The Art Burglar’s Handbook
This…is what the site & collection is all about…where “everything” is used in its proper context

Current Writing “Notes”

Mona Lisa


The most mysterious painting in the history of European art just got a little more mysterious. For centuries, Madrid's Prado Museum has held what was believed to be a mere replica of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, the Mona Lisa. But researchers at the museum recently discovered that their copy wasn't just any copy. Thanks to the use of infrared technology, they deduced that the work was not only painted in Leonardo's workshop, by one of his students, but that it was done at the same time as the master was completing the original.
Although the copy, which depicts La Gioconda with a narrower face, redder dress and significantly more pronounced eyebrows than the original, has been in the Prado's collection for centuries, no one thought much of it, and it was generally attributed to an unknown Flemish artist. But when the Prado's conservators began to study it in preparation for an upcoming show in Paris, they realized there might be more to the work than previously recognized. Using infrared technology, they detected a lush Tuscan landscape -- the same as in Leonardo's original -- hiding beneath the coat of black varnish that had been added probably in the 18th century and obscured the original background. (See whether a male model inspired Leonardo da Vinci.)
That wasn't all they found. Infrared reflectography can reveal the sketches -- called underdrawings -- and changes that a painter makes in the course of composing a work. By comparing reflectography images taken of the Mona Lisa in 2004 with the copy (they matched), Prado conservators determined that the replica was painted while Leonardo was himself still at work on the original. "There is textual evidence from contemporary observers that Leonardo had assistants in his workshop making copies," says Miguel Falomir, the Prado's curator of Italian Renaissance art. "This is the first time we've found technical evidence of it as well."


The painting is still being cleaned and restored, but the findings were presented two weeks ago at a technical conference for specialists held in conjunction with the blockbuster Leonardo exposition currently on show at the National Gallery in London. The reaction from experts in the field has been unanimously positive. "So far, I haven't heard one discordant voice," says Falomir. (See photos of the Mona Lisa imitations.)
Which isn't to say that the discovery hasn't raised questions, including who painted it and when. "It had to have been a pupil, and someone very close to Leonardo at the time," says Matthew Landrus, art historian at Oxford University and the Rhode Island School of Design. "And no one was closer than Andrea Salai and Francesco Melzi." Still, he points out, that there is no definite evidence of their work. Salai, who some historians believe became Leonardo's lover, entered the workshop in 1490; Melzi, who the Prado believes to be the likelier author, joined around 1506.
But the bigger question is why Leonardo would have had his students replicating his work in the first place. Certainly the practice of making copies was not unique to him; many Renaissance artists had their students attempt to recreate their work. The reason may have been pedagogical, but more likely, says Falomir, it was financial. "When people think about these great geniuses creating, they forget that even these artists had to eat. Selling copies was a way of earning money." (Read "How a 'New' da Vinci Was Discovered.")
Landrus suggests it may have been more than that. After all, the Mona Lisa was still in Leonardo's possession when he died. It was never turned over to Francesco del Giocondo, the man who, according to 16th century biographer Giorgio Vasari, had commissioned the portrait of his wife, Lisa Gherardini, in celebration of the birth of their second son. "It's possible that Leonardo realized, 'Hey, I've got a pretty good painting here,' and had the copy made so he could keep something for himself," says Landrus. "Only later did he recognize that he didn't have to give the original away."
But Alison Wright, a specialist in Italian art at University College London who attended the meeting where the Prado discovery was presented, sees the copying as contemporary recognition of Leonardo's importance. "It's just conceivable that there was a copy made to sell, but it's an odd painting, and a commissioned portrait, so it's hard to imagine what the market would be," she says. "It's more likely that it was a matter of Leonardo's students recording his every movement, even while they were still falling from his brush." (See how experts authenticate art.)
The discovery is already causing art historians to re-examine their understanding of how Leonardo's studio functioned, and to revise the picture they have of how the most famous painting in Western art captured a singular moment between sitter and artist. "Once again," says Wright, "we see that technical analysis can shed light on a case we thought was shut."
But if the Prado copy raises new mysteries, it also clarifies some things. The newly restored copy, with its gleaming landscape in the background and sharp lines defining the spindle of the chair and the ruffle of the bodice, fills in details obscured by the yellowing varnish on the real Mona Lisa. "The original hasn't been restored in a long time," says Prado curator Falomir. "The copy invites you to see it with new eyes."

Leonardo da Vinci just became even more prolific. An analysis released in the U.K.-based Antiques Trade Gazette claims a small portrait once attributed to a 19th century German artist was actually painted by the Italian master around the year 1500. The surprising revelation is but the latest in a series of cases in which "lost" pieces of artwork were rediscovered through art authentication. But how can experts — who have previously certified works by Caravaggio, Raphael, Van Gogh and countless others — be so sure that a specific painter is responsible for a work of art?
In the case of the da Vinci painting, the authentication was based on physical evidence. Using a high-resolution multispectral camera capable of analyzing the painting on a precise level without touching it, a Canadian forensic-art expert named Peter Paul Biro was able to identify a faint fingerprint left on the canvas. The print was then matched to one on a known da Vinci painting hanging in Vatican City. Carbon dating of the newer canvas matched the painting to da Vinci's period, and an analysis of the style concluded the painter was left-handed, another purported da Vinci trait. Taken together, the clues built a convincing argument for the painting's authenticity.
(See the top 10 most expensive auction items.)
Absent compelling forensic evidence like a fingerprint, the authentication process becomes a bit murkier. In the past, pieces of art have been certified through a combination of factors, including brushstroke patterns, analysis of the artist's signature, dating of the pigments or canvas used or even the instinctive (but subjective) opinion of academics who have extensively studied an artist's portfolio. A painting's provenance, or its history of ownership, is also important. Being able to trace a portrait back from owner to owner over the course of centuries is no small feat, and it often lends significant weight to a work's legitimacy.
One recent high-profile case that has highlighted the difficulties in authenticating a piece of art is a disputed Jackson Pollock painting, purchased for $5 in 1992 by ex-trucker Teri Horton in a California thrift store. Biro was also involved in that investigation. He matched a partial fingerprint on the canvas to one on a paint can used by Pollock and paint on the canvas to samples from Pollock's studio. Still, despite the forensic evidence, the art community has been reluctant to certify the work. There is no record of the painting's former ownership, and examinations by experts including a former director of New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art have deemed it inconsistent with Pollock's style. Despite the skepticism, Horton fielded a $5 million offer for the painting (which she declined) and starred in a 2006 documentary about her find, Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?
Cases like these underline the fact that art authentication is a high-stakes game. Da Vinci's portrait has been renamed La Bella Principessa, and its estimated value has been adjusted to about $160 million — a price tag that could result in an unimaginable profit for Peter Silverman, the painting's owner, who acquired it for about $19,000 in 2007.


Read more: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1930303,00.html#ixzz1lQ2N0etb 

Current Writing Sections

Site Sections & Design Notes
• Collector’s Handbook / Survival Guide
• New Articles…where put when first published? Where integrated?
• New Art…how add to site?
•

Collection Galleries…Flow & Design

Notes to Galleries
• Frame lessons note…art is repeated in some cases
Collection Focus & Balance
How-to affordably acquire fine art from internet resources

• Styles well-represented…wide range of examples: aids new collectors in finding their style
• Mastermining success stories…the shining lights of potential success
• Fake examples…as with gender site: I’ll teach as much from the mistakes as the successes
• Steals & deals…bottom fishing, etc.
• Acquisitions I wouldn’t repeat…too much money, etc.
• Framing, cleaning, restoration & care lessons
• Fine art…for under $1,000

Every picture tells a story…
Each offers lessons about collecting art using internet resources
Designed for a collector situated anywhere in the US
Not just successes…I kept failures, as well


Collection Gallery…Flow & Design
Reminders
o Use a headline / question article-styled spin per piece?
• Gallery of Lessons…by Category
• Collection Inventory…art & artist info
o Which one…gallery versus inventory…has original purchase price & photo?
o List…Artist in collection: by country? Value? Style? Alphabetical?
o Art list & thumbnails…by style?
• This collection is not mind-boggling…but the lessons are for beginning collectors
• Think “the installation”…site should mirror the eventual installation to some degree
• Gallery…by lessons
Categories
o Category Options
• Beginners Gallery
• Best bets for the beginning art collector…nice art, fulfill your decorating needs, don’t go backwards, explore a new direction, maybe…get lucky
• Stolen Masterpieces…Treasure Trove
• Fakes & Forgeries
• A Lot of Art for the Money
• The Oops! Gallery
• The most common mistakes…of beginners
•
• Frames Gallery
• Can repeat with some art in other sections in the on-line version
• Fine Art…for under $100…can be a little over – a concept thing
• DIY Artworks
• Your Own Photography…as art
• Creative Works…sculpture, primitives, etc.
• Commissioned Paintings
• Articulated Art
Lessons…Notes & Ideas
o Categories + “name” each lesson + a thumbnail that personifies that lesson…i.e. signature, frame, etc.
o Have links to collector’s handbook on issues, etc.
o
Site Sections & Design Notes

Collection Inventory…art & artist info
Inventory…Notes & Ideas
o Question…is this simply “becoming” the Survival guide?
• No…this section / design is all about the installation & display support / design!!
• For example…DIY art, DIY framing…is highlighted here…in survival guide…the info is highly detailed!!
o Also helps draw readers / Google searches on specific art & artists…like sold pieces on gallery pages
o Include: links within this site that include this painting + links on this artist around the web +
Gallery of Lessons…by Category
o This is really a “summarized” version of collector’s guide…highlighting most important lessons & a quick-start version for each: Framing, beginner’s quick-start guide, mastermining (key reminders), fakes, etc.
o Mirrors the installation
o Not Every single piece has it’s own page?…it’s about teaching…not showing everything…people want to learn
o Many pieces are on shared pages / rooms, etc.
AP to get it set…
• Create a “copied” version of the collection’s inventory…
• Cut & paste until all are used / placed into lesson galleries
• Rearrange as needed to complete the installation
• Must decide…which ones go in a blacklight vs. frame vs. fakes, versus Oops, etc. – will be tricky & fun!
o Afterwards…arrange thumbnails & inventory lists to match this flow…
• It will tell me where I have “wholes” in the collection, where I have too many ++
•
Lessons…Notes & Ideas
o Every picture tells a story…some tell more than one + some are simply sub-lessons to stronger pieces / lessons
o Categories + “name” each lesson + a thumbnail that personifies that lesson…i.e. signature, frame, etc.
o Have links to collector’s handbook on issues, etc.
o
o
Collector’s Handbook / Survival Guide
o The “meat” of this site
o Here…I go into great detail…on DIY framing, cleaning, Mastermining, etc. Fakes…tons of examples wording, tests, etc.
o
• Add tabs…sort & review LOA binders for more info…+ purchase / shipping cost data

 

Current Art Site AP Notes


Current Writing Projects / Focus.
Add art costs & size, etc.
• Create ledger of purchase prices & costs
o Check CPU for a typed / older list
• Add purchase info + size, etc.
Other Notes
IP Issues
• Watermark ok on art display?

 

Research Notes


Potential Interviews
• Galleries
• Auction Houses
• Other Collectors
•

Optional Interview Questions
•
Annual Research
Auction prices analysis + pieces just like yours

Re-Research
The advent of continuing pages:
Asarta
Artist Family Web Sites
Ethel Smul / Ransom



 

Art Burglar Collection: Installation & Display


Places / Display Notes
Ebay sponsorship…how often can a corp. sponsor an art project that will end up making them money?
Hotel…JV-deal…stay a night…steal a painting / Site sponsor on main page +
University of Kentucky
High Museum
Owensboro Museum
Restaurant / Bar

Storage & shipment?

Galleries & Flow Options

The cleverness of the installation is as important as the collection itself. This collection is about TEACHING…so should be the display & installation!
Same goes with the website galleries flow!!!!!!!!
Gallery image of each piece is about the lesson…i.e. reverse of artwork…frame, signatures, etc.?

PC Terminals…view auctions live / on screen…at that moment…Live Auctioneers / EBay sponsor & install?!
Blacklight for signatures, in-painting & “fluoresce” of recent varnish, + able to see reverse of some paintings (photos or on hinge) – for “lined” painting – all compared to non-worked pieces…side-by-side.
Frame Lessons
Oops Gallery
Mastermining
Valuing an artwork…an interactive experience…lesson…”ad” blown-up on wall…you decide.
Original purchase photos on each “card” beside each painting…decent-sized pictures to appreciate lesson, etc….digital images…digital frames?
A lot of art for the money
Decorating lessons
Articulated works…with original photos
Genderism gallery
End…Articulated pieces you can buy…bidding terminals…










 


Step One: Swallowing your medicine

The truth will set you free

Don Genovese story…I didn’t have anything
Turned out to be the greatest gift.

However…I still went through my own version of this with “fakes”…Carlsen / Peto


Story of MJ Chewning friend / art appraisal
Story of Don Martin…Ro Galleries…how many are fakes, etc.
Gail’s brother…Indian…Max Karp

A lot of new collectors started with XXX. If you can’t get past the fact



 
Artwork Analysis

MasterMining Quick On-Line Evaluation

General Notes

The treasure hunting aspect is one of the most enjoyable aspects of collecting art.
Unfortunately, it’s also fraught with problems. Most beginning stock market investor is too oriented to risk & older investors are too conservative. The same hold true with art buyers. Success is usually a function of experience. Likewise, if you develop detailed knowledge / specialties…much more likely.

If you ever played baseball you probably know what I’m about to say: don’t swing at the fence – particularly until your stroke is refine enough to where you are connecting with the ball. Start my trying to get on base…hitting singles…doubles…improving your stride where you turn a double into a triple…and finally: home run. Getting thrown out is not that bad when you don’t have too much in the piece – the game’s not over. However, some people go crazy chasing value early-on…get burned repeatedly…walk away from all of it. Thus, they missed the real joy of the journey known as art-collecting.

Best option?
• Bottom fishing strong resumes from reliable auction houses
• Goode, Scarlett, Monenegro, Walkowitz, Lichtenstein,
•



The Down Shod of Master Mining
• Chasing potentially high value art works
• It causes many new collectors to stop collecting
o Someone you fell in love with is cheating on you with your best friend. Cheating
• Causes you to study & learn new styles…nothing like the potential for a big payoff for motivation
• Can’t control subject matter / even styles
•

An attribution can be compared to medical advice. If it comes from a stranger. A friend, a GP, an expert.


1. Set a price limit…I didn’t have money…thank God. You’re a bigger mark.
2. Don’t just master mine
o In fact, I’d suggest you only take on 1-2 at a time…as most don’t work out. They can cause you to really get down about your collecting.
3. Peterson Piece
o The size…20 x 16…is it common?
o Medium…oil on canvas / board, etc.
o Title…Tulips…no others
o Price…Sotter + frame
o Gut…Golub
• Sherlock Holmes Quote – if after everything – even if it makes no sense…it is true
o Signature…cut & pastes
o Figuration….Sotter / quality? Henri
o Something else to go on
• If it’s a major artist…almost ALWAYS have to have something unless it’s dead-on…which makes it unlikely you’ll “steal” it
• Golub title + Kupferman +
• Writing on reverse…Sotter / vs. Golub


Step One: Finding what you like
1. Contemporary vs. “of the period”


Step Two: Navigating Dubious Sellers
1. Dumb as a fox
2. Language…signed by, attributed
3. Comparables…compare to swamp land versus Manhattan real estate…unless you’re fairly certain your painting is located in the XXX – it really doesn’t mean anything
4. Selling everything
5.

Step Three: Is it a fake?
Without a doubt – particularly on eBay – evaluating fakes will be a huge part of your collecting experience.

Good point: EBay has become the big recycle bin for faked artworks. By simply saying a wok is attributed to a valuable artist, the seller loses liability regarding handling a fake.
I’ll be honest – I’ve done it…and so has everyone else I know – in one manner or another. Playing old maid.


1. Blacklight
2. Using graphics programs to look at a painting
3. Quality…Peto
4. Figuration
5. Skill in application
6. Rolling the dice…bad photos, etc: Hoffman / Cucuel…size, detail, frame…school piece with a “shot” at major.

Step Four: Proving it’s authentic
Okay, you dodged the fake sellers, you proved it’s not a fake…it’s signed by your famous artist…it’s real, right?

Not so fast.

In some instances, this is enough – Busenbark.

In today’s world – you have to prove it.

1. Research – Golub / something else to go on
a. On-line services
b. Cropsey story + Radell
2. Finding a comparable artwork – De Nagy, Thomas Hand
a. Sometimes takes years…Thomas Hand, Renee Radell
b. I have a bunch of pieces in the pipeline: list
3. Expert
a. Warning…work your way up: Cropsey, Golub
4.


Where to Buy
Loose versus structured markets
1. Private sellers on ebay is what I term as loose markets
2. Structured markets are the noted auction houses. The most substantial are Christie’s & Sotheby’s. As you near the bottom of this list in terms of their size & scope they sometimes get as loose an independent ebay seller

Buying Strategies
Bottom Fishing
1. Three types of bait…looking for the buyers that are “not” at your auction
2. A lot like buying low in the stock market
3. Some companies – just like artists…are duds
4. Whereas others…are just caught in a downward spiral
• .i.e Joe Goode, Rolph Scarlett
• vs. Montenegro (over-exposed)
• vs. Meza

5. Trusting artist resumes: minor league versus major league games history

School Pieces
1. Affordable, high quality art – major works
2. Ever bought a fine garment & never worn it?
3. Same thing happens to art & artist – lost a job, had a kid, died of cancer; fell in love, lost interest, etc. Who knows?
4.

Art Research
Studying Your Artist
1. Usually, an artist is famous for a particular style
2. As Art Burglars, it’s not as common for use to score such a piece by a major artist…Walkowitz
3.


 
Collecting Art
Buying contemporary art & artists

Generally-speaking, contemporary art is known as art produced following the second world war. Within this broad classification have now come a range of other definitions…XXX - book.
It mostly represents artists that are still live today – and those producing new artworks as we speak.

Collecting the major artist in the contemporary scene is a game of sorts played by the wealthiest of individuals. However, there is no time-tested history. It’s based upon popularity to a large degree. (Neuville example) Time is the great leveler: it enhances perspective.

As a collector on a budget, you can play a similar sort of game…

There are other key factors: size & scope, condition,
native country – Haiti vs. Mexico vs. America

My favorites are where the intrinsic value exceeds the market price – Ben-Dor.

Another option? Shop abroad.

Joe Goode – you’re buying the resume – bottom fishing technique / out of favor.


For the Art Burglar, buying contemporary art from an established gallery is generally a no-no. In the secondary markets – when pieces get scattered across the US and show up at auctions with no following or support – you can steal a piece (EXAMPLE). There are always collectors of older art – antique paintings, WPA artists, etc. Those fresh off the press from the last 30 years are much less established amongst collecting & collectors.

It’s in this arena that I’m a big fan of buying out of favor art & artists with major resumes.

Contemporary art is one of your best sources for major works – larger or highly detailed pieces – that are most often outside our budget. Major works by major artists for under a $1,000 are almost impossible to score unless you finally get lucky through your efforts at Mastermining like I did with the Golub piece. (GOLUB)

There are other worthwhile reasons to collect contemporary pieces. The first is in support of your local arts scene. Also, the social scene that comes with it.

The second is for indigenous scenes.

Local “pride of ownership”. Owensboro – Harvey Joiner.

Articulated Artworks: the newest option for collectors

The collector as artist

Revisit mass-produced China painting – not “really” original art
Like mixing paints in earlier times

Artistic expression



 

Framing fine art

The first secret to affordable framing
Standard sized art
What makes one frame worth more than another?
How to / Five tips to spotting a quality frame
Picking a frame 101
The Wrong Frame
Example
The Right Frame
Brings out the strongest aspect of an artwork
It takes some practice & overlays to determine exactly what this aspect this is
There are schools of frames that are time-tested to accentuate certain styles…impressionist frame, Hudson River, etc.

Example
The Perfect Frame
Sometimes, the affordable perfect frame doesn’t quite fit – Eisenstadt.

The perfect frame brings out the right colors of an artwork. It’s style appropriate & in the case of older works: it’s of the period – meaning – it’s about the same age as the artwork.

Show examples…mention Hunter museum.
Museum Frames
I really hadn’t taken note of the difference my better frames & what’s considered a “museum” frame until I visited the Hunter Museum of American Art located in Chattanooga, TN.

If you included “museum” in your search criteria of ebay frames, you’ll find more than one seller claiming such quality in their offering. Most often their claim is a tad bit of an overstatement. However, it’s a place to start.

Improving frames to this level – particularly for collectors on a limited budget (like most art burglar’s) – is a low priority. However, sometimes you’ll come acrorss a frame at a great price that falls into this category – too good to pass up.

They are – an artwork in themselves.

Ways to find…
With another artwork…Ransom, etc. Can play musical frames…Robinson / Schram.
Needing Restoration
Cutting down a frame…unusual size
Frame in Frame concept…Peto
A bargain…shipping / pick-up only on Venus frame.



Frame Repairs

Frames often get banged up in shipment – no matter how well they’re packed by a seller. This is particularly true on those with aged gesso.


Frame Options: Adding a period frame
Get lucky…with a perfect frame: Face, Ransom, Babb

Adding a period frame
Busenbark
CH Miller


Frame Options: Making it Fit

Cutting Down Art

Cutting Down Frames

 
Headlined Articles

How to score a Picasso for under $1,000

Master mining Tools

Make your own
Period frame

Prints

Three secrets to buying an affordable masterpiece

Standard sized artworks = standard sized frames


How to choose the right art for you

Decorative needs: practicality
A spot on a wall for a room that’s already got a theme of colors & styles.

Budget
Obviously, our budget is a big factor. The art burglar web site details thousands of insights into how to score almost every type of artwork on almost any budget.

Art that brings back memories:

Not all memories are good: Meza

Literal metaphors…Norman Rockell is perhaps the most famous artist for literal representations of certain memories. However, “genre” paintings – artworks that represent a certain story – have been around for centuries.
Lax
Boy with hoop

Symbolic metaphors…
Caldwell / Valerie
Meza
Penny…boy with flower

Illustration art: Dirk the Daring

Tatiana / girl

Art you are naturally drawn to…

Some paintings, some styles – just naturally & inexplicably draw us in. It’s at this moment that we come to learn that art isn’t so much about application of paints but rather about human expression. When we connect with a fine painting – we’re connecting with the artist’s vision or feelings at the time it was rendered.

It could even be a piece that someone you’re very close to finds appealing: redhead / Tonda

I’m often drawn to expressionist artworks. Expressionism was born during post- WWI Germany – a time of great pain & strife. I’m the poster child for tough journeys.
 
Art Pricing
"The First Rule of Valuing Art"
Is it real?
The first rule for valuing an artwork – particularly in today’s world – is simple: is it authentic.

I address authenticity – and how to determine such in the next chapter.

