Selling inherited art and estate collections
Clearing a house or settling an estate often means deciding what to do with art you didn’t choose. Taking a little time before anything leaves the house usually pays off.
1. Take stock before anything is sold or given away
- Photograph every work front and back, with the signature, before moving anything
- Note sizes and where each work hung
- Keep receipts, gallery invoices, letters, exhibition catalogues and old appraisals together with the works
- Don’t clean, restore or remove works from frames
2. Look up the artists
Search each signature on ArtSell. Artists with recorded auction results tell you which works deserve a closer look; unknown names and decorative pictures can often be sold together.
3. Appraisal or auction estimate?
An auction estimate is a specialist’s opinion of the range a work could reasonably bring in a sale, based on comparable auction results; it is free and is meant to help you decide whether and where to sell. A formal appraisal is a signed written report, usually paid by the hour or per item, prepared for insurance, estate tax, charitable donation or division of property, and often states a different kind of value (for example replacement value for insurance).
Executors often need a formal appraisal for the estate itself and then use auction estimates to decide what to sell.
4. Selling
Single works of interest can be consigned individually; a group of lesser works can often be consigned together. Ask whether the house offers terms for a whole collection, and agree the commission, fees and reserves in writing before anything leaves the house.
Free auction estimate
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Questions
How do I find out if inherited art is valuable?
Photograph the front, signature and back, look up the artist’s auction results on ArtSell, and send photos for a free auction estimate. For tax or division of an estate you may also need a formal written appraisal.
Can I sell an entire estate collection at once?
Often yes. Auction houses regularly accept groups of works from one estate, offering the important pieces individually and the rest in group lots or online sales.
Past auction results on ArtSell are not valuations or guarantees; an estimate is an opinion of the likely auction range, and authorship is confirmed by the house before any work is offered.
More seller guides
How to sell art at auctionSell a paintingSell a printSell a sculptureHow to photograph art for an estimateAppraisal vs. auction estimateWhere to sell artArt appraisal for insurance