Barbara Blades-Lines

Regional Representative I Houston
bblades-lines@freemansauction.com 

Barbara Blades-Lines has been involved in appraising Colonial to contemporary furniture, silver, glass, ceramics, maps, and paintings, as well as promoting emerging artists, public art, and art education for more than 30 years. A Houston native, she graduated from the University of Texas and completed postgraduate studies with Christie’s Education in London. Pursuing a career as an independent appraiser, Blades-Lines founded Blades Appraisal Services in 1994. After moving to Bermuda in 1996, she continued her practice there until 2012, when she returned to Houston and joined MKG Art Management's appraisal department.  

She has appraised collections for the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, Marriott Bermuda, the Bank of Butterfield, Norton Rose Fulbright, Peter Paul Petroleum Company, and the University of Houston. She has worked closely with the Bacardi Biennial and Bermuda National Gallery’s collections of furniture and European paintings. Blades-Lines served as a board member for the Bermuda National Gallery, chaired the acquisitions committee, and was part of the strategic team and a member of the board for the Kaleidoscope Art Foundation. She also served as a director and chair of the Houston Art Foundation.    

Her appraisal projects have included services for clients in Bermuda and all over the United States, primarily in Texas but also California, Massachusetts, Kentucky, New Mexico, Maine, Seattle, and New York. Select public institutions that have received her appraisals include the White House, the Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Contemporary Art Museum, the Menil Collection in Houston, Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, the Speed Art Museum in Kentucky, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, and Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.