COMMENTS ON THE ART MARKET
June 2003
Volume 30
Selling a Work of Art
While thinking about this topic I realized that it would probably take two or three newsletters to cover all the options. Much of the information that is needed when you are looking to buy a painting is also needed when you want to sell it - take a little time - do your homework - learn about your options and the item you want to sell.
In this month’s newsletter I will start at the beginning …learning more about the item you are selling and what your basic options are.
First, and foremost, you need to know a little about the item you are selling. Today, with the Internet, it is easier than ever to learn about your works of art. To begin, try typing the artist’s name into a search engine and see what comes up. If the artist is fairly well known, you are bound to get some results that can put you on the right path. Try to find a gallery, or two, that specializes in the artist. Make a few phone calls. Talk with the dealers and try to learn more about your particular work. Remember, that the same factors come into play when you are selling as when you are buying … price will be determined by the artist, period, size, condition, quality, and subject matter.
Learn about the particular artist’s style or styles; try to determine when your work was done … is it an early work or a late work; was it done in the artist’s signature style; is the subject matter commercially appealing? All of these factors will play a role in determining the price you can ask for the work.
Next, you need to determine what a fair price is for your work of art. Take a little time to search out people who have sold similar works. Try to find out if a similar painting by the artist has sold at a recent auction, or find an appraiser who can place a value on the work. Once you have determined a fair price it is then time to look for a buyer.
There are a number of ways to offer your work for sale: at an auction; outright sale to a gallery; offering the work to a gallery on consignment; and retailing the work yourself.
This month I will offer some advice on - ‘Retailing the Work Yourself’. While your initial thoughts may be “if a gallery can sell the work, so can I!”, there is more to it than just offering the painting for sale. You need to know where to offer it; you need to ‘ready’ the work for sale (have it cleaned, restored and properly framed); be ready to stand behind the work (should it turn out to be a fake) and spend some money advertising it. I have seen private collectors take out expensive ads in some of the art magazines to try and sell their works … most, end up spending a lot of money and never sell the works in question. This leads to the question – why didn’t the work sell?
Most buyers want to know that the person, or establishment, they are dealing with has been around for a long time and that they will stand behind the works they offer … they want guarantees that the works are real and that should an issue arise about its authenticity, there will be someone they can turn to. Most private owners do not have the necessary expertise to guarantee the works, remember that it is more than likely that the work you are looking to sell was originally purchased from a gallery.
Something else to keep in mind is that most galleries do not place ads in magazines just to sell the paintings that are displayed. Good galleries look to establish long term relationships with people and the ads they run are just one way for them to meet new people. The ad that you would run is only for the one or two works you have and if nobody who reads that magazine has an interest in that particular work, or is just uncomfortable purchasing a work from a private individual, you have basically thrown out a good deal of money.
Another idea that comes to mind these days is to create a web site in order to sell the work/works. This is a nice idea but, once again, how are people going to find your site? You are going to have to advertise in the relevant art magazines to let people know where the works can be seen. Here again, we are back to advertising expenses.
Okay, so you decide that instead of offering the work on a site that you create, you are going to place it up on some Internet auction site. The problem here is that due to the fact that so many of the items offered on the sites are just not by the artists they are purported to be by, many people are uncomfortable purchasing works in this forum, and rightly so. Even if your work is ‘by’ the artist in question, you will probably not receive the proper price for it.
While you, as the owner, will make the final decision about how to sell the work/works you have, I suggest that you steer clear of trying to market the work/works to the public. As with most other things in life, you are often best served by letting a professional handle it.
Next month I will cover the traditional auction method.
____________________
Art Market Update
I know that many of you are always interested in learning about how the Art Market is fairing in this economic climate. May is the month when the New York auction rooms have their big Contemporary, Modern and Impressionist sales and this year it appears that the market is continuing to show great strength for good quality works. The following are some of the more notable results.
