The Auction Whisperer

Some art consignors like to “shop” their artwork at more than one auction house. When it comes to an original oil painting, for example, consignors and auction houses alike need to watch their step. If they aren’t careful, they will “burn” that painting and it will be quite a while before it can go on the auction block again.

A good painting being offered at auction needs to be handled properly and I don’t mean just physically. If a painting by a listed or well-known artist is not well advertised; or if it is presented to the wrong audience; or if the consignor has asked for too high a reserve, there is always a chance that it will not sell.

If that happens, in order to do justice to that painting the consignor will now have to wait until a considerable amount of time has passed before he tires to turn it over at auction again. When a really first-class painting doesn’t change hands, its value is affected. In other words, that painting has been “burned.”

It is assumed that a work of art always holds its value and even increases in value as time goes on. If the appropriate amount of advertising was done, thereby alerting all potential collectors of its availability, there is no reason for a good painting not to sell, unless it’s really not so good.

So now the painting is suspect and it is probably suspect because the consignor was too greedy. The auction house has to take some of the blame for this as well. They should have told the consignor that his reserve was unrealistic. If the consignor refused to drop his reserve then maybe the auction house should have refused the painting. Being known as the auction house that couldn’t sell a quality painting isn’t exactly a reputation builder.

Until the stigma of this wears off, which could take a couple of years, art collectors and art experts will wonder about this painting. Did it not sell because someone figured out it was a fake? Did it have some hard to see damage? Perhaps it was altered in some manner.

There are no winners in such a situation. The auction house looks bad. The consignor still has a painting he no longer wants and there’s a collector out there who didn’t get this painting, even though he was willing to pay more than a fair price for it.

02/08/2012 by Anne Benedetto

The European Renaissance began in Italy in the 15^th Century, and spread rapidly over the rest of the continent.  This was the golden age of culture for Italy and it spawned a great number of artists who were a huge influence on later generations of painters.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519): One of the most famous Italian artists of the Renaissance, da Vinci was born in the Florentine town of Vinci, and died in Cloux, France, after working in Florence for a large part of his life.  His most famous work is “The Mona Lisa,” but he also drew numerous studies of the human anatomy.  He is also famed for sketching prototypes of what are considered modern inventions, a helicopter and a tank being among his designs.

Michelangelo (1475-1564):  Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni came from Capreze in Tuscany, but spent most of his life in Florence, Bologna and Rome.  He is famed for painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and also sculpting the “Statue of David,” which now stands in the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence.  He died in Rome at the age of 88.

Botticelli (1445-1510):  Born in Florence, Sandro Botticelli created works of art greatly inspired by religion and mythology.  His most famous work is “The Birth of Venus,” which sees the goddess Venus standing nude in a clam shell on the ocean.  He was also commissioned to paint the Fresco’s on the walls of the Sistine Chapel.  Unfortunately, Botticelli’s renown fell into decline in later years, and he died, poor and friendless, in 1510.

Titian (1488-1576):  There is uncertainty surrounding Tiziano Vecellio’s birth date, but, it is believed, he was born around 1488.  He started using his pen name Titian once he began painting.  A lot of Titian’s work was commissioned by a number of influential patrons of the time, cementing his reputation as one of Italy’s top artists.  Two of his most famous works are “Venus of Urbino,” considered to be one of the most erotic works of art ever painted, and “Danae,” which hangs in the Capodimonte in Naples.  Titian died of the plague in 1576.

Caravaggio (1573-1610):  Born Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, in adulthood he gained a reputation as a drunken rebel, as well as a talented painter.  Although he was born in Caravaggio in Lombardy, he moved to Rome at 21 to sell his artwork on the streets.  He was later given patronage by Cardinal Francesco del Monte who took the young painter under his wing.  In 1606 Caravaggio fled to Malta after killing another man in a swordfight, and died four years later on his way back to Rome after being pardoned.  Caravaggio painted some fairly graphic scenes, “Boy Bitten by a Lizard” and “Salome Receives the Head of John the Baptist” among them.

Italy has produced a number of famous sons, the Renaissance painters being some of the most celebrated.  This golden period of art and culture, with paintings and statues often based on myth and religion, produced some of the most incredible works of art ever seen.  If it hadn’t been for these renowned Italian artists, who introduced new techniques and realism to their art, the artists to follow would have been much less inspired.

01/09/2012 by Anne Benedetto

The most expensive item ever sold at auction is a painting by Pablo Picasso. Oddly enough, the second most expensive item ever sold at auction is another Picasso painting.

Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter and sculptor, who lived from 1881 until 1973. He was the co-founder of cubism. He was one of if not the most influential artists of the 20th century. He fathered several children, was married several times and had an impressive list of mistresses and muses right up until the time of his death.

His famous painting entitled, “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust,” sold in May of 1010 at Christie’s. Picasso painted it in 1932 and he completed it in one day. It depicts his then mistress and muse, Marie-Therese Walter. It sold for $106.5 million dollars. Imagine what it might have brought if the economy was better. Ms. Walter hanged herself four years after Picasso’s death. Still distraught over his passing, his last mistress, Jacqueline Roque, also committed suicide.

Prior to the sale of “Nude, Green Leaves & Bust,” a painting entitled, “Boy with a Pipe,” was the most expensive item ever sold at auction. This too was a Picasso oil on canvas which he painted in 1905. The subject matter was a local boy, name unknown, who had spent quite a bit of time at Picasso’s studio. This was painted during what is referred to as Picasso’s Rose Period.

