area of the artwork you are trying to sell), can give you an unbiased opinion of the fair value you can expect to receive when you sell a work. Different sales scenarios can affect the amount you receive and a good appraiser can explain these to you. If you sell an artwork directly to a buyer at a retail level, you can expect to sell and receive the full value of a work. Selling an artwork to a dealer or at auction will net you less. You will have to give the dealer a “wholesale” price. The dealer will in turn mark it up to a “retail” price to sell it in their gallery. Likewise, an auction will charge you a commission fee to put the item in an auction. Fees vary from different auction houses. An appraiser can recommend various places for you to go and try to sell your work. The sale should be between you and the buyer. Beware of an appraiser who offers to buy it from you. An ethical appraiser should never have involvement in the sale of your artwork, only in the appraising of your artwork. Some appraisers will provide you with a printout of the comparables they have used to determine your artwork’s value. This helps you to understand how they arrived at their conclusions.

Having an appraiser first evaluate and state value for an artwork or collection you intend to sell is an excellent way to receive a fair amount when selling your work. Taking this first step is the safest way to obtain a safe sale experience and not get “ripped off”. The minimal fee you pay the appraiser is well worth it.

The Amon Carter Museum, Not Just For Cowboys Anymore

The Dallas Fort Worth area is rich with fine art institutions. Each city boasts of more than three major museums and are also fortunate to have many galleries, community art centers, outdoor sculptures of merit and artist studios. Of all the treasure troves of possible destinations, my personal favorite is the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, TX.

This gem of an American museum opened its doors in 1961 through the generosity of the Amon G. Carter estate (Fort Worth philanthropist) and his family.

Mr. Carter collected art that epitomized his love of the west. It has been said that early on in his collecting, the idea of a future museum for his beloved Fort Worth began to form. Originally the museum opened as the Amon Carter Museum of Western Art and housed Amon G Carter’s original collection of 60 works by Frederick Remington and 250 works by Charles Russell. The museum’s collection has grown in the last nearly fifty years, thanks to a large part by the museum’s driving force, Ruth Carter Stevenson and her teams of dedicated museum scholars and administrators. The museum currently holds nearly a quarter million objects ranging from 19th and 20th century American paintings, sculpture, drawings and watercolors, photography (including archival and monographic collections), and prints; each and every one of them a masterwork of the highest aesthetic standards. The museum strives to place western art as well as important American artworks with themes of American exploration and expansion, views of settlement, and depictions of cowboy and ranch life in the larger context of American art, culture, and politics that were happening concurrently throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

Recently, the museum has acquired several new acquisitions of note, a box assemblage by Joseph Cornell (American, 1902-1972), Soap Bubble Set, 1959, and two oil paintings -a meticulous American Pre-Raphaelite example Woodland Glade, William Trost Richards (American, 1833-1905), 1860 and an example of a pre-World War II American modernist, Conversation – Sky and Earth, Charles Sheeler (American,1883-1965), 1940. With the addition of the Charles Sheeler painting, the Amon Carter Museum increases its collection of Precisionist paintings and enhances its already notable collection of Modernists holdings.

The Sheeler painting is a great preview to a year-long theme that the museum plans in 2010 – “The Carter Gets Modern”. The museum is planning three special exhibitions this year. The first is American Moderns on Paper: Masterworks from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, February 27 through May 30, 2010 which includes works on paper created from 1910 and 1960 by artists that include Georgia O’Keeffe, Andrew Wyeth, Edward Hopper and Charles Demuth. Next is Constructivist Spirit: Abstract Art in South and North America, 1920s-50s, June 26 through September 5, 2010. This exhibition will be the first international exhibition of modernist art that the Amon Carter Museum has hosted. The exhibition will chronicle personal and conceptual ties that link artists working in North and South America in the first half of the twentieth century. Beginning October 2, 2010, a photography exhibition organized by the Carter, American Modern: Abbott, Evans and Bourke-White, will explore how these three photographers transformed documentary photography from a reform genre into a recognized facet of modern art. It will be an exciting year for the museum and its patrons.

