A Book Review: Advanced Appraising

A Book Review

Advanced Appraising

by Lita Solis-Cohen

The mission of the new Journal of Advanced Appraisal Studies, published by the ISA (International Society of Appraisers) Education Foundation, is to educate personal property appraisers and raise public awareness of the profession.

The articles in the inaugural issue were written pro bono by members of three appraisers' groups—the International Society of Appraisers (ISA), the Appraisers Association of America (AAA), and the American Society of Appraisers (ASA)—and by conservators, insurers, and auctioneers. The articles cover the gamut from why appraisers publish to how conservation reports can aid the appraiser.

Robert F. James, who purchased Armacost Antiques Shows in January 2007, writes about the plight of antiques shows and gives some tips on advertising and promotion such as including podcasts and "lifestyle advertising" to raise the visibility of shows. James is optimistic about the future of shows, noting that during the next decade the number of American households will grow by more than 10% and that the pool of prospective buyers wanting to furnish with natural, eco-friendly furnishings should also increase.

There is a useful article by Andrew Richmond comparing prices databases. Richmond works for Garth's in Ohio and cowrites "The Young Collector" column for M.A.D. with his wife, Hollie Davis; she does public relations work for Prices for Antiques (p4A), and he is a content provider for p4A.

Richmond points out that it is expensive to keep an up-to-date library of printed price guides, many of which are not illustrated. Now that Internet information from auctioneers is posted and archived, price data is easily retrieved. With caveats about some unreliable information, Richmond makes a good case for specialized databases for wine, books, and sports cards, and he notes the advantages and disadvantages of the several databases that focus on fine art. He compares three general databases that cover everything from contemporary art and pop culture collectibles to Colonial silver and political memorabilia: Prices for Antiques (www.prices4antiques.com), Artfact (www.artfact.com), and PriceMiner (www.priceminer.com). PriceMiner, the largest, relies on eBay sales results and asking prices (not necessarily prices paid) from multi-dealer on-line storefronts. Both Artfact and p4A include additional content beyond price records and photographs by providing references, market notes, and other information.

Richmond does a good job comparing the fine points of Artfact and p4A, showing the advantages of buying the professional versions, which include advanced searching and sorting features. He notes that Artfact was until 2007 the only general database to cover Christie's and Sotheby's. In October 2007 p4A began covering Sotheby's New York auctions. Artfact boasts over 20 million auction records from over 1000 auction houses going back 15 years, while p4A covers only about 500,000 records from 150 auction houses going back ten years. Not all Artfact entries are illustrated, however, and p4A includes at least one illustration for each entry. (On both sites, pictures can be made larger by clicking on them.)

p4A employs editors who select the lots and enter them into the database. Artfact loads entire auction house entries via "data dump." Richmond concludes by noting that both databases provide "a pool of auction prices from which one can search for a set of auction records that includes items similar to a particular consignment." In today's marketplace, writes Richmond, a prices database "should be among the most utilized and most trusted tools in an auctioneer's bag of tricks."

Another well-written article that reveals the tools of the trade is by Victor Wiener, who for 21 years was the executive director of the Appraisers Association of America. A legendary appraiser specializing in high-end property and art litigation, Wiener was one of the appraisers consulted when Stephen Wynn put his elbow through Le Rêve, the Picasso painting that he had agreed to sell to financier Steven Cohen for a reported $139 million.

Wiener takes the reader step by step through the process of appraising Le Rêve, Picasso's portrait of his mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter. Wiener suggests that although this appraisal involved insurance claims, the same components of evaluation could apply to the realm of collateralized transactions. He first demonstrates how vital it is to establish the importance of the painting within the oeuvre of the artist, and to establish its provenance, exhibition, and price history. He shows how he arrived at the painting's market value, explaining the difference between value and price, which are not synonyms. "Dealers and brokers may be sources for price, but professional appraisers would be the sources for value which includes the consideration of price but also takes into consideration market characteristics and trends," he writes.

Wiener takes into consideration what is happening in the art world, such as the fact that Ronald Lauder was believed to have paid $135 million for Gustav Klimt's portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer and that Sotheby's in May 2006 got $95.2 million for Picasso's portrait of Dora Maar, painted nine years after Le Rêve when Dora Maar had taken Marie-Thérèse Walter's place in Picasso's life as his primary mistress.

Wiener also considered that in May 2004, Sotheby's sold Picasso's Garçon à la Pipe for $104,168,000, the current auction record for Picasso. Wiener contends that if Le Rêve had been auctioned prior to its damage it would have brought more than the portrait of Dora Maar or Garçon à la Pipe. And if it had remained intact, and he had been asked to appraise it to be used as collateral for Steve Wynn to borrow money from a financial institution to finance the construction of a new hotel, or for Steve Cohen to borrow money necessary for the purchase, another value would have to have been determined.

Wiener points out that the cost of selling at auction, 25% to 30%, has to be factored, and he contends that at a private gallery sale the commission could be higher. He considers the fact that it might take six months to a year to place the work in the appropriate auction. He consults the Mei Moses Indices, formulated by two New York University professors to project trends in the art market taking into consideration the rate of inflation, and he refers to charts published by ArtNet that track the performance of works of art. Wiener, however, never tells us his conclusion. He just shows how an appraiser would go about coming to it.

Many of the other chapters relate to other special tools used in appraising. Leon Castner writes about how the concept of blockage, used in valuing large collections of artworks for federal taxes, was used to value at $18 million the Nixon archives that were seized as a result of the Watergate scandal. Todd Sigety explains a formula (Q-CAMM) for adjusting quality and condition in arriving at a value for singular items of decorative art. Appraiser William M. Novotny discusses how to value items lost, damaged, or destroyed by fire or water when no descriptions exist. Alan R. Jobe, director of the Claims Prevention and Procedures Council, writes about handling claims for damage in moving. John Harwood, an insurance specialist, describes proper safes, vaults, and alarms and spells out safeguards needed in the jewelry trade.

There are three articles on specific fields that present difficulty in appraising: jade, bronzes, and studio furniture. There is a confusing chapter on furniture restoration and a better one on how a conservation report can benefit an appraiser. There is one article covering how to market an appraisal business, and another on adding downsizing consulting to an appraiser's job.

An article on how to write for publication is accompanied by a call for more papers so that the journal can become an annual. All proceeds from the sale of the journal will benefit the ISA Education Foundation to support its mission of advancing appraisal education.

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