Emerald Art Services LLC Receives 2013 Best of Akron Award

 

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Emerald Art Services LLC Receives 2013 Best of Akron Award

 

Akron Award Program Honors the Achievement

AKRON May 13, 2013 — Emerald Art Services has been selected for the 2013 Best of Akron Award in the Photographers category by the Akron Award Program.

Each year, the Akron Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Akron area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2013 Akron Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Akron Award Program and data provided by third parties.

 

About Akron Award Program

The Akron Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Akron area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Akron Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy.

SOURCE: Akron Award Program

CONTACT:
Akron Award Program
Email: PublicRelations@awardprogram.org
URL: http://www.awardprogram.org

Check your insurance coverage…

The following is an excerpt from a blog by The Center for Art Law.

Flaum v. Great Northern Insurance Company.

Lesson: Review the policy for adequate coverage

            While insurance can protect the insured against certain losses, it is imperative to review the applicable policy and ascertain if a specific risk is actually covered by it. As illustrated by the case below, one cannot equate insurance with universal protection against all losses.

            In Flaum v. Great Northern Insurance Company, 28 Misc.3d 1042 (Sup. Ct., Westchester, 2010), Flaum, as an insured, brought an action against an insurer alleging breach of an insurance policy based on the Company’s failure to provide coverage for a painting that Flaum claimed was a forgery. The Court noted that “the language of the Valuable Article’s Coverage clearly and unambiguously state that ‘all risk of physical loss’ is covered under the terms of the policy. Here, however, plaintiffs did not sustain a physical loss. There is no dispute that the painting originally attributed to the famous French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir still hangs in [plaintiff’s] primary residence in substantially the same condition as when it was purchased.  In addition there is no claim that [this painting] has been lost, damaged or destroyed”. Id. at 1045.  It just happens to be a fake.

 

            This case clearly demonstrates that an insured should carefully review the terms of an insurance policy obtained to protect his investments, in case something believed authentic turns out to be a fake.

Emerald Art Services, LLC now offers policy reviews by art and insurances professionals to assist you in ensuring that your fine art and wine collections are covered for what YOU want them covered for.

Contact us today!

Building a collection on your own? Consider this…

Whether you are collecting jewelry, vintage cars, wine or artwork, the transition into a serious collector involves knowledge, relationships, record keeping and preservation. Can you fill all of these shoes? Good business managers surround themselves with the expertise capable of handling these daily obstacles allowing them time to focus on their long term objectives.

As the collector, KNOW your subject. Don’t let them “see you coming”(with a pocket full of money). [As I am an art collector, I will reference art terminology. I’ll let you make the connection to the items that you collect] Take the time FIRST to learn the history and artists of the style or styles that you are interested in. When I started collection Japanese swords and sword furniture I studied Japanese kanji since the majority of the reference material was written in Japanese. I did the same with the Russian language when I became interested in the Suprematist and Constructionist Art movements. Understand how and why the style or movement came about and how it developed. Know who the significant players were and their place in the hierarchy within the movement. LOOK at as much art as you can. Visit local galleries, art fairs and museums. ASK questions!

Once you know what you like (and this will change or grow as you progress), develop personal RELATIONSHIPS with curators, dealers, auction houses and other collectors. If it sounds a lot like networking…it is. These relationships can provide valuable information about artists, available works, otherwise unavailable sales values and private “want lists”.   (see “…KNOW your subject” above) The information learned from these relationships could give you an advantage and/or the ammunition to intelligently negotiate the purchase or sale of works for, or in your collection.

