(Excerpts from the article)
Mark and Haydee Allred will discuss "What's Art Worth?, An Art Appraisal Forum" from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 14, at the Insights Gallery, 516 Commercial Ave. The lecture is free and open to the public; refreshments will be served.
"Almost every household has a special ‘painting,' " said Mark, but often those turn out to be prints or
copies, not an original or significant work. He and Haydee are trained to spot the real from the faux and they do that often, and fairly inexpensively, for families. A typical initial query on an item can often cost less than $100.
"You don't always need an appraisal, which is an expensive legal document", he said.
The Allreds, who picked Anacortes as a base of operations about three years ago, work out of their home office. They carry a large library of research material, in book form and computer-based, and have links to research throughout the world, Haydee said.
In fact, the couple are pure historians, immersed in research about fine art and antiques and members of the International Society of Appraisers. Most of their work is in Seattle and Bellevue, but they have been called out to examine items north to Blaine and south to Olympia.
One curious fact is the lack of historical information on Northwest artists, which Mark finds a fascinating puzzle.
"There are a lot of regional artists, but they don't have books written about them. We go to the Museum of Northwest Art, the library, the art dealer ... to find the information," Mark said.