If you haven’t yet proven authenticity, then please keep in mind that all that your about to learn is what your artwork might be worth…if it’s proven to be authentic.



Using Auction Comparables

Auction comparables are the most common form of valuing artworks. In a perfect world, you artist has many comparables to compare to.

Very much like real estate – size, subject,

What Comparables Don’t Include

Positives

Extraordinary works…all appliances, pool, etc.
Pissing Contest
Award Winning Work…Frank Lloyd Wright home in the neighborhood

Negatives
Condition issues…house in total disrepair
Authorship issues



Core issues affecting price: the artist

Skill
Education
Accolades
Importance…Finster vs. ??

Artists expression versus skill in rendering
Compare to great writers / story tellers
Art is about human expression. When combined with skill. When combined with a genius insight (at-home dry cleaning)

Issues that change an artists value
Retrospective: Scarlett, Kupferman
Worldwide economics – recession, country on the rise



Core issues affecting price: the artwork

Condition
Size
Medium
Major vs. minor
Subject – what the artist is known for / appealing to many collectors / collecting subject matter…NYC scene, Gloucester harbor scenes, portraits, men vs. women
Importance to artist’s career
Stage of career
Provenance

How Art Prices Can Change Over Time

Price bubbles….early 90’s
Styles: in & out of favor
Retrospectives…
Artist death
Fire – Joe Goode Inventory
Country economic booms – India, China, Latin America



Other Factors affecting art values

Frames



the knee bone's connected to the...
If ever there was a subject matter as complex as the human bone structure -n it's art pricing. To begin to comprehend how price is arrived at fairly, one must first understand the components which "make up" art prices.
There are essentially four key areas which "symbiotically" work together to create an ever evolving process for art prices. These include: artist issues, art issues, market issues, and for lack of a better term - "other" issues..
the simplistic model
Trusting a seller to educate you on price is a dangerous proposition.
If you are not willing to invest the time in both study and understanding of the fair price for a prospective piece of art, there are a few "quick guides" that will give you a fair glimpse into what a particular artist might be worth.
Discovering "deals" is a function of research.
A lot of dealers and consultants are quick to dismiss Dunbar's data as far from accurate. However, they fail to embrace all it does do - which is give a less interested or experienced buyer an awesome "starting point" compared to where they would be otherwise.
It would be like being forced to learn everything about Weber Carburetors each and every time your Porsche goes in for service.

artist issues
authorship
Who produced a particular piece of art has a monumental effect on the value of a painting. If I scratch out a small sketch of a woman holding a child I'd be fortunate to have a person pay five cents for my efforts. However, if the same image were found by Picasso, you'd be lucky to acquire the item for $5,000. The difference is simple: Picasso has been recognized as a great and important art of the 20th century. I - on the other hand - am no artist at all. Between these two extremes tends to exist pretty much every other artist we might encounter in our quest for art.

Unique to the world of art sales, is the salesmanship that occurs in the "almost" game. Terms like "looks just like", "appears to be", etc - ring loudly in the neophyte buyer's ear as if to say "it is".
Authorship is a lot lot pregnancy - there really are no in-betweens. The piece either is - or is not - by the artist mentioned.

listed artists
You will often encounter the term "listed" artist as you evaluate potential purchases. this term gets greatly abused in the art world and its important to determine what it means.

An artist is considered to be a "listed" artist when the artist is written up in some form of artist biographical books or periodicals related to art and artists. The more important - and non influenced" the publication - usually the more important the artist. the more that's included in the biographical sketch - usually the more important the artist.

I own a painting by a California artist, looked up his name in a dictionary of California artists, and found quite a bit of biographical information. I then took the painting to an art dealer and he told me it was worth only several hundred dollars. I thought it would be worth a lot more than that based on the size of the listing. Why isn't it?

A: Don't confuse the size of an artist's listing in a dictionary or encyclopedia with the monetary value of his art. Long listings do not automatically mean big bucks; short ones don't always mean pocket change. Fair market values are based far more on supply and demand among dealers, collectors, and the state of the art market than they are on the amount of information that you find in biographical references.

The more that's written about an artist, the more his art is generally worth, but the two factors are ultimately independent and there are plenty of exceptions to this rule. In the scholarly art community, the length of an artist's listing or mention in a book is often based on the availability of career data. For example, if a researcher gets an extensive interview from the descendants of a minor artist, he can write a large listing. Even though that artist's work is worth little in the marketplace, his accomplishments are now documented in detail.

Another instance where lots of published material may have little relationship to dollar value is when galleries produce books or exhibition catalogues about artists that they represent. These aren't necessarily published because the artists are famous or their art is significant, but rather because they make great sales tools. Once again, the available data about the artists may be impressive, but their art may have little value outside of the galleries that represent it. Galleries self-publish art books and catalogues all the time in order to increase the attractiveness of their art to collectors.

Regarding your situation, the California artist dictionary that you used to research your artist was written by a scholar, not an art dealer. He didn't care about market values or take them into consideration when researching and compiling his book. His job was to track down biographical information, and document artists, art movements, and art history in the state of California.

Use auction record compendiums, art dealers, art appraisers, price guides, and online databases when researching the dollar values of art. Use scholarly reference works for obtaining biographical data and learning what artists accomplished during their careers. Using one to evaluate the other is like comparing apples and oranges.

On the positive side, this portrait is reasonably well painted and has a value in the mid to upper hundreds of dollars, primarily as a decorative wall piece. No museum would be interested in buying it, but a commercial establishment like a restored Victorian era bar, restaurant or hotel might. Demand would be the highest in places where Lincoln either lived or worked-- Illinois or Washington DC, for instance. Think about selling either at a regional auction, through a local antique dealer, or by approaching potential retail buyers directly.

Whether you consider this prognosis as good or bad news is up to you. Unfortunately, you decided that your painting was important before consulting any experts so feeling let down is understandable. You're not alone here, by the way-- people independently decide that they own highly important art all the time.
The problem they create for themselves is that once they hear the truth for the first time from someone who knows, they either refuse to believe it or they waste years searching the world for an expert who'll eventually agree with them. Best procedure when evaluating any antique, collectible, or work of art that you own is to sit back, assume nothing, reserve judgement, and let the experts decide. It's a lot less painful that way.

The issues with pricing contemporary
Less secondary following / records, etc.
Joe Goode
Renee Radell

art issues
condition
As with all areas of collectables condition plays a substantial role in the value of a piece.

A key component of condition is what and where the piece has trouble. If the condition problem is one which is causing irrevocable deterioration of the art - the worst type.

"Where" the problem is is a huge factor. If a painting has a minor amount of in painting" in a remote corner of the work -

medium
Generally, oil paintings are the most valuable. However, this is most certainly not always the case.
Babb

stage of career
A: It's worth more. Early works are usually worth more and are more collectible than later ones whether the artists become famous or not. This is true for several reasons. From a historical standpoint, early works tell us the most about how an artist's mature style evolved. From collectible and economic standpoints, the majority of the earliest pieces are usually in museums, private collections, or in the families of the artists and are not available for sale. On those infrequent occasions when one comes back onto the market, the competition to buy it can be fierce and the selling price high. Later works, on the other hand, tend to be more plentiful and easier to get.

Early art also tends to be more energized and passionate. When artists are younger in inexperienced, they don't really know where they're going, where they'll end up, what the future holds, or how their art will be received. Later, however, they become established in their careers, settled in their lives, get accustomed to creating art with a certain look, and know exactly what and how much they have to produce in order to satisfy their collector bases. As artists advance in their careers, the uncertainty and excitement is taken out of the mix and, at worst, making art becomes more of an assembly line process than a creative one.

As is the case with artists' early works, works of art that are identified with the onset of important art movements are more collectible than later pieces done in those same styles. For example, an abstract expressionist painting dating from 1943 tends to be more valuable than one dating from 1958. Once again, early examples are more historically significant because they illustrate how the movements evolved. They exemplify risk taking and experimentation and were often created in hostile atmospheres and against prevailing styles and schools of the day. Early impressionist or modernist works, for example, are highly prized by museums and collectors and command hefty prices. As more and more artists adopt a style, the art becomes more plentiful, more repetitive, and less desirable. Early pieces are leaders; later ones are followers.

A notable exception to the "early is better" rule is when artists don't develop the mature styles that they're known for until later in their careers. Once those mature styles emerge, however, the rule applies once again. The earliest examples of those styles become the pieces most sought after by collectors.
importance
A painting can be considered important for a variety of reasons. It could have won an award. It could have been evaluated by a recognized art critic and been considered

Pieces considered important to art in general - are very expensive. However, most recognized artis

CH Miller

This painting is neither historically important nor valuable. True, Lincoln was a major figure in American history, but that does not mean that anything with his image on it is automatically worth large amounts of money. The opposite is far more often the case. Because Lincoln was so famous, many many artists have painted, sculpted, drawn, carved, etched, or otherwise reproduced his image countless times since the mid 1800's. In other words, works of art depcting this president are common and usually not that valuable.

In order for a portrait like yours to have substantial value, it should have been painted by a recognized artist from a personal sitting with Lincoln. In order for it to have some value, it should have been painted by a recognized artist preferably during Lincoln's lifetime or shortly after his death (not necessarily from a personal sitting but for a good reason like an institutional or governmental commission). Yours was painted by a minor artist 36 years after Lincoln's death for indeterminate reasons.

subject
Artists tend to be collected not only by style - but subject. Certain subjects are what an artists becomes most known for and are often considered most valuable.
Additionally, certain scenes are almost always more appealing to collectors than others.
Alternative subjects can also be your friend. Highly regarded artist are a lot more likely to constantly be revaluated.
provenance
Provenance is a large and important sounding word which essentially stands for data regarding the art and artist. It includes issues such as prior ownership, exhibitions the piece has been included in. etc.
For beginning collectors, art with great provenance is usually beyond our means. Or is it?
like a pedigree to a horse.
In no area will the on-line collector discover more confusion than what is valuable provenance - and what is not.
Let's examine the wide variety of provenance related statements we'll likely encounter on-line and the value we can attach to these statements or information.
Maurer Noyer
major versus minor
Major pieces of art are essentially items of great detail. For all intents and purposes - they usually took the artist a great deal of time to produce.
Major works tend to get expensive - even ones by minor artists are not cheap - as the intrinsic value of the art is higher.
MAC's as a general rule - don't own many major works for this reason. In reality - almost no one does. artists have to survive. This means they can't spend a lifetime creating the roof of the Sistine Chapel unless some Pope is footing the bill.


market issues
irrational exuberance
Auctions are to a lot of people the same sort of addictive environment as one finds in casino's along the Las Vegas strip. Auction houses do their very best to create an environment of importance to each and every piece of art they sell. Remember, they make the most money by achieving higher and higher prices for a piece of art.

Of course, you get two people in a room with adequate financial resources and both with a keen desire to own a particular piece of art - and there is really no limit on what the final hammer price might bring. These are known as aberrations in price evaluations and unfortunately - you cannot take them as a fair value for your piece of art.

They profit similar to commodities brokers - they really can't lose if they manage their business properly and possess adequate sales volume. Like a sports bookie.

However, they profit most greatly when prices are on the rise.
As with real estate, comparables are the most key point used to develop a current price for a piece of art today. whatever is the most recent result for a painting of highly similar quality - is used to develop an "estimate" for what the painting before you "should" sell for.

Bidding
Perhaps no other factor can have a greater impact on price than if at least two people following the auction really want the piece.

other issues
extra credit
For minor artists, a quality frame can result in a higher price for a piece. Period frames – those frames made during the period of the art – have become highly collectable and valuable in their own right.

Even a high quality contemporary frame should be factored into your equation – in particular – lack thereof or what appears to be a poor frame job.

The impact on total cost for an unframed piece - as a percentage of total "value" - is huge.
AB Davies
Ransom

factors affecting price
price versus value
The definition of a superb value is the highest possible quality at the lowest possible price.

Authenticity
Of prime importance to the on-line buyer is the issue of authenticity.
Expert Analysis
On occasion, a piece will include
Auction Stickers
Another item which can help provide a higher degree of comfort is an auction sticker from a well recognized auction house. I say well recognized, because I've seen pieces that included a note from the local women's bazaar get described as auction stickers.
Gallery Labels
Gallery stickers are perhaps your best indicator on the quality of a piece of art. Why? Because galleries usually only carry what is considered the best art a particular artist produces.
Many people unaware of
Again, this is another area where a degree of faking can occur. I purchased one painting (and eventually resold) with a sticker from a gallery. Also, all dealers are not any more scrupulous than some on-line sellers.
Show a variety of labels...
Make a couple of fake ones...
Signatures
Some signatures are easily recognized and highly readable. Others, require a degree in hieroglyphics to decipher and that particular artist's expertise to authenticate.
Early on, I invested a decent amount of money in books illustrating signatures by various artists. Most avid new collectors make such investments. If I had it all to do over again, I'd have purchased only a handful. Why? Because unfortunately, a signature is about the last component we consider when buying a piece of art on-line.
Show them a bunch of signatures - try and read...


How an Artist's Death Affects Art Prices
Shepherd painting as example

Coronel

DeNeuville example – even if major – history might record them eventually as unimportant

Q: I bought six paintings from a local artist over a twenty year period during his career. He's pretty old now and I'm thinking about selling. Should I wait until after he dies? Will that make any difference price wise?
A: This is a rather mercenary way to look at art, but the nature of the beast is that people ask these sorts of questions all the time. The answer in this case is that the artist's death will have little impact on the value of your art. Many people believe that prices skyrocket when artists die, but that's a myth perpetrated primarily by dealers who say anything to make sales.
An artist's death significantly impacts his price structure only when he's relatively famous, his work is expensive, he's in demand and collectible, and most importantly, he dies unexpectedly. As evidenced in the months immediately following the deaths of Warhol and Basquiat, for example, their markets went temporarily insane before gradually settling back to normal. Dealers and collectors were caught off guard, everyone scrambled for the art, a sort of buying panic set in, and prices spiked in the upward direction. When an artist dies of old age, however, all market changes have taken place slowly, sensibly, and in an orderly fashion. Death comes as no surprise to anyone and consequently, prices remain relatively steady.
In some instances, an artist's prices can actually drop on the occasion of his death. For example, an executor or family may mismanage the estate by dumping all the art on the market at once and temporarily depress prices. Another reason for a decline in prices is when collectors patronize an artist more for his personality, media image, flamboyance, social contacts, or sales skills than for the quality of his art. With the artist's number one promoter gone (namely himself), art values fall flat.
Your main concern should be whether the artist's family or executors are planning on liquidating a large portion of his work within a reasonably short period after his death. Chances of this happening are remote, but if it will make you sleep better at night, check with dealers who represent the artist or if you're feeling exceptionally rude, ask the artist himself. Enjoy your profits.



other factors

tools and resources
On Line Tools
There are now thousands of resources which can help you authenticate, evaluate and price a prospective piece of art.


Off Line Tools
Signature Books - show sample
Museums
Auction Catalogs
What you don't find in the price analysis included at various web sites and books are key ingredients found in the auction catalog. this would include powerful provenance information - or on the opposite spectrum - a question regarding authenticity.
Finally, and most importantly, are the close inspection issues that only a first hand and knowledgeable buyer could have done.
the discount factor
I don't care how you spin it - buying on-line involves a less informed decision process - and this "process" must include a discount to "price" which includes the risk of not having a made a thorough and first hand evaluation of the art. Personally, I've come to love this process of "pot luck" when it comes to what I'm actually getting for my money. It adds an element of surprise I find enjoyable to the whole process. However, as your collecting efforts and investments get more serious over time - you become less interested in being "surprised" on either side of the equation. I now seek "particular" pieces which round out many of the lessons regarding on line collecting I hope to share. I don't wish to get surprised as I try and assemble these final items. I now "need" - certain pieces of art. Before, my needs were a lot less definitive. I might pass over several hundred pieces because they don't quite match this need, or got priced too high - only to narrow in on a single piece. Do I want to have invested all this time only to have the result be nt what I was looking for? Of course not.
Weighted score lis

Evaluating Condition

The standard process for evaluating a piece of art on an artist you know nothing about
Most new collectors will be aware of the particulars with very few artists.
Record the artist name and art information
Davenports
Confirm spelling and alternative names
You'd be amazed at how many different names various on line data will use as header documents to describe certain artists. this is particularly true for non-American artists.
Reyes example for search engines


the final analysis
Weighted score list




"Price Models"
why the difference?
retail replacement value for insurance appraisals, fair-market value for charitable donations, estate tax valuation, or resale value range).

If you're unsure of a painting's authenticity or value, seek the experience of a professional. I've compiled these list of professional art appraisers to aid in your on-line searches, as well as professional organizations to help you find an appraiser in your area should you not want to pursue an evaluation on-line. Some of these services are free and some charge a fee. In all cases, you should look at the quality of the information you receive before making decisions to resell your work.
An appraisal is only as credible as the person who prepares it. Certification is done by numerous appraisal societies. Verify that the appraiser adheres to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.

An appraisal should always include the following:
A letter of transmittal outlining the appraisal assignment, the scope of the job, the valuation approach, and the type of value to be determined (e.g. retail replacement value for insurance appraisals, fair-market value for charitable donations, estate tax valuation, or resale value range).

The description of the artwork should be clear, detailed, note the work's condition, and include information such as the name of artist, birth/death dates, title of the artwork, medium (e.g., oil on canvas, watercolor, etc.), and dimensions.
Commentary regarding the research conducted, the valuation factors considered, and the placement of the artwork within the artist's body of work.

Other elements should include a list of references used, a history of the ownership and exhibitions of the work, and a clear photograph of the work.

Your appraisal will likely be accompanied be a certificate of appraisal, the appraiser's qualification, the limiting and qualifying conditions and assumptions of the Appraisal Report, and a statement as to the code of ethics under which the appraiser practices.

comparables
Comparable by definitions means the same - "apples to apples" if you will. Comparables are used in art valuation to determine what is a realistic price for a piece of art in comparison to similar pieces of art that have sold in the past.
The on-line revolution has caused comparable price information to be more accessible than at any point in history. Unfortunately, it's easy access has spurred an equal amount of abuse and misunderstanding on its proper "use - mostly at the expense of MAC's buying art.

buy - as a seller
Although most of the art I purchase I intend to hold long term, I find it useful to price each purchase as if I was going to sell it tomorrow. I've added an occasional "flipper" - a piece of art I find somewhat appealing but really feel could be quite valuable considering its current price and used for trade or resale for the purchase of art I find appealing.



"Price Examples"
sample pricing models
Art prices are a lot like "real estate". They can increase or decline rapidly based upon changing conditions and they are affected by a lot more than what is situated directly in front of you. However, they are able to be calculated at any given moment. And it it this basic skill that is essential to the beginning collector.
the scientific approach
The advent of the internet and long term mathematical regression analysis has yielded a great deal of data and information for arriving at a fair price for any piece of art.
comparables
Comparable by definitions means the same - "apples to apples" if you will. Comparables are used in art valuation to determine what is a realistic price for a piece of art in comparison to similar pieces of art that have sold in the past.
The on-line revolution has caused comparable price information to be more accessible than at any point in history. Unfortunately, it's easy access has spurred an equal amount of abuse and misunderstanding on its proper "use - mostly at the expense of MAC's buying art.
when 1 + 1 = 3
Some paintings, no matter how you look at them - are going to beat the hell out of comparables because nothing is "really" comparable to them. Such masterworks are typically beyond the reach of MAC's - but we can occasionally nab one by less recognized artists.
comparably less
It's been my experience that when a seller includes "comparables' in their advertisement - the piece is not worth anywhere near the pieces they include.



buy - as a seller
Although most of the art I purchase I intend to hold long term, I find it useful to price each purchase as if I was going to sell it tomorrow. I've added an occasional "flipper" - a piece of art I find somewhat appealing but really feel could be quite valuable considering its current price and used for trade or resale for the purchase of art I find appealing.


"Price Calculations"
how much did you say?
Art prices are a lot like "real estate". They can increase or decline rapidly based upon changing conditions and they are affected by a lot more than what is situated directly in front of you. However, they are able to be calculated at any given moment. And it it this basic skill that is essential to the beginning collector.
the human element
In spite of the fact that researchers occasionally claim to have reduced the art business to mathematical formulas, the answer to each of the above questions is a resounding NO. The main problem is that art is a subjective medium-- it does not operate according to the same fundamental laws of nature or mathematical formulas that apply to the rest the universe.

People collect art for personal reasons, not because they're conforming to quantifiable equations. An individual chooses to buy a piece of art because he feels a certain way about it. How much he pays for it depends on an incredible variety of factors including how much money he can afford to spend at that moment, how good of a negotiator he is, what kind of a mood he's in, how much his wife likes it, how much he likes the frame, whether he likes the colors, how big it is, how badly the seller needs the money, and so on. This same individual cannot, however, change the speed of light or alter the force of gravity no matter how he feels about them.

In addition to an individual's willingness to pay a certain price for a certain piece of art, numerous outside factors also come into play. Since owning art is not necessary for human survival, prices drop during times of war, economic uncertainty, and social or political unrest. A severe drought can temporarily impact the prices of a region's most collectible artists. Even bad weather the night of an auction or the fact that an auction is mistakenly scheduled at the same time as the Super bowl can adversely impact art prices. On the flip side, media attention on record art auction prices, a great economy, low interest rates, and easy credit cause art prices to rise. And don't forget what happens when two egos clash over one piece of art at auction. That's a situation where two people care far less about the art or what it's worth than who ends up owning it.
That's not all. You also have variables relating to the art itself including what condition it's in, when it was created, what the subject matter is, what the dominant colors are, how good the frame is, whether it was pictured in the paper or shown at an art exhibit, whether the artist made a slight little mistake on a tree limb that bothers certain people when they look at it, what sort of mood the art imparts to viewers, and on and on and on. Anyone who tells you that they can scientifically or mathematically mold these sorts of variables into universal formulas has probably also been abducted by space aliens.

Even if you ignore all of the above unquantifiables and set out to create a formula based solely on past selling prices, you still run into big problems. Suppose, for example that most sales of an artist's work take place privately at galleries and that prices are neither published nor generally known. Suppose also that his art rarely appears at auction and the few pieces that have all fared poorly. As a result, any pricing formula based on known sales results will yield unrealistically low values. A similar situation exists when no top quality work of art by an artist has ever changed hands at auction. Once again, anyone researching a superior work of art will end up with an unrealistically low value if they simply plug numbers into a formula based on known sales results. Neither of these scenarios are unusual, by the way.

As for ranking artists, scholars and critics argue over who's more important, influential, and had a greater impact on art history all the time. One year it's one artist, the next year it's another. Some of these arguments have been raging for centuries. Tastes and fashions of the times also tend to dictate who's viewed as more or less significant at any given moment. All you have to do is read art criticism of different time periods to see how rapidly artists can fall into or out of favor.