Protect your collection by RECORDING the details. The details of the item itself as well as the details of the purchase/sale and the history (also known as provenance) should be recorded. A good start is by using the OBJECT ID developed by the J. Paul Getty Trust in 1993. This will get you through the basics. Record the condition of the item. I don’t mean Excellent / Good / Fair / Poor. What does this really tell you? Be specific such as flaking paint, fading, rust, tears, dents, broken parts. Include any known restoration and conservation attempts and who conducted them. In addition, make sure you record all of the financials. When you bought it, how much you bought/sold it for (trade or partial trade value), who you purchased it from, who insures it and how much it is insured for. Keep up with valuations. Collectibles are a commodity like oil and soy beans. The value will go up and down over time. Appraisals on collectibles should be conducted every three to five years on average. You should also note the history or provenance of the item. This can be problematic as you do not always know or can find out who the previous owners of the item were. Go back as far as you can. I would suggest collection inventory software to assist you with this. There are many collection inventory programs out there to choose from. I found one by The Antique & Art Information Network, Inc. that includes screens for all of the above information. These are great people and have support based right here in the good ole’ USA!

As collectors, we are simply the stewards of our collections for future generations. We assume the responsibility to PROTECT the items in our care. Collection management; to include proper display, insurance, physical protection, storage and restoration/conservation is vital to ensure the value and enjoyment for years to come!

Collection Risk Management for Insurance Purposes

Risk management and insurance are two different but interrelated functions when discussing adequate collection care and protection. Protection in the context of this article will mean indemnification not physical security although care can and should, include physical security considerations.  This article is not meant to be all inclusive and should be viewed as a starting point for further discussion and observation.

 

In the insurance industry, risk is defined as the uncertainty concerning the occurrence of a loss.  Risk management includes the concepts of avoiding, preventing, and minimizing loss. You must realize insurance does not look to do anything about risk; they consider the above concepts in order to rate the risk for actuary to price out.  [To clarify, an actuary is a person who compiles and analyzes statistics and uses them to calculate insurance premiums.]  One reason insurance companies have risk departments is to assist their client’s or prospective client’s in reducing their premiums by pointing out problematic risks in the property that the client desires to insure.

 

The purpose of collection risk management is to identify those areas which, if not addressed, will leave the collector or his insurer exposed to a financial loss. The collector has a fundamental responsibility to provide safe and secure conditions and environment for all collections to be insured. This includes lighting, relative humidity, temperature, pollutants, contaminants, and other elements and factors that may affect the status and condition of any part of the collection. The care and welfare of the collection is a primary consideration in determining if and under what conditions an insurer will provide coverage.

 

The risk management process consists of 3 basic steps:

1. Identifying the risks

2. Developing risk protocols: Risk protocols are the guidelines, procedures, tools and methodologies that have been adopted for use.

3. The implementation and ongoing evaluation of protocols

    

RISKS to collections, whether the collection is fine art, wine, dolls, glass or ceramics, can overlap with the same risks the structure is subject to.  To state the obvious, exposure to water and fire are serious risks.  However, there are numerous other risks that can affect the wellbeing and insurability of your collection.  Heat will turn paper items brown and dry them out to the point of crumbling to the touch. Are you hanging your works on paper over or near a heat register or fireplace? Heat will also cause your wine collection to prematurely age and quite likely dry out the cork, leak and subsequently oxidize! Freezing will cause certain materials or supports to shrink and get brittle.  Light, particularly Sunlight will fade or discolor certain mediums used on paper as well as the dies used in the paper itself. Children and pets come with their own inherent risks, primarily breakage. However, pets also have the tendency to scratch and pee on things as well as rub up against stuff. Natural oils in the fur or hair will transfer to the items being rubbed. Remember – your pieces that are in storage must not be ignored. Roisin O’Regan, from the FTAdvisor website | Published Aug 28, 2012, wrote an interesting short article on this. 

 

Protocols must be written to address the identified risks.  Protocols should outline specific actions that need to be taken to correct any deficiencies such as;

•   Artwork hung in direct sunlight

•   Items stored near or over the furnace

•   The displaying of sculpture, glass or ceramic in an entryway

•   Artwork hung over “working” fireplaces

•   Inadequate hanging systems

•   Lack of sufficient fire and theft protection

   

These protocols need implemented and re-evaluated to ensure the risks are mitigated. Without follow-through nothing changes, your collection will still be at risk. Environments will change, structures will age, periodic re-visiting of the risks and protocols must occur to address these changes.  Your insurer may have different reasons (significant financial impact) than you for the protection of your collection, although the end result should be the protection, preservation and continued enjoyment of the collection that you spent significant time and money to assemble.

