Art Appraisal: Evaluating Estimate of Your Artwork

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, and trust me, the eyes never lie, especially when it comes to art!

The best admirers of paintings are definitely art lovers, until art appraisers come into play. 

Now you may wonder who are art appraisers and what do they do?

Art appraisers are people who examine paintings and sculptures to estimate their market value based on their quality and creator.

I mean, would “Mona Lisa” be a priceless piece today if Leonardo was not a famous painter? Think about it!

Coming back to art appraisers, the work that they do is known as “art appraisal,” which is going to be our talk in this blog.

We will deeply dive into the concept of art appraisal and also learn about how it makes a difference.

What is Art Appraisal?

In the art world, we often come across various terminologies that we are quite unfamiliar with!

But that is completely fine because art is a process of endless learning and opportunities knocking through your door.

“An appraisal is: not an authentication but a monetary opinion.” 

So, what do you think the term art appraisal means? 

It basically means estimating the determined  market value of an artwork as per quality  standards.

Now you might ask, why?

It can be done for a variety of reasons, such as insurance purposes, negotiations, and estate planning.

As we will cover in more detail in the blog, you can see that an appraiser takes a lot of factors into account when evaluating your artwork.

So, go through it with me and enjoy your read!

Suggested Read: Art Marketing

Art Insurance Vs. Art Appraisal

Now here comes the crucial part of this series, whether art insurance is similar to art appraisal.

People often get it confused with the fact that art insurance is similar to art appraisal and also with the fact that both of them involve the value of the product.

But this is definitely not the case in both situations.

Art insurance is where you try to secure your valued possession and art appraisal is the basic step of actually evaluating your artwork.

So, this is the basic difference between art insurance and art appraisal.

Also, the insurance value of the product may often include charges for restoration, accident covers and other surcharges.

Whereas the appraised value of art considers the factors that determine whether the artwork is damaged or repaired.

Approaches for Art Appraisal

Art can be appraised in many different ways, each of which has its advantages and limits.

One of the most common and important methods is the compare and sell method.

This process involves market research of similar art pieces and then an approximate price range is assigned to the artwork.

This approach is dependent on the laws of supply and demand, as well as the artist’s standing and marketability.

The next approach in which you can appraise the artwork is appraisal by cost, which includes the price of labor, materials and any additional expenses that were incurred while creating the artwork.

And the last approach that you can swear by is appraisal by income. This is often used for artworks that are related to potential incomes.

Income streams such as reproduction rights, licensing and values based on future earnings. 

So, these are the three approach factors that you can consider while implementing a successful art appraisal. 

Also Read: Ship a Painting

Factors To Consider While Appraising Art

Moving forward, there are several factors that you need to consider during your art appraisal.

The factors that you need to consider are:

• Whether your artwork is authentic or not.
• Keep a check on the condition of your artwork.
• Is your art piece a rare piece, or is thise type of art already in demand?
• Take a look at the historical significance of your artwork.
• Do not forget to keep an eye on market trends and art experts.

Methods of Art Appraisal

If you are getting your art appraisal done by a professional, this will be the four-step method that they will most- likely use.

Step 1: Inspection of the artwork

The art appraiser is going to closely evaluate and observe your art piece.

From every aspect of your artwork, they will create a detailed report of what the art is about and their observations.

PS: They will even pay attention to the minute details so avoid tempering with the art pieces or making last-minute corrections.

Step 2: The Origin and Originality of the Artwork

Once the first step of observation is done, the appraiser might ask you some questions about the authenticity of the art piece you possess.

In the case of any art piece that has historical values and imprints, you can even be questioned for the license or the documents related to the artwork.

Note: If you have any artwork that you have collected from an auction house, make sure to keep the insurance and claims in hand.

Step 3: Comparing the Market Standards and Auction History

After the checking and other formalities, the officials will be comparing your artwork to the relevant art pieces available.

For example: if you own an abstract painting, there are high chances that its authenticity and originality can be compared to those paintings by Rothko. 

Or, moreover, you can be asked to showcase your painting in an auction to bid the best price after evaluation.

Step 4: Sales and Pricing

Once the comparison, pricing and evaluation are kept in check, you can now move forward with selling or claiming the price of your painting.

If you don’t want to sell your painting, you can keep the newly evaluated prices secured, and then, as per market trends, you can sell it off when the profits are high. 

Benefits of Art Appraisal

What is the point of art appraisal if it doesn’t have any benefits?

Yes, I know these are some sort of questions that might be on your mind, so hereby, I am listing out the benefits of art appraisal:

• You can assess the value of your collection for insurance purposes with the aid of an art appraisal.
• Estate planning
• Asset valuation of artwork.
• It will also help you process the purchase or sale of any art item.

Conclusion

Art is timeless; the beauty of it never fades, and the way you look at it is what makes a difference.

With this being said, here comes an end to the blog of art appraisal.

I hope you learned about how the appraisal of art works and how important it is to get your art appraised by a professional.

Talking about professionals, how can we miss out on our high quality paintings and portraits that you can get your hands on?

Whether it be one of the famous historical paintings or a custom painting of yourself, you can get it at PortraitFlip.

And you know what? You can get the exact replicas of paintings like Mona Lisa, Salvator Mundi, etc.

Now you may ask about the quality of the artwork? 

Well, those who have received the paintings are still figuring out whether the painting is from the Louvre or by us!

So if you want to get one from yourself, then:

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