Scottsdale has one of the most serious art markets in the Southwest. The galleries along Main Street and Marshall Way, the Thursday art walks, the Western art auctions and the collectors who built homes in Paradise Valley, Gainey Ranch, DC Ranch, Troon and Silverleaf have been buying for fifty years. That means a lot of real value hanging in private homes, much of it bought at the gallery, insured once and never looked at again.
Scottsdale and Paradise Valley are a few minutes from my Phoenix base and a regular part of my work. Two of my recent reports are Scottsdale stories: a 64-item fine art collection documented for a family's estate planning, and a torn 19th century painting valued for a moving company's claims department after an interstate move. Different jobs, same requirement: a number with evidence behind it.
What Scottsdale and Paradise Valley collections look like
The art here skews toward what the local galleries sell well: Western and Southwestern painting and sculpture, Cowboy Artists of America members and their circle, contemporary Southwestern work, and Native American jewelry, pottery and weavings at the high end. Alongside it sits what collectors brought with them or bought on travels: American and European paintings, modern and contemporary works, sculpture, fine furniture, silver and significant jewelry. Paradise Valley homes in particular tend to hold collections assembled over decades with real intent.
The same homes also hold things that are worth less than their owners paid at a gallery twenty years ago. A good appraisal tells you both, and I'd rather you hear it from me than from an auction result.
Insurance schedules that need updating
Scottsdale and Paradise Valley collectors are usually well insured, but the schedules are often old. Markets for Western art, Native American material and contemporary work have moved a great deal, up for some artists and down for others. An appraisal from 2010 can leave you badly underinsured on one wall and overpaying on another. I prepare replacement value schedules that bring the whole collection current, in a format your agent can use the day it arrives.
Estates, sales and family decisions
When a Scottsdale or Paradise Valley collector passes, the family often faces a houseful of art they didn't choose and can't easily value. I document the collection, provide date-of-death fair market values for the attorney and the estate, and tell the family plainly which pieces belong at a national auction house, which belong with a Scottsdale gallery, which would do well at a regional sale and which are worth more to the family than to the market. I don't buy or sell what I appraise, so the advice is straight.
Moving, damage and loss
A great deal of fine art moves in and out of these zip codes every year, and some of it gets hurt on the way. I prepare damage and loss reports with the three numbers a claim needs: pre-damage replacement value, restoration cost and diminution in value after restoration, supported by comparable sales. Owners, moving companies and insurers all retain me for this, and the method is the same whoever calls.
How I work in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley
I'm based in Phoenix, so I'm at your door in minutes, not days. Collections, estates and insurance schedules are done in the home. For a single piece, photographs through the form are usually enough to start. I reply within one business day, quote the whole job up front and deliver a signed report prepared to USPAP standards. Discretion is part of the job. Nobody on the street needs to know an appraiser visited.
I also cover Fountain Hills, Cave Creek, Carefree and North Scottsdale on the same basis.