Art Appraisers Are Not Created Equal

Nationally prominent public and private collections, trust and estate attorneys, wealth management firms, fine art galleries and premier insurance companies have confidently relied on our uniquely transparent business model to protect fine art assets when making critical financial decisions.

​The Art Appraisal Firm was founded in 1999 with a singular vision, to provide expert objectivity at a distinguished level of diligence in an unregulated profession rife with undisclosed fees and hidden interests. The substantial risks associated with art collecting are best managed by relevantly qualified experts with deep market insight grounded in decades of experience, but only if that expert is working for you alone. ​​ Without actual or perceived conflicts, our firm operates exclusively on an hourly fee for service basis, does not accept commissions and never profits from any sale or purchase.

​​Professional Standing

Art Appraisal Firm founder, Cindy Charleston-Rosenberg brings more than thirty years of deep art market experience to the management of important collections of American art. Cindy is a past President and certified member of the International Society of Appraisers (ISA), the largest of the professional personal property appraisal organizations in the United States and Canada. She chairs ISA’s Specialty and Advanced Studies Committee, and continues to serve the appraisal profession in a variety of leadership roles. She is active in industry activities to raise awareness of the critical importance of recognized appraisal practice standards and appraiser qualification criteria, and the inherent risks in engaging less than relevantly credentialed valuation experts.

​Cindy has been recognized by Chubb as a Masterpiece Protection Network preferred provider and is affiliated with ISA's Private Client Services Group. She writes and lectures widely on due diligence standards and complex art valuation issues, and is an experienced and qualified expert witness. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Appraisal Foundation, the foremost authority on the valuation profession in the United States, authorized by Congress to set qualification criteria and practice standards.

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​​Recognized Expertise

The Art Appraisal Firm has been consulted and quoted extensively about managing the risks inherent in high-market art collecting. Read Cindy's guidance on Harvard Law’s tax blog on diligent selection criteria for valuation experts, her suggested best practices when acquiring trophy artworks in Art of The Deal, or her advice for having family heirlooms appraised in Money Magazine.

​Cindy Charleston-Rosenberg has won numerous awards for thought leadership contributions to the personal property appraisal profession. She writes, presents and lectures widely on complex appraisal practice issues. Cindy has authored chapters on Connoisseurship and Authentication for ISA's Course Manual, A Guide to Appraising Fine Art. She has been published in the Journal of Advanced Appraisal Studies and the Digital Journal of Advanced Appraisal Practice, on a diverse range of topics including best practice standards for appraisers in confirming authenticity, criteria for selection of comparative sales data, and has presented to ACTEC on how stigmatized art may complicate estate administration.

For a complete list of lectures and publications, and additional links to articles please consult the Presentations and Publications sections of Cindy's CV. 

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