Quality Art Appraisal by Dr. Wei Yang, an Independent Art Appraiser, Accredited Senior Appraiser of Asian Art designated by American Society of Appraisers (ASA)

CHINESE ART EXPERT WITNESS

Wei Yang has been serving as Chinese art expert witness since 2015. Dr. Yang believes that expert witnesses build on their training, skills and experience in Chinese art and appraisal, complying with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). To perform effectively as a testifying expert, she has been sharpening her skills of communication, persuasion and argument via rigorous self-training in order to serve to the best of her abilities. For the purpose of providing clear, unbiased analysis, writing solid appraisal reports and giving testimony to judges, juries, attorneys, and their clients, Dr. Yang has read extensively to obtain certain levels of knowledge and skills required for legal professionals.

Wei Yang earned a Ph.D. in Chinese art history and is an independent Chinese art historian, art appraiser and Accredited Senior Appraiser in Asian Art and Appraisal Review and Chinese art expert witness. Dr. Yang specializes in Asian Art, with a focus on Chinese art. Her research strength covers fine arts, particularly classical Chinese painting and calligraphy, ceramics, jade and decorative arts. She has served as Chinese Art expert appraiser, review appraiser, consulting expert and testifying expert Witness for litigation since 2015.

Dr. Yang brings integrity, professional training, competence in multiple fields, and impartiality to her work.

CHINESE ART FOCUS
Ph.D. in Chinese Art & Tibetan Art

Wei Yang, Ph.D., provides art expert witness services for litigation concerning Chinese art, with a concentration on classical Chinese painting and calligraphy (prior to 1949). As an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) in Asian Art with a concentration on Chinese art, Dr. Yang has prepared appraisals of most forms of Asian art and offered opinions on art authenticity and valuation for insurance and taxation litigation. As an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) in Appraisal Review and Management of Personal Property (ARM), she has identified, documented and explained errors and omissions in appraisal reports she has reviewed, ranging from irrelevant scope of work to inadequate explanation of research, flawed methodology, insufficient data selection, problematic treatment of provenance, use of unqualified comparables and unreasonable value conclusions. Her strengths are based on her expertise in Chinese aesthetics and art criticism, painting technique, visual aesthetics, and market economics. Dr. Yang has served as Chinese art appraisal expert witness, consulting expert and testifying expert witness for litigations concerning insurance damage settlements and taxation.

RECENT EXPERIENCE
-Appraisal Expert, Consulting & Testifying Expert

Art Expert: Wei Yang, Ph.D. in Chinese Art, has reviewed case files and other materials, identified issues and proposed solutions.

Appraisal Expert & Review Appraiser: Wei Yang has prepared appraisals of Asian art for insurance, capital gains, estate and income taxation, and written appraisal review reports on the credibility and USPAP-compliance of appraisals.

Consulting Expert: Wei Yang has reviewed case materials, prepared preliminary reviews and research reports, identified weaknesses in cases, analyzed opposing expert’s expertise, and assessed adequacy of appraisal methodology, accuracy of data, completeness of scope of work and reasonableness of value conclusion in light of USPAP.

Testifying Expert: Wei Yang has researched and prepared appraisal reports and rebuttal reports and offered testimony at deposition and in court

QUALIFICATIONS
-Ph.D. in Chinese Art, Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) in Asian Art & Appraisal Review and Management (ARM)

Expert in Chinese art: Wei Yang holds a B.A. (1997) in art history and M.A. degree (1998) in Asian art from Smith College (Northampton, MA); earned a Ph.D. (2005) in Chinese art and Tibetan art from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL), writing on Chinese painting and calligraphy from the 10th to 17th centuries; possesses language skills in Chinese, Japanese and Tibetan; reads a range of Chinese scripts used in classical Chinese painting, calligraphy and seal carving; has conducted extensive field trips in Asian and academic level of research on Chinese and Asian art in museums and field sites in China, Tibet, Korea, Mongolia, southeast Asia, central Asia, Europe, and North America.

Certification in Art Appraisal : Wei Yang earned a certificate of Fine Art and Decorative Arts Appraisal from Pratt Institute (NY) in 2009, a designation of Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) in Asian Art in 2010 from American Society of Appraisers, a certificate in Chinese Painting Mounting and Restoration from the Mounting and Restoration Academy (Jinan, Shandong) in 2011, and a second designation of Accredited Senior Appraiser in Appraisal Review and Management (ARM) in 2017 from American Society of Appraisers.

AUTHOR & EDUCATOR
-Writings on Chinese Art Connoisseurship and Valuation

Wei Yang published an English reference book on the connoisseurship and valuation of Chinese art, Wei Yang’s Guide to Chinese Painting and Calligraphy (2 volumes, Tianjin: Nankai University Press) in 2022; "Five Mistakes in Appraising Premodern Chinese Paintings ," ARM E-Journal 5, no. 1 (2021): 58:62; a memoir (in Chinese), Desert Bloom (Beijing: Beijing Publishing House) in 2020; is now completing two further reference books, Wei Yang’s Guide to Chinese Ceramics and Wei Yang’s Guide to Chinese Jade; worked in the education division of the Dunhuang Academy based at the Mogao Caves (Gansu, China), the largest repository of Buddhist art in the world; served as Chinese art bibliographer at the Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University; and has taught in universities and lectured to professional societies worldwide.