Fine Art Appraisal and stamped Valuations
are availabl throughout Colorado. If you do not have a current documented,
stamped and filed appraisal of your fine art, you would very likely NOT be
reimbursed full value from your insurance carrier in the event of loss due to
fire, smoke damage, or criminal activity. Documented appraisals on fine art
holdings can be crucial in the event of DIVORCE ACTION, estate planning, PROBATE
court requirements, fair legacy asset designation, and to prevent inheritor
disputes under your will.
Ninya spent 18 years as an insurance agent and Licensed Financial Planner,
before coming back to her first love, the ART industry. She will come to your
home or office for the initial review of your art collection. Please feel free
to call for an estimate of charges. The cost will be minor indeed, should you
suffer a loss.
William and Mary College,
extension division in Norfolk, VirginiaNinya Lee Greek has extensive education
and professional experience in the Art Industry:
Winona State College at Winona,
Minnesota
University of Missouri at
Columbia, MO
Juneau Douglas Museum studying
Tlinget Haida culture, art and artifacts
154 credit hours toward a Masters
Degree in Fine Arts
Chouinard Art School in Los
Angeles (now California Institute of the Arts located in Valencia, CA)
Thanks to her eclectic schooling [including recognition and transliteration
of ancient, medieval, and modern languages], and given her buying and art market
experience around the word, Ninya feels equipped to view, identify, and valuate
most types of fine art.
Gallery owner for 18 years in
Anchorage, Alaska
Gallery Acquisition travel for
recognition and authenticity study of Native Art and Artifacts in Alaska: Nome,
Kotzebue, Fairbanks, Delta Junction, Sitka, Juneau-Douglas, Petersburg,
Wrangell, Ketchikan
Since 2005 a full time appraiser with offices in Lone Tree and Boulder,
Colorado
Continous study at Sante Fe, New Mexico for the last eight years
Authentication Instructions:
1. Try to answer all questions in Parts I
and II below; information should come from your own knowledge. If data comes
from a document that you have viewed but cannot include as hardcopy, or comes
from discussions with another individual, put that information in "quotation
marks." Please do not guess.
2. You should prepare a separate Authentication Form for each of your
originals or prints, also a separate Authentication Form for each set
(portfolios) of prints.
3. We require five (if pertinent)
photographs of your original piece or print:
a) the
complete image/sculpture/artifact including mat and frame and any other
accompanying case or display materials
b) the
signature (close-up)
c) the
numbering/date (close-up)
d) the
back, sides, bottom of the piece if three dimensional or otherwise pertinent
[for example, many photographers—including Ansel Adams—sign their photos on the
back; many ceramicists sign/date pieces on the bottom]
e) a mid-range view to show
brush strokes, original print marks, or chisel/hand-crafting marks
4. If you have any relevant documents, such as Certificates of Authenticity,
Invoices, original receipts of purchase, etc., please make copies and attach
them with this form, or scan and e-mail them.
5. Please
enclose a check or money order for the initial fee, which we will discuss on the
phone—sometimes nothing, or sometimes a fair amount once there is agreement on
work to be performed.
Taking your own
Photos:
You can submit photographs of the piece (pieces) which you are planning to
have Appraised. However, unless you do the photographs in the specific manner
described below, they will likely be virtually useless. Digital photos, unless
done by a professional, invariably have reflections and shadows prohibiting a
TRUE VIEW. Clarity is absolutely essential. Resolution is better with a
standard 35 mm camera, but the same problems of reflections and shadows will
apply.
It is, however, definitely cheaper to snail-mail me a CD composed by a
professional photographer, rather than pay for travel expenses for myself.
Ultimately, I will need to view the pieces in questions IN THE REAL. Initially,
you would like an informed opinion on these items, to ascertain their POSSIBLE
VALUE. You can see that professionally done photographs are necessary.
When hiring a photographer, go to the best you can afford, preferably at a
photography store front location, rather than a friend, where the following
requirements are understood and results are guaranteed.
Place the pieces on an over large
black felt or velvet background to delete all distracting information and
minimize reflections.
Use the strongest light you can
find, quartz lighting is good. But DO NOT allow that light to shine on your
Fine Art for more than a few minutes. Avoid light damage like the plague,
especially on antique pieces, photographs or water colour originals. Lighting
should be stabilized, not hand held. Motion at the optimum moment is ruinous to
your results. Stabilize your camera, as well.
Take five photos as described
above.
Semi-gloss 8 x 10 color prints
are acceptable, providing details are clear; high-resolution images on a CD are
fine, even preferable because of zooming options, as long as the file extension
chosen by the photographer is standard, such as jpeg or tif.
