Paul Royka is owner of Royka’s Fine Art located at 213 Newbury Street in Boston’s prestigious Back Bay. Paul Royka’s passion for objects, history & philosophy of art began at an early age. What began as a hobby for his parents, blossomed into a full time obsession. He consigned his first item to a major auction house at the age of twelve. He combined his academic pursuits with his love of art & antiques by attaining a B.A. from Clark University, Worcester, MA and a Masters Degree in Philosophy from Claremont Graduate University in California. He also attended St. Andrews University in Scotland where he received a certificate in philosophy and received an Oxford travel grant to present a paper at the University of Lublin, Poland.
Returning to Massachusetts to pursue a career in the fine arts & antiques trade, he managed a premier 20th Century gallery in Boston and at age 25 joined Skinner Inc., the 4th largest auction house in the U.S. to appraise, auction and catalogue fine art and antiques. During his tenure at Skinner Inc., he set several world records and authored two highly acclaimed antique reference books entitled, Mission Furniture (now in its second edition) and Fireworks: New England Art Pottery from the Arts & Crafts Movement.
Formerly an appraiser on the PBS series Antiques Roadshow, at age 26 he was invited to be an appraiser at the first show taped in Concord, Massachusetts and has appeared over 14 times on the program. He has been featured or mentioned on HGTV’s Appraisal Fair, Business Week and Reader’s Digest and many other publications. Early in its development, he transitioned to the Internet as an auction consultant for major corporations such as Times Mirror’s AuctionUniverse.com and LiveBid.com which was acquired by Amazon.com. At Amazon.com, he was a consultant for online auction strategies and live Internet bidding technology including working with Sothebys.com. After Amazon.com, he consulted with venture capital firms I-Group Hotbank and Jafco Ventures creating the first eBay seller drop off model for an Internet company.
Mr. Royka is the principal of Royka’s Fine Art providing appraisal, auction and consulting services for fine art & antiques for private individuals, banks, trust departments, museums and institutions. Royka’s Gallery also represents and exhibits a select group of living artists with an emphasis on American Impressionism, Realism, Luminism and Monhegan Island artists. The gallery has served clients around the world including England, France, Italy, South Korea, South Africa, China & Japan. Paul Royka works as an agent for clients building and selling collections with other galleries and auction houses including Sotheby’s & Christies. In 2003, Royka’s Gallery was chosen to handle the sale of the John Singleton Copley portrait of Elizabeth Apthorp, 1771. Mr. Royka has appraised and sold major discoveries including a group of 19th century Western posters found in an attic for a client selling for over $280,000, an unsigned painting by William Bradford and a luminist work by Francis Silva. Works by these artists bring upwards of one million dollars.
Mr. Royka lectures at museums, colleges and institutions across the United States. He was most recently recognized for his contributions to the National Auctioneers Association and raised over $50,000 for charitable organizations through his appraisal and charity auction services. His memberships have included the National Auctioneers Association, Massachusetts Auctioneers Association, American Art Pottery Association, Ephemera Society of America and the Appraisers Association of America. Royka’s proudly supports the New England Museum Association and has been an affiliate member of the Massachusetts Bar Association & Boston Estate Planning Council.
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