4:00pm - 7:00pm

Registration/Check-In

5:30pm - 7:00pm

Welcome Reception

7:00am - 8:00am

Breakfast

8:00am - 8:15am

Welcome & Opening Remarks

8:15am - 9:15am

Early Houston Families Who Changed the Global Museum Map

9:15am - 10:00am

Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Elizabeth Essner | Windgate Foundation Associate Curator of Craft | Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Born in Hawai‘i to parents of Okinawan heritage, artist Toshiko Takaezu’s (1922-2011) profound impact on American art continues to resonate today. Renowned for her work in clay, Takaezu embraced a hybrid practice that included weaving, bronze casting, and painting on canvas, producing the same spontaneous gestures in acrylic that she achieved in ceramic glaze. In this lecture, Elizabeth Essner will delve into the artist’s life and work in Toshiko Takaezu: World’s Within, the first traveling retrospective of the artist in twenty years. She will also discuss how Takaezu’s work fits within MFAH’s distinguished craft collection.

10:00am - 10:30am

Toshiko Takaezu: A Booming Market
Peter Held, ASA | Peter Held Art Appraisals & Associates, LLC

Toshiko Takaezu (1922-2011) is an internationally recognized artist known for her distinctive style with an emphasis on sense of self and personal expression. In the last decade her ceramic art has been reevaluated with a growing market for her work which has dramatically increased. This presentation will review both the gallery and auction markets and her differing forms and glazes that affect values.

10:30am - 10:40am

Break

Morning Panel: Asian Markets

10:40am - 11:30am

Case Study: Donation of an Important Imperial Chinese Screen in the MFAH
Lark E. Mason | President/CEO | Lark Mason Associates

The appraisal of works of art often requires tenacity and creativity in coaxing out information about an object. Surprising outcomes are not uncommon. Lark Mason shares his experience with a case-study of saving a masterwork that teetered on the brink of obscurity. Join us for this fascinating discussion.

11:30am - 12:20pm

Market Focus: Contemporary Chinese, Korean Art & Japanese Art
Lark Mason, III | Marketing & Operations Manager | Lark Mason Associates

12:30pm - 1:30pm

Lunch & Learn
Harvesting History A Look at African American Archives
Genice Lee, ASA | Sr. Appraiser | Harvest Estate & Appraisal Services

In this presentation, we will revisit the critical details to consider when accessing African American archives. Our discussion will include an insightful case study that highlights the complexities and nuances involved in this research.

1:30pm - 2:20pm

Market Changes from an Art Advisors Perspective: Art Basel, NY, and Contemporary Art
Melissa Grobmyer | President | MKG Art Management

Afternoon Panel: Prints, Photography, Books & Manuscripts

2:20pm - 3:20pm

Originals: The Appeal and Market of Illustration Art
Sarahjane Blum | Director of Illustration | Heritage Auctions

Touching on familiar names like Norman Rockwell and Dean Cornwell, as well as artists who are less known to those outside of the Illustration Art community, this talk will provide an overview into the popular, growing collecting field. The interest in the original images used to create the movie posters, paperback and magazine covers, advertising and more that make up the visual language of our culture continues to grow. This talk will help provide insights into how to research original illustration as well as offer an overview of this exciting market.

3:20pm - 3:30pm

Break

3:30pm - 4:30pm

Photography Market Trends – What’s Hot and What’s Not
Deborah Rogal | Director, Photographs Department | Swann Galleries

The photography market has become a fast-paced environment of auctions, fairs, and gallery shows, and like many mediums the headlines over the last year have focused on softening sales. But, a deeper look reveals areas of strength and dynamism, notably at entry level price points. Recent trends in sales, changes in the market post-Covid, and reconsiderations of the medium all allow a deeper look at selling trends.

4:30pm - 5:30pm

Books & Historical Documents, Oh My!
Darren Winston | Senior VP, Head of Department, Books and Manuscripts, Philadelphia | Freeman's|Hindman

How to prepare yourself to work in a discipline you may know nothing about. Knowing who to call--and when--and how a deep bench may be the secret to your success.

5:30pm

Enjoy the evening on your own to explore The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The Museum is located directly across from Hotel ZaZa, is open late and is free on Thursdays.