The two top lots in the Impressionist sales were purchased by Steve Wynn: Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dans les Roses for $23.5 million and Paul Cezanne’s Portrait of Paul Cezanne for $17.36 million … when you are next in Las Vegas stop by his casino and see if they are on display. Mark Rothko’s oversized painting titled No. 9 (White and Black on Wine) brought $16.36 million while his smaller work titled Brown and Black in Reds made $6.7 million; Edgar Degas’ pastel of a ballerina made $10.64 million while his bronze of a ballerina made $10.3 million; Piet Mondrian’s Composition in White Blue and Yellow made $8.07 million; Yves Klein’s RE2 brought a strong $5.27 million while Andy Warhol’s Marlon made $5.04 million while his small (20 x 16 inch) Campbell’s Soup Can (Pepper Pot) made $2.41 million and a small Jackson Pollock drip painting made $5.27 million.
To me, one of the bright spot of the sale was the Felix Gonzales-Torres’ work Untitled (Fortune Cookie Corner). This work featured approximately 10,000 fortune cookies piled into a corner … yes, they were real fortune cookies … and the cataloging for this work was 4 pages long! This ‘installation’ carried an estimate of $600,000 - $800,000 and it failed to find a buyer! There is still some sanity in the world! Well, I figured there was some sanity, but my hopes were dashed the next day when Maurizio Cattelan’s 1996 work Untitled (which consisted of a taxidermied white rabbit with extended ears measuring 98 ½ x 4 x 8 inches … what big ears he has) sold for $399,500 ... so much for my understanding of the Contemporary market.
Howard L. Rehs
© Rehs Galleries, Inc., New York City- June 2003
Gallery Updates: During the past 30 days we have acquired interesting works by Daniel Ridgway Knight, Julien Dupré, Jules Dupré, Paul Blondeau, Édouard Cortès, Johann Berthelsen, Sally Swatland, Heidi Coutu, and Antoine Blanchard; some of which have been added to our web site.
We are also pleased to announce that the gallery will be handling Still Life and plein air Landscape paintings by the contemporary American artist Gregory Frank Harris. The first two works have been added to our web site.
Virtual Exhibitions: This month we have made a change to the Antoine Blanchard Virtual Exhibition. As many of you have seen, this exhibit has grown dramatically over the past 2 years. In order to make it more convenient to view the works, we have moved about 30 of the images to a new Virtual Exhibition, we now have: A Vision of Paris – Part I and A Vision of Paris – Part II. I hope you will take a look as a number of new works have been added this month. Direct links to each exhibit are below:
A Vision of Paris – Part I
A Vision of Paris – Part II
Since our last newsletter we have sold a number of important paintings by many of our favorite artists. Most of these works have been added to their respective Virtual Exhibitions; among them were: an important work by Daniel Ridgway Knight that was painted in 1893; a magnificent set of six Paris street scenes by Antoine Blanchard that were executed in 1963; a beautiful evening snow scene of Porte St. Denis and a large and fabulous interior scene by Édouard Leon Cortès; two wonderful beach scenes by Sally Swatland; a Photo-Realist still life by Barry Oretsky and a beautifully detailed panel painting by the Italian 19th century artist Ludovico Marchetti.
Next Month: I will continue with my series on – Selling a work of art.
SUBSCRIBE
To subscribe to our monthly Comments On The Art Market newsletter,
click here.