If you think of the Amon Carter Museum as the museum with "cowboy art”…..you are right, there is still plenty of great examples of western art. A new Remington and Russell study area opened last spring. However, the museum’s interior displays many pleasant surprises that go way beyond American western art. If you haven’t been to the Carter in a while, I strongly urge you visit again. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

Submitted by,
Christine Guernsey, ISA AM
Guernsey and Associates, Fine Art Appraisals

What Is "Outsider Art"? (Part 2)

As part of the larger anti academic trend of the European avante garde which was gaining more appeal, self taught artists were found in almost every country after WWI. In the US there was the Pittsburg house painter John Kane, admitted in 1927 to the Carnegie International Exhibition. In 1932, the MOMA in NYC held a landmark exhibition “American Folk Art: The Art of the Common Man in America 1750-1900”, which looked admiringly to the self taught artists of the pre-industrial past for their ingenuity, innocence and simplicity of expression. There was of course Grandma Moses, one of the most successful and famous artists in America, who had her first one woman show in NYC in 1940. Completely untrained, Grandma Moses became hugely popular through American radio, tv and heavily marketed publications, even having successful shows in Europe and Japan. Self taught art waned in popularity through the mid-20th century, as art critics and dealers became more attracted to the growing Abstract Expressionist movement. However it should be noted that in 1982, the Corcoran Gallery in D.C. held the exhibition “Black Folk Art in America: 1930-1980”.

Over the years, the definitions of folk art in twentieth century America have been wide ranging, including everything from tin men advertising a sheet metal store to weather vanes and ceramic jugs to painters like Grandma Moses to quirky outdoor environments made by singular individuals in their own backyards,(of which many still exist).
So where did the term “Outsider Art” come from? In 1972, British art historian Roger Cardinal in his survey of Art Brut or “raw art”, coined the term as the title for his book of the same name. For the Europeans with their strong art academies and art traditions, coining the terms art brut, naive art, and outsider art made sense, separating these new recognized art forms from the past. However, here in the United States, with no art schools in existence until the late 19th century, the dividing lines between academic and non-academic art, and Art Brut (Outsider) and naïve art have not been so distinct nor appreciated. Similarly, although Dubuffet’s Art Brut is now housed in its own museum in Lausanne Switzerland, the art of the mentally challenged has never gained much appeal in the US.

In the US, self taught art, outsider art and folk art have a tendency to be lumped together as products of individuals with their own aesthetic tastes. This lack of defined terminology can be quite confusing to the American collector who wants to set perimeters for his collection. Where does one go for clarity? Self taught art is still a relatively new field in art. It is not listed in too many art history books. It isn’t listed with the other “ Isms” in art—Impressionsism, Abstract Expressionism, Fauvism, Minimalism, Surrealism, etc. The history of self taught art is being written as we speak.

If you are interested in finding out more, the US has a number of museums dedicated to self taught art and it’s past, current and evolving future role in the history of art.

American Folk Art Museum
45 West 53rd Street
NY, NY 10019
http://www.folkartmuseum.org/

American Visionary Art Museum
800 Key Highway
Inner Harbor
Baltimore, MD 21230
http://www.avam.org/

Smithsonian American Art Museum
8th and G Streets, NW
Washington DC 20560
http://www.si.edu/

High Museum of Art
1280 Peachtree Street NE
Atlanta, GA 30309
http://www.high.org/

Submitted by:

Kim Kolker, ISA AM

Shango Galleries

for Guernsey and Associates, Fine Art Appraisals

What Is "Outsider Art"? (Part 1)

Who creates it? What exactly is it outside of? In a general sense, Outsider art is created on the fringes of society without regard for traditional visual genres. To bring more clarity to the issue, we have to go back to the artist and collector who was one of the first champions of “outsider art.” Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) famous French artist from the 20th century, was disillusioned with the established, mainstream art world and found great creative energy within the art of the mentally challenged and those who created art on the fringes of culture and society. In 1945, he coined the term “Art Brut”, (or “raw art”) for those artists who were not conditioned by academic training, museums, and society about what art should look like. Dubuffet noted: “It may be that artistic creation, with all that it calls for in the way of free inventiveness, takes place at a higher pitch of tension in the nameless crowd of ordinary people than in the circles that think they have the monopoly of it. It may even be that art thrives in its healthiest form among these ordinary people, because practiced without applause or profit, for the maker’s own delight; and that the over-publicized activity of professionals produces merely a specious form of art, all too often watered down and doctored.”1