The same holds true for predicting the future of the art market, either segment by segment or as a whole. Particular artists and styles of art fall into and out of favor with dealers, collectors, and scholars. Plenty of art sold for higher prices twenty years ago than it sells for today. Plenty of art sells for high prices one decade, drops in value the next, and then rises again. Plenty of artists stop creating art altogether and their markets virtually evaporate. If you want to know the future of the art market and artists' selling prices dollar by dollar, you'd do better by calling the Psychic Hotline.

The best comparison I can think of when considering how the price of art gets set and rises and falls – is in comparison to real estate.

Lower prices – a bad area, a developing area,
High Prices – Everybody wants it
Flat Pricing
Gallery Appraisal – Based upon their retail sales price history – Analogy
Certified Appraisal
Comparables
Tools & Resources

On Line Tools
Off Line Tools – Signature Books, Museums, Auction Catalogs
Evaluating Condition

Internet Technology Changes How Dealers Price Art

Convert this to my painting by Sheppard

It happens at art galleries, antique shops, shows, collectives, flea markets, estate sales, and in private transactions. It happens with price guides, auction records, appraisals, expert advice, casual chit-chat, and hearsay. And now it's happing with the internet. People who own art that they're interested in selling are now using cyberspace to figure out how much it's worth and how much they should ask for it. They know that the more information they have access to, the more accurately they can set their prices. But first, a little history.....

Way way back in olden times (like the 1960's) sellers determined asking prices mainly by going from shop to shop, show to show, expert to expert, dealer to dealer, and auction to auction. Because of the limited access to printed information, those who lived and worked in the world's major art centers or who traveled the most and knew the most people were the most likely to accurately price their art.

Then came price guides and auction records. Locating price information became easier, but at the same time, pricing art for sale became more of an abstract process. Because consulting books was nothing like speaking to living breathing knowledgeable human beings and getting the information firsthand, sellers tended to take the highest prices they could find and tack them onto their art. That's the down side. People can advise one another when they may be acting on misinformation or inaccurately interpreting data; price guides and auction records cannot. The overall effect, however, was far to the up side in that more people than ever before could now price their art more accurately.

Now we have the internet to reckon with. The advent of cyber-pricing has distanced the process even further from the realities of the marketplace. In many cases, people researching values have no idea who posts price information, what their qualifications are, how those prices are arrived at, or under what circumstances the art is for sale or has sold. Computer searches make price misreads increasingly likely because they're arrived at without the aid of traditional research techniques. At least with price guides and auction records, you can read about the authors and understand why they've come to the conclusions that they have. In many cases, internet information is so difficult to qualify and the sources so untraceable and vague that the chances for inaccurate pricing are greater than ever.

The upshot of all this is that if you cyber-price your art right, you can still be wrong. This may sound like double-talk, but here's an example. Suppose you live in rural Kentucky, sell antiques out of a booth in a small collective, and are trying to price an etching by a regional Texas artist. You locate the website of a Dallas gallery, find similar etchings priced and for sale, and put a comparable but slightly lower price on yours. To assume that the gallery's prices are good anywhere and at any time can be a big mistake.

For all you know, this gallery may exclusively handle the artist's estate, be attempting to create a market for the work by asking record high selling prices, and have a $40,000 a month overhead in the best gallery district in town. The owner may be one of the most important experts and respected dealers of Texas art and artists in the country and have access to all the wealthiest collectors. Outside of that gallery, the etchings may be worth nowhere near that much.

These days, I can be visiting a shop at a cross-roads in the middle of nowhere and find prices equivalent to what one might expect from a gallery on 57thStreet in New York City or on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. This happens because a top retail price gets posted on the internet, someone copies it without understanding it, someone else copies the copy, and so on until equally ridiculous prices can be found all over the country.

Finding an art price on a computer screen does not begin to equate with in-depth market research. You also need to understand why and under what conditions it is what it is. Hopefully the next stage in the internet art pricing evolution will be the proliferation of more sophisticated and competent research techniques and a deeper understanding of pricing guidelines. Remember this-- on your way to finding out "how much" don't forget to also find out "why," "where," and "under what circumstances."

"Price Fundamentals"
the knee bone's connected to the...
If ever there was a subject matter as complex as the human bone structure -it's art pricing. To begin to comprehend how price is arrived at fairly, one must first understand the components which "make up" art prices.
If you have a decent grasp of how real estate prices are established for homes you will comprehend the basics of art pricing better than others. Imagine each artist as a street - and the houses on that street make up the art he produced over his or her lifetime. the differences in price tend to be a function of the features and qualities which potential buyers consider important. The home which won the "neighborhood showcase" for best home on the block tends to fetch a higher price than the one which was built for simplicity, etc. the one that is rough condition gets substantially discounted when compared to the one that has been perfectly kept up since it was built.

Of course, a mansion built on this street tends to have a "cap" on its value based upon the overall neighborhood of the artist. Thus, there is a limit on what value any piece will be assigned - and that limit is most closely tied to what other houses on the artist street have sold for in the auction market.

Like home prices, values tend to rise or fall slowly. Rapid increases artificially instigated by retail galleries don't tend to occur in the "real" art world of established artists and art. Many new collectors become convinced tat once an artist dies they will see a rapid increase in value - and occasionally this comes true. However, the market has usually already factored an artist's age and likelihood for continued "future art output" into pricing. Additionally, a lot of art even begins to become less valuable after an artist passes on. Many recognized artists are successful not so much for the superior quality of their art - but rather - for their superior skill in self promotion, salesmanship, and ability in securing certain galleries to sell their art. Once their powerful persona's are no longer part of the buying equation, the galleries and or family members which represented them will often "dump" the works - causing further price depression - and move on to an equally compelling living "persona" - leaving the art to stand on its own merits against the masters of all time. Obviously, such art that is not deemed highly original or very important - tend to become obscure in the annals of art history.

An unexpected death can cause a brief price aberration - similar to how the stock market reacts to untimely news. Such a price jump occurred following the death of Andy Warhol. However, once people recognized there was plenty of art available to satisfy the "needs" of collectors at a price deemed appropriate - the cost of these pieces fell back in line with pre-death pricing.

In other words, value tends to rise slowly as time judges art or artists to be more and more important to art history - and buying patrons buy into the critics comments and steadily run up prices to acquire their favorite pieces.

Of course, home buyers tend to get "protected" from making huge errors in paying too much for a home because they are required to get an independent appraisal in order to obtain a loan to buy a home. Know what? this built in protection mechanism is good advice - and you can take the same steps before acquiring art from on-line resources.

There are essentially four key features to any work of art that buyers consider important to the valuation of a piece. These include: artist issues, art issues, market issues, and for lack of a better term - "other" issues..
artist issues
authorship
Who produced a particular piece of art has a monumental effect on the value of a painting.
Looks just like...
Appears to be...
listed
I own a painting by a California artist, looked up his name in a dictionary of California artists, and found quite a bit of biographical information. I then took the painting to an art dealer and he told me it was worth only several hundred dollars. I thought it would be worth a lot more than that based on the size of the listing. Why isn't it?

A: Don't confuse the size of an artist's listing in a dictionary or encyclopedia with the monetary value of his art. Long listings do not automatically mean big bucks; short ones don't always mean pocket change. Fair market values are based far more on supply and demand among dealers, collectors, and the state of the art market than they are on the amount of information that you find in biographical references.

The more that's written about an artist, the more his art is generally worth, but the two factors are ultimately independent and there are plenty of exceptions to this rule. In the scholarly art community, the length of an artist's listing or mention in a book is often based on the availability of career data. For example, if a researcher gets an extensive interview from the descendants of a minor artist, he can write a large listing. Even though that artist's work is worth little in the marketplace, his accomplishments are now documented in detail.

Another instance where lots of published material may have little relationship to dollar value is when galleries produce books or exhibition catalogues about artists that they represent. These aren't necessarily published because the artists are famous or their art is significant, but rather because they make great sales tools. Once again, the available data about the artists may be impressive, but their art may have little value outside of the galleries that represent it. Galleries self-publish art books and catalogues all the time in order to increase the attractiveness of their art to collectors.

Regarding your situation, the California artist dictionary that you used to research your artist was written by a scholar, not an art dealer. He didn't care about market values or take them into consideration when researching and compiling his book. His job was to track down biographical information, and document artists, art movements, and art history in the state of California.

Use auction record compendiums, art dealers, art appraisers, price guides, and online databases when researching the dollar values of art. Use scholarly reference works for obtaining biographical data and learning what artists accomplished during their careers. Using one to evaluate the other is like comparing apples and oranges.

On the positive side, this portrait is reasonably well painted and has a value in the mid to upper hundreds of dollars, primarily as a decorative wall piece. No museum would be interested in buying it, but a commercial establishment like a restored Victorian era bar, restaurant or hotel might. Demand would be the highest in places where Lincoln either lived or worked-- Illinois or Washington DC, for instance. Think about selling either at a regional auction, through a local antique dealer, or by approaching potential retail buyers directly.

Whether you consider this prognosis as good or bad news is up to you. Unfortunately, you decided that your painting was important before consulting any experts so feeling let down is understandable. You're not alone here, by the way-- people independently decide that they own highly important art all the time.

The problem they create for themselves is that once they hear the truth for the first time from someone who knows, they either refuse to believe it or they waste years searching the world for an expert who'll eventually agree with them. Best procedure when evaluating any antique, collectible, or work of art that you own is to sit back, assume nothing, reserve judgment, and let the experts decide. It's a lot less painful that way.
local interest
Artists are living, breathing human beings - and tend to develop followings based upon where they live - or have lived during their lives. The scenes they paint tend to be based upon their geographic location - and it's only natural for collectors to follow pieces which they associate with.

The group of paintings I helped sell by William S. Robinson makes this point quite well.

I grew up in a western Kentucky in a small town known as "Owensboro". At the time of my upbringing, an artist by the name of "Harvey Joiner" was considered a local favorite - and most of the nicer homes I visited owned an original painting by this artist. Outside of this geographic area - you'll find little information about this artist. Having now collected art for some time, I've come to appreciate his nice landscapes are just the same sort of prototypical regional works one finds in any area of the US.

On a grander scale, Fletcher Ransom is of this same sort. His art is of excellent quality. His pieces are housed in some important collections. However, for whatever reason, he never has gained any recognition of consequence and aside from his illustration art - a field of collectible works all its own - his pieces have never really exceeded values beyond that of the intrinsic value of the art "itself".


art issues
condition
As with all areas of collectables condition plays a substantial role in the value of a piece.

A key component of condition is what and where the piece has trouble. If the condition problem is one which is causing irrevocable deterioration of the art - the worst type.

"Where" the problem is is a huge factor. If a painting has a minor amount of in painting" in a remote corner of the work -

medium
Generally, oil paintings are the most valuable. However, this is most certainly not always the case.
Babb
stage of career
What do you think the ball which Babe Ruth hit home run number 714 is worth? Or how about his first?

Art that looks basically the same is priced differently by these same factors. even identical items can be very difference in their importance due to the circumstances surrounding them.

A: It's worth more. Early works are usually worth more and are more collectible than later ones whether the artists become famous or not. This is true for several reasons. From a historical standpoint, early works tell us the most about how an artist's mature style evolved. From collectible and economic standpoints, the majority of the earliest pieces are usually in museums, private collections, or in the families of the artists and are not available for sale. On those infrequent occasions when one comes back onto the market, the competition to buy it can be fierce and the selling price high. Later works, on the other hand, tend to be more plentiful and easier to get.

Early art also tends to be more energized and passionate. When artists are younger in inexperienced, they don't really know where they're going, where they'll end up, what the future holds, or how their art will be received. Later, however, they become established in their careers, settled in their lives, get accustomed to creating art with a certain look, and know exactly what and how much they have to produce in order to satisfy their collector bases. As artists advance in their careers, the uncertainty and excitement is taken out of the mix and, at worst, making art becomes more of an assembly line process than a creative one.

As is the case with artists' early works, works of art that are identified with the onset of important art movements are more collectible than later pieces done in those same styles. For example, an abstract expressionist painting dating from 1943 tends to be more valuable than one dating from 1958. Once again, early examples are more historically significant because they illustrate how the movements evolved. They exemplify risk taking and experimentation and were often created in hostile atmospheres and against prevailing styles and schools of the day. Early impressionist or modernist works, for example, are highly prized by museums and collectors and command hefty prices. As more and more artists adopt a style, the art becomes more plentiful, more repetitive, and less desirable. Early pieces are leaders; later ones are followers.
A notable exception to the "early is better" rule is when artists don't develop the mature styles that they're known for until later in their careers. Once those mature styles emerge, however, the rule applies once again. The earliest examples of those styles become the pieces most sought after by collectors.
importance
A painting can be considered important for a variety of reasons. It could have won an award. It could have been evaluated by a recognized art critic and been considered

Pieces considered important to art in general - are very expensive. However, most recognized artis

CH Miller
This painting is neither historically important nor valuable. True, Lincoln was a major figure in American history, but that does not mean that anything with his image on it is automatically worth large amounts of money. The opposite is far more often the case. Because Lincoln was so famous, many many artists have painted, sculpted, drawn, carved, etched, or otherwise reproduced his image countless times since the mid 1800's. In other words, works of art depcting this president are common and usually not that valuable.
In order for a portrait like yours to have substantial value, it should have been painted by a recognized artist from a personal sitting with Lincoln. In order for it to have some value, it should have been painted by a recognized artist preferably during Lincoln's lifetime or shortly after his death (not necessarily from a personal sitting but for a good reason like an institutional or governmental commission). Yours was painted by a minor artist 36 years after Lincoln's death for indeterminate reasons.
subject
Artists tend to be collected not only by style - but subject. Certain subjects are what an artists becomes most known for and are often considered most valuable.
Additionally, certain scenes are almost always more appealing to collectors than others.

Alternative subjects can also be your friend. Highly regarded artist are a lot more likely to constantly be revaluated.

major versus minor
Generally, oil paintings are the most valuable. However, this is most certainly not always the case.


market issues
irrational exuberance
Auctions are to a lot of people the same sort of addictive environment as one finds in casino's along the Las Vegas strip. Auction houses do their very best to create an environment of importance to each and every piece of art they sell. Remember, they make the most money by achieving higher and higher prices for a piece of art.

Of course, you get two people in a room with adequate financial resources and both with a keen desire to own a particular piece of art - and there is really no limit on what the final hammer price might bring. These are known as aberrations in price evaluations and unfortunately - you cannot take them as a fair value for your piece of art.

They profit similar to commodities brokers - they really can't lose if they manage their business properly and possess adequate sales volume. Like a sports bookie.

However, they profit most greatly when prices are on the rise.
As with real estate, comparables are the most key point used to develop a current price for a piece of art today. whatever is the most recent result for a painting of highly similar quality - is used to develop an "estimate" for what the painting before you "should" sell for.
Bidding

Perhaps no other factor can have a greater impact on price than if at least two people following the auction really want the piece.

other issues
extra credit
For minor artists, a quality frame can result in a higher price for a piece. Period frames – those frames made during the period of the art – have become highly collectable and valuable in their own right.
Even a high quality contemporary frame should be factored into your equation – in particular – lack thereof or what appears to be a poor frame job.
The impact on total cost for an unframed piece - as a percentage of total "value" - is huge.

I look at frames a lot like you see in the used car guides. I put a certain value on an authentic period frame, another value on a "decorative" frame that I feel looks good on the piece, I add no value for a very average looking frame I might or might not keep the piece in, - and I subtract a discount for an ugly frame I know I will have to replace or no frame at all.
contemporary period

AB Davies
Ransom
pre auction estimates
As "safe" as they might first seem - there are a lot of misrepresentations regarding value from "pre auction estimates" from establish auction houses as well. Wait a minute - aren't their any good guys out there? Yes - but they are also businesses.

Generally, auction estimates are set based upon comparable values of other pieces of similar art that has been sold at auction in the past. however, a number of factors can influence this number - sometimes to your advantage - and sometimes high.

Certain sellers establish a price most buyers would feel is ridiculous for the "auction market". They set a minimum which although "might" be acceptable at a retail level - is against the grain of the discounted "spot pricing" most commonly associated with art auctions.

Likewise, when a seller is willing to let a piece go cheaply, much lower than anticipated estimates are used to induce buyers to follow the auction and bid on an item. This often results in an even higher price being realized at the final hammer.

It follows the same process of a piece beginning at $1.00 on ebay. When all really looks good - the seller "knows" the piece is not going to sell at anywhere near $1.00.

Pre-auction estimates can be viewed as a helpful guide - and they are certainly more reliable regarding value than the glittery evaluations by Tom, Dick & Harriett found most commonly amongst ebay selling advertisements. However, as with all purchases - you are responsible for your own actions.

factors affecting price
price versus value
The definition of a superb value is the highest possible quality at the lowest possible price.
authentication issues
"who says it" Test
There are only a handful of recognized experts for the very best artists
Gallery labels can be of some help - but what gallery is pretty important. I've seen sellers continually list framers stickers as gallery labels.
provenance
You'll hear experts say that provenance is like the pedigree of a horse.
To the on-line collector it's more like XXX.
In no area will the on-line collector discover more confusion than what is valuable provenance - and what is not.
Let's examine the wide variety of provenance related statements we'll likely encounter on-line and the value we can attach to these statements or information.
Maurer Noyer
CH Miller - at first - now
Noyer Girl - Then / now
Noyer Girl - Butterfields
Lax had it all
Wolchonok Stamp
Davies - Strong Gallery
Moses Soyer - Doyle Gallery
Chalk Numbers =- Face / Winter Scene
Cropsey - researched family
Ransom - Will included

Authenticity
Of prime importance to the on-line buyer is the issue of authenticity.
Expert Analysis
On occasion, a piece will include
Auction Stickers
Another item which can help provide a higher degree of comfort is an auction sticker from a well recognized auction house. I say well recognized, because I've seen pieces that included a note from the local women's bazaar get described as auction stickers.
Gallery Labels
Gallery stickers are perhaps your best indicator on the quality of a piece of art. Why? Because galleries usually only carry what is considered the best art a particular artist produces.
Many people unaware of
Again, this is another area where a degree of faking can occur. I purchased one painting (and eventually resold) with a sticker from a gallery. Also, all dealers are not any more scrupulous than some on-line sellers.
Show a variety of labels...
Make a couple of fake ones...
Signatures
Some signatures are easily recognized and highly readable. Others, require a degree in hieroglyphics to decipher and that particular artist's expertise to authenticate.
Early on, I invested a decent amount of money in books illustrating signatures by various artists. Most avid new collectors make such investments. If I had it all to do over again, I'd have purchased only a handful. Why? Because unfortunately, a signature is about the last component we consider when buying a piece of art on-line.
Show them a bunch of signatures - try and read...



other factors

tools and resources
On Line Tools
There are now thousands of resources which can help you authenticate, evaluate and price a prospective piece of art.


Off Line Tools
Signature Books - show sample
Museums
Auction Catalogs
What you don't find in the price analysis included at various web sites and books are key ingredients found in the auction catalog. this would include powerful provenance information - or on the opposite spectrum - a question regarding authenticity.
Finally, and most importantly, are the close inspection issues that only a first hand and knowledgeable buyer could have done.
the discount factor
I don't care how you sin it - buying on-line involves a less informed decision process - and this "process" must include a discount to "price" which includes the risk of not having a made a thorough and first hand evaluation of the art. Personally, I've come to love this process of "pot luck" when it comes to what I'm actually getting for my money. It adds an element of surprise I find enjoyable to the whole process. However, as your collecting efforts and investments get more serious over time - you become less interested in being "surprised" on either side of the equation. I now seek "particular" pieces which round out many of the lessons regarding on line collecting I hope to share. I don't wish to get surprised as I try and assemble these final items. I now "need" - certain pieces of art. Before, my needs were a lot less definitive. I might pass over several hundred pieces because they don't quite match this need, or got priced too high - only to narrow in on a single piece. Do I want to have invested all this time only to have the result be nt what I was looking for? Of course not.
Weighted score lis

Evaluating Condition

The standard process for evaluating a piece of art on an artist you know nothing about
Most new collectors will be aware of the particulars with very few artists.
Record the artist name and art information
Davenports
Confirm spelling and alternative names
You'd be amazed at how many different names various on line data will use as header documents to describe certain artists. this is particularly true for non-American artists.
Reyes example for search engines


the final analysis
Weighted score list


"Price Calculations"
how much did you say?
Art prices are a lot like "real estate". They can increase or decline rapidly based upon changing conditions and they are affected by a lot more than what is situated directly in front of you. However, they are able to be calculated at any given moment. And it it this basic skill that is essential to the beginning collector.
the scientific approach
The advent of the internet and long term mathematical regression analysis has yielded a great deal of data and information for arriving at a fair price for any piece of art.
collectible versus decorative value versus investment grade: which one’s right for you?
Most all art has a certain "intrinsic" value. In the absence of auction comparables - I painting tends to be valued - and marketed - for it's decorative appeal. Obviously, no one is going to pay $100,000 for a "decorative" piece - but they will sometimes pay up to $5,000 - and even more - for a piece that matches perfectly in a spot.
These pieces are usually highly detailed in appealing scenery.


comparables
Comparable by definitions means the same - "apples to apples" if you will. Comparables are used in art valuation to determine what is a realistic price for a piece of art in comparison to similar pieces of art that have sold in the past.
The on-line revolution has caused comparable price information to be more accessible than at any point in history. Unfortunately, it's easy access has spurred an equal amount of abuse and misunderstanding on its proper "use - mostly at the expense of MAC's buying art.
Where 1 + 1 = 3…understanding how it gets valued
Some paintings, no matter how you look at them - are going to beat the hell out of comparables because nothing is "really" comparable to them. Such masterworks are typically beyond the reach of MAC's - but we can occasionally nab one by less recognized artists.
comparably less
It's been my experience that when a seller includes "comparables' in their advertisement - the piece is not worth anywhere near the pieces they include.

"Art Price Psychology"
understanding the mentality
I recently read an article where the Wall Street Journal had several different on-line appraisal firms, dealers, and a "hands on" expert evaluate prices of various collectibles - including art. They seemed to find great humor in the variations that occurred between the firms regarding the accurate value of each item.
Know what? I found humor in the fact they found humor in the difference these "experts" had regarding the exact value of each item. Of all the people in the world who should have comprehended "why this is" - it's the wall street Journal. Why? Because the psychology "behind" collectibles and art prices is indeed a lot closer to stock valuations than the lay person might realize.

