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Artwork appraisals in Massachusetts for donations, estate tax, insurance, and divorce, prepared in accordance with USPAP and IRS requirements. AppraiseItNow appraises paintings, sculptures, prints, photography, and mixed media across Massachusetts, including Boston, Worcester, and Springfield.
DEFENSIBLE, USPAP-COMPLIANT ARTWORK APPRAISAL REPORTS — QUALIFIED FOR THE IRS, MASSACHUSETTS COURTS, LENDERS, INSURERS, AND MORE.
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Owner & CEO
Joe founded AppraiseItNow to make a certified, USPAP-compliant appraisal as simple to order as anything else online. A former Bain & Company strategy consultant, Joe leads the entire team and specializes in strategy, growth, and the firm's tech capabilities.
Personal Property Appraiser
ISA Accredited Member with 30 years in the trade, from running estate sales and an auction gallery to appraising luxury apparel, furniture, artwork, antiques, and business assets, primarily for IRS tax filings.
Personal Property Appraiser
ISA Accredited Member specializing in Asian art, with a Master's from SOAS and a Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art. Ashley chairs the ISA's Antiques, Furnishings, and Decorative Arts committee and appraises for charitable donation, insurance, and equitable distribution.
Client Success Manager
Manages each engagement from the first enquiry to the delivered report, and keeps you posted at every step along the way.
International Society of AppraisersAccredited Member
The Appraisal FoundationAuthorized by Congress as the source of appraisal standardsAppraiseItNow appraises artwork in Massachusetts for charitable donations, estate tax filings and probate inventories, insurance schedules and claims, and the division of property. One of our Massachusetts files valued a charitable donation of artwork for an owner in Westford, which is the shape most of this work takes.
Attribution
A signature, a foundry mark, an edition number, a gallery label or a catalogue raisonné entry each point at a different body of auction and dealer evidence. We follow the attribution the papers actually support and say plainly what rests on it.
Condition
Overpaint, a relined canvas, foxing on a print, fading in a photograph and a repaired break in a bronze all carry a market cost. Each finding is recorded with the adjustment it caused instead of disappearing into one conclusion.
An artist's name is the start of the research, not the end of it. Results inside one market scatter widely, and the work of a valuation is explaining which of those results the piece in front of us belongs with.
Comparables
Scale, medium, period, subject and the venue a piece sold through all pull results apart inside a single artist's market. A number taken from the name alone, with no matching sales behind it, is the one a reviewer sends back.
Standards
Insuring a picture takes what replacing it would cost through the galleries that carry comparable work. A donation or an estate takes what it would bring in the market where such pieces actually change hands.
Most art files begin with a transfer: a canvas going out on consignment, a collection passing to heirs, a gift to a nonprofit. Each one asks for a stated value at the moment it happens, which is a poor moment to start looking for one.
Donations
A donated work reported on IRS Form 8283 needs a qualified appraisal prepared inside the window the form instructions set and signed by the appraiser. Late is the most expensive way to be wrong about a deduction.
Estates and coverage
An estate values a work as of the date of death. A schedule renewed this year values the same work as of now. Both figures can be right, and quoting one where the other belongs is the usual error. Furniture, silver and jewelry in the same house are Massachusetts personal property work.
Two Massachusetts statutes reach past the sale itself. One says what has to be written down when a work goes to a dealer on consignment; the other gives the artist a say in what happens to the work for decades afterward.
Consignment
Anticipated fair market value
A line the delivery statement has to carry
When a work of fine art is delivered to an art dealer in the Commonwealth for exhibition or sale, delivery and acceptance constitute a consignment. The consignor furnishes a separate written statement of delivery naming the artist and the owner, the title, the medium and dimensions, the date the work was completed, the date of delivery, and the anticipated fair market value of the work. From then on the piece is property held in trust for the consignor and is not subject to claims by a creditor of the dealer, and the dealer keeps the records of the consignment for at least four years. The figure on that statement is the one the owner should be able to support.
Alteration
50 years
How long the artist's rights run after death
The Commonwealth forbids the intentional defacement, mutilation, alteration or destruction of a work of fine art of recognized quality by anyone other than an artist who owns the work they made, and treats gross negligence as intentional. The right belongs to the artist and, after death, to the artist's heirs, legatees or personal representative, and it continues until the fiftieth anniversary of the artist's death unless waived in a signed writing identifying specific works. Whether a work is of recognized quality is decided on the opinions of artists, dealers, collectors, curators, restorers and conservators, which is the same evidence a thorough appraisal already weighs.
What clients say we are known for
Across 80+ published AppraiseItNow reviews the picture is consistent: every one is from a client who paid us for an appraisal, and the three things they raise most often are that they would hire us again, how quickly we answer, and how much research is visible in the report.
The appraisal was done very well. Since he was a local artist here in Charleston, SC, they took the time to study and review Jim Booth’s art. His work has made him extremely famous, which can make an appraisal challenging, but they did a superb job and clearly explained how they arrived at the appraisal value. I highly recommend Appraise It Now and will use them again for all my artwork.
Artwork Appraisal for Insurance Coverage
AppraiseItNow did an excellent job appraising our unique art collection. Joe was always prompt and responsive, and he and his team delivered a thorough, well-supported appraisal in just a couple of weeks, even during the holiday season. I was genuinely impressed. Thank you for the great work!
Artwork Appraisal for Insurance Coverage
AppraiseItNow was amazing! My father passed with a large volume of artwork & I had no idea what it was worth. Their team was incredibly helpful and quick to respond with text and/or email to any questions as well as a status update along the way. Highly recommend!
Artwork Appraisal for Probate
I recently requested a retroactive appraisal for fine art from AppraiseItNow. I received excellent service from intake to delivery. The appraisal was delivered on time and the content of the appraisal absolutely met my expectations!
Artwork Appraisal
From the start they were very responsive, price competitive, and had a quick turn around time. Thank you so much to Joe who was very sweet in responding to my emails; I am looking forward to utilizing AppraiseItNow for many years to come.
Very thorough and professional — great communication and outstanding service. Highly impressed with their work!
Given the USPAP-compliant nature of AppraiseItNow’s appraisal reports, we prepare our deliverables for major legal, tax, and financial reporting purposes for individual and commercial clients.
Popular uses of our appraisal reports include:
Yes, once the gross estate exceeds $2 million, a far lower threshold than the federal exclusion, and artwork counts toward it at fair market value along with business interests, jewelry, and collectibles. Because the trigger is so low, a professional art appraisal is often what determines whether a Massachusetts estate tax filing is required at all.
The personal representative must file an inventory of the decedent's property, including tangible personal property, generally within three months of appointment. The statute prescribes no valuation methodology and no dollar threshold, so a documented appraisal is the practical way to support the values reported for significant works.
By citing specific comparable sales. The IRS fair market value standard assumes a willing buyer and willing seller, both reasonably informed, and expects reports to disclose the method and the actual comparables, which we draw from auction databases such as Artnet, Artprice, and AskART along with auction house archives.
No. Auction estimates are non-binding marketing opinions designed to attract bidders, while an appraisal is a formal, documented opinion of value that can be relied on for legal, tax, and insurance purposes. Substituting an estimate where a qualified appraisal is required is a common and costly mistake.