It should be noted that Jean Dubuffet was only one of many European avant-garde artists who looked for forms of expression outside of the academic tradition. His interest in self-taught painters was echoed by the Cubist interests in tribal art, the Surrealists interest in Oceanic art and the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist interest in Japanese prints. Many of you may not be aware that Henri Rousseau, whose paintings you are most likely familiar with, was a self taught painter who caught the eye of the avant-garde, specifically Picasso. Henri Rousseau worked as a toll booth collector to earn a living. His coworkers, knowing his passion for art, and believing in the power of his work, used to let him leave work early so that he could work on a painting.

To make matters more complicated, Rousseau is best considered as a naive painter, as opposed to brut. Naive painters are self-taught, but live within the bounds of culture and society. Brut painters know nothing of society, nor are they concerned with it. They paint their inner world. Naïve painters typically have had no exposure to art. However, sometimes based on religious fervor, sometimes due to a personal trauma, they pick up a paintbrush or sculpting tool one day and then never put the tool back down until they’ve created thousands of works. Driven by pain or passion, they find something in their creative endeavors that enlivens them.

As you encounter paintings that don’t fit a particular style, notice how they are categorized by critics and art historians. The ubiquitous term “folk art” can mean many things—from naïve styled New England portraits of the middle class in the 1700s, to wooden decoy ducks, to weather vanes to paintings by the mentally challenged or even to simple pastoral scenes painted in bright and flat colors.

Similarly, outsider art may contain many forms of art that would appear as complete visual opposites. As the term has evolved over the last fifty plus years, one can only guess what might be included in its future definition.
How, for instance, do you classify an outsider artist who becomes extremely popular, enough to where corporations are paying the artist for his pieces, and thousands of posters are being made of his work? What is this artist outside of any longer? Can the term still be used?

(To be continued.)

1. Thevoz, Michel Art Brut, Editions d’Art Albert Skira S.A., Geneva, 1995, p. 5.

Submitted by,
Kim Kolker, ISA AM
Shango Galleries, Dallas, Texas

for Guernsey and Associates, Fine Art Appraisals

How Does One Find A Qualified Appraiser?