7:15am - 8:15am

Breakfast

Morning Panel: Auction Markets: Insights & Resources for Appraisers

8:15am - 9:15am

Bananas! A Survey of the Recent Contemporary Art Market
Alasdair Nichol | Executive Vice President, Deputy Chairman | Freeman’s|Hindman

Learn how Covid led to a dramatic shift within the auctioneering industry specifically relating to the Fine Art market. We'll examine its impact, and the emerging trends and economic fluctuations that we have witnessed in recent years.

9:15am - 10:15am

American Art and Market Trends: A Study of the Past Ten Years at Auction
Raphael Chatroux | Vice President, Head of Department, Impressionist and Modern Art | Freeman's|Hindman

10:15am - 10:30am

Break

10:30am - 11:30am

From Niche to Global: How 20th Century Design Has Evolved Over the Past 20 Years
Carolyn Pastel, AAA | Pastel Advisory, LLC

Discussion of trends in 20th Century Design from Tiffany Studios to Les Lalannes. How the category blurred the boundary between furniture and art and evolved into a major collecting category.

11:30am - 12:00pm

Auction House Round Table Q&A

12:30pm - 1:30pm

Lunch & Learn
You're Wearing That? A Look at Current Trends in Menswear Sales on the Secondary Market
Deborah Miller, ASA | Owner | Deborah Miller Appraisals, LLC

Using the Metropolitan Museum of Art's upcoming exhibition "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" as a jumping off point, we will examine what is selling at auction and why as well as trends in the private marketplace for menswear.

Afternoon Panel: Latin American, Southwest & Contemporary Native American Markets

1:30pm - 3:10pm

Desde la Tierra: SouthWest Art | Modern and Contemporary Indigenous Art
Scott W. Hale, WSET2, ISA, AM | Principal | South West Art Advisory

Desde la Tierra is a two part presentation; the first half focuses on the art of what was historically the “Spanish Northern Frontier”, investigating the influences of Indigenous, Latin, and Western creators, culminating in multiple and distinct “SouthWest” artforms. The second half focuses on Modern to Contemporary Indigenous art, from 19th Century Ledger art to 21st Century ultra contemporary art.

3:10pm - 3:25pm

Break

3:25pm - 4:15pm

Market Focus: Latin American Art
Allison Armstrong Ayers | Partner, Director | Sicardi Ayers Bacino

5:15pm - 7:30pm

Private Art Collection Visit and Reception
Bus transportation provided.

8:00am - 8:30am

Breakfast

8:30am - 11:00am

Appraisers as Expert Witnesses

Tour 1: Decorative Arts
Bus Departs Hotel ZaZa at 12pm.

Bayou Bend & Rienzi at MFAH
$90 includes transportation, docent tours and 3 hours of CE credit

Join us for docent led tours of the MFAH’s famed Bayou Bend and Rienzi house museums and gardens.

Bayou Bend Collection and Garden, designed by architect John Staub, is the former home of Houston philanthropist Ima Hogg. Ms. Hogg competed with her contemporary rival, Henry du Pont, to acquire the finest examples of American decorative arts. The collection showcases approximately 4,700 objects from 1620 to 1876 installed, much like at Winterthur, in some 28 period room settings.

Rienzi is the MFAH house museum for European decorative arts. Originally the home of arts patrons Carroll Sterling Masterson and Harris Masterson III, Rienzi comprises a remarkable art collection, house, and gardens. For more than 40 years, the Mastersons collected European decorative arts, paintings, furnishings, and porcelain made from the 17th to mid-19th centuries.

Tour 2: Fine Arts
Walkable or Transportation on Your Own.

The Menil Collection
No charge, no CE credit offered (visitor guide & map provided)

Enjoy an afternoon on your own to explore the Menil, a collection of art buildings and green spaces nestled within a residential neighborhood in Houston’s Museum District, just 1 mile from Hotel ZaZa. ning the prehistoric era to the present day, the Menil’s holdings, now over 20,000 works, grew out of personal and intellectual passions rather than encyclopedic ambitions. The heart of the collection is comprised of artworks and objects gathered by founders and human rights activists, John and Dominique de Menil, who left Nazi-occupied France in 1941 and settled in Houston.

Enjoy free access to Menil’s main museum building, Drawing Institute, Cy Twombly Gallery, Dan Flavin Installation at Richmond Hall and Fresco Building and the Rothko Chapel’s Welcome House. And don’t miss the neighborhood and green spaces, punctuated with outdoor sculpture by a variety of artists. Enjoy lunch on your own at the Bistro Menil and time permitting, the Sicardi Gallery is just two blocks away.