Last week, we talked about whether or not it’s important to insure your fine art.  The answer was a resounding yes.  The next logical question, which we’re talking about this week, is “what kinds of fine art should I insure?”  That’s a very good question and one we mean to answer here today.

Since we couldn’t readily answer that question without feeling biased, we decided to ask an insurance agent for better answer.  Thanks to insurance agent Marc Johnson of Marc Johnson Agency, we learned that you can insure any type of art you want to.  This includes everything from that toddler’s crayon drawing from last week through the most expensive original from the great masters of art.

You can insure wall art.  This includes paintings, drawings, sketches, photography, and more.  You can insure free-standing art.  This includes pottery, sculpture, glass ornamental figurines, etc.  You can also insure wearable art.  This includes jewelry.  The list of art types you can insure grows with the definitions of art.

That being said, there are, however, limits to what the insurance company will pay out for.  They certainly won’t pay for the loss of that crayon drawing.  They might not pay out for the loss of your beloved family portraits no matter how treasured or artistic you feel they are.  Insurance companies probably won’t pay individually for the loss of mass produced reproductions or cheap lithographs either.  They will have some maximum value they will pay for you to redecorate your home with.  That’s how insurance works.

Now, if you have something original or otherwise one-of-a-kind, then you might think about insuring that art.  If you have something expensive (like several zeroes after the retail price) or a member of a limited edition set, you should consider insuring it.  What kinds of art should I insure is merely a question of what you feel has enough sentimental and intrinsic value.  If said valuable item(s) were damaged or destroyed, you would suffer a hard loss.

Now that we understand why we should insure our fine art acquisitions and what kinds of acquisitions we should insure, we’ve got another question to answer.  How do I insure my art?  Next, we’ll tackle that question next week so stay tuned.