Have you recently inherited or purchased some Asian art and want to know its value? Mearto provides quick and affordable online appraisals of Asian art. All you have to do is click on the “Start Appraisal” button above and follow the steps to send us information about and images of your Asian artwork. One of our qualified and experienced specialists will review and get back to you with a fair market and insurance value, typically within 48 hours. Have questions about the valuation provided, or would you like some advice about selling your Asian art? We are here to help! Our platform allows you to chat back and forth with a specialist to ensure that all of your questions are answered. 

What can be considered Asian art?

The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, California says, “Asia is not one place. The ideas and ideals that we call Asian are countless and diverse.”

Asian art includes all of the items that have ever been created on the world’s largest (and most populous) continent. It is typically broken down by region, or by country. The most common subcategories include:

• South Asia - India & Pakistan
• West Asia - Afghanistan, Turkey, Iran, Uzbekistan & Iraq
• Southeast Asia - Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines & Vietnam
• The Himalayas - Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia & Bhutan
• China
• Korea
• Japan

Broadly speaking, any item that originally hails from one of these countries or regions, regardless of its age, could be considered Asian art.

Who are some famous Asian artists?

A partial list of famous Asian artists from the Benezit Dictionary of Artists, published by Oxford Art Online, can be found below. Mearto’s expert appraisers can evaluate works by these artists and many more:

• Ai Weiwei: Chinese conceptual artist, curator and architect
• Amrita Sher-Gil: Hungarian-Indian painter
• Andō Hiroshige: Japanese painter and printmaker
• An-My Lê: Vietnamese-American photographer
• Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook: Thai printmaker, installation artist, teacher and writer
• Basawan: Indian miniature painter.
• Bhupen Khakhar: Indian painter
• Chen Hongshou: Chinese painter, calligrapher and designer of woodblock-prints
• Dong Qichang: Chinese painter, calligrapher, connoisseur, theoretician, collector and high official
• Fu Baoshi: Chinese painter and art historian
• Fujiwara family: Japanese family of Courtiers, regents (sesshō, kanpaku) and artists
• Govardhan: Indian miniature painter
• Guo Xi: Chinese painter and theorist
• Han Gan: Chinese painter
• Hon’ami family: Japanese family of artists
• Imran Qureshi: Pakistani painter
• Jōchō: Japanese sculptor
• Kanō family: Japanese family of painters
• Katsukawa: Name used by members of a school of Japanese woodblock print designers
• Katsushika Hokusai: Japanese painter, draughtsman and printmaker
• Lee Bul: Korean mixed media and performance artist

• Ogata family: Japanese family of artists
• On Kawara: Japanese painter, draughtsman, and conceptual artist
• Qi Baishi: Chinese painter
• Qian Xuan: Chinese painter
• Sadequain: Pakistani painter
• Shen Zhou: Chinese painter, calligrapher and poet
• Shitao (Daoji): Chinese painter and calligrapher
• Tawaraya Sōtatsu: Japanese painter
• Torii : Name used by members of a school of Japanese woodblock print designers and book illustrators
• Tōyō Sesshū: Japanese Zen monk and painter
• Tsugouharu Foujita: Japanese-French painter
• Utagawa: Name used by members of a school of Japanese painters, woodblock print designers and book illustrators
• Wen Zhengming: Chinese painter and calligrapher
• Xu Beihong: Chinese painter and art educator
• Yayoi Kusama: Japanese painter, sculptor, poet, writer, printmaker, installation, and performance artist
• Zao Wou-Ki: Chinese-French painter, draughtsman, and printmaker
• Zhang Daqian: Chinese painter, calligrapher, collector and forger
• Zhao family: Chinese family of artists

How is the authenticity and age of Asian art determined?

We have several specialized experts in Asian art on our team at Mearto that have spent years learning how to spot the difference between a genuine work of art and a forgery or reproduction. In most cases, a trained eye is all that is needed. However, there are some works that cannot be authenticated from photographs alone. In this case, we recommend that you connect with an appraiser or an auction house in your area for further review. Comparative analysis, provenance research and scientific testing of the item’s materials can reveal its authenticity and age, which can have a major impact on value.

Do you have a beautiful work of Asian art and want to know what it’s worth?

The history of Asian, or Eastern, art spans several thousands of years and many different countries, including China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, India, Tibet, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. We see many fine examples of furniture and decorative Asian art every day at Mearto. Antique tapestries and scrolls with Asian calligraphy are also quite popular.

Items such as jade, ivory, bronze and ceramic, as well as traditional painted screens and woodblock prints have been exported to the West for many centuries. However, in recent years, there has been a surge of Asian buyers in the marketplace that want to purchase and repatriate their cultural heritage. According to a recent report from UBS and Art Basel, China is the third largest art market worldwide, after the US and the UK. Last year, 20th Century Chinese ink painter, Daqian Zhang generated $31 million more in auction sales than Pablo Picasso.

Contemporary Asian art is also having a moment, thanks in part to the increasing engagement of millennial collectors and an explosion of art fairs and biennales in Asia. Works by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama have sold for millions and there are hundreds of rising stars in this genre.

Whether your item is old or new, it is important to have regular valuations of your Asian art.  In case you decide to sell your items, our expert appraisers determine the current fair market value of your Asian art by comparing it to similar works that have sold at international auctions in recent months. Appraisals of Asian art are also influenced by the authenticity, age, rarity and condition of each item.