Valuation process

The FARO website presents the basic standards of a valuation process in the form of a diagram. These standards offer a guideline, mainly for museums and heritage bodies, for high-quality valuation and long-term heritage activities. Additionally, FARO brought the basic standards together in the manual 'Kwaliteitsvol Waarderingstraject: Basisnormen' in 2017. You can also use the different steps explained in this guide in a valuation process for a legacy.

On this page

1. Needs
2. Stakeholders
3. Criteria
4. Gather information
5. Scoring the values
6. Valuation

Needs

You need to begin by establishing the need and motive for the valuation process. For this, you will need to answer the following questions: ‘why do you want to value the artistic legacy?’ and ‘What do you want to value?’ As well as establishing the reasons for wanting to undertake this process, you will also think about the part of the legacy that you want to value. Are you conducting the valuation process on the entire legacy, the archive, the oeuvre, or on certain works of art or archival documents? The answer will affect your working process.

Having a focused, final goal for your valuation process makes it possible to keep track of the entire process. Moreover, this helps to determine which method you choose for the process, and the result will be linked to the valuation report.

TIP: Sketch the outlines of the context in which you are valuing the legacy. Why is it going to be valued? From what perspective? Who will be conducting the valuation? What are you going to value? How are you going to value it? Which tool are you going to use?

TIP: Think hard about the people you want to involve in this valuation process and why. Consider each person’s specific expertise or their particular connection to the artistic legacy or the artist. For a successful valuation, it is important for the participants to have sufficient information about the aspect that is being valued and the criteria on which the valuation will be based.

Stakeholders

The second step is to consider whom you want to involve in the valuation process. For example, you can set up a sounding board made up of staff and (external) partners who could be involved in the process. This offers objective substantiation for the content of the valuation and gives it a broad support base. You might also want to appoint a process manager (coordinator) and put together a core team that will have final responsibility for the different criteria (components) in the process.

Criteria

Before you embark on the valuation process, you need to establish the criteria. The criteria will depend on the method you choose for the process. Justify and define the criteria so that they are clear to the person involved and everyone understands them.

Gather information

An important element of conducting a valuation process is to gather enough information about the component you are going to value, about the artist and about the legacy. Before you can determine value, you need knowledge and insight into the materials, environment and context of what you are valuing. If you do not have the required knowledge, you must be able to gather it during your valuation process.

Sufficient knowledge of the legacy and artist will help you to allocate the correct heritage values, make choices and justify decisions.

Scoring the values

Once you have clearly established what you are going to value, decided what the criteria are, and created the sounding board group, you can begin the valuation process. In this process, you will use the criteria to allocate certain values to the artistic legacy. The value can be expressed as a score, a statement of significance or a subdivision of the collection into different categories.

Valuation

You incorporate the results of a valuation process into a report structured as follows: statement of intent, process and statement of significance or conclusion. This serves as a starting point for taking further steps and decisions for the long-term preservation and management of the legacy. Based on this report, it is also possible to justify this work and to set priorities.

It is a good idea to include the following in a valuation report:

A statement of intent: explain why you = embarked upon the valuation process.
Process: explain which tool was used for the valuation process, outline the methodology and justify which values (including heritage values) and criteria were allocated to the artistic legacy.
A summarising statement of significance or conclusion: a declaration of why it is important to preserve the artistic legacy.

The valuation process and report can be used as a basis for taking further steps for the artistic legacy. The allocated values and support base within the cultural field help to determine how you will treat the legacy and how you will develop an estate (now or in the future).

Moment of expertise artistic legacy of artist duo Jadran Sturm & Åsa Lie. Photo: Jadran Sturm & Åsa Lie Private Foundation (2024).

Artistic legacy of artist duo Jadran Sturm & Åsa Lie:

For the pilot project on the artistic legacy of the artist duo Jadran Sturm & Åsa Lie, the CKV brought together various experts from the sector to discuss the legacy. After a short introduction and a look at the legacy, we reflected together on the key works selected and the steps that had already been taken in the pilot project. The experts shared valuable new insights that helped to determine the direction the remainder of the project would take.

Would you like to get started with valuing your artistic legacy? The CKV is here to support you! You are welcome to contact us for more information and to find out how we can support you in this process.

Interested to read more? Go to the next topic: Managing your legacy.

Useful sources:

01

FARO. (z.d.). Welke waarderingsmethodes zijn er?. Consulted on 4 april 2025, at https://faro.be/kennis/collectiemanagement/wat-is-waarderen/welke-waarderingsmethodes-zijn-er. (Only available in Dutch)
02

FARO. Vlaams steunpunt voor cultureel erfgoed vzw. (2017). Kwaliteitsvol waarderingstraject: basisnormen. Consulted on 4 april 2025, at https://faro.be/sites/default/files/bijlagen/e-documenten/waarderen_0.pdf. (Only available in Dutch)