Principal, Erica Claus & Associates Appraisals

Erica Claus & Associates Appraisals

Established in Ottawa in 2012, my firm is defined by professionalism, integrity, confidentiality, accuracy and timeliness. Training in conflict resolution complements the appraisal practice and helps us assist clients with sensitivity.

Services include fair market value for charitale donations or resale, market value advisory services, resale brokering, insurance replacement value, estate settlement, equitable distribution, expert opinion and consultation, authentication and conservation advisory services, downsizing and disposition, collections management, pricing strategy for artists.

Clients include individuals, executors, legal firms, insurers, museums, galleries, libraries, archives, public institutions, associations and governments.

Erica Claus received Accreditation Member status (ISA AM) from the International Society of Appraisers in 2012, signifying that she satisfies Member level requirements and demonstrates knowledge in her field through education and specialty expert work (art, Indigenous and Inuit art, decorative arts and ethnology).  

Erica has lived in Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Madras and Berlin, and has travelled around the world, consulting museums and galleries as well as attending international art fairs, courses and conferences.

She is trilingual (English, French, German), with rudimentary Tamil, and is available for speaking engagements and travel. 

Career

Erica Claus was appointed Secretary to the prestigious Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board in 2008 and served three years reviewing 3,000 appraisals for cultural property of outstanding significance and national importance being donated to institutions in Canada. Prior to this she served as Head of the Cultural, Academic Relations and Public Affairs Section of the Embassy of Canada in Berlin (2005-2008).  She has held numerous positions in culture, arts and heritage over a thirty year career in the public sector, working with cultural institutions across Canada and internationally prior to joining the private sector.  

Signature Area of Expertise: Norval Morrisseau and the Woodland School

I have conducted extensive research on the oeuvre of the foundational Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau (“Grandfather of contemporary Indigenous art”) and the Woodland School. I analysed and appraised over  160 art works and cultural objects by Morrisseau. This work has been carried out during a period of significant market disruption caused by the proliferation of forged and misattributed works, requiring a rigorous, interdisciplinary approach combining connoisseurship, archival research, market analysis and provenance verification. This expertise encompasses stylilstic and iconographic analysis; comparative analysis of auction and private market data; evaluation of provenance chains, documentary evidence and institutional records; contextual analysis of the Woodland School and its impact on Canadian and Indigenous art histories; and valuation frameworks.

Specialist Certfication

Core Course in Appraisal Studies, International Society of Appraisers (ISA) (Chicago) 2009; Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), American Association of Appraisers (Boston) 2012; USPAP update courses in 2014, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025; Fine Art Specialty Course, ISA (Chicago) 2012; Appraisal Education Foundation Scholarship in 2017; successfully completed the rigorous “requalification” process required every five years by the ISA in 2017 and 2022; Advisor to the ISA Speciality and Advanced Studies Committee in 2018; member of the ISA Board Nominations Committee (2024, 2025, 2026).

Education

Graduate Diploma in Conflict Resolution, Law Faculty Carleton University (Ottawa) 2013; M.A. Anthropology, Carleton University 1982; Certificate in Tamil Language and Culture, Madurai Kamaraj University (Madurai) 1981; B. A. Anthropology and Museology, University of British Columbia (Vancouver) 1978; Diploma of Collegial Studies in Fine Art, Vanier College (Montreal) 1973.

Anthropological Fieldwork in Madurai, South India: specializing in Indian art, Tamil language, literature and culture (1980-1981).

Biography

Born in Montreal of post-WWII refugees from Europe, Erica is married to anthropologist, art historian and museologist, Dr. Stephen R. Inglis.  They have two children and two grandchildren and are based in Ottawa and Montreal.