ARCHIVES
June 1, 2023 - Volume 270
May 1, 2023 - Volume 269
April 1, 2023 - Volume 268
March 1, 2023 - Volume 267
February 1, 2023 - Volume 266
January 1, 2023 - Volume 265
December 1, 2022 - Volume 264
November 1, 2022 - Volume 263
October 1, 2022 - Volume 262
September 1, 2022 - Volume 261
August 1, 2022 - Volume 260
July 1, 2022 - Volume 259
June 1, 2022 - Volume 258
May 1, 2022 - Volume 257
April 1, 2022 - Volume 256
March 1, 2022 - Volume 255
February 1, 2022 - Volume 254
January 1, 2022 - Volume 253
December 1, 2021 - Volume 252
November 1, 2021 - Volume 251
October 1, 2021 - Volume 250
September 1, 2021 - Volume 249
August 1, 2021 - Volume 248
July 1, 2021 - Volume 247
June 1, 2021 - Volume 246
May 1, 2021 - Volume 245
April 1, 2021 - Volume 244
March 1, 2021 - Volume 243
February 1, 2021 - Volume 242
January 1, 2021 - Volume 241
December 1, 2020 - Volume 240
November 1, 2020 - Volume 239
October 1, 2020 - Volume 238
September 1, 2020 - Volume 237
August 1, 2020 - Volume 236
July 1, 2020 - Volume 235
June 1, 2020 - Volume 234
May 1, 2020 - Volume 233
April 1, 2020 - Volume 232
March 1, 2020 - Volume 231
February 1, 2020 - Volume 230
January 1, 2020 - Volume 229
December 1, 2019 - Volume 228
November 1, 2019 - Volume 227
October 1, 2019 - Volume 226
September 1, 2019 - Volume 225
August 1, 2019 - Volume 224
July 1, 2019 - Volume 223
June 1, 2019 - Volume 222
May 1, 2019 - Volume 221
April 1, 2019 - Volume 220
March 1, 2019 - Volume 219
February 1, 2019 - Volume 218
January 1, 2019 - Volume 217
December 1, 2018 - Volume 216
November 1 2018 - Volume 215
October 1, 2018 - Volume 214
September 1, 2018 - Volume 213
August 1, 2018 - Volume 212
July 1, 2018 - Volume 211
June 1, 2018 - Volume 210
May 1, 2018 - Volume 209
April 1, 2018 - Volume 208
March 1, 2018 - Volume 207
February 1, 2018 - Volume 206
January 1, 2018 - Volume 205
December 1, 2017 - Volume 204
November 1, 2017 - Volume 203
October 1, 2017 - Volume 202
September 1, 2017 - Volume 201
August 1, 2017 - Volume 200
July 1, 2017 - Volume 199
June 1, 2017 - Volume 198
May 1, 2017 - Volume 197
April 1, 2017 - Volume 196
March 1, 2017 - Volume 195
February 1, 2017 - Volume 194
January 1, 2017 - Volume 193
December 1, 2016 - Volume 192
November 1, 2016 - Volume 191
October 1, 2016 - Volume 190
September 1, 2016 - Volume 189
August 1, 2016 - Volume 188
July 1, 2016 - Volume 187
June 1, 2016 - Volume 186
May 1, 2016 - Volume 185
April 1, 2016 - Volume 184
March 4, 2016 - Volume 183
February 5, 2016 - Volume 182
January 1, 2016 - Volume 181
December 1, 2015 - Volume 180
November 2, 2015 - Volume 179
October 1, 2015 - Volume 178
September 1, 2015 - Volume 177
August 1, 2015 - Volume 176
July 1, 2015 - Volume 175
June 1, 2015 - Volume 174
May 1, 2015 - Volume 173
April 1, 2015 - Volume 172
March 1, 2015 - Volume 171
February 1, 2015 - Volume 170
January 1, 2015 - Volume 169
December 1, 2014 - Volume 168
November 1, 2014 - Volume 167
October 1, 2014 - Volume 166
September 1, 2014 - Volume 165
August 1, 2014 - Volume 164
July 1, 2014 - Volume 163
June 1, 2014 - Volume 162
May 1, 2014 - Volume 161
April 1, 2014 - Volume 160
March 1, 2014 - Volume 159
February 1, 2014 - Volume 158
January 1, 2014 - Volume 157
December 1, 2013 - Volume 156
November 1, 2013 - Volume 155
October 1, 2013 - Volume 154
September 1, 2013 - Volume 153
August 1, 2013 - Volume 152
July 1, 2013 - Volume 151
June 1, 2013 - Volume 150
May 2, 2013 - Volume 149
April 2013 - Volume 148
March 2013 - Volume 147
Feb 2013 - Volume 146
January 2013 - Volume 145
December 2012 - Volume 144
November 2012 - Volume 143
October 2012 - Volume 142
September 2012 - Volume 141
August 2012 - Volume 140
July 2012 - Volume 139
June 2012 - Volume 138