 

Collection management is an important part of accumulating an exclusive collection. Emerald Art Services, LLC works with you and your insurer to identify the risks to your collection and develop protocols to mitigate these risks to keep your possessions beautiful for years to come.

“LIKE ME” on Facebook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do You Legally Own the Artwork You Possess?

 ~ Legal Title ~

(as it pertains to works of art)

The age old adage “possession is 9/10 of the law” does not always apply when dealing with fine art or collectibles.

Legal Title is the act of having full “legal” ownership and interest in the work of art that you possess.

For years the term “due diligence” has been thrown around in the art world. The act of conducting due diligence investigations is thought to be the answer to an artworks ownership and authenticity questions. Due diligence can be defined a number of ways, here is just one of those ways… “It is the duty of the buyer to gather necessary information on actual or potential risks involved in purchasing a work of art. (brought to us by http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/due-diligence.html#ixzz239V2YwUq ) An obvious follow-up question that arises from this is: What level of diligence is “due diligence”?   As explained in Brand v. Schenectady & T.R. Co., 8. Barb. 368,378. – “Diligence is a relative term, and must be proportionate to the danger against which it is required to guard, or in State v. Scott, 34 So. 479, 481, 110, La. 369.11. –  “Due diligence, in law, means doing everything reasonable, not everything possible.”

Because of the long standing business practices in the art world, conducting due diligence prior to an art transaction is extraordinarily difficult. Buyers can rarely find the owner of the work being sold at auction or through a gallery (unless offered by the artist themselves). This information has long been considered confidential by the consignee. In an attempt to satisfy the buyer, the consignee, as part of their contract with the seller, includes a clause that the current owner has clear title to the work being sold. The inherent problem with this is that the current owner likely never had the conclusive information to swear to his own legal ownership. A vicious circle to say the least!

Art is accompanied by documentation, commonly known as provenance. Provenance; “to come from”, is the record of physical ownership of a work. Provenance is fact, not supposition and good provenance can provide critical information into the origins of the work. Provenance should not be confused with authentication although researching provenance is good start to any authentication. Furthermore, authentication should not be confused with having legal title.  You can have legal title of a copy or forgery. [I’m not discussing authentication any further here as that is a subject in and of itself]

Legal title may or may not overlap with provenance.  The art and collectible market is one of the largest, legal, global markets with over 50 billion dollars being traded in a year’s period. Art theft creates another multi-billion dollar industry each year. Theft however, is not the only means by which legal title problems are incurred. Other types of encumbrances include divorce and probate disputes, unpaid taxes, bankruptcy, creditors, and customs violations. If you thought physical ownership was hard to trace, try uncovering some of these financial disputes.  One example of this is a collector used a painting as collateral in a business transaction. The owner soon passes away leaving his estate to his daughter. The daughter offers the painting, along with other collectibles, for sale at a local auction house. As mentioned earlier, the daughter signs the statement in the consignment contract that she now has legal ownership of the property. Here is your problem as the buyer. Let’s say the provenance is good. Dad owned the painting who bought it directly from the artist 40 years ago. It was now inherited by the Daughter. Solid: Artist to the first owner…to the daughter. But who now has legal ownership of the painting? You do your “due diligence” and purchase the painting at auction only to find out later that there is a lien on the painting due to that undiscovered loan. Another example is an artist who consigned his work to a gallery that sold several pieces at a show and in turn, did not pay the artist. Again, who here has legal title the purchaser or the artist?

All being said, the procedures in place for transactions involving artwork or collectibles inherently leave the buyer at risk. You should conduct your “due diligence” not only with respect to provenance, but to legal title. And as case law suggests, I’m going to paraphrase here; do everything reasonable and proportionate to the danger against which it is required to guard.

