Until recently, provenance research was the province of art scholars dealing primarily with issues of attribution and authenticity. But recent legal claims by heirs of Holocaust victims whose art works were looted or otherwise misappropriated by the Nazis, and claims by foreign “source” countries for objects they believe were exported in violation of patrimony or export laws, have raised awareness of the need for provenance research in regard to due diligence in acquiring wor

An intriguing restoration technique caught my eye this week. Kintsugi, or "golden joinery", is a Japanese restoration tradition, purportedly originating in the 15th c. after an Emperor was displeased by the aesthetic condition of a ceramic piece that had been rejoined with metallic staples. Since the start of the tradition, tea practicioners have often been accused of purposefully breaking their own dishes in order to lace them with gold. Whether this is true or not, kintsugi

What a contingency fee is & Why you should care. First, let's define what a contingency fee is in the appraisal world: Any appraiser, who receives compensation based on their final value conclusions, is charging their clients a contingency fee. That is, instead of charging per hour/per item for their research, report writing and professional assessment, the appraiser is charging their client based on the final reported value. The practice of charging a contingency fee raises

The Hollingsworth Fine Arts studio was filled with appraisers and friends on Sunday. A lovely afternoon of conversation on painting identification and conservation ensued. Art restorer, Gary Hollingsworth, spoke with the Chapter on restoration materials, costs, storage environments, damage prevention, wax and beva linings, paper preservation techniques, etc. while giving a tour of the paintings in various stages of restoration processing around our work table. I presented my