May 2012 - Volume 137
April 2012 - Volume 136
March 2012 - Volume 135
February 2012 - Volume 134
January 2012 - Volume 133
December 2011 - Volume 132
November 2011 - Volume 131
October 2011 - Volume 130
September 2011 - Volume 129
August 2011 - Volume 128
July 2011 - Volume 127
June 2011 - Volume 126
May 2011 - Volume 125
May 2011 - Volume 125A
April 2011 - Volume 124
March 2011 - Volume 123
February 2011 - Volume 122
January 2011 - Volume 121
December 2010 - Volume 120
November 2010 - Volume 119
October 2010 - Volume 118
September 2010 - Volume 117
August 2010 - Volume 116
July 2010 - Volume 115
June 2010 - Volume 114
May 2010 - Volume 113
April 2010 - Volume 112
March 2010 - Volume 111
February 2010 - Volume 110
January 2010 - Volume 109
December 2009 - Volume 108
November 2009 - Volume 107
October 2009 - Volume 106
September 2009 - Volume 105
August 2009 - Volume 104
July 2009 - Volume 103
June 2009 - Volume 102
May 2009 - Volume 101
April 2009 - Volume 100
March 2009 - Volume 99
February 2009 - Volume 98
January 2009 - Volume 97
December 2008 - Volume 96
November 2008 - Volume 95
October 2008 - Volume 94
September 2008 - Volume 93
August 2008 - Volume 92
July 2008 - Volume 91
June 2008 - Volume 90
May 2008 - Volume 89
April 2008 - Volume 88
March 2008 - Volume 87
February 2008 - Volume 86
January 2008 - Volume 85
December 2007 - Volume 84
November 2007 - Volume 83
October 2007 - Volume 82
September 2007 - Volume 81
August 2007 - Volume 80
July 2007 - Volume 79
June 2007 - Volume 78
May 2007 - Volume 77
April 2007 - Volume 76
March 2007 - Volume 75
February 2007 - Volume 74
January 2007 - Volume 73
December 2006 - Volume 72
November 2006 - Volume 71
October 2006 - Volume 70
September 2006 - Volume 69
August 2006 - Volume 68
July 2006 - Volume 67
June 2006 - Volume 66
May 2006 - Volume 65
April 2006 - Volume 64
March 2006 - Volume 63
February 2006 - Volume 62
January 2006 - Volume 61
December 2005 - Volume 60
November 2005 - Volume 59
October 2005 - Volume 58
September 2005 - Volume 57
August 2005 - Volume 56
July 2005 - Volume 55
June 2005 - Volume 54
May 2005 - Volume 53
April 2005 - Volume 52
March 2005 - Volume 51
February 2005 - Volume 50
January 2005 - Volume 49
December 2004 - Volume 48
November 2004 - Volume 47
October 2004 - Volume 46
September 2004 - Volume 45
August 2004 - Volume 44
July 2004 - Volume 43
June 2004 - Volume 42
May 2004 - Volume 41
April 2004 - Volume 40
March 2004 - Volume 39
February 2004 - Volume 38
January 2004 - Volume 37
December 1, 2003 - Volume 36
November 2003 - Volume 35
October 2003 - Volume 34
September 2003 - Volume 33
August 2003 - Volume 32
July 2003 - Volume 31
June 2003 - Volume 30
May 2003 - Volume 29
April 2003 - Volume 28
March 1, 2003 - Volume 27
February 1, 2003 - Volume 26
January 1, 2003 - Volume 25
December 1, 2002 - Volume 24
November 1, 2002 - Volume 23
October 1, 2002 (Updated: January 16, 2016) - Volume 22
September 1, 2002 (Edited 2015) - Volume 21
August 1, 2002 - Volume 20
July 1, 2002 - Volume 19
June 1, 2002 - Volume 18
May 1, 2002 (Edited 2008) - Volume 17
April 1, 2002 (Edited 2008) - Volume 16
March 1, 2002 (Edited 2008) - Volume 15
February 1, 2002 (Edited 2008) - Volume 14
January 1, 2002 (Edited 2008) - Volume 13
December 1, 2001 - Volume 12
November 1, 2001 (Edited 2008) - Volume 11
October 1, 2001 - Volume 10
September 1, 2001 (Edited 2008) - Volume 9
August 1, 2001 (Edited 2008) - Volume 8
July 1, 2001 (Edited 2008) - Volume 7
June 1, 2001 (Edited 2008) - Volume 6
May 1, 2001 (Edited 2008) - Volume 5
April 1, 2001 (Edited 2008) - Volume 4
March 1, 2001 (Edited 2008) - Volume 3
February 1, 2001 (Edited 2008) - Volume 2
January 1, 2001 (Edited 2008) - Volume 1