I am not suggesting that this covers all aspects of Legal Title, Provenance or Authentication. This is simply a “heads up” to the problems that can arise in art and collectible transactions. I recommend additional reading on these subjects so you can make better, informed decisions when purchasing artwork or collectibles for your collection.

UPDATE

This was just in a news feed that I receive…

– Collectors Sue Belatedly Over Lost Rockwells: Collectors Larry Kritcher and Eve Thyrum are seeking $500,000 in punitive damages from Manhattan gallery Illustration House, which they believe stole four Norman Rockwell paintings they consigned in 1995. Strangely, the collectors didn’t seem too bothered by the missing pieces for some time: “They say they received no word about the works for 16 years, until they started calling Illustration House for updates… this year.” [Courthouse News]

If you bought one of these from Illustration House, do you have legal title?????

Estate Art Planning

Fine Art, Wine & Collectible Appraisals

Emerald Art Services

 

Emerald Art Services provides ISA and USPAP compliant personal property appraisals for Estate Planning, Obtaining Insurance, Charitable Donations, Probate, Diminished Value, Liquidation or Divorce.

 Specialties include Paintings, Prints, Ceramics, Orientalia, Collectibles, Sacred Artifacts and Wine.

Cris Drugan is an accredited appraiser with the International Society of Appraisers and has been providing appraisal services for 15 years.                                                                       

 

             

Contact Cris at 330-630-5645 or see our web site at www.emeraldartservices.com  OR Cris@emeraldartservices.com

 

 

Wine Collection Appraisals

Do you have an extensive wine collection?

 

 

 

Have you considered what you would do in the event of a catastrophic loss or other unexpected even

               

 Bottles will break…labels will float off or burn…foils will melt. How will these wines be identified? Your last chance…the cork may have limited information. Don’t count on your insurer to understand your collection the way you do. Some will…Most won’t. Your collection is a living, breathing investment. Inventory is an ongoing process…drink some…buy more… drink some more! As your inventory is a rollercoaster, so is the value. Not only quantity, but also the varietals, origin, age and market tends will effect the value.

Emerald Art Services can provide a detailed inventory, condition report and current market value of your wine collection. This can serve as the documentation of your loss when your insurer requests it. An appraisal also documents your assets should you experience any other sudden occurrence. I am an ISA accredited appraiser with over 20 years of wine retail and collecting experience. Please feel free to contact me to discuss your concerns.

Art Loss – Fraud, Theft or Damage

It’s more exciting and newsworthy to talk about theft. The FBI’s art theft program Web site states: “Art and cultural property crime – which includes theft, fraud, looting, and trafficking across state and international lines – is a looming criminal enterprise with estimated losses running as high as $6 billion annually.” It is difficult to calculate a total dollar value because a substantial number of art crimes are not reported. When it comes to actual art thefts, the reality is far less romantic than Hollywood’s version. Thefts more closely resemble shoplifting than a scene from “The Thomas Crown Affair”. “They’re usually inside jobs by staff,” said Donald Soss, vice president for personal insurance on the West Coast at Fireman’s Fund. The employee is working with someone and gives them the alarm codes. It’s not that interesting to discuss a forklift going through a painting or a tracker-trailer overturn on a freeway. In general, more losses to artwork are due to damage rather than theft or fraud.

It is estimated that near $100 million in fine art was destroyed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.  According to insurance industry art experts, a majority of the art was underinsured.  In addition, to this day, some of the smallest art galleries in New York have more money on their walls than banks do in their cash drawers, yet many still lack adequate security and insurance protection. 

When the economy began to decline in late 2007, early 2008, it was expected that insurance fraud would most likely increase. And, as the unemployment rate, the cost of gasoline and the foreclosure rates all increased, an increase in insurance fraud became a certainty. Industry studies estimate the annual cost of insurance fraud is between $85 and $120 billion, and is growing at a rate of 10% per year.  The Florida Dept. of Ins. reported an increase of 9.6% in homeowner fraud from 2008 to 2009, while South Carolina reported a 12% increase.  While this represents all homeowner fraud, theft and damage to scheduled property can make up a significant portion of the losses.    

