CHINESE ART FOCUS
-Ph.D. in Chinese Art & Tibetan Art
Wei Yang, Ph.D., offers Chinese art expert witness services for litigation. She is particularly strong in the visual analysis of classical Chinese painting and calligraphy (prior to 1949) in terms of authenticity and the assessment of craftsmanship. She earned two Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) designations- Asian Art (ASA, 2010-2025) and Appraisal Review and Management (ARM, 2017-2025). Dr. Yang has prepared appraisals of most forms of Asian art and offered opinions on art authenticity and valuation of Chinese art for insurance and taxation litigation. As an Accredited Senior Appraiser in Appraisal Review and Management (ARM), she has identified, documented and explained errors and omissions in appraisal reports prepared by other appraisers, ranging from irrelevant scope of work to inadequate explanation of research, flawed methodology, insufficient data selection, problematic treatment of provenance, use of unqualified comparables to unreasonable value conclusions. Dr. Yang's analytical strength is based on her in-depth understanding of Chinese aesthetics, art criticism, painting technique, visual aesthetics, and market economics.
RECENT EXPERT WITNESS EXPERIENCE
-Appraisal Expert, Consulting Expert and Testifying Expert
Chinese Art expert: Dr. Wei Yang has reviewed case files, identified issues and proposed solutions
Expert Appraiser & Appraisal Reviewer: 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 witness: Wei Yang has reviewed case materials, prepared preliminary reviews and research reports, identified weaknesses in argument, analyzed opposing expert’s credentials and research holes in appraisal reports, assessed adequacy of appraisal methodology, accuracy of data, completeness of scope of work and reasonableness of value conclusion in light of USPAP
Testifying expert witness: 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, M.A. in Asian art
Expert in Chinese art: Wei Yang holds a B.A. in art history (1997) and M.A. degree in Asian art (1998) from Smith College (Northampton, MA), a Ph.D. in Chinese art and Tibetan art (2005) from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL). Her graduate training focused on Chinese painting and calligraphy from the 10th to 15th centuries and Tibetan Buddhist painting. She possesses language skills in Chinese, Japanese and Tibetan, reads a range of Chinese classical scripts used in Chinese painting and calligraphy. She has conducted extensive 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: To prepare herself for a successful appraiser career, after receiving her Ph.D. in Chinese art from Northwestern University, Dr. Yang earned a certificate of Fine Art and Decorative Arts Appraisal (2008) from Pratt Institute (NY), followed by a designation of Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) in Asian Art in 2010 from American Society of Appraisers, a certificate in Painting Mounting and Restoration from the Mounting and Restoration Academy (Jinan, Shandong) in 2011, and a second designation as Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) in Appraisal Review and Management in personal property (ARM) in 2017 from American Society of Appraisers. To sharpen her skills as an effective expert witness, Dr. Yang attended a few expert witness training classes and has read over 20 books on laws and litigation strategies.
AUTHOR & EDUCATOR
On Chinese Art Connoisseurship & 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 (Available on Amazon); "Five Mistakes in Appraising Premodern Chinese Paintings," ARM E-Journal 5, no. 1 (2021): 58:62; a memoir (in Chinese), Desert Bloom 沙棗花的故事 (Beijing: Beijing Publishing House) in 2021; is now completing two further reference books, Wei Yang’s Guide to Chinese Ceramics and Wei Yang’s Guide to Chinese Jade; worked 15 years 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.
