Attractive Nuisance : Regardless of whether art is a purchase or a gift, considerable work is involved in protecting it.

The good news is, you have just inherited some fabulously valuable artwork.

You will be the envy of all your friends. You will be courted by the great museums, which would like to exhibit the work. You will receive visits from interesting scholars who will give your lowly abode the ambience of a salon. Culture will come into your life.

The bad news is, you have just inherited some fabulously valuable artwork.

You will be suddenly plunged into the world of appraisals, insurance and conservation, all of which are likely to cost you money. You will be asked what is to become of the work when you die. Security systems will come into your life.

“You will begin an entire new life of concern and worry,” said Joe Chapman, a prominent security system designer for museums and homes.

“Art is made to be enjoyed,” said Bill Martin, the Los Angeles Police Department’s chief art crime investigator. “But you have to make sure you have a home that can properly house it.”

Regardless of how art is obtained--inherited, bought or a gift--it’s not just a thing of beauty, it’s a major responsibility for the owner. Several steps should be taken in care of the art.

But first, a cautionary tale. Earlier this year, one Van Nuys woman learned the hard way how not to handle valuable art.

According to police reports, Eve Weisager didn’t feel that she could properly care for nine inherited artworks, worth as much as $9 million, in her small apartment. She put them in a 10-by-12-foot unit at a Public Storage warehouse near Northridge Fashion Center.

There they stayed for 13 years--paintings by Picasso and Delacroix, a watercolor by Chagall, a pastel by Degas, a crayon drawing by Modigliani plus works by Chaim Soutine, Jean Baldini and Andre Derain. All uninsured.

On the afternoon of Feb. 5, when Weisager looked in on her paintings, as she did at least once a year, they were gone.

“It is not just a crime that they were stolen,” said Gilbert Edelson, a New York-based lawyer and a vice president of the Art Dealer Assn. of America. “It was criminal the way they were stored. Not only was there not appropriate security in a place like that, who knows what the conditions were like in there--heat, humidity, that sort of thing.

“It could have been dangerous for the art.”

No arrests have been made in connection with the missing Weisager artworks and the chance that she will ever see her art again is slim.

“The approximate rate of recovery is about 10%,” said Constance Lowenthal, executive director of the International Foundation for Art Research in New York. The foundation, best known as a clearinghouse for information about missing artwork, issues alerts on recent robberies to law enforcement agencies and art dealers worldwide.

If valuable art comes suddenly into your life, the first step is to make sure that you actually own it, Chapman said.

“There have been too many instances of people finding out, two or three years down the road, that the ownership is questionable,” said the former FBI agent, whose company has designed security systems for many museums, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum locally.

“There may be others who lay claim to the art,” he said. “Or the art might have even been used to obtain a bank loan that is still outstanding.

“We suggest that before anybody spend the money for insurance or a security system that they make sure they have clear and untainted title to the art.”

If you don’t want to hire a lawyer to do a title search, contact the foundation to make sure that the art is not listed as missing. Unless special research is involved, this search is usually free.

The nonprofit foundation also offers an authentication service. For a fee starting at $750, it will contact an expert to research your work of art.

Photographing the artwork is extremely important.

“If the work is valuable, it should be photographed by a professional not only in color but also in black and white,” said Louis Stern, a Beverly Hills gallery owner who has testified in several cases involving artwork.

“If an emergency bulletin has to be put out by the FBI or Interpol about the artwork, it’s often easier for them to get a good reproduction from a black and white photo.”

“Even if it is just a Polaroid, it makes it a lot easier to find if it is lost,” said Virgilia Pancoast, director of the foundation’s authentication service.

“And you should write down any particulars. Is it signed? What are the dimensions? Are there markings? Keep the information with the photos in a safe place.”

A photograph is especially essential when the piece is abstract.

“Let’s say you have one of the drip paintings by Jackson Pollock,” Martin said. “They are absolutely indescribable in any detailed way. Even if you say, ‘There are 653 drips and 300 of them are green,’ it doesn’t help us a whole lot.”

An appraisal is probably the next step. It can be from a gallery owner who is known for being a specialist in the artist, a professional appraiser or an expert at one of the major art auction houses.

The appraisal will be used to help determine the cost of an insurance premium.

“Insurance on art does not cost as much as people probably think,” said Howard Herzog, a broker in Newport Beach who specializes in the coverage of art and other valuables. “It is relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of insuring jewelry, for example.

“You can’t usually lose a work of art down the kitchen sink or misplace it, so it’s considered less of a risk.”

Herzog advised that consumers should beware of any insurance agent who quotes them a rate on the telephone. “In art insurance, it’s not considered ethical to be handing out quotes on the phone.”

Once the work is appraised and insured, you’re ready to bring it home--almost.

“Suddenly you are faced with bringing this piece of art into a house where the most valuable item is a 24-inch TV set,” Chapman said.

While readying your home, you might be able to temporarily store the artwork at a local museum. “They are not in the storage business, but they might allow you to use their storage facilities if they can show your new art treasure at some point.

“You can give them a donation in appreciation of them helping you with your new burden,” Chapman said.

The insurance company will probably require you to install an intruder detection alarm system. When you are considering alarm companies, Chapman strongly advises you to make sure that they are properly registered with the state Bureau of Collection and Investigative Services in Sacramento.

The bureau might also have additional information on a company, such as complaints filed. Legitimate alarm services should be willing to supply you with the names of past customers so that you can check their work, Chapman said.

But an alarm system might not be enough.

“If parts of the house are covered by foliage that might hide an intruder, it might have to come out,” Chapman said. “You would have to look at how many windows you have, how accessible they are, how easy it would be to climb up to the second story if you have one.”

When it’s all said and done, are all the preparations for including valuable art in your home life worth it?

“That is up to the individual, of course, but the one thing you should know for sure is that it will change your life,” Chapman said.

There all alternatives. The artwork can be sold. Or, if you want to keep ownership but don’t want to go through the hassles of keeping it at home, you might be able to find a museum that will accept it on long-term loan.

Or you could simply give it to a museum.

“You could become a famous donor,” Chapman said. “You get to go to some nice parties and you can still keep the windows open at night to let in the breeze.”