Is it worth getting art appraised?

Yes, getting art appraised is worth it whenever you need a value that will hold up for insurance, an estate, a tax deduction, or a legal proceeding, and less necessary if you only want a rough idea of resale value.

A formal appraisal produces a written, defensible document that insurers, the IRS, courts, and institutions can rely on, which a casual estimate cannot provide. If your painting or sculpture is heading into any of these situations, an appraisal is generally worth the cost:

• Insurance coverage or a claim, where you need documented condition, provenance, and replacement value.
• Estate or probate matters, where fair market value must be established for a New York estate tax filing or Surrogate's Court proceeding.
• Charitable donation, where the IRS requires a qualified appraisal to support the deduction.
• Divorce or equitable distribution, where an independent, defensible value protects both parties.

If you simply want a ballpark sense of what a piece might fetch at auction, a dealer or auction house opinion (often free) may be all you need. That kind of estimate isn't backed by the documentation and standards a formal report provides, so it won't hold up if the IRS, an insurer, or a court asks questions later.

Before commissioning a full appraisal, it's worth checking whether the piece even warrants one. See our guide on how to get a painting appraised for free for lower-cost ways to gauge value first. If the artwork is significant enough to matter for insurance, an estate, or a donation, Park Ave Art Appraisal Services prepares USPAP-compliant valuations of paintings, sculpture, and fine art collections for New York collectors, estates, and institutions.