There are many appraisers to choose from when one needs an appraisal. Various appraisers have an expertise in everything from fine antiques to farm equipment. Some appraisers are known as generalists. These appraisers are the appraisers most often used in estate liquidations and estate probate when the estate isn’t valued higher than a million and doesn’t include any specific valuable collections. Generalists are generally used for “average household contents”. The problem with using a generalist is that they think they can appraise everything - including art. All they have to do is search the internet or go to any of the “art sites” now available online. If that were true, you could too! You could eliminate the need and cost of an appraiser.
What happens when you don’t have a qualified appraiser? Well, if you are using an appraiser to value a painting that has been in the family for generations and are considering selling it, the wrong appraiser can cost you money you would have made from the sale. If a signature is misidentified, knowledge of the artist, style or period is lacking, or specific knowledge about the art market and how the artist fits into that art market is lacking, it can make a difference between selling it for what it is truly worth and selling it for a lot less that you should have received. There are so many stories in the news of appraisers who told people their works were worth hundreds, only to be purchased by a dealer who in full knowledge knew he was paying less than a fair price, and turned around and sold it for millions.
The wrong appraiser can also be equally disastrous if you are insuring a work or collection for too little. An incorrect valuing can leave the insured with not enough money to replace a work when a painting is stolen or damaged. What about a charitable donation? Do you want to risk having the IRS auditing you because of mistakes your appraiser makes?
To find a qualified appraiser, you will need to do a little homework on your own. There are three major professional appraisal associations; Appraisal Association of America (AAA), International Society of Appraisers (ISA) and Appraisers Society of America (ASA). A good place to start looking for a qualified appraiser is through these three organizations. Each organization has a directory of qualified members and lists their area or areas of expertise.
Beware that not all fine art appraisers are equal. An expertise in Asian art does not qualify someone to be an expert in post-modernist European art. Different appraisers have different levels of connoisseurship. Demand to see a resume before you agree to work with an appraiser. Does the appraiser have years of education in their particular field or do they claim to be self taught? Does the appraiser have work history in their area? Did they intern in a museum or gallery? Were they curators or museum directors? What in their backgrounds qualify them to appraise your collection? A qualified appraiser should have specific knowledge and appraisal experience in your specific collection. Ask to see a sample appraisal. You should know what to expect from an appraiser and their reports before you sign them up. Are they clean, follow a standard format and are free from typos? Sloppy work means sloppy results.
Ask for references. An ethical appraiser keeps clients and collections strictly confidential. However; corporations, law firms, insurance companies, fellow members from one of the professional appraisal organizations can usually provide a reference and are familiar with the quality of an appraiser’s work. You can find referrals from museums and galleries as well.
Make sure that the appraiser you choose has no personal interest in your artwork. Your appraiser should not be interested in purchasing your work or selling your work to a specific dealer. Your appraiser should only be willing to place a value on your work and make recommendations of several places you can possibly sell your works. Otherwise, your appraiser may deliberately lowball your work to gain it for a bargain price for themselves.
Never choose an appraiser who charges a percent of what the art work is worth. This is very unethical! An appraiser should be able to quote an hourly fee before doing any work. This fee should be one that is clearly stated and the same for every client. Your appraiser should also be able to give you an estimated quote for the scope of work to be and stick to it. Never accept additional billing for more hours quoted unless you have agreed to this upfront. It is not your problem if an unqualified appraiser spends more time than necessary researching items they don’t have enough previous knowledge on.
Finally, is your chosen appraiser USPAP qualified? USPAP stands for Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices. Being trained in USPAP assures the client that their appraiser will follow standards. Each of the three professional appraiser organizations requires their members to re-qualify with USPAP every five years.
When you spend the time to find the most qualified appraiser for your collection the results are well worth it. Interviewing several candidates and asking the tough questions will make the most qualified appraiser the obvious choice.

Submitted by,
Christine Guernsey, ISA AM
Guernsey and Associates, Fine Art Appraisals

The Fine Art of Preparing for your Appraisal

Whatever the reason for having an appraisal made of your personal property, you can help to ensure a document produced in a timely manner by following a few simple steps:

1. Start your search for the right appraiser early, and make that appointment with as much lead time as possible. Many appraisers are booked in advance, especially for large projects. Appraisals unfold in three parts: the inspection, the research, and the final preparation of the written document. Adequate time for each of these steps lets the appraiser do the best job possible for you.

2. Decide in advance which items you want to include in the appraisal, so that when the appraiser arrives at your house for the on-site inspection, you are prepared to get started. If your appraiser is working on an hourly fee basis, time spent waiting while you search for items in the attic could cost you money. At the very least, know where the items to be appraised are located.

3. Gather all sources of documentation before the appraiser arrives. This would include:

• Sales receipts
• Certificates of authenticity and/or any letters or information from the sales gallery where the object was purchased
• Old appraisals
• Insurance policies listing the items to be appraised
• Any other forms of documentation which establish the provenance of your item(s), including old photographs or letters referring to the objects.

As stated above, research is the central part of the appraisal process. Any help you can give the appraiser may result in speeding up the time it takes to complete your appraisal – and may save you money, too.

The appraiser will photocopy these documents, and include copies of the most pertinent of them in the final appraisal. Additionally, the appraiser keeps copies in his confidential workfiles for 5 years, as required by USPAP. This means that you will have several sources in different places should the original documents become lost.

If you produce information which points to a different valuation for an item after the appraisal is completed, the appraisal will have to be amended and you can incur additional charges.

4. Prepare to have your personal property moved and examined for proper inspection and photographs. For instance, artwork will have to be removed from the walls. Furniture will often have to be moved. It always helps to have a table cleared to serve as a workspace for the appraiser.

These easy steps can all contribute to an efficient, cost-effective process that results in an accurate appraisal.