"Exact" price is dependent upon a wide variety of external elements.
The Worldwide Economy

No commodity is unaffected by the national and international economy.
The Local Economy

Wal-Mart has the largest majority of its retail stores situated in the Southern US.
The exact place - and the disposable income of people in the area "at that time" - can have an impact.
Industry - Style of Work
Ever seen two analysts agree entirely on the value of an enterprise. Such analysts are the first cousins of the world of art critics. Forever disagreeing over the importance of one enterprise or painting.
CEO - artist

Copy Cat Firms
Similar artists
Book Value
Intrinsic value. No matter who painted a particular piece of art - some have a higher book or intrinsic value than others.
Depreciated Value
Prices depend a great deal upon what the value is being used for. As with companies, when you are considering a value based upon its taxable value,
Intrinsic Value
One thing that occurred in the Wall Street Journal "analysis" - was a particular piece was judged to be worth several thousand dollars due to the appeal of the frame and scenery. The on-line appraisers used the objective analysis of only art and artist history.
I'm guessing the appraiser who did the hands on work was experienced in the retail values associated with pieces of great "scene" interest. Not every person that buys are are interested in all the factors of collectible and art and artist importance. In fact, if we looked at art purchases from a "volume" basis - most pieces are purchased by unsophisticated buyers who look at the piece from its personal appeal - and what impact it will have on the beautification of their home.
This value is what I call a piece of art's "intrinsic value". Almost all items of any consequence have a certain intrinsic value - a bottom line price the average person would pay to own it.
Irrational exuberance
The Journal found it quite humorous when their hands on dealer raved over a particular piece.



"Price Tests"
think you're ready?
Following are a series of ads selling art in the format you will likely encounter as you purchase art on ebay and related auction venues.

I'm going to use pieces from the LineOnArt collection to test and improve your skills in evaluating pieces of art you'll encounter from online resources. Following each "advertisement" - I will include data you could have researched and discovered from various search engines and other on-line resources. Finally, you will be offered a chance to buy the piece at a final hammer price.
Following your decision to spend the amount of money required, you'll get to review an evaluation based upon my own research and that of other experts of if your decision was a wise one.

you will discover the appraised value arrived at by E-ppraisal - the Net's leading source for pricing art and related objects on line - and a summary of issues of why the piece has been assigned that value to recheck how you arrived at your answer.

Test format
Give the person a certain amount of money to start - put all the info in the ad - the price is "XXX". Buy it or "pass".

Ransom
I call this value the cold realities of "comparables". this - is a very nice painting, in a very nice period frame, by a very skilled artist - worth relatively - very little money. The story that accompanies the piece makes it "special" to the Parthenon Museum in Nashville - but outside of this arena - the subject matter is "all wrong" for what buyers have been willing to pay for a piece by Fletcher Ransom, etc.

Hoertz
Don't tell me you missed this valuation after learning the lesson from Fletcher Ransom? Again, we love "provenance" with all our art - but even the best provenance in the world is only worth as much as the best value assigned to the particular artist that painted the piece.
Condition Piece

Noyer
this piece presents an excellent opportunity to make a logical decision and fair valuation on price.

Picasso

Renee

Peto






 
Gallery…by Category of Reader / Visitor…NEEDS-based
Main Galleries = Rooms
Sub Galleries = Sections of Each Room / Installation
Individual Pieces / Lessons
Additional Lesson Gallery Options
Tricks to buying the most affordable fine art
Buying “school” pieces
Bottom Fishing at Lives Auction…both success & failures
Buying standard sizes…in frames & art…makes it more affordable for framing, etc.

Art & Artists You Love…at Prices you Can Afford
• Bertelsen, Aage – River Landscape in Winter – 15 ½ x 23 ½
• Lichtenstein, Roy – “Crak” – 19 1/8 x 27 5/8

Conditional Affection

Common myths gallery
An Artist Dies…now it’s worth more? Meza
• Meza, Guillermo – Desmudo – 36 x 25 ½

Proximity to Genius
…illustrated with a group of art?

How to choose the right art for you
Along with a fair price…
We usually start with skill…example
Often gets boring…move to artistic expression
Pieces that move you
o Penney, Bruce Barton – Soul In The Sand – 27 ¾ x 17 15/16
Pieces about your life & interests
• Continental School – Realist Cats Playing with Flower Pot: Havlik – 20 x 25

Pieces that stoke a favorite memory
o Bluth, Don – Dragon’s Lair Character Study – 13 x 16
o Penney, Bruce Barton – Boy Playing with Hoop – 30 ½ x 38
o Penney, Bruce Barton – Boy Holding Flower – 10 x 13
Pieces that are ideal for your specific decorating needs
Pieces outside your normal boundary…living with some new direction

Mediums…Examples from all…
…Watercolor
Drawing

Analyzing Your Artwork
Figuring Out…“What it is”
Okun
Also Reference…
Scarlett






Beginners Gallery

Swallowing your medicine

• Continental School – Monks & Church Landscape – 35 x 27
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Starting off with what you have
o I had been told it wasn’t old…plywood…wrong

• Deloney, Jack – Christmas Cotton – 12 x 22
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Collectible realties
o Limited edition of 1100
o Starting off with what you have



• Best bets for the beginning art collector?
o Nice art, fulfill your decorating needs, don’t go backwards, explore a new direction, maybe…get lucky
Stolen Masterpieces
Stealing masterpieces in broad daylight…Rolph Scarlett
• Scarlett, Rolph – Abstract Fertility Composition – 34 x 44
• Golub, Leon – Delacroix: Greece Expiring – 35 ¾ x 25 ¼
• Calder, Alexander – Abstract Ink Drawing: Various Positions in One Body – 11 ½ x 8 ½
• Cropsey, Jasper Francis, NA – Hudson River Landscape – 9 x 11


Fakes & Forgeries


Art Research
Several types of research…The Artist, the scene,


Signatures & Blacklighting Gallery
Buying unsigned paintings…varied lessons in this regard
where the auction house knows…Walkowitz / Montenegro
Where it actually turns out to be signed…Fielding / Busenbark / Red Ballet

• Fielding, AV Copley, RWS – Luminous Lake with Boats Watercolor – 13 x 7 ½


A Lot of Art for the Money


The Oops! Gallery

Not all mistakes come at the hands of con artists.
The most common mistakes…of beginners

• Venezuelan School Primitive Mid-Century Political Parity of Caracas: Bracho – 13 ¾ x 15 ½

Fine Art…for under $100…can be a little over – a concept thing


Frames Gallery
Frames Bought Before the Art
Ruben’s frame / Piece
Impressionist 16 x 20 frame…modernist abstract
Stick to common sizes
Frame Cleaning & Touch Up’s
Small Wolchonok pair
AB Davies
Chester
Face Portrait

Frame Painting
Changing the color

Frame Restoration
Gesso repair

Musical Frames


Frame Re-Sizing
Cutting Down Frames
Frame Over Frame…Peto


Buying Art…Just for the Frame
Wm S. Robinson
Mediterranean print…took a short art was real
Slotnick…same deal



Factoring Frame into Purchase Price
Ransom







DIY Artworks

Your Own Photography…as art

Creative Works…sculpture, primitives, etc.

Commissioned Paintings

Articulated Art

 
Artwork Thumbnails Arranged as Rooms & Sections

DIY Artworks

Your Own Photography…as art





Collection Display / Exhibiting Ideas


General notes & ideas
Whole collection is about teaching people to collect successfully. Therefore, exhibits should follow this same style.

Miscellaneous exhibit ideas
Still life’s…the variety of styles & expression: have a decent variety of these…
Peto, Pope, Helme, Clark, Dubois, Carlsen, Dyck, Crooks, Cucuel, Hensche, Weinreich, Mann, Fridericia, Warren




How to spot a fake


Mastermining…discovered treasures / stories


Entire wall…home decorated for under $2,000




Art Burglar Web Site…“Headlines” Notes



Lessons Listing


That’s where the bulk of articles / headlines will come from

Creature Comforts Media Group (CCMG / The Company) is a development stage
 
Headlines


Creature Comforts Media Group (CCMG / The Company) is a development stage entrepreneurial enterprise engaged in the development of publication of books, web sites & media providing original how-to information that turns dreamers into doers – by inspiring and engaging consumers with unique content that saves money while improving lifestyles.


What’s it worth?

The Company’s approach to business is directly tied to the real-life experiences of

• Valuing a Painting 101


The Company’s approach to business is directly tied to the real-life experiences of

Art Authentication
• Tricks, Steps & secrets from the pro’s

My artist just died: is my painting now worth more?
• Realities of life & death in the art world
Buying your first painting
• Five secrets to success
• Your First Five Paintings…the perfect mix for the beginning collector
• Start here…China, Live Auction, Master Mining, Gallery

What is it? - Scarlett, Golub, Fridericia, Golub, Okun, Calder, Maurer, Kluska, Bendor, Warren,
• Making sense of your abstract painting

What style is it? - Chagall / Jordan,
• Art History in 10 minutes or less


Unsigned Paintings: Finding Value
o It could be worth a fortune

Buying a Forgery
• What to do when you get stuck with a lemon
• Dealing with the anger: traded a real one to get it
• Ready to steal a Picasso?

• How to spot a forgery
Sample note…pull one

Without a doubt, the most common query I encounter is about how to meet a transsexual woman.

My web site includes details in this regard.

• What to do if you buy an art forgery.

Sample note…pull one

Without a doubt, the most common query I encounter is about how to meet a transsexual woman.

My web site includes details in this regard.

If You buy one

Your first step is to try & return the item…Dar’s story



How to use a blacklight
• …prior restoration, fine signature, obliterated signature, Peto/changes to artwork, floating signature

Buying
• Three ways to buy an affordable masterpiece

• The secret to buying artworks that increase in value

Is it really by Picasso?
• How do I prove it’s by that artist?

How do I frame a masterpiece?
• Should I repair this frame?
• Art framing: how much should I spend?
• Master Framing Projects you can do

How to clean a painting
• Is it cleanable?
• Selecting a Restorer
• DIY Art Cleaning & Restoration

Is my painting authentic?
• What’s the best size of painting?
• Is it a Picasso?
o How to tell if your masterpiece is authentic
• 10 signs of a problem painting

Selecting to Buy
• How to land your dream painting
• The five best artists…and how to buy them on a budget
• How to find out which art you’ll love most
• Five things art curators won’t tell you

The Psychology of Art Collectors
o Which one are you?
• The Types of Buyers:
o Beginners, Decorators, Profiteer, Collectors, Museums

The Art Food Chain: where do you fit in?
o Museums, Dealers, Gallery Owners, Collectors, Artists

Selling
• Little White Lies
• The stomach for embellishment
• Playing old maid
• What’s your tolerance?
• Rules of embellishment…selling your painting without selling your soul / self respect




Commission a painting: How


Blog
put at another site?
move away from TG posts?...company / world / cleaning, etc.?
 
Buying

Creature Comforts Media Group (CCMG / The Company) is a development stage entrepreneurial enterprise engaged in the development of publication of books, web sites & media providing original how-to information that turns dreamers into doers – by inspiring and engaging consumers with unique content that saves money while improving lifestyles.


Buying Art On-Line


The Tricks to Shipping artworks

This company is founded by a group of women that are chasing neither fame nor huge fortune. To recap, The Company is guided by a triumvirate of directives in its brand creation, incubation & development efforts, including:
 
Evaluating Art

Creature Comforts Media Group (CCMG / The Company) is a development stage



Authentication

Is it Real? How to tell if a painting is authentic


Art Pricing
Price Fundamentals
Valuing a painting…in less than 10 minutes

The Secret of Art Pricing
• The biggest secret of how art gets valued
• Psssst! Do you know the big secret of art pricing?
• The Most important criterion to understand
• Proximity to Genius…however: it gets argued over
o Build off genius…taken to new level
o Is it really important / original thought that causes a new movement
• The Master Collectors
o It takes one to know one
o Are you a left brain genius / potential art guru?
• Two Types of Collecting genius
o Spotting genius…the master miner
o New genius: contemporary

How much is your painting worth?

Can you accurately value this painting?
• Test your art pricing skills

Improving Matters

Creature Comforts Media Group (CCMG / The Company) is a development stage


Framing
How to frame a masterpiece

Buying Vintage Frame Lessons

36 x 48…buying in bad economic moments / times
Rubins frame…pick-up & shipping


Cleaning & Restoration

How much restoration is acceptable?

Negative collection examples: Peto, Pope, English school winter, Neuville on cardboard, Monks on board

 
Types of Lessons Inventory Listing…with associated pieces regarding that lesson




Art Styles 101

I purposely tried to add every style in the process.

Why?

Because almost every style is somehow tied to another style.



Styles Included in the Collection
• Impressionism
• Surrealism
• Realism
• Photo Realism
• Fauvism
• Expressionism
• Caricature
• Social Realism
• Symbolism
• Abstract
• Pop Art
•
• Famous Scenes: Paris Boat House
•

After
Good copy: recent
Period copy
China copy
Authorized Cop: Green Picasso

Subjects
Landscapes
Portraits: Chester…finished by / eyes follow…mirrors to soul…hands / Shapperds face
Still Life
Pure Abstraction
Genre

Size
Photo Scale: Kluska…Mona Lisa…Looks large
Ben-Dor

Medium
Drawing
Watercolor
Painting
Print
On Paper
On Canvas
On Board


Artists
Self-Representing Artists


Periods / Influence

Schools
Explain it…I didn’t get it
List Options / examples: Dutch Winter vs Continental
English / AMT / Romney
V. Hadin…NYC Stretcher American School…Sloans says French
Follower of / Circle of…use good analogy

Other
Back of painting: Ship


 
Art Selection Strategies

Pieces that Move you
• Redheaded Pieces
o
• Reindel, Edna – Portrait of Girl with Birds – 17 x 13 ¼
o Main Lesson Page Title: Abuse
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Major collector
• Lax, David – New York Dreams – 20 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Piece you relate to
o Book
• Meza, Guillermo – Desmudo – 36 x 25 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o After death pricing – downward + Neuville compare
o Piece you relate to
o Power of framing: ideas from other pieces: buy / show the one I copied
• German School – Cats Playing with Flower Pot – 20 x 25
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o A piece you love: search worldwide
• Bluth, Don – Dragon’s Lair Character Study – 13 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
• Sickman, Jessalee – Artist Self Portrait – 10 x 6
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Pound for Pound:


Variations in Styles, Subjects & Mediums

Subject that moves you…even though you don’t like it
• Mortensen, Anders – Surrealism / Symbolism: “Ak ja, de dage” – 24 x 24
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Bad shipping
o Style you love: Europe
o Title versus what you felt


Styles you love…by artists you can afford

Going to School…
• American
• French
• Dutch

Period examples by skilled artist using same style
• Continental School – Expressionist-style Gothic Couple (Pair) – 20 x 33 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Maurer style
• American School Pop Art: Blonde Female Bust: Greenfield – 20 x 15
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Duran, Duran
• American School Expressionist Couple: The Departure – 36 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Period copies / style
• Continental School – Picasso-styled Nude Women in Studio: Terri – 30 x 40
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Period copies / style
• Continental School – Impressionist Landscape with Rows of Tress – 14 x 21
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Power of a frame
o Unsigned
• Van Pelt, Gottfried – Impressionist Farmhouse Landscape with Figures – 12 ¼ x 19 ¾
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Clean it yourself
• Gelker, Carole Williams – Abstract #1 – 28 x 22
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Contemporary artist
o Cut it down for frame
• Gillespie, John – Old Woman Walking – 6 x 5
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o A style you love
• Bertelsen, Aage – River Landscape in Winter – 15 ½ x 23 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Condition
o Tonalism: Inness style
o American vs. Euro: like antiques…vales “switched”
• American School – Impressionist Femme Portrait with Still Life – 30 x 24
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o NY Stretcher
o A style you love: impressionism

Luminous
• Dutch School Luminous Canal Scene – 24 x 32
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o A style you love
• Eichborn, Jack – Luminous Night Sky with Sailboats – 19 ½ x 25 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o A style you love
• Continental School – Luminous Landscape with Cows – 16 ½ x 20
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Affordable versions of styles you love
o Contemporary art by antique sellers
o Unsigned

Skilled artist outside their noted realm of subject
• Helme, Henge – Still Life with Cactus – 15 x 11 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Skilled artist outside their noted realm of subject
o Pound for pound
• Ransom, Fletcher – Still Life with Cactus – 15 x 11 ½
o An illustration artist

Surrealist
• American School – Surrealist Boy at Door – 10 x 8
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Unsigned
o Styles you can afford
• Penny, Bruce Barton – Soul In The Sand – 27 ¾ x 17 15/16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Styles you love
o Contemporary value


Styles you love…in mediums you can afford

• Lehman, Irving G. – New York City Abstract – 11 x 17
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Great framing
o Family estate
o Large one: torn up
• Renoir, Pierre-Auguste – By the Sea – 24 x 20
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o
• Chagall, Marc – My Fiancée in Black Gloves – 11 x 8
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Autographed vs. limited edition
o Researching an edition / value
• Picasso – Fillette Au Chien – 27 ¾ x 18 ¾
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Pre-death prints
o Research state & edition
• Picasso – Mother & Child – 8 x 10
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Older print
o Researching edition & state
• Monk, Edvard – The Scream – Poster
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
• Tonda’s Giclee Prints
•


Subjects you love…by artists you can afford

• Continental School – Realist Interior Scene with Woman at Mirror – 24 x 19¼
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Tourist art

• Continental School – Ballet Dancers at Rest – 30 ¾ x 22 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Tourist art

Helme versus Carlsen still life

Cats / Flower Pot…German painting

Ship painting



Styles you love…by artists you can afford

Impressionism
Bonfire
Fletcher Ransom

Pop Art
Greenfield…generally prefer “of the period”

Gillespie…Van Gogh


Affordable Copies
• China School – Cleavage – 26 x 34
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Pop art you can afford
• Marc, Franz (After) – Cats – 36 x 48
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o China copy
o Stretch yourself on a canvas
o Right rize for frame
o
• Hesdin, Melchior – Victorian Red Head – 20 x 24
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o China – not good on real detail: Giclee better
o At this quality? Buy a Giclee
o
• Archipenko (After) – Modernist Nude Female Bronze Sculpture – 21 ½ x 3”…ongoing research
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o
• Van Dyck, Sir Anthony (After) – Lady – 30 x 24…ongoing research
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Later copy / pairs / frame – local p/u…shipping costs
o Found in book
• Van Dyck, Sir Anthony (After) – Sir Thomas Hamner – 30 x 24
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Later copy / pairs / frame – local p/u…shipping costs


Artists you love…in mediums you can afford

• Soyer, Moses, NA – Female Drawing Studies – 6 ½ x 9 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Affordable mediums / condition: artist you love
o Bought a fake
o Doyle’s sticker
o Heavily faked artist
• Turner, Joseph Mallord William – Cologne The Arrival of a Packet Boat, Evening – 12 x 15
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Memento Frick
o Your fave art

Varied Mediums: Examples per Type

• Smith, Ben – Lucca: Artist’s Proof – 19 x 14 ½ - Woodblock print
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Affordable mediums / condition: artist you love
o Bought a fake
o Doyle’s sticker
o Heavily faked artist


Asarti…tambourine
Reindel…oil on paper
Creilly…watercolor on board
Spray painted…China
Azure Female – Chalk
Pastel
Drawing
Watercolor on paper
Oil on canvas
Oil on canvas…on board
Oil on board
Oil on Paper
Tempera
Gauche
Print types
Picasso…Pre versus post-humus
Two-sided paintings
Pen & Ink

+ Framing…and how you should frame each of these types!





Conditional Affection
• Neuville, Alphonse Marie De – Cavalryman on Horse – 16 x 12
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Conditional Affection: An Eye for Condition
o Buying a separate frame
o Trendy vs. popular: Picasso cost
o Show book on artist
o Exposure from history
• Lichtenstein, Roy – “Crak” – 19 1/8 x 27 5/8
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Conditional Affection
o Framing as a solution
o MAJOR artists…condition or not…always rising
• Pope, Thomas Benjamin – Hanging Cherries – 10 x 8
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Too much restoration…a value


Ideal for Decorating

Finding Unique Solutions – Color Match
• German School – Winter Snowscene Landscape – 12 x 16
¥ Main Lesson Page Title:
¥ Secondary Lesson Title:
¥ Why German vs. continental?
¥ Frame

Small Sizes / Stands
• Continental School – Expressionist-style Landscape with Red: Small – 7 ¼ x 9 ½
¥ Main Lesson Page Title:
¥ Secondary Lesson Title:
¥ Idea from Picasso abstract / decorating photo
• Pope, Thomas Benjamin – Hanging Cherries – 10 x 8
¥ Main Lesson Page Title:
¥ Secondary Lesson Title:
¥ Too much restoration…a value

Colors that always work
• Deloney, Jack
¥
• American School - Fluorobi, A.J. – Fishing Wires – 14 x 18
¥ Main Lesson Page Title:
¥ Secondary Lesson Title:
• Ben Dor, Gideon – Surrealism: “Traditions” – 45 5/8 x 46 3/4
¥ Main Lesson Page Title:
¥ Secondary Lesson Title:
¥ Box Brothers: knew they shipped very affordably
¥ De-annexation
¥ Secondary Lesson Title:
• Catana, Lucian – Love Portrait – 39 x 33
¥ Main Lesson Page Title:
¥ Secondary Lesson Title:
• Continental School – Impressionist Landscape with Rows of Tress – 14 x 21
¥ Main Lesson Page Title:
¥ Secondary Lesson Title:
¥ Power of a frame
¥ Unsigned
Pairs: Identical Twins
• Geissler, Paul – Self Portrait with Sketch Pad – 12 ½ x 9 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Pairs value
o Local: no shipping costs
• Geissler, Paul – Self Portrait with Flower Pot – 12 ½ x 9 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
Pairs – Wolchonok

Gothic Couple



Pairs: Created Pairs
• Radell & Departure
• Beevus & Buffy
•

Masculine Study
¥ Chester
¥ AMT
¥ Ship

Dining room
Fruit / Still Life’s


Decorating with Fine Art: Tips
• Articles on home values
• Examples from my collection
• Classic combinations
• Subject matter – still life’s / fruit in Dinging room
• Masculine study


Size really matters…decorating

Show Photos

• Belgium School – Expressionist-style Landscape with Farm – 7 ¼ x 9 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o
• Ben Dor, Gideon – Surrealism: “Traditions” – 45 5/8 x 46 3/4
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Box Brothers: knew they shipped very affordably
o De-annexation
• Pope, Thomas Benjamin – Hanging Cherries – 10 x 8
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Too much restoration…a value


Other Options

A Study in a style you already have

• Reindel, Edna (Drawing) – Study for Portrait of Girl with Birds – 17 x 13 ¼
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Finding a study / print
o After the auction

Even Faked pieces have a price point

• Richter, Herbert Davis (School of) – Interior Scene – 12 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Pond for pound
o Fake hurt it…on-line – was easy to tell that it wasn’t “the” Richter
o When a fake is a god value
o Period fakes using a similar period piece

Quality you like…at prices you can afford

• English School – Portrait of a Gentleman – 10 x 8…ongoing research
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Size & quality eyes
o Frame
o Eakins study
• French School – Impressionist Church – 12 ¾ x 14
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Bovin
o Bad photos

Local Interest

• Finster, Howard – Giraffe
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Local artist / 1988 / Book on artist
o Free falling / overexposure
• Smith, Ben – Lucca – 19 x 14 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Local interest – met him
• Warren, Ferdinand – Abstract Still Life – 25 x 30
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Misspelled artist’s name
o Reading the Fine Print
o Local Artist
o Framing: idea from other piece

