ABSTRACT
Appraisers fill a very important professional niche in the art business. They are the ones who give legally recognizable values for artworks in order that they can be insured, donated, taxed, or divided up in court settlement or inheritance. There are three main organizations that are recognized in the United States by the Appraisal Foundation that represent personal property appraisers. These are the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), the International Society of Appraisers (ISA), and the American Appraisers Association (AAA), and all of these organizations expect their members to remain Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP)-compliant. Appraisals have three primary purposes, and each of these have somewhat different features relative to the requirements of the purpose. Given his canonical status as one of the founders of the Pop Art movement, one would expect a well-documented piece by Robert Rauschenberg to have significant market value.
