Q & A with ‘Appraising Fine Arts Overview’ Instructor Lela Hersh, ASA

The American Society of Appraisers (ASA) is providing the opportunity to take its “Appraising Fine Arts Overview” course on Oct. 12 – 13, 2019 at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Lela Hersh, ASA, the course developer and instructor, agreed to answer a few questions about the course.

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Lela Hersh, ASA, is President of Museum of Fine Arts Consulting, LLC, and an Accredited Senior Appraiser with a specialty in Fine Arts and Fine Arts Photography. Currently she serves as the ASA Personal Property Discipline Governor. For more than 35 years, Lela has worked as a curator, art advisor, collection manager and museum consultant.

Lela’s academic record includes an M.F.A. in Photography from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (1983), B.A. from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque (1981), and B.S. from Old Dominion University, Norfolk (1977). She is a graduate of the Museum Management Institute (now Museum Leadership Institute), the executive development program of the Getty Leadership Institute (1991). Lela also received a Certificate of Appraisal Studies in Fine and Decorative Arts, Northwestern University, Chicago (2007). She is the past President of the ASA Chicago Chapter (2014-2015) and past Chair of the ASA Personal Property Discipline Committee (2017-2019).

ASA: Please tell us about the “Appraising Fine Art Overview” course

Lela Hersh: “The course will provide participants with an overview of the necessary steps in the inspection and research processes. Participants will learn museum-standards in cataloguing, with pros and cons of various research tools, and the different way value is developed depending on intended users and uses.

It will be a wide-ranging overview, and we’ll be exploring a lot of related topics such as tax law, forgery detection, and market influences. We’ll also take some deep dives into important topics like documentation, key characteristics of value, and matching methodologies with diverse contexts.”

ASA: Please tell us a little about the Huntington Library

Lela Hersh: “The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, located about 12 miles from Los Angeles has a renowned collection of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, maps, paintings, prints, sculpture and decorative arts.”

SEE ALSO: Opportunity to Explore Personal Property Appraising Coursework at the Spectacular Huntington Library

ASA: Who would benefit from taking this course?

Lela Hersh: “Anyone interested in fine arts appraising or who wants to develop a better understanding how value is developed would gain from this course. Whether you’re a seasoned professional, an aspiring appraiser, or in an allied professional, this course will provide you with a comprehensive look at fine art appraising.” 

ASA: What’s unique about this course?

Lela Hersh: “I will provide vivid, real-world examples and in-depth observations from my experiences as an appraiser, museum professional and collection manager. It is also designed to reach individuals with a variety of levels of experience and education.”

For more information and to register please click here.