Investment Quality: The Dunbar System
• Davies, Arthur Bowen – Rock and Sea – 11 x 13
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Auction house: stickers
o Attributed to: why?
Heavily listed: Dunbar concept: famous for being famous








Looking in the strangest places

Overseas for at-home artists

• De Nagy, Ernest – Impressionist City Scene – 11½ x 9
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o They said Hungary artist
o Out of Belgium
o Perfect cheap frame
o Building research: Maine historical society

Fine Art Galleries Too
• Pollack, Creilly Harman – Seated Man – 22 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Continuing to research your scantily-listed artists: Ebay info
o Value from traditional galleries

Museum De-annexations

• Walkowitz, Abraham – Woman Reading Book – 24 x 20
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Unsigned
o Museum de-annexation
o Pound for pound
• Byrd, Gerald “Jerry” – Geometric Abstract: Rhea Series – 1974 – 18 x 24
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Museum De-annexation
o Period styles by a listed artist – time is on your side
o
• Carolyn / Atlanta Artist
o They donate them…the museum just sells them off
o Keep longer if student of…Ben-Dor
Philadelphia Art School De-annexations

• Ben Dor, Gideon – Surrealism: “Traditions” – 45 5/8 x 46 3/4
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Unsigned
o Museum de-annexation
o Pound for pound
Collection Sell-off’s

• Young, Walter – Arabesque – 29 7/8 x 39 3/4
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Unsigned
o Museum de-annexation
o Pound for pound

Artist Estates
o Plenty for everyone – nobody tends to push too hard
o
• Louis Wolchonok – Well Listed Artist – books by him
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o
o
o Wolchonok, Louis – Dead End – 9 ½ x 12
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o One piece too many
o Stamp on reverse
o
o Wolchonok, Louis (Pair) – Mountain Landscape – 4 ½ x 7
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Buying pairs
o Cleaning a frame
o
o Wolchonok, Louis (Pair) – Mountain Landscape – 4 ½ x 7
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Social realism
o Later found: self portrait
o Too much framing cost for my budget
o
o Wolchonok, Louis – Artist Self Portrait – 12 x 9 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Too much framing costs
o Found out later was a self portrait
o
• Pierce Rice – Scantily Listed Artist
o Sold two pieces
o
o Pierce Rice – Women of an Era #1 – Jackie-O-styled woman reading magazine – 11 ¼ x 7 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o
o
o Pierce Rice – Women of an Era #2 – Dark-Haired Woman Sitting – 8 ½ x 7
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Had it touched up
o
o Pierce Rice – Women of an Era #3 – 50’s-Dressed Woman Walking – 12 ½ x 5 ¼
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o
o
o Pierce Rice – Women of an Era #4 – 50’s-Woman in Bathing Suit – 13 ¾ x 9 ¼
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Had it touched up
o
 
Buying & Bidding Strategies


Use balance: Too much of one style shows:
¥ Master mining: quality
¥ Bottom fishing – not always fave
¥ Pound for Pound – few name artists

Buying Your First Fine Artwork

Exact Steps
• Coronel, Rafael – Mescenas – 19 ½ x 25 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Bottom Fishing
o Horse trading…trade for piece I love?
o Pound for pound
o Book on artist / museum named after: always a good sign

Bottom Fishing

Bottom fishing at live auctions: Researching before the auction
•
• Bottom fishing at live auctions: Researching before the auction: Buyers aren’t there

• Goode, Joe – Vandalism Series – 23 ¾ x 35 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Pond for pound: length of resume
o Bottom fishing
o Retail value of contemporary
o Poster
o Modern / vs. antique vs. contemporary buyers: trends + at the auction / Greuze
• Greuze, Jean-Baptiste (After) – Boy in Red Waistcoat – 18 ½ x 15…antique / unsigned art – art for art’s sake versus brand name buyers
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Auction prices: whose there…antique vs. modern
o Serial killer story
o Bought print: reversed direction
o Cleaning
• Young, Walter – Arabesque – 29 7/8 x 39 3/4
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Patience isn’t always a virtue…did I really want this one?

Bottom fishing: Try, try again
• Maurer, Alfred Henry – Figures in the Park – 11 ½ x 14
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Persistence is a virtue: keep trying
o Master Mining
o Self vetting process
o Playing old maid


Bottom Fishing – Free Falling & Out of Favor
• Montenegro, Roberto – Hand Holding a Red Pitahaya – 14 x 11 15/16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Unsigned
o Overexposed: free falling
o Framed by the artist
o Book on artist
o Sold the other: upgraded
o Book on artist
• Finster, Howard – Giraffe
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Local artist
o 1988
o Book on artist
o Free falling / overexposure
• Scarlett, Rolph – Abstract Composition – 34 x 44
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Amount of Listings versus art price – only trick: make sure you really like the art
o Pond for pound / resume / Guggenheim / Dunbar’s concept
o Book came out
o Out of favor
o Abstract expressionism: only art that was invented in the US

The Pound-for-Pound Approach

A Lot of Art for the Money
• Debois, Ingeborg – Still Life with Flowers & Fruit – 27 x 38 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Pound for pound
o Value in Europe
o Artists that produced tons of works
• Sheppard, Joseph – Female Nude – 12 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Baltimore realists
o Book about + published three others
o Retail prices at web site

Cheaper versions
• Johnson, W. Claude – Mountain Seascape – 12 x 18
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Conditional Pound-for-pound
• Svetlik, Eduard – Landscape with European Bay – 12 x 19 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o
Large Unsigned
• Continental School – Expressionist Nude Female in Blue Tones – 34 x 44
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Pound for pound
o Shipping costs
• Continental School – Three Nude Women at Lake – 28 x 45
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Pound for pound

The Pound-for-Pound Approach: The Sum of the Parts
• Babb, John Staines – Landscape – 12 ½ x 18 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Frame
o $30,000 aberration
o Oil vs. watercolor – not always…Cropsey compare…some equally skilled
o Frame / horse trading
• Ransom, Fletcher C. – Impressionist Landscape – 24 x 20
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Power of Research
o Wrong Attributions
o After the auction: flipped Farsky – ask if more pieces
o Will / Parthenon
o Another style by a skilled artist
o Awesome frame
Chester

Alternative Buying & Bidding Approaches

After the Auction Bidding
• Reindel Drawing
o
• Reyes, Jesus F. “Chucho” – Nina – 30 x 20
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Amount of Listings versus art price – only trick: make sure you really like the art
o After the auction
o Book on artist
o Framing…made the piece
• Cropsey, Jasper Francis, NA – Hudson River Landscape – 9 x 11
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o After the auction
o Authentication: share whole process
• Ransom, Fletcher C. – Impressionist Landscape – 24 x 20
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Power of Research
o Wrong Attributions
o After the auction: flipped Farsky – ask if more pieces
o Will / Parthenon
o Another style by a skilled artist
o Awesome frame

Bidding Out Before the Auction Ends
• Sheppard, Joseph – Female Nude – 12 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Baltimore realists
o Book about + published three others
o Retail prices at web site


The Trusted Seller
• Sambuca story
• M. Miller, Shepperd, Radell, Neuville, Staiszewski
• Gallery Duvall
• Belgium
• English

Buying before it hits the market
• Melvin Miller – Eden Mill – 12 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Researching artists you like: Baltimore realists / Shep
o Contemporary artists value
Bidding Options
• Last second
• Early & come back
• Way early…draws attention
• Buy it Now…newly listed
• Offer…newly listed
• Live Auction:

Bidding Boo-Boo’s
• Knee Jerk: Bracho
• Wrong Amount
• Carbone…Live Auction estimate…knee jerk
• Blues ballet…in the mood for a ballet piece at my price versus patience

Knee Jerking
• Bracho, Angel – Camino de Coamitl – 11 ¼ x 14
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Knee jerking
o Shipping damage
o Poor example
• Carbone, Roberto – Two Graces – 23 x 17 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Ramus-style…style-of on your budget
o Knee jerk from auction estimates: know thy art

Titles & Thumbnail Pictures…lack thereof
• Bad Title / Good value
• Poeteran / Good Value / In Galleries
• French: The Letter”…bad title…impressionist / French
•

Hype…& lack thereof
• Poeteran…
• Bad Title / Good value
•

Reading the Fine Print to find value
• Jean, Nehemy – Haitian Woman – 20 x 12
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Reading the Fine Print
o School named after / not much info otherwise
o Horse traders
• Kupferman, Lawrence, ANA – Of The Sea – 21 x 29
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Listings to Price comparison
• Fridericia, William – Abstract Still Life with Fruits – 19 x 25 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Reading the Fine Print
o Mistakes in a listing
o On-line translation service
• Warren, Ferdinand – Abstract Still Life – 25 x 30
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Misspelled artist’s name
o Reading the Fine Print
o Local Artist
o Framing: idea from other piece


Buying from Trusted Sellers
• American School – Collage: Don’t Smoke – 23 x 17
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Same source: Radell, Neuville, Sheppard
o New directions: expand horizon: got me into collage art / Kruger
o Research never ends
o Some trust for good sellers
o Indiscernible signature

Duvall
Freeman’s
Sambuca
English Seller
Transylvania Seller



Too Good to Be True
• German Plow
•
• Surreal Piece
• Duvall: Mountain Landscape
•

Horse-Trading Your Way to A Fine Collection
• Coronel
• Chagall
•
• Continental School – Expressionist Landscape with Lake – 14 x 18
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Combo shipping – sold other piece – paid for this for free
• Robinson, William S, NA – Sailboats at Gloucester, MA – 12 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Helping on a sale + horse trading
o Signature & inventory: OCD / Rookwood pottery
• Wilson, Chester – Victorian Portrait – 30 x 25
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Framing trades
o Other ways of signing: portraits analysis
o Horse trading / parts
o
• Continental School – Impressionist Girl with Cat – 20 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Trading places: Frame from Harris…then sold it
o Indiscernible signature


Shipping: Using Optimal Shipping Costs to Score Large Masterpieces

Bundled Shipping
• Transylvania
• China
• Begium Bundle
• Thilo Still Life…Bendor
• Oops…Walter Young
•
• Continental School – Expressionist Boat on Rough Sea + Reverse Painting – 26 x 30
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Bundle shipping: he was very fair – learned after first one
• Continental School – Expressionist Houses on Street – 11 x 12
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Bundle shipping: he was very fair – learned after first one
• Continental School – Expressionist Landscape in Pastel Tones – 14 ½ x 18 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Bundle shipping: he was very fair – learned after first one
• Belgium School – Gothic Church – 23 ¾ x 19 ¾
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
Rolled Canvases
• Transylvania
• China
•
• Catana, Lucian – Love Portrait – 39 x 33
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Bundle shipping: he was very fair – learned after first one
Leaving the Frame Behind: Overseas Cost Saving Options
• ???? Have one yet?? Poeteran
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Bundle shipping: he was very fair – learned after first one
Buy one get one free: a second piece for “Free” Shipping
• American School Realist Still Life with Fruit: Thilo – 20 x 25
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Combining shipping
o Bid as one: too confusing otherwise – free shipping
• Ben Dor, Gideon – Surrealism: “Traditions” – 45 5/8 x 46 3/4
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Box Brothers: knew they shipped very affordably
o De-annexation
o Pound for pound
o Contemporary artists / value
Affordable Shipping of a large piece
• Bennedsen, Jens Christian – Landscape with Heather Blooms – 27 x 39 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Pound for pound


Shipping Messes
• Lehman, Irving G. – Large Abstract – 11 x 17
• German Print…Didn’t Arrive
• Bracho Damage
•
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Bad shipping
o Style you love: Europe
o Title versus what you felt
• German Monk Artist – Large Abstract – 11 x 17
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Bad shipping
o Style you love: Europe
o Title versus what you felt
• Mortensen, Anders – Surrealism / Symbolism: “Ak ja, de dage” – 24 x 24
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Bad shipping
o Style you love: Europe
o Title versus what you felt

Shipping: Local Pick Up
• Ferdinand Warren
•
• Van Dyck, Sir Anthony (After) – Lady – 30 x 24…ongoing research
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Later copy / pairs / frame – local p/u…shipping costs
o Found in book
• Van Dyck, Sir Anthony (After) – Sir Thomas Hamner – 30 x 24
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Later copy / pairs / frame – local p/u…shipping costs
• Smith, Ben – Lucca – 19 x 14 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Local interest – met him






 
Pre-Bidding Strategies: Pre-Purchase Evaluation Techniques


Placing a value
Based upon authentic?

Listed

Exact steps



Additional Traps

An Ending Price That’s Too Good to be True
• German School – Mountainous Landscape with Lake – 23½ x 31½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o
• Roejah – Surrealist Abstract – 14 5/8 x 22 1/8
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:

Shipping Messes
• Lehman – Surrealist Abstract – 14 5/8 x 22 1/8
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Shipping mess
o Seller out of business

• Continental School – Impressionist Scene with Boathouse & Figures – 18 x 14
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Tourist art

• Ghreke, Fritz (After) – It Didn’t Arrive – 14 x 11
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Knee jerk
o Mess on damage: email info trail

Not as Smart as you think
• F Tenny Johnson
•
• German School – Landscape with Team of Horses & Boat – 14 x 18
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Translation mistake
o Bad shipping cost
o Thought I was smart

Tourist Art
• Continental School – Ballet Dancers at Rest – 30 ¾ x 22 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Tourist art

Watercolor vs. print
• Flint, W. Russell – Sailboats – 7 x 8
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Watercolor / print scenario
o
• American School - Laurus – Trees – 10 x 8
¥ Main Lesson Page Title:
•

Authentication…before you bid process



Classic Traps
• Miro’, Juan (After) – Abstract Color Drawing – 11 x 9
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Obvious copy
o No provenance
o
• Picasso (After) – Green Cubist Head – 23 x 17
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Rip-off steps
o Out of frame
o
• Babb, John Staines – Landscape – 12 ½ x 18 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Frame
o $30,000 aberration
o Oil vs. watercolor – not always…Cropsey compare…some equally skilled
o Frame / horse trading
o
• Carlsen, Emil, NA – Floral Sill Life – 30 x 20
o Main Lesson Page Title: A long road to authentication
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Clean & Framing
o A good period copy
o Challenge of authentication
o Playing old maid / Master mining

• Peto, John Fredrick, NA – Still Life with Apples – 12 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Authentication process
o Period copies
o Stretcher patents
o Master Mining / playing old maid


The Worthless Guarantee: 30 days: my boyfriend couldn’t get here in 30 days
If it only takes 30 days…why didn’t they do it?
Of all the things you need guaranteed….for the price – authenticity is number one
Do Not Disturb…won’t open it up to examine
Could be signed…looks like a signature

Look at their rating
What else are they selling / have sold / bought

ACTUAL BIDDING STRATEGIES

Placing a value
Based upon authentic?

Listed

Exact steps



PAYING

Overseas
• Mortensen, Anders – Surrealism / Symbolism: “Ak ja, de dage” – 24 x 24
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Bad shipping
o Style you love: Europe
o Title versus what you felt

Show scanned forms
Steps: 1,2,3



 
Researching Your Artworks


Important of Research to your Collection…and to you!

There can come a time you NEED to sell artwork to raise money for additional purchases or personal matters. Rather than choose a piece you adore, you might want to sell a master mined piece you find less appealing.

Researching your artwork can & will make you appreciate the art much more. You learn about the artist’s life.

On mastermining pieces, you move past “might’ to probably & then proof to build your case.

Early on upon adding a new piece of art, we tend to become most enamored with those feelings always associated with a new acquisition. Additionally, we usually like to enjoy some sense of its financial value.

The internet now makes keeping tabs on your art & artists more inviting & fun than ever.





Signature Analysis…After the Fact / Firsthand Evaluation
Black light: Busenbark + Red Ballet



The Key Steps to Self-authentication: How-to Guide

Open the File
Start Pro’s & Con’s analysis

Internet Research AP
• Revisit list of pre-purchase evaluations & info to save
• Images from Askart
• Live Auctioneers…includes signature, etc.
• Artvalue.com
• FindArtInfo.com
• Artnet…auction + galleries
• Google searches

Library Research AP



Find a “real” piece to visit
Golub
Sotter
Hofmann
Need to see the brush work up close
See signature up close




Authentication…proving it’s really a masterpiece
For us burglars, it never really ends until an absolute / Raisonné



Attribution
Think…you know
Unknown

Authentication Case STUDIES!!

• Authenticating your work: how to authenticate an unauthenticated fine art work
• Cropsey, Jasper Francis, NA – Hudson River Landscape – 9 x 11
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o After the auction
o Authentication: share whole process
• Authenticating your work: taking the long road home
• Carlsen, Emil, NA – Floral Sill Life – 30 x 20
o Main Lesson Page Title: A long road to authentication
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Clean & Framing
o A good period copy
o Challenge of authentication
o Playing old maid / Master mining
• Peto, John Fredrick, NA – Still Life with Apples – 12 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Authentication process
o Period copies
o Stretcher patents
o Master Mining / playing old maid

Finding more value from researching your Art
• Ongoing
o AMT
o Hartley
o Shahn
o Stawinzewski
o Bracho
o Davies…attributed?
• Ransom, Fletcher C. – Impressionist Landscape – 24 x 20
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Power of Research
o Wrong Attributions
o After the auction: flipped Farsky – ask if more pieces
o Will / Parthenon
o Another style by a skilled artist
o Awesome frame
• Venezuelan School – Caracas – 13 ¾ x 15 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Thought was good / Thought was Gabriel Bracho
• English School – Hessian Soldier – 18 x 14…ongoing research
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Thought Romney / Name of canvas maker: defined as English
• Radell, Renée – Two for the Show – 48 x 15
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Trusting Your Instincts
o Same seller: quality / Experts are sometimes wrong: on-line appraisal / Keep researching
• Dutch School – Winter Scene with Figures – 10 x 12…ongoing research
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Very typical example
o Indiscernible signature
• Carmichael, (Schmalz) Herbert – When the World was Full of Wonder – 12 x 11
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Name change: war
o How long AP/s been around
Creilly…contacting a relative / constant searches


Signed Works w/o attribution

Good
• Sheppard, Joseph – Female Nude – 12 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Baltimore realists
o Book about + published three others
o Retail prices at web site

Indiscernible
• Dutch School – Winter Scene with Figures – 10 x 12…ongoing research
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Very typical example
o Indiscernible signature

English School / Rear of piece tells more than the front

Unknown Artist
• Ransom, Fletcher C. – Impressionist Landscape – 24 x 20
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Power of Research
o Wrong Attributions
o After the auction: flipped Farsky – ask if more pieces
o Will / Parthenon
o Another style by a skilled artist
o Awesome frame
• Radell, Renée – Two for the Show – 48 x 15
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Trusting Your Instincts
o Same seller: quality
o Experts are sometimes wrong: on-line appraisal
o Keep researching

• Venezuelan School – Caracas – 13 ¾ x 15 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Thought was good
o Thought was Gabriel Bracho

The Trap – Obviously a Master

• Miro’, Juan (After) – Abstract Color Drawing – 11 x 9
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Obvious copy
o No provenance
o


 
Improving Matters


Improving Matters: Buying Supporting Info

Posters of art & Artists
• Goode, Joe – Vandalism Series – 23 ¾ x 35 ½ - Poster
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o
o
• Greuze, Jean-Baptiste (After) – Boy in Red Waistcoat – 18 ½ x 15…Poster
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Poster / prints of your art” searches

• Reindel, Edna (Drawing) – Study for Portrait of Girl with Birds – 17 x 13 ¼
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Finding a study / print
o After the auction

Books on art & artists


Exhibition Catalogs


Improving Matters: Stretching
• Pro – Susan
• Stretch Myself: Common Size
• On-Line Service
• Artist?
• Transylvania Pieces
•
• China School – Modesty – 36 x 36
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:


Framing

Other Notes
• Green Picasso: Standard frame mess
• Miro Drawing
• Sellers use “oil” to glitz an old frame
Gillespie
Framing Ideas…prints from Hobby Lobby…Meza + Reyes
The “Device / Angled “thing”

The Reverse Matters
• Titles on reverse
• Exhibition Stickers
• Kupferman
• Reyes
• Paper over Kanoldt
• Auction stickers / Coronel – new paper


Playing Musical Frames
• Reasons for Musical Framing
• Better suited for frame
• Most expensive frame gets best pieces
• Period & styles matching
•
• Examples
• Hoffman frame…to Busenbark
• Busenbark frame…Sparry Landscape
• Chester Frame…Warren
• Reindel Drawing…certitificate / Kroll
• Johansen Ducks…Van Pelt
• Van Pelt frame…colorful Landscape
• Impressionist Girl with Cat…Harris Frame
• Expressionist Boat…to Belgium Nude
• Belgium Mountainscape…Neuville Soldier
•

Standard Frames Sizes
• Nude Asian
• Hoffman
• Gelker
• CH Miller

Making it Fit
• Cutting Down the Art
• Gelker
• Boathouse
• Cutting Down the Frame
• Gold Johansson
• Adding a Liner
• Busenbark
• Other Adjustment
• Peto / Period frame “attaché
• Goode…building off the frame that’s there + paint
• Sparry Landscape
• Turner / Hazy Canal
• Strips of stuff…in side / Walter Young






Framing that “Makes” the Art
• Reyes, Jesus F. “Chucho” – Nina – 30 x 20
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Amount of Listings versus art price – only trick: make sure you really like the art
o After the auction
o Book on artist
o Framing…made the piece
o
• Continental School – Impressionist Landscape with Rows of Tress – 14 x 21
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Power of a frame
o Unsigned

Buying Just the Frames

• Tree’s & Trends…Green Picasso
• Chester
• Neuville Soldier
• Belgium School – Mountainous Landscape – 7 ¼ x 11
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Frames of value
o
Framing: “Creating” a Matched Pair
• Beevus & Buffy
•

Framing Ideas from the web
• Warren, Ferdinand – Abstract Still Life – 25 x 30
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Misspelled artist’s name
o Reading the Fine Print
o Local Artist
o Framing: idea from other piece

Framing to Help to Solve Condition Issues
• Lichtenstein, Roy – “Crak” – 19 1/8 x 27 5/8
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Conditional Affection
o Framing as a solution
o MAJOR artists…condition or not…always rising

Framing: An artist’s original frame
• Montenegro, Roberto – Hand Holding a Red Pitahaya – 14 x 11 15/16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Unsigned
o Overexposed: free falling
o Framed by the artist
o Book on artist
o Sold the other: upgraded
o Book on artist
• Red Ballet Dancer
•
• Busenbark, E.J. – Nude Female Model on Platform – 20 x 15
o Decided to change it

Frame Restoration
• Cutting Down the Frame
• Adding Gesso
• Adding Oil
• Cleaning a frame
• Adding gold paint / gilding
• Changing the color
•