“Boy with a Pipe” fetched $104.1 million dollars in 2004 at Sotheby’s. It belonged to a couple who purchased it in 1950 for the sum of $30,000.

12/27/2011 by Anne Benedetto

Even some experts have trouble evaluating the age or authenticity of a vintage painting. You are not going to suddenly become an art appraiser simply by reading this post; but it will give you an idea of what to look for when trying to figure out if a painting is old or not.

• Look at the subject matter. Is it in keeping with the times? In other words, if a painting is said to be from the mid 1800s then you would not expect to find a tall building or an automobile as part of the scenery.

• If the colors look darker due to age make sure that they have aged evenly. Tea or other aging agents could have been used to fake age but they may not have been applied properly over the entire surface.

• Look at the back of the painting (also called “verso”). The canvas should have darkened with age as well and should show some signs of wear. If you look carefully, the lines that make up an old canvas should be somewhat uneven.

• Try to determine if the painting has been relined (a new canvas merged with the original to prevent deterioration). If relined, the lines making up the canvas will be more even and will not have the appearance of being handmade. Also, the painting itself will look more flat. It will not have the same depth it had before it was relined.

• Look at the stretcher. This is the wooden frame to which the canvas has been attached. The wood should show some age just like the canvas. Are there any shims (small pieces of loose wood sticking out from under the stretcher in one or more places)?

• Over time, a canvas will loosen on its stretcher so shims (also called keys) are inserted under the stretcher in the corners to expand the stretcher and tighten the canvas.

• Are there any old labels on the verso (back) of the painting that might show some of the painting’s history? The lack of any labels doesn’t mean it isn’t old but such labels would sure help you research the origin of the painting.

• You need to remove the stretcher from the frame – gently if possible. How is the canvas attached to the stretcher? Very old and/or more expensive paintings are attached with small nails. Never staples. Also, you would expect to see a little wear to the edges of the canvas if it is old.

• It is important for you to have a black light (UV light). This is invaluable when trying to determine the age and condition of a painting. It can also be used on other items such as porcelain and pottery. The black light will allow you to see any restoration done to the painting.

• Restoration is an indication of age and the placement of that restoration is important when determining the existing value of the art work. If the canvas has had tears or holes restored, the black light will show them. If there has been “in painting” (paint touch-ups) that will show as well. If any of the “fixes” were done to the main subject matter then they will hurt the value. If they were done to less key areas then they may not affect value at all.

• If the painting is signed, authenticating the signature is more difficult. You may need an appraiser to look at it for you. However, the black light can help you determine whether it is worth having the signature checked out at all. If the signature was added later (with the intent to mislead) the signature will appear to be floating under the black light. If not, the signature is most likely original to the painting. This doesn’t mean that the painting itself isn’t a forgery. It can be an old painting but still be a fraud if painted by a lesser known artist but signed with the name of another more important artist.

The black light can show many things but it must be used in a very dark room. Some black lights are small which means you can keep one in your glove compartment.

09/05/2011 by Richard Benedetto

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When we owned our auction house we took in some fabulous stuff. We were very fortunate. However, we never answered the phone to hear, “Yes, I’m calling from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and we would like to ship you the contents of the museum to be put up for auction. Dogs dream about having more than one bone buried in the backyard and auction houses dream about consignment calls from museums like this one.

Isabella Stewart Gardner, 1840-1924, was an avid collector of paintings, sculptures, ceramics, textiles, rare books and manuscripts, furniture, metalwork and other rare and interesting objects. She was born in New York but moved to Boston shortly after 1860. Her collection consists of around two thousand objects from a wide variety of countries. The ages of the objects extend from several centuries B.C. up to the early twentieth century.

Fenway Court, a mansion modeled after a Venetian palace of the Renaissance period, was designed by Mrs. Gardner to be a showcase for her extensive collection. It was officially opened as a museum in 1903 and, already a window by then, she lived alone on the fourth floor of the museum for the remainder of her life.

Upon entering the museum, you will see works by European artists such as Henri Matisse, Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet, as well as paintings by the American-born artist, James McNeill Whistler. Some of the other works on display throughout the mansion date from around 1320 to 1520. They include artists such as Fra Angelico, Francesco Pesellino, Piero della Francesca and Simone Martini. Italian Renaissance paintings include Sandro Botticelli’s “The Tragedy of Lucretia,” which depicts the events leading to the establishment of the Roman republic.

Mrs. Gardner

Also prominantly displayed is a self-portrait by Rembrandt; a portrait of the British Earl Thomas Howard by Peter Paul Rubens; a landscape by Flinck; the “The Concert” by Vermeer and the impressive Renaissance painting by Titian entitled “Europa.” It depicts Zeus disguised as a white bull jumping into the sea with Europa on his back.

In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, as Boston wrapped up its city-wide celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, thirteen priceless works of art including three Rembrandts, a Vermeer, a Manet, and five Degas drawings, were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — the largest art heist ever. The Gardner robbery still remains an open, active investigation. A $5 million reward remains in effect for information leading to the return of these priceless works of art in good condition. A book by Ulrich Boser was published about this unsolved heist.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is located at 280 The Fenway, Boston, MA. You will receive free admission if your first name happens to be “Isabella.”

08/26/2011 by Anne Benedetto 

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