Susan McDonough HeadshotSusan is a Certified Member of the Appraisers Association of America, admitted in the categories of Postwar, Contemporary & Emerging Art, Impressionist & Modern Art, American Art, Western Art, Photography, and Prints. She has over twenty years of work experience in the visual arts, and over thirteen years of experience appraising 19th, 20th, and 21st century art across all media. 

Susan has successfully completed the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) examination, the Congressionally-recognized set of appraisal standards promulgated by The Appraisal Foundation, and is currently compliant. She is a past member of the Board of Directors (2014–2021) of the Appraisers Association of America and currently teaches in the Association’s Comprehensive Appraisal Studies Program (CASP).

A graduate of Columbia University, New York, Susan majored in Art History and Latin American Studies and received a Certificate in Appraisal Studies in Fine and Decorative Arts from New York University. She began her career as a curatorial assistant at The Americas Society, New York, working on the exhibition and publication “Latin American Art of the Twentieth Century,” sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art. She also worked at New York’s CDS Gallery; was the assistant managing editor of The Journal of Art, which was founded and edited by the influential curator Barbara Rose; and later worked as a press relations associate at William Doyle Galleries, New York. 

As Director of Publications & Press Relations at Hackett-Freedman Gallery in San Francisco, Susan managed all external communications and publications and helped establish Hackett-Freedman’s reputation as one of the leading private dealers of 20th century American Modernism and Postwar & Contemporary Art in the United States. 

From 2010 to 2014, Susan was a consulting appraiser at Montgomery Galleries in San Francisco, an internationally-recognized dealer specializing in 19th and 20th century European and American painting. At Montgomery, Susan appraised 19th and early 20th century American and European works of art for insurance and tax purposes. During her time at Hackett-Freedman and Montgomery, Susan actively participated in art fairs such as Art Basel | Miami Beach, Art Miami, and TEFAF Maastricht.

Susan is an experienced editor and published writer via her work at Abbeville Press, Rizzoli, Hackett-Freedman Gallery, and HarperCollins. She was the managing editor of Our Times, a critically acclaimed, 720-page illustrated encyclopedia of the 20th century conceived by the celebrated designers Milton Glaser and Walter Bernard. She has written numerous articles and edited monographs and exhibition catalogues on a wide variety of art and artists. 

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