Framing Masterworks on a budget
• Neuville, Alphonse – Soldier – 10 ¾ x 7 ¾
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Paper cleaning yourself
o Frame from another
o
• Neuville, Alphonse Marie De – Cavalryman on Horse – 16 x 12
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Conditional Affection: An Eye for Condition
o Buying a separate frame
o Trendy vs. popular: Picasso cost
o Show book on artist
o Exposure from history

• De Nagy, Ernest – Impressionist City Scene – 11½ x 9
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Paper cleaning yourself
o Frame from another
o
Frames: Making Your Own
• The Standard Black Frame
o Franz Marc
o China School
o
• Building a Decent Frame
o
• The Masterpiece Frame
o For Venus

Cleaning & Repair of your Artworks

How to Spot pieces that Will Clean Up
• Carlsen, Emil, NA – Floral Sill Life – 30 x 20
o Main Lesson Page Title: A long road to authentication
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Clean & Framing
o A good period copy
o Challenge of authentication
o Playing old maid / Master mining

Self-Cleaning Ovens: Do-it-Yourself
• Easy cleaning
• Lower value / high cost of cleaning
•
• Helme, Henge – Still Life with Cactus – 15 x 11 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Clean it yourself



• Continental School – Classic: Monks & Church Landscape – 35 x 27
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Clean it yourself


•
• Dutch School Realist Farm Scene by River with Cows & Figures by Windmill – 33½ x 41¼
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Clean it yourself



Cleaning Best Left to the Pro’s
• Likely / Obvious High value
• In painting + value
•
• Carlsen, Emil, NA – Floral Sill Life – 30 x 20
o Main Lesson Page Title: A long road to authentication
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Clean & Framing
o A good period copy
o Challenge of authentication
o Playing old maid / Master mining

• Peto, John Fredrick, NA – Still Life with Apples – 12 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Authentication process
o Period copies
o Stretcher patents
o Master Mining / playing old maid

• Neuville, Alphonse Marie De – Cavalryman on Horse – 16 x 12
o Main Lesson Page Title: A long road to authentication
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Clean & Framing
o A good period copy
o Challenge of authentication
o Playing old maid / Master mining

• Miller, Charles Henry – The Mill Stream, Queens, NY – 12 x 9
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Had a lot of info
o Revisited” boring” art…historical interest
• Greuze, Jean-Baptiste (After) – Boy in Red Waistcoat – 18 ½ x 15…ongoing research
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Auction prices: whose there…antique vs. modern
o Serial killer story
o Bought print: reversed direction
o Cleaning
• Bertelsen, Aage – River Landscape in Winter – 15 ½ x 23 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title: A long road to authentication
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Clean & Framing
o A good period copy
o Challenge of authentication
o Playing old maid / Master mining
• Busenbark, E.J. – Nude Female Model on Platform – 20 x 15
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Signature showed up after cleaning – under black light
o Custom frame by artist


Cleaning…that lets you down
• Likely / Obvious High value
• In painting + value
• Kandoldt
•
• Fridericia, William – Abstract Still Life with Fruits – 19 x 25 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title: A long road to authentication
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Clean & Framing
o A good period copy
o Challenge of authentication
o Playing old maid / Master mining

Frames can clean-up too
o Chester
o Addoing oil…like furniture
o Wolchonok, Louis (Pair) – Mountain Landscape – 4 ½ x 7
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Buying pairs
o Cleaning a frame
o
o Wolchonok, Louis (Pair) – Mountain Landscape – 4 ½ x 7
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Social realism
o Later found: self portrait
o Too much framing cost for my budget



Cleaning on a budget
• Neuville, Alphonse – Soldier – 10 ¾ x 7 ¾
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Paper cleaning yourself
o Frame from another

• Neuville, Alphonse Marie De – Cavalryman on Horse – 16 x 12
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Conditional Affection: An Eye for Condition
o Buying a separate frame
o Trendy vs. popular: Picasso cost
o Show book on artist
o Exposure from history
• Continental School – Three Nude Women at Lake – 28 x 45
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Pound for pound

Framing & Cleaning: Spending Too Much
• Kanoldt, Alexander (Style of) – Expressionist Cityscape – 15 x 20…ongoing research
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Cleaning & framing: too much
o Unsigned
o Fun / learning styles from research
o Sucker for reds
o Wolchonok, Louis – Artist Self Portrait – 12 x 9 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Too much framing costs
o Found out later was a self portrait
o


BECAUSE YOU COLLECT

• American School – The Termination – 22 x 30
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Piece you relate to
o Because you collect: gifts
o Symbolism
• Tatiana – Aunt Rayvonne – 12 x 9
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o
• Gazette du Bon Ton – Pochoir Collection
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Friends know you collect
o
• Curran, Siobhan – Zipcodes – 17 ¾ x 14
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Pairs
o Because you collect
• Curran, Siobhan – Zipcodes – 15 ¾ x 12 ½
o

PORTRAITS

o Love Portrait
o
o English School – Portrait of a Gentleman – 10 x 8…ongoing research
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Size & quality eyes
o Frame
o Eakins study
o
o Wolchonok, Louis – Artist Self Portrait – 12 x 9 ½
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Too much framing costs
o Found out later was a self portrait
o
• Wilson, Chester – Victorian Portrait – 30 x 25
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Framing trades
o Other ways of signing: portraits analysis
o Horse trading / parts
o

UNSIGNED WORKS

• Nude on Bed / Large blue tones

Love Portrait


•
• Montenegro, Roberto – Hand Holding a Red Pitahaya – 14 x 11 15/16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Unsigned
o Overexposed: free falling
o Framed by the artist
o Sold the other: upgraded

• Kluska, Johann – Scene from Dante’s Divine Comedy – 9 x 16
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Unsigned work: on-line authentication
o
• American School – Surrealist Boy at Door – 10 x 8
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Unsigned
o Styles you can afford
o
• Walkowitz, Abraham – Woman Reading Book – 24 x 20
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Unsigned
o Museum de-annexation
o Pound for pound

• Kanoldt, Alexander (Style of) – Expressionist Cityscape – 15 x 20…ongoing research
o Main Lesson Page Title:
o Secondary Lesson Title:
o Cleaning & framing: too much
o Unsigned
o Fun / learning styles from research
o Sucker for reds

 
CORE LESSONS

Original Artworks add to your life
o Art = human expression
• You know you’re not alone
o
o Original versus prints
• It’s like actually visiting Paris versus seeing a postcard
• Other good analogies: sex? Kiss?
• Love
• God
o
o
o

The buy & the eye…where the value is achieved in buying art…Value is primarily achieved from the “buy” & the “eye”
o Add on’s:
o Research…create provenance
o Cleaning
o Framing
o Restoration
o

You have to Buy
o They tell you: buy what you love
 
OTHER KEY LESSONS

Buying Lessons by Type

Mistakes I’ve made…
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Carlsen…thought I was smart…+ spent too much
o Claude Johnson…too much in a piece
o Kanoldt…too much in a piece
o Rolph Scarlett…XL Abstract vs. large geometric abstract
o Windmill…cleaning mistake
o German painting…was print
o Picasso pen & ink…print
o
o


Conditional Affection
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Lichtenstein
o Neuville
o Pope
o

Bad Condition…on purpose!
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Ben Smith
o Joe Goode
o Byrd
o Golub
o

Bottom Fishing
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Goode
o Scarlett
o Walkowitz
o Finster
o Montenegro
o
 

STANDARD LESSONS


Something else to go on:
o Although it’s ideal in every instance, it’s crucial with major artists (often faked), unknown artists, outside of the artist’s norm…it’s essential
o
o Examples:
o Renee Radell…sticker on back
o
o Major artists / often faked
o Golub…date + title
o Maurer…exhibition stickers…title of park
o Sotter
o
o A Story
o Ransom
o Boy at Door
o
o Still unsolved…but with something else to go on
o Calder
o Staniszewski
o

Dead-on the artist
o Shepherd
o Radell
o Kupferman
o

Finding an exact image
o Thomas Hand
o De Nagy
o
o Neuville
o
o Bad…small city scene / scam
o
o


Blacklight lessons
• Busenbark
• Red dress dancing
• Fielding
• Sotter
• Crawford
 

SIGNATURE LESSONS


Easy:
o William S. Robinson
o
o


Obliterated:
o Thomas Hand
o Face
o

Hard to Read / Figure out Lettering:
o Staniszewski
o Vadin
o
o
o



Initials:
o AMT
o Finkelstein
o JT…Jan Thomas
o
 
KEY ART LESSON “GROUPINGS” FOR DETAILED ARTICLES

Art Once Held in Major Collections
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Ransom
o Walter Young
o

Museum De-annexations
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Bendor
o Byrd
o Walkowitz
o
o

Copies of Art
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Van Dyck…pair
o Red head boy
o Rubens
o Melchoir
o China nude…coped again & again
o Prints…all versions: limited, Giclee, etc. + autographed / Chagall
o Golub
o Green Picasso
o Miro
o
o



Subjects: Artworks of historical / significant subject
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Golub…Delacroux + the fact it was a woman
o Eden Mill…before restoration
o Neuville…soldier / war
o DeNagy…Maine city scene
o Kluska…Dante + Okun
o Maurer…actual park
o
o
o


Subjects: Artist Self-Portrait
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Geissler
o Poeteran
o Sickman
o Wolchonok
o Don’t always know over time…it’s a self-portrait
o
o
o

Subject: Art that you relate strongly to…
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Graumann – girl in glass
o Meza…Tranz-issues
o Radu: Two Visions / Disturbia
o Tatiana…folk
o Caldwell / Valerie
o Lax…Janine
o Penny…childhood…all of them + abuse
o Carbone…Tonda & I
o Redhead…boy + woman at mirror…Tonda in my life
o
o
o

Subject: Art that disturbs us…
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Golub
o Caldwell / Valerie
o Mortensen…Darleen story
o Scream
o Radu
o Staniszewski
o Okun…after know what it is…
o Bracho…Nazi…after learned was “ok”
o Boy at Door
o Prison Campers
o


Subjects: Artworks outside the norm by the artist
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o Usually, described as rare…which means not collected
o Also…a haven for “fakes”
o Sometimes…a source for great value
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Helge Helme…very skilled
o Golub…a woman
o Van Pelt…versus a floral
o


Subject: Nude Female Form
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Rubens
o Sheppard
o China Nude
o Azure
o Carbone
o Large Blue Impressionist
o Bogden
o Modesty
o Meza
o Kluska
o Picasso China
o Caldwell
o Graumann
o Thau / Liberty
o


 
MASTERMINING

Mastermining…General Important Lessons
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o

General Notes about Mastermining
• If your dreams & leanings are towards scoring a masterpiece for a song, there’s a few things you’ll need to embrace:
o You’re going to score more fakes than real items. Thus, you’ll also need to develop some skill in unloading / playing old maid
o It’s rare…
o Tends to take a long time
o
•
• Better yet…
o Pursue out of passion & interest…like Search of Gainesboro
o Become a specialist…CH Miller, WM S. Robinson
•

Examples of Good Provenance
• Auction stickers
•
• Maurer…park name + stockers
• Reyes…Gallery sticker
• Meza…original purchase receipt
• Montenegro…Sotheby’s sticker
• Kupferman…comparison to others + title / handwriting
• WS Robison…rear of piece
• Cowan info…checked out…will from estate
• Fridericia…title + gallery sticker
• Renee Radell…sticker on reverse
• CH Miller…sticker on reverse + title
• Pierce Rice…estate stamp
• Joe Goode…BB + gallery sticker
•

Examples of Worthless Provenance
• Shahn…Diego Rivera
• Stories & Legends versus provenance
•

Gallery & Exhibition Stickers
• AB Davies
• Kupferman
• Fridericia
• Reyes
• Lax
• Fruhmann…a frame shop…is not a gallery / exhibition sticker
• Bertelsen
•

Auction Stickers & Info
• Montenegro / Walkowitz
• Lauritz…Bennedsen
• Penny…Friedman’s
• Thomas Hand
•

The Back of the Painting
• AB Davies
• Kupferman
• Reyes
• Melvin Miller
• Renee Radell
•
• Creilly
• Peto…stretchers
•
•

Examples of After-the-Purchase Provenance
• Creilly…note from relative off ebay
• Ransom…museum + piece on family web site
• Books & exhibition catalogs on artists
o Montenegro
o Rolph Scarlett
o AB Davies
o Ferdinand Warren
•
• Walkowitz…Israel museum…flower vase
• Shepherd Letter
• BenDor letter
• Poeteren letter
• Okun
• Curator for Miss Paul’s Kitchen…Walter Young
• AB Davies…visit Gallery
• DeNagy…building
• Melvin Miller…early piece of Mill before restoration
• Montenegro…1940’s best period?
•

Adding Value…to the artwork
Maurer
• actual NYC park scene…NYC collectors, etc.
Melvin Miller
• Eden Mill
General Value Enhancers
• Approved / Looked at by the “resident” specialist / gallery…Maurer / Hollis Taggert…Weinstein…Kupferman
Fletcher Ransom
• History with Cowan collection + copy of will + collection guide
Joe Goode
• Poster from exhibition
Framing…adding value
• Reyes
• Robinson period frame
• Lichtenstein…frame that “hides” issues
Cleaning & Restoration
• Neuville
• Carlsen
• CH Miller
• Fielding…period frame


•

Dead-on the artist…
• De Neuville
• William S. Robinson + title, etc.
• Joseph Shepard
• Reyes
• Renee Radell
• Kupferman…+ title, etc.
• Ferdinand Warren
• Kluska
• Helme…very good work / skill
•


Buying into a “story”…
• Fletcher Ransom…it was a success
• Boy at Door…nope
•

Something else to go-on
Golub
• The subject / date + rear handwriting…Golub…+ unique canvas & stretchers to compare

Kinetic Art

• frame shop (dates it) + handwriting & title on reverse…+ of course, the art & signature
Nehemy Jean
• Gunny sack…N. Jean
Chuco Reyes
• Gallery Sticker
Others
• Fridericia…Stickers & info
• Renee Radell…torn label
• Ransom…story to research
• CH Miller
• AB Davies…attributed…stickers / title, etc.
• William S. Robinson
•

Sometimes…negative
• Sotter…”Along the Canal” title
•
Still to prove…
Staniszewski
• Philly newspaper clippings
Finkelstein
• Title + date + signature
Still to Solve
• I Hand
• Title / handwriting…Departure
• Stainszewski…newspaper “date” + Philly newspaper
•

Challenging Pieces
Cropsey
• One person said “yes”…another “no”
• I’ll have to “prove” the scene from 1855

Pieces I’ll probably never prove…
Hofmann
• China copies of hot artist in 1980’s
o When art had its run-up
• Now have aged…look right…but they’re not
Sotter?
o Brush work compared is the key


Best Discoveries / Mastermining…“High Value” Art Lessons
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o

Best Ones: Known
o Fielding…black light
o Radell
o Ransom…signature + research
o Kupferman
o Golub
o Maurer
o


Other Good Ones
o Svetlik
o Joe Goode
o Fridericia
o


Hopefuls…The Biggies
o Cucuel
o Calder
o


Other Hopefuls…of good value
o Okun
o Staniszewski
o Blues Expressionist ship
o Dutch small winter scene
o Finkelstein
o “Face” portrait
o
o


ART CLEANING & REPAIR LESSONS

Successes
• It’s all about what color you want to “bring out”
o Neuville
o Asarta
o
o

Failures
o Kanoldt
o “Face”
o
o

Additional Lessons
o Wait…Peto / Carlsen
o Test…Sotter
o Moving messes…AMT / Nudes in Landscape / Peto
o
o


KEY FRAME-RELATED LESSONS

Framing Keys
• It’s all about what color you want to “bring out”
o Stein vs. Nanette, Van Pelt, Midsummer, Azure, Fielding, Creilly,
o Gold-Silver-Black & Brown…the core choices
o Peto…added size + “black”
o Use of Waviness…20 x 16 impressionist frame,

Frames that TOTALLY make the Painting
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Rubens / Venus…truly the frame “is” this piece
o Peto
o Kanoldt: compare period frame look versus $400 version from before
o French church
o

Adding Period Frames
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Rubens / Venus…truly the frame “is” this piece
o Kanoldt: compare period frame look versus $400 version from before
o CH Miller
o Busenbark
o Robinson…inspired idea for Midsummer piece…same colors
o Neuville print
o Neuville painting
o Buying frames before pieces
• Boston 16 x 20…shared shipping
• Chester frame
o 20 x 30 frame…Fridericia
o Svetlik
o Van Pelt
o


Accounting for a Period frame before you buy
o Chester
o Babb
o Ransom
o


“Frames inside a Frame” Projects
o Peto
o French church
o Dubois
o


“Musical” Frames List of Projects
o Try all extra frames over pieces…
• Great way to learn frame types
o
o Blue Azure…sold nude
o Deguyer…Burning Trannies
o Deguyer frame…to China Picasso
o Neuville Print
o Passion…Paris / Steven frame / piece
o Fielding…Johansen frame…sold piece
o Reindel Blues frame…Van Pelt
o Bogden Nude…Blue Expressionist ship
o Fridericia…Blue Expressionist Ship
o Impressionist girl with Cat…Harris
o Blues Pastel Lake…WS Robinson frame
o Kanoldt…Cropsey
o
o
o

“Sold Art”…Keep & Use the Frame
o Reindel…Van Pelt
o Burning Trannies…Deguyer
o Villa…William S. Robinson Gloucester
o Nude self portrait…Blue Azure
o


Standard-sized…affordable frame additions
o Kahn…36 x 48 piece
o
o China…my portrait
o Byrd
o China nude…at Kristin’s
o Paris Street Scene…Silver at Kristin’s
o Argument…at Kristin’s
o Clark still life
o Nanette Hoffman
o Modesty
o Canal / Dutch Modern
o Stein
o Tatiana…primitive piece
o
o


“Frames on Frames” Projects
o Peto
o Dubois
o Luminous night scene with sailboats…Eichborn
o



Impact of “Frame Restoration”
o Pair of Wolchonoks
o AB Davies
o
o Pass on Restoration
o Babb
o


DIY “Frame Touch-Up’s”
o Joseph Shepard
o



DIY “Frame Restoration”
o Peto…oil
o Cucuel
o *Prison Campers
o EJ Busenbark / CH Miller
o
o Upcoming
o Midsummer piece
o Chester & “Face”
o
o

DIY “Build-a-Frame”
o Large Dutch windmill
o Bassuk / bus painting
o Bassuk…abstract landscape
o
o Build matched frames for Jordan…match to Scarlett frame?
o

Art Cut-down to fit frame
o My China portrait
o Modesty
o Cleavage
o Azure
o Neuville Print
o Passion
o Jordan pair?
o


Warped Canvas repair
o Gothic pair…Thomas
o Pastels Sun abstract
o

Frame First…art for a frame
o Kahn…Mega-piece
o Rubens Venus
o Siqueiros frame…my site charcoal
o



Cutting Down a Frame
o Deguyer…added “width”…caulk
o Deguyer frame…Picasso
o Paris Street…Passion
o Period / Impressionist frame…Svetlik
o Reindel Blues frame…Van Pelt
o Red & gold Victorian wood frame…cut down to fit inside French church
o Fridericia Silvers frame…Blue Boat modernist piece
o Mediterranean print frame…Eichborn ship painting
o 20 x 30 period frame…add gilding + gesso…cut-down for Fridericia
o

Frames Damaged in Shipment
o Common repair from Shipping
o Nude / Self portrait
o Christ frame
o Slippage / corners



OTHER LESSONS

Researching the “Rear” of the Painting
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Various Types:
o AB Davies
o Maurer
o Golub…handwriting style
o I Hand
o Eden Mill
o “Face”
o Renee Radell
o Calder
o Kupferman
o


Unsigned Paintings
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Various Types:
o Walkowitz
o Montenegro
o Byrd
o Goode
o
o
o Solved by definite style
o Kluska
o
o After
o Redhead boy
o
o Stamped on Reverse
o Pierce Rice
o Wolchonok
o
o Items bought direct…
o Catana…thus, I have the info
o
o Sold as Unsigned…but figured it out
o Fielding
o Red Ballet
o Kahn…large abstract
o
o General
o Okun…one signed…other not – as diptych
o Large Blues Nude
o Scream
o
o Trying to Figure Out…Possible
o Blue Expressionist Ship
o Expressionist / Kanoldt Cityscape
o
o

Art Once Held in Major Collections
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Walter Young
o Fletcher Ransom
o
o
o Museum De-annexations
o Byrd
o Bendor
o Walkowitz…found out later / other piece listed from gallery
o

Re-examining Your Artworks
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Radell
o Maurer…park figures…didn’t notice the “other” people
• Note…name on reverse…of actual park
o Melvin Miller…Eden Mill…bought before there was much info about
o Scarlett – a fertility piece…much more going on than first appeared
o Staniszewski
o Venus…truly the frame “is” this piece
o


The Wide Variety of Mediums
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Oil on Board: Face
o Oil on Canvas:
o Oil on Canvas Board
o Oil on canvas glued on board
o Oil on Academy Board
o Encaustic - Montenegro
o
o Other
• Asarti : tambourine
• Catana: Tablecloth
• Cut wood: Howard Finster
• N. Jean…gunny sack
•
o
Art…as a gift you receive
o Wonder Woman
o Pochoirs
o Tatiana painting
o Kat Drawing
o


Art…as a gift you give to others
o Sid Abstract
o Girl at tanning beds
o Terri Clark
o Tonda: Woman at mirror
o
o



Light on Artworks…artworks that “come alive” with a light
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o AMT
o Couple / Argument
o Cucuel
o Monks
o Maurer
o Van Pelt
o Peto
o


 
LESSONS STILL TO COMPLETE

Art Research & Authentication
Artist Contact…Shepard, Bendor, Ben Smith, Poeteren, Okun,
Art Research…Golub, Maurer Park, Calder, Cropsey
Auction House…Thomas Hand
Attribution…Kanoldt, Face
Professional Authentication…Golub, Maurer,


Framing & Cleaning
Standard Frames…Final Items: Crawford, Nannette, Cleavage, Tonda Redhead,
Print Frames…Redhead Boy + Scream
Frames Cut Down: Svetlik, Byrd, Picasso China, Blues Ship, Eichborn (middle of frame), Fridericia, Kahn, Van Pelt
Frame Restoration…Prison Campers
Other Lessons…Green Picasso, Cropsey glass & Matt
DIY Frames Built…Bassuk Pair, Jordan Pair…matched to Scarlett?
Gesso Frame Work…Midsummer,
Painting / Decorating a Frame…Love Portrait, B&W Renee “Tiger” Photo,
Found Print Frame…Carbone
DIY Art Cleaning…Mexican school, Red Ballet, Bovil church, Dutch windmill
More Expensive framing…Radu, Dubois outer frame, Meza,
Professional Repairs…Three nudes Repairs,

Art Purchases
China…Charcoal Renee Portrait, Tonda & Tatiana, Large Renaissance Piece
Bid-out’s: Peto, Carlsen, Green Picasso, Sotter, etc
Pieces for Period Frame – 16 x 20 Impressionist, Reindel frame



 
Living With Art

Creature Comforts Media Group (CCMG / The Company) is a development stage


Decorating
Art Decorating 101: How to make a painting stand out

Collecting

Finding your focus: a bunch of paintings versus a collection

An assemblage of paintings versus a collection
Analogies:
Like a bunch of car parts versus a running car.
The very best represent an incredible running car.

