Susan McDonough
Postwar, Contemporary, and Emerging Art • Impressionist & Modern Art • American Art • California & Western Art • Latin American Art • Photography • Prints Practice Focus:
Insurance • Estate & Gift Tax • Donation • Litigation • Appraisal Review
Postwar, Contemporary, and Emerging Art • Impressionist & Modern Art • American Art • California & Western Art • Latin American Art • Photography • Prints Practice Focus:
Insurance • Estate & Gift Tax • Donation • Litigation • Appraisal Review
Susan McDonough AAA is a fine art appraiser and a Certified Member of the Appraisers Association of America. She is admitted in the categories of Postwar, Contemporary & Emerging Art, Impressionist & Modern Art, American Art, Latin American Art, Photography, and Prints. In 2009, she established McDonough Fine Art Appraisals LLC, which merged with Czudej LLC in 2023 to form Czudej McDonough.
As a a fine art appraiser, Susan has deep and extensive experience appraising artwork at the highest levels of the art market for insurance, donation, and tax & estate planning purposes. She is an internationally recognized expert on appraisal methodology. She lectures and publishes on the topic regularly. Susan enjoys working on complex assignments and serving as an expert witness in art-related disputes. She performs appraisal review work regularly for audit and assurance purposes.
Susan is a past member of the Appraisers Association of the Board of Directors (2014–2021) and a recipient of the Association’s Regional Service Award in 2013. She is an AQB certified USPAP instructor and currently teaches USPAP on behalf of the Appraisers Association. She also teaches the Association's Appraisal Writing Workshop for its core methodology courses and CASP program. Susan previously taught as an Adjunct Instructor at New York University's Appraisal Studies Program (2014–2017). She is a member of ArtTable and the Association of Registrars and Collection Specialists (ARCS).
An experienced editor and published writer, Susan was the Managing Editor for the Appraiser Association’s 2024 publication “Appraising Art: The Definitive Guide” and co-authored the article on “Appraisal Review”. Susan is recognized for her expertise in the valuation of site-specific and public art as well as the art of California. Her article “Public Art” was included in the 2024 Appraisers Association’s Definitive Guide and her article on “California Art” was published in the 2013 edition.
A graduate of Columbia University, New York, Susan has a B.A. in Art History and Latin American studies. She began her professional career at New York’s CDS Gallery, run by the pioneering Latin American Art dealer Clara Diament Sujo, and The Americas Society. She subsequently worked at Abbeville Press, Rizzoli, and HarperCollins prior to moving to San Francisco in 1998.
In San Francisco, Susan spent six years as the Director of Publications and Press Relations at Hackett-Freedman Gallery, where she commissioned catalogues on artists such as David Park, Louise Nevelson, and Patrick Heron, among many others. She later worked as a fine art appraiser at Montgomery Gallery, one of the premier galleries for nineteenth and twentieth century European and American art in the United States. In 2009, she established McDonough Fine Art Appraisals LLC, which merged with Czudej LLC in 2023.
Recent Insights from Susan:
The Collectors: Richard and Betty Hedreen
The Collector: Jacqueline Delubac
The Collectors: Gifford and Joann Phillips