Large oldish painting signed H Scherer? Help identifying it?

cac37 · November 22nd, 2011, 03:52 PM

Hi
I picked up this painting at an estate sale. It is a large oil on board signed h. Scherer. It is unusual but whoever painted it had talent. It is fairly old, somewhere between 1920 and 1940 I would guess based on the frame, nails etc..

John · November 22nd, 2011, 06:27 PM

A quick search brings up a painting signed "H. Scherer" by Hermann Scherer (1893-1927), who has a similar Expressonist style.
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/l...jectID=4619250

cac37 · November 22nd, 2011, 06:36 PM

Well that would certainly be nice. Now what do I do with it?

John · November 22nd, 2011, 07:04 PM

Based on the auction prices shown at findartinfo.com, it sure would. The first thing I would do is research the heck out of Hermann Scherer. The more you know about him and his work, the better you'll be able to judge whether the work truly fits into his oeuvre and whether his signature looks authentic. It might also help you identify any experts on the artist that you can consult in order to get it authenticated.

Also, don't mess with it. Don't clean it or fix it or take the frame off or anything. Let an expert do that if necessary. And if you ever transport it, use extreme care packing and moving it. Paintings can be remarkably fragile if the wrong thing happens to them.

P.S. It's probably too large to be a print, but he was a printmaker and monochrome paintings are unusual, so you might want to double-check it's an oil painting.

cac37 · November 22nd, 2011, 07:47 PM

Thanks for the advice. Definitely a painting. There are substantial blobs of paint in various places. As far as the piece goes I deal with rare books and this just happened to be at an estate. I know who purchased it originally (an individual who retired from the government in the late 60's and had traveled abroad extensively) but other than that and a name the painting has no real history. It is on a board and the frame is really a piece of junk but it is pretty old. I would guess it is a bit newer than the 20's when it looked like Scherer died but it might be that old. Certainly no newer than the 40's and I am no expert on this subject so it could be that old.

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November 22nd, 2011, 06:27 PM	#2
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,400	A quick search brings up a painting signed "H. Scherer" by Hermann Scherer (1893-1927), who has a similar Expressonist style. http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/l...jectID=4619250

November 22nd, 2011, 06:36 PM	#3
cac37 Junior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 7	Well that would certainly be nice. Now what do I do with it?

November 22nd, 2011, 07:04 PM	#4
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,400	Based on the auction prices shown at findartinfo.com, it sure would. The first thing I would do is research the heck out of Hermann Scherer. The more you know about him and his work, the better you'll be able to judge whether the work truly fits into his oeuvre and whether his signature looks authentic. It might also help you identify any experts on the artist that you can consult in order to get it authenticated. Also, don't mess with it. Don't clean it or fix it or take the frame off or anything. Let an expert do that if necessary. And if you ever transport it, use *extreme* care packing and moving it. Paintings can be remarkably fragile if the wrong thing happens to them. P.S. It's probably too large to be a print, but he was a printmaker and monochrome paintings are unusual, so you might want to double-check it's an oil painting.

November 22nd, 2011, 07:47 PM	#5
cac37 Junior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 7	Thanks for the advice. Definitely a painting. There are substantial blobs of paint in various places. As far as the piece goes I deal with rare books and this just happened to be at an estate. I know who purchased it originally (an individual who retired from the government in the late 60's and had traveled abroad extensively) but other than that and a name the painting has no real history. It is on a board and the frame is really a piece of junk but it is pretty old. I would guess it is a bit newer than the 20's when it looked like Scherer died but it might be that old. Certainly no newer than the 40's and I am no expert on this subject so it could be that old.