Art Appraisal Day

South Street Gallery will once again offer its "Art Appraisal Day" Saturday, December 10, 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Hingham resident Arthur Garrity, a professional fine art appraiser, will offer verbal appraisals at the Gallery. Etchings, prints or original oil or watercolor paintings may be submitted for review. There is a fee of $10 per appraisal, or $25 for three appraisals, with all of the proceeds being donated to the Salvation Army. There is a limit of three items per customer per visit. Garrity notes, "In the past, artwork has always been a hedge against inflation. Many wealthy families that once lost their fortunes during the Depression, for example, but held on to their art collections, were able to rebound by selling their artwork years later."
Garrity is nationally recognized for his art research and appraisal work. Museums, individuals, corporations, and attorneys have utilized his services. To aid him in these endeavors he draws on his art reference library of approximately 4,000 volumes on artist and art history.
Active in the collecting field of American and European art and antiques for more than 25 years, Garrity first began collecting art while a high school student in his native Salem, MA. Today, he lectures on collecting, collection development, and investment portfolio diversification to include tangible assets. He does appraisals throughout the country, working with a network of attorneys, corporations, museums, banks and individuals, and aiding in estate liquidation, authentication, conservation, proper framing of artwork and on occasion, representing clients at auctions by buying or acting as sales agent.
Some of the artists that he has handled include Childe Hassam, John Singer Sargent, Irving Wiles, William M. Chase, Winslow Homer, and Abbott Graves, to name a few. He was the driving force behind the opening exhibition of paintings at the Hingham Library, "Past Hingham Artists," and collaborated on a recent book, "A Charmed Couple: The Life and Art of Walter and Matilda Gay," written by Bill Rieder.
Kate Sotolova, Manager of the South Street Gallery, said, "This is an excellent opportunity for people to get a professional evaluation of art that may have been in their household or family for years. Individuals may wish to know this information for any number of reasons, whether they want to sell, insure, or just for their own knowledge."