To change your collecting focus?
That’s like changing careers. It’s very doable but it’s also usually expensive. The sooner you find your true life’s passion…the sooner you’ll succeed.

The hidden costs of art collecting
Frame restoration
Art cleaning
Insurance
Library investments
Storage






LESSONS REMINDER LIST


NEWLY ADDED PIECES


Curran, Siobhan – Zipcodes – 17 ¾ x 14

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Curran, Siobhan – Zipcodes – 15 ¾ x 12 ½

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Price, Angela – Collage – 11 x 14

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Mesdag, Hendrik Willem (After) – Boat on Sea + Reverse Painting: Unsigned – 18 ½ x 22 ½

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Karp, Max – Abstract Enamel – 6 x 4

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Gaynor, Shirley – Abstract: Johnstown Cathedral – 14 x 16 ¾

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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Lehman, Irving – Artist Estate Items
Lehman, Irving G. – Sailboat Abstract – 12 x 16

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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Lehman, Irving G. – New York City Abstract – 11 x 17
Lehman, Irving G. – Fish / Face Abstract – 40 x 36

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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Lehman, Irving G. – Ruined Geometric Abstract – 36 x 20

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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American School Expressionist Head: Kimball – 20 x 16

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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American School Pop Art: Man on Hood of Red Car: Benet – 48 x 36

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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Additional Sculpture & Glass

Victorian Realism: Dore Bronze Sculpture of Boy Playing with Dog

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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Contemporary Art Glass: Tall Eye Vase – 15 x 5

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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Brutalism Metal Sculpture: Cota, Frank – Brutalism Sculpture – 22 x 16

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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American School Abstract: Stone Tile: Unsigned – 4 1/8 x 4 1/8

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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Continental School – Impressionist Landscape Colorful Rows of Trees: Unsigned – 12¼ x 19 ¾

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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Continental School – Realist Azure Nude Female: Nossac – 30¾ x 22½

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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Dutch School - Realist Floral Still Life: G. Dyck – 28 x 22

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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Russian School – Primitive Abstract I: Unsigned – 12 x 9

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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Russian School – Primitive Abstract II: Unsigned – 12 x 9

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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Continental School – Surrealist / French Piece: XXX – 20 x 25

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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Slotnick, Milford – Landscape – 32 x 17 Print

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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Carter, Jimmy – Plains, GA Print

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
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HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE ART & ARTISTS


Styka, Tade – Portrait – 36 x 28

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o Portraits…attractive woman
o Story of subject = supports value
o Working your on-line skills to develop an acquisition
o


Goode, Joe – Vandalism – 23 ¾ x 35 ½

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o Bottom fishing…out-of-favor art & artist…but with strong resumes
o Secondary Lessons:
o Learning styles you’re not naturally drawn to
o Impact of “fire”…an artist’s retirement account
o Idea with framing…but keep in original
o Will this change the artist’s concept?
o Pop Art exhibition: Common objects
o Went to high school with Ed Ruscha + drove to LA with him
o


Kupferman, Lawrence, ANA – Of The Sea – 21 x 29

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Power of time & retrospective: Kupferman / Pollack
o Such a distinct style + title…definitely them
o Titles & descriptions
o Out of favor style
o Framing…title on Reverse…particularly works on paper…Pierce Rice, Wolchonok, Reyes,
o


Lichtenstein, Roy – “Crak” – 19 1/8 x 27 5/8

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Conditional Affection
o Framing…using a frame to “hide” a condition issue
o Keeping the auction sticker…re-framing
o


Montenegro, Roberto – Hand Holding a Red Pitahaya – 14 x 11 15/16

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
o Serious Bottom Fishing
• Was that other one from Sotheby’s this piece?
o After the Sale…book…what do they call these?
o Very good quality “realism”
o Unsigned
o Removing rear…most were titled…no such luck
o Dated 1954 / Sotheby’s old result…research

Neuville, Alphonse Marie De – Cavalryman on Horse – 16 x 12

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Article on Van Gogh’s brother in binder…value of art & artists
o The power of cleaning…how to spot what will clean up
o Same good seller
o Framing – the correct style makes the piece


Scarlett, Rolph – Abstract Fertility Composition – 34 x 44

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Re-visiting your art…seeing what I didn’t see before
• Egg / Sperm / Vagina…fertility piece
• Then…I saw even more
• Removing rear…many were titled
o Prodigious artist…but only marginally collected
o Learning an artist’s best pieces
o Price spike…a book comes out
o When bigger isn’t better…Bought size versus best period / style…should have known / Still happy
o My first “large” Painting
o

Reyes, Jesus F. “Chucho” – Nina – 30 x 20

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o After the auction
o The power of the perfect frame
o Condition “acceptable” for some artists
o Research…why some pieces bring a lot more money
o Faked artists


Walkowitz, Abraham – Woman Reading Book – 24 x 20

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
o Replaces Montenegro…Sotheby’s “after the sale” items
o
o Unsigned works
o Appears it might be signed…never reexamined
o Major artists
o Oils versus watercolor
o Museum deannexations
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WELL LISTED COLLECTIBLE ARTISTS

Bertelsen, Aage – River Landscape in Winter – 15 ½ x 23 ½

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
o Tonalism…Inness styled
o Early period…skilled Danish artist in this style
o Authentication…reverse info & stickers
o Cleaning
o


Fielding, Anthony Vandyke Copley – Realist Watercolor

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
o Bought to show comparison to Cropsey: power of signature on value of an artwork
o Exact period as Cropsey + a little larger
o A good picker
o Was signed blacklight
o Then…Cropsey was negated…interesting twist


Finster, Howard – Giraffe – 18 ¼ x 7 x 5 ½

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
o Local area artists
o Importance of certain dates: 1988 – on value…like pre-war, etc.
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Fridericia, William – Abstract Still Life with Fruits – 19 x 25 ½

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
o Misspellings by sellers…was actually titled
o Title was listed as artists name…using on-line translation services
o 41 vs. 47…pre vs. post-war…more compelling?
o Authentication…reverse info & stickers
o Name spelled differently in native country…
o William versus Wlheim
o With all of his accolades + an early expression of modern abstract…very little value at auction. A real tell-tale of values over a very long period.


Meza, Guillermo – Desmudo – 36 x 25 ½

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
o Original purchase receipt
• Google / research the buyer’s name
o Relating to a piece
• Like Lax, Penny, Tatiana German painting
•
o Translating a title
o Framing that makes a piece…using a “standard” framing job as an example


Miller, Charles Henry, NA – The Mill Stream, Queens, NY – 12 x 9

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
o Prior experience
o Signature + reverse signature known to me
o Add right period frame
o Cleaning & repair
o Historical scenes: collecting pieces…Like Eden Mill, Ernest DeNagy


Radell, Renée – Two for the Show – 48 x 15

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
o Experts are sometimes wrong
o Checking back on the Net every year
o Same Seller: Sheppard, Melvin Miller, Renee Radell, Staniszewski
• Asking about other pieces…
o Retail value…never at auction
o Saved retail value files…printed, etc.
o
o Finally at auction!!
o


Ransom, Fletcher C. – Impressionist Landscape – 24 x 20

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
o One thing leads to another…Asking about “any other art” that’s for sale…Otto Farsky
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o Family re-ignites interest …web site
o Owned by a major collector
• Like Walter Young
o A period frame…get appraised value on the frame
o


Sheppard, Joseph – Female Nude Writing Letter – 12 x 16

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
o A good looking woman…versus ugly
o Books on artist + “his” books
o Baltimore Realists
o Same Seller: Sheppard, Melvin Miller, Renee Radell, Staniszewski
• Asking about other pieces…
o

Warren, Ferdinand, ANA – Abstract Still Life – 25 x 30

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o Main Lesson / Page Title:
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o Secondary Lessons:
o Local area artist
o Removing rear covers
o Picking up art: save on shipping?
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Wolchonok, Louis – Artist Estate Items

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Wolchonok, Louis – Dead End – 9 ½ x 12
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Estate inventory…from large seller
o
o Wolchonok, Louis (Pair) – Mountain Landscape – 4 ½ x 7
o Wolchonok, Louis (Pair) – Mountain Landscape – 4 ½ x 7
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Early pieces by an artist
o Frame restoration
o
o Wolchonok, Louis – Artist Self Portrait – 12 x 9 ½
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Research…first thought it was WPA man…found another self-portrait…realized it was Louis
• Made it more special…particularly since male subjects are usually worth less
• Find sample / picture of him
•
o

 
MASTER MINING

Unauthenticated Art & Artists: Possible / After / Style of / Fakes

Focused Shots

Calder, Alexander – Abstract: Ink Drawing: C. A. – 11 ½ x 8 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o Pedigree…another definite piece: Bluemner
o Secondary Lessons:
o Alan Bamberger…you’re on your own when it comes to tough research
o Title & the handwriting on reverse + old zip code
o Write “story”…use basic paragraph & wording flow from Lambert boo…
o



Kanoldt – Expressionist Cityscape – 15 x 20

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o RE-stretched / sized down…mistake
o Too much money in framing & cleaning…
• Added the “right” period frame
o You’re very excited when you buy your first painting. You tend to treat it with kid gloves. Framers can sometimes take advantage of this + Avery / cleaning…stretching.
o Making it fit / tricks
o Don’t give up on a piece
o Obliterated signatures
o Seeking out expert guidance
o Tried on-line + High museum
o Write “story”…use basic paragraph & wording flow from Lambert boo…
o


Cropsey, Jasper Francis, NA – Hudson River Landscape – 9 x 11

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Butterfield’s evaluation
o Cropsey foundation evaluation
o Starting over…must find that “scene”…at “that” time
o Write “story”…use basic paragraph & wording flow from Lambert boo…
o


Cucuel, Edward – Sill Life – 24 x 20

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Titles & descriptions + photos…signature derivation / deduction
o Signature research books
o Out of the artists style
o Period frame + size & scope + a reasonable bid price…worth a shot
o “Flippers”…authentic pieces that are out of the artists main style / notoriety
o Pedigree…Sotter. Unfortunately, I hadn’t yet received Sotter. Good & bad from estates…often travel in groups.
o Easy frame restoration
• Leaving it original…even the chips + the nails / attaching
o Displaying your artworks…some need a light in daytime…particularly deep browns
• Ideal for “lighting”
o Very good use of “dark line”…like I learned from Degas painting + depth
o Write “story”…use basic paragraph & wording flow from Lambert boo…
o


Eisenstadt, Ben – Couple

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o

Golub, Leon – Delacroix: Greece Expiring – 35 ¾ x 25 ¼

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Like Wargames…get in the head of the programmer…
o Doing your own research
o Write “story”…use basic paragraph & wording flow from Lambert boo…
o This piece is the big key…it’s size, scope & uniqueness stands the best chance to become my one, true “stolen” masterpiece…
• I really need that one, big success story
o Not every seller that’s selling fakes…always sells fakes
o


Maurer, Alfred Henry – Figures in the Park – 11 ½ x 14

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Not every seller that’s selling fakes…always sells fakes
o Sambuca / Stephen
o Researching artwork
o The actual park
o Reexamining your artwork…I never noticed the other people
o Displaying your artworks…some need a light in daytime…particularly deep browns
• Plus Monks, Cucuel, “Face”, AMT
o Not real…until authenticated…even with all “this”
o Write “story”…use basic paragraph & wording flow from Lambert boo…
o

Additional Shots

Jean, Nehemy – Haitian Woman – 20 x 12

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o N. Jean signature: Davenport’s
o Fine print + emailing seller
o Authentication process
o The unique canvas supports
o
o


Staniszewski – Collage Art: Don’t Smoke – 23 x 17

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Pedigree….all were good artists – De Neuville, Melvin Miller, Joseph Shepard…Renee Radell
o Philadelphia newspaper
o 1961 was the “beginning” of collage art
o Same Seller: Sheppard, Melvin Miller, Renee Radell, Staniszewski
• Asking about other pieces…
o


TB / TE / BB – Realist Portrait of a Gentleman – 12 x 10

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Unsigned portraits
o Period frames
o Damage…distracting lines
o Frame
• Frame value
• Frame restoration…Hunter compared
• Frame inside frame…Chester Frame…decorating
o Displaying your artworks…some need a light in daytime…particularly deep browns
• Ideal for “lighting”
o
 

WELL LISTED COLLECTIBLE ARTISTS: ALTERNATIVE MEDIUMS

Lehman, Irving G. – New York City Abstract – 11 x 17

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Researching your artworks / Thought it was dancers…NYC skyline
o Spent too much on framing
o


Soyer, Moses, NA – Female Drawing Studies – 6 ½ x 9 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Doyle’s sticker
o Amount of detail in the drawings…not just one of those hap-hazard drawings
o
o

 

LISTED COLLECTIBLE ARTISTS


Asarta, Innocente Garci’a – Hispanic Girl on Tambourine – 13 x 12

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Alternative mediums
o On-Line research
o Highly skilled artist of little note
o Cleaning…effect
o


Babb, John Staines – Landscape – 12 ½ x 18 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Frame value
o Dilapidated frame…not restoring
o
o More than one auction record: watercolor vs. oil
• Massive decorator piece…details from auction
• Perhaps even a monster period frame like Venus
o Miscellaneous research / watching on ebay
o


Bennedsen, Jens Christian – Landscape with Heather Blooms

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o A lot of art for the money…shipping deals
o Needs “distance” to appreciate it…above Tonda’s piano
o Shipping costs…deals…size & scope
o Damage during ownership…learned why large pieces (warren, Scarlett, etc. – get covered in Cardboard at rear…puncture / hole repair
o A lot of art for the money: Size, listed artists, shipping, frame, condition,
o


Busenbark, E.J. – Nude Female Model on Platform – 20 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o The artists frame
o Adding a period frame
o Artists that vanish for reasons unknown – had to support a family, was a drunk, got killed walking across the street…got tired of not making money…who knows?
o


Crooks, Mildred – Still Life

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o


De Nagy, Ernest – Impressionist City Scene – 11½ x 9

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Expatriated art
o Research / building: Historical society
o Other “matched” piece sold at auction…”Market Square”
o His scenes of “people” not worth what his scenes of areas & flowers
o
o


Debois, Ingeborg – Still Life with Flowers & Fruit – 27 x 38 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o A lot of art for the money
o Outer frame
o


Eichborn, Jack – Luminous Night Sky with Sailboats – 19 ½ x 25 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Night scenes versus day scenes
o Frame…
• From Mediterranean print
• Side cut / keep molded corners
o European sellers on ebay
o


Gillespie, John – Old Woman Walking – 6 x 5

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o A style you love…artist you can afford
o Larger frame for a very small piece of little value…one of the first pieces I bought
o
o


Hand, Thomas – Impressionist Winter Scene with Figures – 10 x 12

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o On-line evaluation
o
o Too much restoration to be very valuable
o Lot marks on reverse
o Example: what re-lining actually looks like + Pope
o
o Found…exact photo + SAME house…stayed with it!!
o
o

Helme, Henge – Still Life with Cactus – 15 x 11 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o A period + style you love…artist you can afford
o Another style…by a highly skilled artist
o


Johnson, W. Claude – Mountain Seascape – 12 x 18

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Following a list…frame / clean + …never really liked it
o Gallery owner as artists…Boswell guy
o Pouring money into a piece because it’s “on your list”
o Oops! Died in new frame…what to do when your new frame doesn’t look like you hoped
o Should have used cream frame…bring out brighter colors
o


Kluska, Johann – Scene from Dante’s Divine Comedy – 8 ½ x 15 ¾

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Unsigned?
o On-line research revealed
o Palm Beach piece discussed
o


Lax, David – New York Dreams – 20 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Pieces that touch your life
o Book was included
o Exhibition sticker…still trying to secure the catalog
o


Lehman, Irving

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Two Pieces
o
o


Melvin Miller – Eden Mill – 12 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Skill impresses us early on
o Research on-line…Eden Mill has grown / been redone
o This piece was done before the renovation. If selling…would likely be of value locally because of renewed interest in the mill
o Same Seller: Sheppard, Melvin Miller, Renee Radell, Staniszewski
• Asking about other pieces…
o


Penny, Bruce Barton – Soul In The Sand – 27 ¾ x 17 15/16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Hopper-styled hand…artist you love by artist you can afford
o Engaging realist styles are almost always appealing to collectors – particularly if they remind one of a point in their life.
o Good examples of the three core scope & sizes of pieces:
o Small / medium + larger & more detailed investment grade – see photos
o Collecting “one” artist…pro’s & con’s
o



Penny, Bruce Barton – Boy Playing with Hoop – 30 ½ x 38

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Memories from childhood
o Hopper-styled hand…artist you love by artist you can afford
o A “major” work
o


Penny, Bruce Barton – Boy Holding Flower – 10 x 13

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Memories…paintings that touch your life
• Even the year it was painted was correct
o Shared shipping costs
o


Pollack, Creilly Harman – Seated Man – 22 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Galleries dumping pieces
o Contact with family member…ebay searches
o The “perfect” frame
o Good examples: this, Reyes,
o


Pope, Thomas Benjamin – Hanging Cherries – 10 x 8

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Seller using Davenports to value a piece
o Mine=relined, not very burglarish of me / 10 years ago
o Skill / realism
o Counter paintings
o Example: what re-lining actually looks like + “Hand”
o


Rice, Pierce – Artist Estate Items

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Pierce Rice – Women of an Era #1 – Jackie-O-styled woman reading magazine – 11 ¼ x 7 ½
o Pierce Rice – Women of an Era #2 – Dark-Haired Woman Sitting – 8 ½ x 7
o Pierce Rice – Women of an Era #3 – 50’s-Dressed Woman Walking – 12 ½ x 5 ¼
o Pierce Rice – Women of an Era #4 – 50’s-Woman in Bathing Suit – 13 ¾ x 9 ¼
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Sell-off a few pieces
o Two of these pieces were really good!
o Artists estate…nothing usually goes too high…plenty for everybody
o Pot-Luck for the on-line collector at Live Auction
o Estate…buy best pieces
o Did well “here”
• Wolchonok…I made mistake of not buying best quality
o How artist’s make money / survive…illustrators, etc.
o




Sickman, Jessalee – Artist Self Portrait – 10 x 6

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Self portraits
o Fun colors
o Virtually unknown artists
o Chi-O…but Cochran school
o



Smul, Ethel

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o

Svetlik, Eduard – Landscape with European Bay – 12 x 19 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Foreign values…researching on-line pays off
• Original values
• Researched value from galleries
• Then…auction values show up
o Impact of a period frame on how good a painting looks
o


Wilson, Chester – Victorian Portrait – 30 x 25

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Traveling portrait artists
• Finished by…Chester Wilson
o Accounting for the frame
o Male versus female subjects
o Reality of portrait values / art collecting
• Walking through Hunter museum
o Chester the Molester…having fun naming your paintings…titles
o


Young, Walter – Arabesque – 29 7/8 x 39 3/4

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Major Collections: Chef Paul collection
o The title: understanding it
o Shipping issues
• Planned as shared costs…but didn’t get the other piece
• Damage
o Is it Walter N. Young from NY?
• AskArt / Freedman’s has separate
• Reality? It was part of a major collection, it’s a major work…it’s going to be a listed artist
o Call / research records from Chef Paul collection
o Frame colors matched Tatiana’s bedroom set
o She was now too old for this piece…ended up in storage
o Opposite of positives: Bendor / Thilo
o Major Art Example
• Size + detail
• Like Midsummer…
o End of auction…your fave choices all at the end of a live auction
o Why Arabesque title?...repeated patterns
• Like Mirror title…forces you to learn / motivates you…about something new in art
o Insult to injury…damaged in shipment
o Goodwill gesture with fave shipper…Bendor mess
o Was hard not to try & sell it…needed many more piece & budget was tight
o Kept it: important lesson on patience at auction
o Artist “Medium” examples…unique type of “board”
o
o

 
FAKES & FORGERIES


Fakes Lessons

Carlsen, Emil, NA – Floral Sill Life – 30 x 20

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Fastners…pressboard….date
o Period fakes
o Rise in signature
o Same estate as Peto + Lever + Henri…not good
o But…both Peto & Carlsen were in very rough shape…could’ve been an estate sale collector with both real & not-real pieces versus “dealing in fakes”…the other two weren’t in that condition. However, Henri was a total fake
o Write “story”…use basic paragraph & wording flow from Lambert boo…
o
o Compare vase / wetness of detail to Helge Helme…this is what it “should” look like
o


Crawford, Ralston – 14 x 18

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o 13 x 18?...Decade review
o
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Signature faked
o Learned “cloudy” look…Sotter + Hofmann
o
o Much of Crawford’s work was war-related in this time period
o Was this…dial one / long distance?
o Red nails…typical housewife
o Introduction of long distance?
o The date of this phone design?
o Being able to dial it yourself?
o A record would exist in his history?!
o He did phone lines…why not this???
o



Hofmann, Hans – Abstract Figures – 30 x 24

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Period fakes
o Residual value is right
o Custom painted frame
o Write “story”…use basic paragraph & wording flow from Lambert boo…
o


Miro’, Juan (School of) – Abstract Color Drawing – 11 x 9

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o A total fake


Peto, John Fredrick, NA – Still Life with Apples – 12 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Compare level of detail to TB Pope…this is what it “should” look like
o
o Period fake
o Impact of cleaning
o Ouch…damage during ownership
o “Attach” period frames
o Same estate as Carlsen + Levy + Henri
o Write “story”…use basic paragraph & wording flow from Lambert boo…
o

Picasso (After) / Cui, Hua – Abstract : Hotel California – 18 x 26

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o A fake in the making
o Show detailed photos…Susan help
o


Sotter, George William – Along the Canal – 20 x 24

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Resolve the “type” of fake it is…80’s copy, more recent made to look old…or added to exact style?
o
o Artist signatures…some had very wide variety
o Figuration…a big key
o Brush strokes…must go see authentic pieces
o Period fake…large, high quality fake…during a time an artist wasn’t worth a great deal?
o Write “story”…use basic paragraph & wording flow from Lambert boo…
o

After

Rubens, Peter Paul (After) – Baroque Venus at a Mirror – 39 ¼ x 27

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Period frames
o Meant to fake…darkening on reverse…faking a 19th century copy
o Canvas “dirt” coloring / on rear
o Research all the artists that reproduced this piece…it’s signed…who were they trying to fake?
o

Mesdag, Hendrik Willem (After) – Boat on Sea + Reverse Painting: Unsigned – 18 ½ x 22 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o


Richter, Herbert Davis (School of) – Realist Interior Scene – 12 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Fineness of detail
o Compare to other Dutch interiors
o Still…a nice piece
o



ArtBurglar.com Collection

ORIGINAL WORKS: AFTER, FOLLOWER OF, CIRCLE OF, ETC.