Submitted by Judy T. Nelson, ISA AM
Guernsey and Associates Fine Art Appraisals

The Fine Art of Donations for Tax Write Offs

Your CPA (Certified Public Accountant) or tax attorney may have recommended that you donate a work of art in 2009 to a charitable organization for a tax deduction. This is an excellent win/win idea especially during a time when the market for art sales is slow and sellers aren’t realizing hoped-for results. If you have an artwork in your collection that you would like to part with, donations are a viable way of realizing benefits in a financial sense this year.
If you are considering a fine art donation this year, the following 10 points might help you through the process of the donation. In addition, always work closely with your accountant or tax advisor.

1. You must have owned an artwork for at least one year and one day in order for it to qualify for a charitable donation at fair market value. Be sure if you are purchasing a work to donate, that you keep all receipts, any information about the sale including where it was purchased and dates, information about the artist, descriptions of the piece including edition numbers, certificate of authenticity, and cancelled check or charge slip. If you have owned a piece for years, gather as much documentation as you have to prepare for the donation.

2. When it comes to taxes, the IRS only accepts the Fair Market Value of an artwork as a basis from which to begin your calculations. Fair market value is the price the artwork would sell for on the open market between a willing buyer and a willing seller, with neither being required to act, and both having a reasonable knowledge of the work offered. A qualified fine art appraiser can help you to determine a fair market value of an artwork.

3. You must be able to support any donations with written documentation. If your donated art work’s fair market value is below $500, the IRS requires that a bill or sales receipt be included with your tax return.

4. If your artwork is valued at fair market value between $500 and $5,000, you are required to list the details of your gift along with receipts and documentation on the IRS form 8283. Artwork exceeding $5,000 up to $20,000 requires the 8283 form to be completed with information provided by a qualified appraiser that includes value, condition and the extent of any restoration that has been completed to date. In cases where the fair market value exceeds $20,000, the actual appraisal created by a certified appraiser needs to be included with the tax return as well as an original color 8 x 10 photograph of the work.

5. It is important to think about the organization which will receive your donation. The organization must have a “related use” for the artwork. For instance, an outdoor sculpture could be donated to a public outdoor space such a city downtown area or public grounds of a hospital, and a painting could be donated to a museum with a related collection. A qualified charitable donation can provide the best tax advantages. The collector is well advised to obtain a written confirmation of the charity’s “related use” plans for any proposed contributions.

6. A donor must use a qualified appraiser for the type of artwork they are donating. Be aware that not all appraisers are experts in art and those who are, are not experts in all genres and media. The IRS gives more weight to an appraisal from an expert in the area of which you are donating as well as their appraising track record. Make sure you review an appraiser’s resume carefully looking for degrees, certifications, professional appraisal organization affiliations and history of employment and association with galleries, artists and museums.

In no case may the appraiser be the one who sold you the artwork nor can the appraising fees be based on a percentage of the value of the artwork donated.

7. An appraisal must be obtained no earlier than 60 days prior to the date of the donation and no later the deadline for filing the taxpayer’s income tax return, including extensions.

8. Appraisal fees incurred in the process of determining the fair market value of the donated property are not deductible as part of your contribution; however, they may be deductible as a miscellaneous deduction among your other itemized deductions.

9. Your contributions are fully deductible if the total amounts of contributions for the year are 20% or less of your adjusted gross income.

10. If your contributions are more than 20% of your adjusted gross income, the amount of your deduction depends on the type of property donated and the type of organization receiving it. You can deduct up to 30% of your adjusted gross income for items donated in entirety to 501C3 organizations.

Remember that all donations with the intention of receiving a tax deduction in 2009 need to completed before December 31, 2009. Now is the time to think about what you would like to donate, to whom you would like to donate it, and finding a qualified appraiser to help you with the appraising portions of the donation. Non-profit organizations (501C3s) are happy to receive donations useful to their stated purposes and are usually helpful to the donor in addition to the appraiser, tax attorney and/or CPA.
Tax laws are very complicated, before beginning the donation process be sure to work closely with your tax advisor.

Submitted By,
Christine Guernsey, ISA AM
Guernsey and Associates, Fine Art Appraisals