As you wish. For "modern art" my regard is negative, and so by extension is my regard for modern "artists". Thus I am against subsidizing them from public treasury, as tax deductions or otherwise. As for private patrons deranged enough to consume this "art" - no objections there.
I did a bit of googling and ran across this:
Giving Art, Collections and other Personal Property
Gifts of artwork, collections and other personal property (Gifts-in-kind) are welcomed by B-W, as long as they enhance the quality of student education. Typically before a gift of this kind is accepted, the department where it will be located is advised of the proposed gift and asked to evaluate it's appropriateness for the program it will serve. Once accepted, the donor of the property hould obtain an independent evaluation of the dollar value and report that to B-W. IRS Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions, needs to accompany your Federal income tax return for the year the gift is made. Please be advised that your charitable deduction is limited to your original basis or cost.
.........................................................
So if a charitble deduction by a collector is limited to the original basis or cost then my contention that collectors can get a deduction based on the appreciation is wrong.... If I remember correctly it used to be that you could get an inflated value ....but no longer....the artists still gets a worse deal however ...
If a builder gave a house would he/she only deduct the cost of materials?
I don't know anything about art appraisers, but considering the various auction houses that handle the stuff, I am fairly sure that there are some out there who do a good job and who understand what the stuff is really worth.
However, the actul value of art has to be determined not by any intrinsic" value it may be deemed to have (by either the artist or his critics, official or otherwise), but by what the market will bear, just like anything else, from Google stocks on down. That's the way it should be taxed, to the extent that anything should be taxed, which is not much, IMO.