J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 2013: For Preparing Your 2012 Tax Return

14.9 Art Objects

You may claim a charitable deduction for a painting or other art object donated to a charity. The amount of the deduction depends on (1) whether you are the artist; (2) if you are not the artist, how long you owned it; and (3) the type of organization receiving the gift.

- - - - - - - - - -

Caution

Donations of Personal Creative Works

If you are the artist, your deduction is limited to cost regardless of how long you held the art work or to what use the charity puts it. In the case of a painting, the deduction would be the lower of the cost for canvas and paints and the fair market value.

- - - - - - - - - -

If you owned the art work short term, your deduction is limited to cost, under the rules applying to donations of ordinary income property (14.6).

If you owned the art work long term (14.6), your deduction depends on the way the charity uses the property. If the charity uses it for its exempt purposes, you may deduct the fair market value. However, if the charity uses it for unrelated purposes, your deduction is reduced by 100% of the appreciation. A donation of art work to a general fund-raising agency would be reduced because the agency would have no direct use for it. It would have to sell the art work and use the cash for its exempt purposes.

Deductions of over $5,000 for art donations (as well as other types of appreciated tangible personal property) ...