Every appraisal is partner-led. Tobias Czudej and Susan McDonough are directly involved in each engagement — from analysis through to the signed report. For categories beyond our core specializations, we engage certified appraisers subject to the same partner review and quality standards.
Every appraisal is partner-led. Tobias Czudej and Susan McDonough are directly involved in each engagement — from analysis through to the signed report. For categories beyond our core specializations, we engage certified appraisers subject to the same partner review and quality standards.

Tobias Czudej AAA

Partner, New York

Tobias Czudej is an appraiser serving families, institutions, and their legal and financial representatives on valuation matters in Modern, Post-War, Contemporary, and Emerging Art. His practice focuses on significant charitable donations, litigation support, and collection management for private collectors and family trusts, with particular expertise in works presenting complex attribution, provenance, or market data considerations. Regularly engaged on valuations of works exceeding $10 million.

Prior to appraisal, Tobias spent six years in blue-chip galleries, beginning at Gagosian Gallery before running the London Soho location for Pace, where he organized exhibitions featuring works by Cy Twombly, Mike Kelley, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, Alexander Calder, and Claes Oldenburg. His curatorial practice encompasses over thirty exhibitions at institutions and commercial galleries internationally, with coverage in publications including Art Forum, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, and The Sunday Times.

Tobias is a Certified Member of the Appraisers Association of America, where he serves on the Board of Directors. He speaks regularly on art and valuation, with recent presentations at Yale University, University of Hong Kong, Deloitte Private, and the Appraisers Association of America National Conference. He is co-author of "Appraisal Review" in Appraising Art: The Definitive Guide (2024).

Susan McDonough AAA

Partner, San Francisco

Susan McDonough AAA is a Certified Member of the Appraisers Association of America, admitted in the categories of Postwar, Contemporary & Emerging Art, Impressionist & Modern Art, American Art, Photography, and Prints.

She has deep and extensive experience appraising artwork at the highest levels of the art market ($10 million and above) for insurance, donation, and tax & estate planning purposes. She is an internationally recognized expert on appraisal methodology and 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 as well as the Association’s Appraisal Writing Workshop. She previously served as an Adjunct Instructor at New York University's Appraisal Studies Program (2014–2017).

An experienced editor and published writer, she 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 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 an 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.