Sylvia M. Fitzgerald, ISA AM, Fine Art, Antiques, Furnishings + Decorative Arts

An easy way to distinguish between scrap and salvage is that scrap is generally used for metals. Salvage is generally used for everything else, including fine art. I will first discuss salvage value, including where an appraiser might look for comparable sales, and then move on to how an appraiser might calculate scrap value.

Question: I have been asked by an insurance company to provide the actual cash value (ACV) on a painting by a famous 19th-century artist. I don’t understand how to determine ACV for this type of painting. Can you help me?

Question: I have not yet utilized the ISA office hours platform yet and was a bit curious about it. Is this something that I can just join and listen in to hear all the questions asked and answered or is this a one-on-one thing? Do I have to have a question to join the meeting? How are questions submitted? 

As a generalist, I constantly read, listen, and observe auction values and retail prices in the furniture and decorative art markets. Auction houses and bidding platforms publish articles and blogs almost daily describing their thoughts and forecasts for values in the fine art market. However, I often cannot find observations about future trends and market outlooks in the areas of furniture and decorative arts.