Take for example sports memorabilia fraud. The problem may account for upwards of $500,000,000 in losses annually. The forgers used fake third-party authenticators in most cases, but in a few situations they sought out inexperienced authenticators who unknowingly approved fraudulent Certificates of authenticity (COA’s). Pricing is also fostering the forgery of what are claimed to be original items. With recent sales of;

• a 1948 Carlo Mollino (1905-1973) trestle table auctioned by Christie’s sold  for US$3.8 million
• items by Jean Prouvé (1901-1984) – a Kangaroo chair sold for US$136,800, a reading table for the Maison de l’Etudiant sold for US$556,800 and a pair of perforated metal doors for the Maison Tropicale reached US$680,000
• a Marc Newson Lockheed lounge sold for $200,000
• an Eileen Gray (1878-1976) 1923 lacquered console table sold for US$534,000 while a lacquered screen sold for US$374,000
• a 1847 Mauritius Blue stamp sold for US$3.8 million in 1993
• a $176,000 was realized for a 1905 Steiff teddy bear and $231,000 for an 1875 US tin toy

vendors can falsely assert an item’s authenticity and on occasion provide a phony provenance document or even another signed document. There is a price threshold beneath which there is little concern for provenance or forensic analysis to prove authenticity. For many buyers and insurers the cost of consultation with experts or detailed forensic examinations will often be more than the price of an item. While on the other hand, if the authenticity and accurate value are not verified, collectors and insurer’s can experience huge financial losses. 

*One reason for fraud is simply the limits of supply. Demand continues to grow but antiques are a nonrenewable resource. Supposedly around 80% of “ancient” terracotta’s smuggled from Mali since the 1980s have been fakes and some estimates suggest that around 60% of antiquities from China are of contemporary manufacture.

Mechanisms for forgery include –

• fake signatures – adding a recognized artist’s signature (often considered to be a valuable indicator of originality) to an unsigned work not executed by that artist or by deleting an existing signature in favor of one from a more recognized artist
• completing unfinished works – ‘restoring’ an incomplete work from an earlier period (with the requisite signs of age), particularly in a way that ‘improves’ it
• misrepresentation – deliberately selling a retouched work by a master’s protégé (or merely from the corresponding period) as that of the particular master
• reproduction – reproducing an original and selling that copy as the original
• pastiche – copying details from different work by a particular artist for amalgamation as an unrecorded unique work by that artist
• drafts – simulating drafts of a major work, such as an oil painting or sculpture, by concocting sketches of figures.

*the last section on fakes and mechanisms for forgery are from…

June 2008
© Bruce Arnold
caslon.com.au | caslon analytics

Significant problems found with current appraisals

An appraisal is a record of an item to prove its existence, establish its identity and communicate a value through an established methodology.

 In reviewing a number of artwork and collectible appraisals for various insurance companies across the country, the vast majority (85%) lacked the information needed to identify the work should there be a loss. Identification is, at least as important, if not more important than the value. Without proper and complete identification, value conclusions can be skewed. I’m not just talking about identifying the artist and  “title” of a piece; I’m talking about the physical description and content of the piece. Can you recreate an image of what the piece is or more often, was, from the description? Size, support, medium, genre, content and colour are all significant in correct identification and valuation.

 The insurance company exposure on improperly insured artwork, collectibles and jewelry is significant. Thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars can be lost on one claim. Insurance companies need to know what they are insuring in order for actuary to properly price their product. This starts with underwriting understanding the need for proper identification of this type of property. Underwriting guidelines usually indicate only when an appraisal is required (if an item is valued over $5,000). When dealing with artwork and collectibles to jewelry, specific requirements as to appraisal content should also be included in the guidelines. By doing this, it would also assist the claims staff in their investigation, settlement and possible recovery of missing or stolen items.

 Emerald Art Services provides consulting and appraisal services to insurance companies and private clients across the country. Visit WWW.EMERALDARTSERVICES.COM for additional details.