After

Greuze, Jean-Baptiste (After) – Boy in Red Waistcoat – 18 ½ x 15

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Live Auctions…three types of artworks on your list
o Power of cleaning
o Period copies…compared to other types
o Copy…reversed position
o Influences…red head pieces while Tonda was in my life
o Displaying your artworks…some need a light in daytime…particularly deep browns
• Ideal for “lighting”
o



Greuze, Jean-Baptiste (After) – Broken Pitcher

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o

Van Dyck, Sir Anthony (After) – Realist Sir Thomas Hamner – 30 x 24

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

• Van Dyck, Sir Anthony (After) – Realist Lady – 30 x 24
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Quality copying…even lines
o Beevus & Buffy…having fun with your artworks
o



Artist Schools, Follower of, Circle of

Archipenko, Alexander (Style of) – Female Bronze Sculpture

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Power in decorating
o


ArtBurglar.com Collection

ORIGINAL WORKS: MAJOR SCHOOL PIECES


AMERICAN SCHOOL

Okun, Sasha – Abstract Diptych: Dante’s Minos Judge of the Damned

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Doing your own research
o One was unsigned
o
o “Upside down” painting…
o
o Displaying pairs: turn corners…naturally with this one + added Dante’s piece
o Dante’s piece costs more than the original…matting to match / hang it with
o The “space Change” painting…show picture of change bin
o Write “story”…use basic paragraph & wording flow from Lambert boo…
o


Finkelstein, Louis – Expressionist Couple: The Departure – 36 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Value at auction houses…unknown “school”
o “Title” + handwriting…offers opportunity to discover
o


Abstract: Meditation: S. Kahn – 30 x 20

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Artist contact / research
o A new frame
o Geometric example
o Was “learning” a new picker
o Thought I had the right frame…Carlsen
o Framing to bring out the right colors…Taupe’s…Like Blue Azure
o Abstract combined with Geometrics…Geometric abstract
o Is it the listed artist Steve Kahn?
o


Abstract: Mirror: S. Kahn – 48 x 36


Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o $53.00 + shipping…title of this lesson
• Photo standing next to piece for proper scale
• Art + frame costs + ebay coupon used to buy frame + affordable shipping…
o
o Standard frame size
o Reverse name scratched out
o Affordable shippers on large pieces
o Title
o Signature marked out…why?
o


Abstract: Invasion of Virtue: Thau – 20 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Studying a piece…deducing what the art is all about
• Tell about the Supreme court case…
o Researching an artwork
o Period political statement…like Bracho
o Primitive styled
o 1965 Supreme court ruling…Invasion of virtue
o Griswold vs Connecticut
o Connecticut law prohibiting the sale of contraceptives
o I liked the piece…abstract geometrics
o Total price…standard size…cheap to frame…ended up buying custom frame
o When shipping is too cheap…might want to offer a little extra…Christ painting / bubble wrap
o


Abstract: Circus Scene (Pair): Jordan – 28 x 20


Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Reverse paintings
o Pairs
o A style you enjoy…by an artist you can afford…Chagall
o


Abstract: NYC Buildings: Stein – 20 x 16


Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Buying for a good frame…Hoffman frame
o Making it fit
o Touching up a painting
o


Abstract: Pastels Church Scene

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o

Abstract: Yellows / Beach Scene

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o

Abstract: Red & Yellows Circles

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o

Impressionist Femme Portrait with Still Life: Vadin – 30 x 24

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Always decorates well
o Was it worth it?
o Confusing signature
o Little to go on
o Impressionist paintings we can afford
o Almost nothing else to go one
o


Pop Art: Blonde Female Bust: Greenfield – 20 x 15

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Thrifts
o Period art: 80’s / Duran / Duran
o


Pop Art: Man on Car

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o

Realist Still Life with Pipe & Book: Clark – 20 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Standard frame
o Skilled artists that were nobody…old styles
o


Realist Portrait: Hoffman Nannette – 20 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o The misfit painting…like “I have a T-Rex”
o How much could go wrong
o Shipping…no savings
o Frame…dropped & broken
o Sold on ebay…9.99
o Kristin’s voice on video…funny skit
o Like Beevus & Buffy
o


Surrealist Boy at Door: XXX – 10 x 8

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Bought into the story
o Age on reverse
o


Symbolist: The Scream: Unsigned…W.M. Ri… – 48 x 36

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Prior sale / piece of two nudes
o A lot of art for the money
o Meant to be unframed…photo of edges
o Optional…Dar’s piece / made frame
o Can turn it in any direction…sign of a clever artist
o



Symbolist: The Termination: Caldwell – 22 x 30

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Art from friends
o Pieces you relate to: Valerie
o


Symbolist: The Argument: SE Wafda – 36 x 24

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Standard frame…standard size
o Light on a piece
o Highly engaging art…art that moves you…some memories not so good
o Shared shipping…live auction…both same size: Graumann
o The other side of a “memories” painting…Lax
o Hoffman
• Combined shipping…yet had to ship separately
• Known subject / sitter is described
• Musical frames
• Create funny story
• Kept frame then tried to sell…9.99
• Then dropped & broke frame
o

 



CONTINENTAL SCHOOLS

Classical: Monks & Church Landscape: Unsigned – 35 x 27

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Clean it yourself
o Old canvas on board…re-lined to board
o Displaying your artworks…some need a light in daytime…particularly deep browns
• Ideal for “lighting”
o


Classical: Three Nude Women at Lake: Unsigned – 28 x 45

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o H/L frame
o Clean it yourself
o Powerful piece
o Shipping costs
o Let them do the framing measurements…mistake
o Sometimes old pieces are not quite square
o


Expressionist Boat on Sea + Reverse Painting: Unsigned

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Musical frames
o Reverse painting
o Professional repair
o Obliterated signature
o AB Davies book…boat was similar
o Stretcher…worm holes
o Repaired…old repair / professionally done…of value
o


Expressionist-style Landscape with Red: Small / JAN B – 7 ¼ x 9 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Belgium bundle
o Countertop paintings
o

Expressionist-style Gothic Couple (Pair): Jan Thomas – 20 x 33 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Ian Thomas??? No…it’s J…JT on front of painting
o
o Removing the rear paper: titled +
o Matched pairs: decorating + shipping costs
o Cleaning & restoring yourself


Impressionist Girl with Cat: A. Ma… – 20 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Musical frames
o Subject you love…in another style
o Oil on canvas glued on board
o


Impressionist Houses on Street: Unsigned – 11 x 12

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Belgium bundle
o Actually signed?
o


Impressionist: Midsummer’s Eve Bonfire: HO – 27½ x 44

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Boat Party…your own version
o Cream impressionist frames…building your own: Gesso project
o Affordable shipping
o


Impressionist Stream in Pastel Tones: SERMA – 12 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Musical frames
o Belgium bundle
o


Impressionist Paris Café Scene with Mountain View: XXX – 24 x 18

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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Standard frame
o Slashing school…French street art
o Standard frame…18 x 24…kept – possibly re-paint use other frame
o This is fairly well-done one…could be a listed artist
• Look at others with Antonio De Vity
o H / A…Debuoo
o Dubois?
o


Impressionist Canal Scene in Red Tones: J. Vinchent – 16 x 20

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Standard frame…making it fit: cm versus inches
o Shared shipping…the other painting / primary target doesn’t work out
o Sid had bought from this seller successfully
o Bought nude self portrait…now the frame for Blue pastels piece
• Almost kept as “ceiling art” piece
• That frame was damaged in shipment
• Asking the wrong friends for opinions on buying art
• Tonda…Belgium…Kristin / Nude/…Sid
o More yellow than red as prominent colors
o As grouping with Bendor
o Making Offers…on buy it now
o
o


Realist Azure Nude Female: Nossac – 30¾ x 22½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Almost sold it…happened to put nude self-portrait piece up against it
o The white liner…was draining the life out of it
o Glued to board…now have to cut it down…problems
o

Realist Cats Playing with Flower Pot: Havlik – 20 x 25

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o A subject that you love
o Framing
o Ebay Germany
o


Realist Nude Female with Blue Impressionist Tones: Unsigned

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Affordable Shipping: size of painting
o Very well done
o Unsigned
o


Realist Red Ballet Dancer at Docks: XXX – 13 x 9

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Black light
o Water / moisture damage…not as old as I thought?
o

 
DUTCH SCHOOL

Impressionist & Luminous Canal Scene: DeGyer – 24 x 32

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Turner styled…your favorite artist
o Musical frames…plus “adjust” frame
o Touching up frames
o Making a frame fit
o Saw the name…Danish seller


Realist River with Cows & Figures by Windmill: H..r..lich – 33½ x 41¼

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Listing mistakes / oversight…had no thumbnails
o Cleaning it yourself
o Affordable shipping


Realist: Floral Still Life: Dyck

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o

Realist Interior Scene with Woman Reading Magazine: CNB – 12 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Danish pieces / artists
o Lauritz group lot…came “back around”
o

 
OTHER SCHOOLS

English School: Realist Hessian Soldier: AMT – 18 x 14

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Art with lighting
o George Rowney
o Military theme adds value
o Displaying your artworks…some need a light in daytime…particularly deep browns
• Ideal for “lighting”
o


French School: Impressionist Church: Bovil – 12 ¾ x 14

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Belgium bundle
o Bovil…French name
o Self-cleaning art
o


German School: Realist Winter Snowscene Landscape: Hess – 12 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Savings on shipping
o Accounting for a frame
o


German School: Folk Art Painting of Child: Andora – 18 x 14


Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Tatiana picture…show her early photo
• Art that touches you
o Folk Art
o Standard frame: gold toned…plus now I have extra frame…it was painted a horrid blue
o

Mexican School – 8¾ x 7½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Bought to test my art cleaning skills
o Thought it might be a decent modernist artist…get lucky under blacklight
o
o Countertop painting…like JanB
o



China School: Realism : Nude Asian Female – 24 x 36

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Standard frame
o Was somewhat mass-produced
o Was going to use in French setting…then decided to sell
o After framing…kept it
o



Latin American: Primitive Mid-Century Political Parity: Bracho – 13 ¾ x 15 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Primitive
o Political history…anti-Nazi-ism & the average person as hero
o Owning my stupidity: VDS vs. US dollars
o Bracho…Venn dollars story
o Subsequent…print acquisition + damage
o


Russian School – Abstract: Primitive Abstract (Pair)

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o


ArtBurglar.com Collection

CONTEMPORARY ORIGINAL ART


FROM AUCTION

Bassuk, Jane – Abstract Pair

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Internet searches
• Style confirmed…local, Midwestern artist
o Offered second piece…share the shipping cost…then “threw-in” a freebie
o Very fair shipping for size
o Build a frame?
o


Ben Dor, Gideon – Surrealism: “Traditions” – 45 5/8 x 46 3/4

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Deannexations
o Philadelphia Fine Arts Academy
o The best pieces from their students
o Often award winning…the artist keeps it on their resume
o Shipping for a great shipper
• Tossed in another…free shipping
• To home versus UPS store…would had have to rented a van
• Shipping address mistake…they ate it
•
o Letter to artist
o Time…in seeing all of it + Sid
o


Byrd, Gerald “Jerry” – Geometric Abstract: Rhea Series

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Tape…meant to be that way…look at titles & descriptions of other catalogs…like Joe Goode & Ben Smith
o Museum Deannexations
o Framing an oil on paper…photos
o Keep rear info accessible…lesson list
o Scale: 18 x 24 = 22 x 28
o Standard frame
o A different direction…framing
o


Cota, Frank – Brutalism Sculpture

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o

Graumann, Hannah – Symbolist: Nude Girl in a Glass – 36 x 24

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Pieces that move you
o Combined shipping: both 24 x 36 + p/u from auction…UPS store
o Two styles combined? Symbolism + surreal?
o


Mortensen, Anders – Surrealism / Symbolism: “Ak ja, de dage”

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Lauritz
o On_line research
o Art that disturbs others
o Reaction by Darleen
o At the time of the beheadings in Iraq
o


Poeteren, Lovis Van – Artist with Nude Model – 21 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o On-Line searching…seller misspelled name
o Artist contact
o Lovis vs Louis
o

 
CARICATURE

Bluth, Don – Dragon’s Lair Character Study – 13 x 16

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Your childhood…art that moves you
o Unsigned + provenance
o Character study…to keep everyone doing the same drawings for cells
o


Coutts, Ed – Wonder Woman Drawing – 11 x 14

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Art from friends
o Caricature art
o Self portraits
o

 
FRIENDS

Tafolla, Kat – Mommy Renee – 12 x 9

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Art from friends
o Self-portraits
o


Johnson, Tatiana – Aunt Rayvonne – 12 x 9

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Art from friends
o Self-portraits
o

 
EUROPEAN ARTISTS

Bogden, Danilla – Expressionist Seated Nude Female – 24 x 20

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Multiple / combined shipping
o Musical frames
o


Bontea, Laurentiu – Passion – 18 x 20

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Multiple / combined shipping
o Musical frames
o Reduced size…reduced frame
o Celebrity inspired artworks…Judy Garland
o



Catana, Lucian – Love Portrait – 38 x 34

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Offer payment terms…I didn’t have the money but didn’t want to lose it
o
o Rolled art…damages
o Stretching it yourself
o Hobby Lobby frame
o A perfect place to hang it…Kristin’s large wall
o “Major” work
o Highly engaging
o Shipping damage…type of paint
o Took printed photo from auction to Susan…nature of brush strokes was hard to tell what was purposeful versus damage
o Lines in face…tablecloth
o All types of canvases
o
o Frame bright it to life
o Check your measurements before buying your stretchers
o Too big to transport in my car back seat…photo
o Framing size mistake…let them do the measurements
o


Radu, Cioca – Surreal Female Face: Real Visions – 27 x 39

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Art that reaches you
o On-Line overseas galleries…the “test” purchase
o Risks…use credit card w/paypal…additional protection
o Stretching it yourself
o

 
ASIAN ARTISTS

Gianna, F – Pop Art : Cleavage: F. Gianna – 26 x 33 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Pop art
o Changing size…intensifying the focus
o


Gianna, F – Pop Art : Modesty: F. Gianna – 26 x 33 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Changing the size
o Was going to sell it…laid down frame over it
o Got more interesting with changed “focus”…better match to “modesty” title
o Red & gold frame was PERFECT for it
o Total cost now…X + X
o Show cut down + framing options photos
o


Qiuna, Zheng – Realism: Freya’s Doze – 36 x 26

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Portraits…with a twist
o Cutting down art to match frame
o


 
ART GLASS, PORCELAINS, POTTERY & BRONZES


Art Glass – Abstract Clear Crystal Baccarat Free Form
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
Bronze Statue – Ajax
o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
Counts, Charles – African-inspired Abstract / Cubist Designed Jug

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Book
o
Glinsky, Vincent – The River

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o State / sculptures
o
Tagliariol “Tay”, Giueseppi – Ceramic Eagle

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
 
COLLECTIBLE LIMITED EDITION ART



American School - Fluorobi, A.J. – Fishing Wires – 14 x 18

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

¥ Main Lesson / Page Title:
¥
¥ Secondary Lessons:
¥ Good decorator
¥


Geometric Abstract

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o

Bracho, Angel – Camino de Coamitl – 11 ¼ x 14

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

¥ Main Lesson / Page Title:
¥
¥ Secondary Lessons:
¥ Knee jerking
¥ Condition / mark
¥ Shipping / tear…a total mess
¥


Carmichael, Herbert – When the World was Full of Wonder – 12 x 11

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

¥ Main Lesson / Page Title:
¥
¥ Secondary Lessons:
¥ Name change / war
¥ The oil painting…auction
¥


Carbone, Roberto – Two Graces – 17 x 23

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

¥ Main Lesson / Page Title:
¥
¥ Secondary Lessons:
¥ Auction estimates: knee jerking
¥ Same piece – framed…1/2 the price
¥


Deloney, Jack – Christmas Cotton – 12 x 22

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o My first-ever art piece
o Signed & numbered values…on-site
o


Geissler, Paul – Self Portrait with Sketch Pad – 12 ½ x 9 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
Geissler, Paul – Self Portrait with Flower Pot – 12 ½ x 9 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Buying pairs…shipping + decorating
o Artist self portraits
o Translating words / Title
o


Smith, Ben – Lucca: Artist’s Proof – 19 x 14 ½

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Condition…actually meant to be that way?
o Year of edition…artist contact
o

 
DECORATIVE BUT COLLECTIBLE PRINTS


Chagall, Marc – My Fiancée in Black Gloves – 11 x 8

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Autographed prints…
o How to authenticate lesson
o Researching editions
o


Gazette du Bon Ton – Pochoir Collection

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Info about them
o Gifts from friends
o


Neuville, Alphonse – Antique Soldier Print – 10 ¾ x 7 ¾

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Cleaning it yourself
o Musical frames
o


Picasso – Fillette Au Chien: Girl & Dog – 27 ¾ x 18 ¾

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Post Humous prints
o


Picasso – Mother & Child – 8 x 10


Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Older prints
o Pen & ink versus print
o




ArtBurglar.com Collection

DECORATIVE PRINTS & POSTERS

Flint, W. Russell – Sailboats – 7 x 8…Print

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Watercolor?
o


Gehrke, Fritz (After) – It Didn’t Arrive – 14 x 11…Lacquered Print

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Jeff Frederick story
o Damage in shipment…ebay refund process
o


German School – Landscape with Team of Horses & Boat

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Greed gets the best of us
o Salvaging a bad deal
o


Italian School – Realist View on Mediterranean & Villa: – 22 x 28

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Chasing frames…got greedy
o Sometimes a seller underestimates / dismisses the value of art in the frame
o This frame was very standard for these types of prints…have seen others on ebay…show examples
o Neophyte seller will call it a “painting”
o


Monk, Edvard – The Scream – 36 x 24 Poster

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Thomas Crown…buy a print?
o


Renoir, Pierre-Auguste – By the Sea – 24 x 20 Giclee

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Buy a print?
o


Turner, Joseph Mallord William – Arrival of a Packet Boat

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o Buy a print?
o




 

SUPPORTING PIECES

Delacroix, Eugene – Greece Expiring – 10 x 8 – Printed Print

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o
Goode, Joe – Vandalism Series – 22 x 17 – Signed Poster

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o On-Line research of art & artists
o
o


Greuze, Jean-Baptiste (After) – Boy in Red Waistcoat – 25 x 19

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o

Dante’s Divine Comedy Illustration – Minos: Judge of the Damned – 6 ¾ x 8 ¼ – Printed & Framed Print

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o


Greuze, Jean-Baptiste (After) – The Broken Pitcher – 11 x 9…Poster

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
 
Commissioned Art
Qui, Na – Post-transition Tranquility – 36 x 24

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o


Qui, Na – reneereyes.com / Site Charcoal – 28 x 21

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o


Qui, Na – Marilyn / Renee Oil on Paper – 28 x 21

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o


Art Burglar “Break-In” Photo

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o


Carpenter, Russell – Photo Shot – 28 x 21

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o


Carpenter, Russell – Artistic Shot – 28 x 21

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o

 

Your Own Art
Photographs
DRAG Queen: Pink Hair

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o


Two Tigresses / over male image…tiger-stripes painted frame

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o


A Diva’s Dog…Princess on Steps + Other / Additional

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o


Georgia / Wildlife…Stone Mountain

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o

Homage to Andy “T” Party: SCC Pic – 20 x 36

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o

Ten Years Later…Series

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
•
•

o Main Lesson / Page Title:
o
o Secondary Lessons:
o
o

TG Life…series of photos showing infancy, adolescent, teen adult…varied forms of expression…perhaps with metaphors to these phases of life…perhaps this as Surrealist painting

Main Lesson / Headline / Page Title:
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Sculpture
Weekend Warrior: Male Mannequin – 12 x 9

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Articulated Artworks: Genderism +


Articulated Art

The next evolution?
There was a time when artists had to create their own paints & pigments…

Compare to other things that “went away”…

Before the advent of the photographic camera, an artist’s role was primarily that of recording history

At its essence, art is representation of human expression. It’s found in countless forms – music, theater, etc.

Digital art…like abstract, etc. – the pundits declare: it’s not really art

Warhol entrepreneur / art

I think Andy was seeing something on our horizon instinctively – that the greatest forms of art…








Articulated Paintings Add words on articulated paintings: like Divorce / Kruger?

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Final Options: Gun to Head II – 36 x 48

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Dating Dilemmas / Dating Game – 36 x 36

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Warning: That’s No Woman – 24 x 36

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Transitionitis: Mirror Photo – 24 x 30

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Welcome to the Neighborhood / Window – 20 x 24

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Creature Comforts: Painted BDSM on Sofa

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Born in a Cage – 36 x 48

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A Helping Hand / Nails / Two Faces Together

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Sex…Hotel Bedroom / Straight guy nervous / Tons of Lingerie / wigs on floor + male clothes + perfect title

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Post-Op: Ille Celebration piece + from a photo

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Surrealism Piece: Transition Journey – 48 x 48

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Catana…boy / woman piece…actual shots of me

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The Walk of the Wild Side / Hitchhiker – 36 x 36

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Homage to Picasso – XL cubist of women…TS

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Pieces from Photos
Overblown Lips…Silicone / “Plastic” Surgery

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Picasso – Cubist-style of me nude / laying…TS

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SOLD PIECES


Robinson, William S, NA – Sailboats at Gloucester, MA – 12 x 16

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o Signatures & authentication…like a bar code
o Selling goods to buy an item
o Period frame acquisition…from buying a painting
• Look beyond the thumbnail…show thumbnail + the frame that wasn’t shown
• Didn’t work out quite as planned…got cocky after Christ painting / frame
• Schrom: 9.99
• Euro conversion rate killed me…also affect shipping costs…and this was a heavy frame
o Period frame…bringing impressionist works to life – “movement”
o Frame color choice…saw piece from auction photo: where ideas come from
o Musical frames…used for SERMA
o Robinson’s value in Biloxi…that Owensboro artist = local collecting interest impact on art values + the economic rise is not just limited to a country…just a small region can have an impact



Davies, Arthur Bowen – Rock and Sea – 11 x 13

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o They don’t always include details…like stickers on reverse
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o Dunbar concept…fame in books
o This artist was Major back in the day…plus…Armory show co-founder
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Van Pelt, Gottfried – Landscape with Figures – 12 ¼ x 19 ¾

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o Cut down a frame
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Realist Interior Scene with Woman at Mirror: E. Kristensen – 24 x 19¼
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o Tonda gift…help someone begin a collection
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Reindel, Edna – Portrait of Girl with Birds – 17 x 13 ¼
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o Female artists
o Gauche example
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Reindel, Edna (Drawing) – Study Girl with Birds – 17 x 13 ¼
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