Maria Edwards, Founder and Principal Appraiser of Capital Art Group LLC, is an accredited Senior Appraiser of the American Society of Appraisers (designation in Fine Art) and an accredited member of the International Society of Appraisers (designations in Fine Art, Antiques&Decorative Arts). Her area of expertise covers Modern and Contemporary European, American, and Russian Fine art, including paintings, sculpture, and prints. She is experienced in preparing appraisals for the purposes of insurance scheduling, estate planning and taxes, charitable contributions, equitable distribution, and has particular expertise in the valuation of damaged artworks.
Ms. Edwards has a background in art history and held positions in the auction, advisory, museum, and appraisal side of the art business. She works with private individuals and corporate clients, including estate attorneys, wealth managers, museums, insurance companies, and galleries and has appraised collections of various sizes with works of art ranging from modest to blue-chip.
Maria Edwards holds a Master’s Degree and ABD in Art History from Stony Book University and received her appraisal training through the American Society of Appraisers. Prior to establishing Capital Art Group, Ms. Edwards was the principal fine art appraiser and advisor at an established New York appraisal firm where she worked with clients, collections, and assignments of various sizes and complexities. In her role, Ms. Edwards appraised thousands of artworks and was instrumental in managing and growing the firm’s fine art appraisal department.
Ms. Edwards gained art advisory experience at a New York based advisory firm focused on Contemporary and Emerging art. In addition to preparing fine art appraisals for the firm’s clients, Maria managed several high-net worth private collections, surveyed major international art fairs and curated selections for clients, organized artwork transportation, and oversaw installation and conservation work. Previously, Ms. Edwards served as a cataloguer of Modern and Contemporary art at a small New York based auction house. In addition to assigning pre-auction estimates and conducting artist and market research, Maria worked closely with the gallery director on inspections, on-site visits, and exhibition design, and assisted with clerking on the auction floor.
Ms. Edwards pivoted to the art business after several years of teaching art history track courses at the undergraduate level, following her graduate career in the PhD track in art history at Stony Brook University, where Maria was the recipient of a full academic merit-based scholarship. Maria’s studies spanned European and American fine art from the 18th century to the contemporary period, with a special focus on Russian art. In addition to her formal and appraisal eduction, Ms. Edwards has participated in various job-related training programs including the post-graduate program in Art and Cultural Heritage Crime (ARCA) in Amelia, Italy, the Russian Museums and Museology program in St. Petersburg, Russia. She has attended continuing education courses at New York University and at NODE Center for Curatorial Studies, Berlin on topics of art conservation, provenance research, collection management, art handling and transportation, project management, and others. She also held an internship at the Katonah Museum of Art, where she floated between departments, assisting full-time staff with curatorial research, patron outreach, and the development of education programs based on current exhibitions.
Maria Edwards is fluent in several European languages, including Bulgarian, Russian, and Italian, and conversant in French. She is a member of Art Table and has been Treasurer of the New York Chapter of the American Society of Appraisers since 2019. Ms. Edwards is the current President of the New York City Chapter of the American Society of Appraisers (2022-2023 term).