So how do you value a plastic picnic table and a collection of used packaging otherwise known as contemporary art?
A good start is the National Association for the Visual Arts website. The NAVA site provides a sound guide to the financial aspects of the visual arts in its Advise Centre. The
Owing Australian Art section of the Advise Centre provides what could be best described as a step-by-step guide to the buying and selling of visual arts. In addition this section provide information on legal aspects of the transactions including export regulations, copyright and moral rights.
The dedicated section to the valuation of art works directs the visitors to auction houses, to professional valuers approved by the cultural gifts program and to local museums and galleries for appraisals. Although this section is brief it provides useful links within the industry.
Since first viewing NAVA site, the site has been redeveloped. The redevelopment has changed the interface to present information in a more direct manner. The new interface presents the relevant information along side links to other NAVA information related to the topic and addition links to other useful organisations. The section also lists related NAVA publications, which provide more detail information on the topic.
To gain an international perspective on the value of contemporary art the commercial website Artnet was viewed. On the surface Artnet looked to be an extensive resource however, Artnet provides only limited information to un-subscribing visitors and functions as an advertisement for subscription. Some information on the art market is supplied to un-subscribing visitors which includes the contact information for international auction houses as well as a list of upcoming auctions and list of recent results.
The magazine section of the site allows the un-subscribing visitor to view more useful information including reviews on current exhibitions and auction results. In addition to the online articles the Artnet newsletter is available. The newsletter provides a series of relevant articles on different aspects of the art market including monthly list of popular artists, reviews on the collecting artwork from different countries and reviews of major art fairs and art events.
Navigation of the Artnet site is relatively strait forward; information on different topics can be accessed by the top menu bar. Demonstrations are provided for the subscribing areas including the price database, market reports and estimate sections. The site would be far more useful as a subscribing member and could be used as a tool to aid in the valuing on contemporary art.