How do I become an art dealer and collector?

tyblossom · January 27th, 2010, 10:50 AM

I love art and have little by little learned more and more about collecting art. I don't have a college education and can't afford one and also am disabled. I love to learn by reading myself along with having real life experiences. I've come from a family full of wonderful artists. I myself am more creative than artistic. I have found some artwork that I have sold for a good amount of money. This is what I would love to do with my time. I'd love to search out wonderful artwork that I am able to enjoy and also profit from at some point. My question is this. Many times I come across artwork that has no provenance. I have had good luck with one auction house selling a rather nice piece worth a good amount of money that didn't have any. They "just knew" it was authentic. I have a friend though that believes they have a great painting and called I believe Sotheby's and were told that if they found this piece of artwork approx. 30 years ago at a flea market, that it must not be real and basically dismissed it. I personally looked at it and while not having a very educated eye, felt it really could be. I also heard about the Teri Horton story with her Pollock that even scientists have deemed to be by his hand and the art community has basically dismissed the piece of art. If you have any advice for how I might go about authenticating a piece of artwork so that the art community would accept it if it is indeed authentic, please let me know.
Thanks so much,
Stephanie

John · January 27th, 2010, 12:10 PM

I'm not a dealer or an art expert, but here's my two cents... To get the really top-level prices, you need experts in that artist's work and a provenance and scientific tests and so on. However plenty of works sell for thousands or tens of thousands with none of these things, especially if the work stands on its own. I would focus on this market rather than trying to uncover a Jackson Pollock or a Picasso.

Also, I wouldn't bother with Sotheby's or Christie's. In my experience they're more concerned with keeping the wrong stuff and the wrong people OUT of their auctions than with getting unauthenticated works in.

tyblossom · January 27th, 2010, 12:25 PM

Can I ask what you do? You seem to know so much. So I'm curious if you are an educator, an artist, or collector. If you'd rather not say, that's totally cool.

I've had some luck with an auction person who seems to always just give me an answer as to what I have, but they don't always want it, because it's not the type of works they offer. So I'm trying to figure out how to go about reaching out to other auction houses without putting them off since I'm not the sofisticated art collector/dealer. I've seen someone online named Mark Winter's who authenticates works of art. His fee starts at $300, but I'm hesitant to use him if I come across a treasure, because I wonder what the auction houses think of an outsider's authentications. I have considered that some artists do have experts willing to take a look, but I'm wondering about the one's that don't.

I also wonder what type of tips you might have that would make someone steer clear of a painting that does have a signature that seems "right". Are there signs good or bad to look for?

Thanks again John. Is there a better forum area for the type of questions I have as far as learning to be a collector/dealer of fine art? If so, please give me a link.

Stephanie

John · January 27th, 2010, 04:56 PM

FYI, I run this site as well as Artcyclopedia.com. I don't have any formal training in fine art. I've developed a pretty good eye for figures and composition over the years, but I don't pretend to be an expert.

As for paintings, my approach is to hit the Internet or the library and view as many of the artist's known works as possible. Not the greatest hits; as much work of all kinds as possible. Once you've looked at a few dozen paintings, you'll get a sense of the different phases of the artist's career, the range of works they produced, how they look on their best day and their worst day, and generally what they are trying to achieve.

Also, I always ask the opinion of my wife and my mother-in-law, both of whom do have training and have better eyes than I do. Having someone whose opinion you trust who you can bounce ideas off of is invaluable.

January 27th, 2010, 10:50 AM	#1
tyblossom Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 47	How do I become an art dealer and collector? I love art and have little by little learned more and more about collecting art. I don't have a college education and can't afford one and also am disabled. I love to learn by reading myself along with having real life experiences. I've come from a family full of wonderful artists. I myself am more creative than artistic. I have found some artwork that I have sold for a good amount of money. This is what I would love to do with my time. I'd love to search out wonderful artwork that I am able to enjoy and also profit from at some point. My question is this. Many times I come across artwork that has no provenance. I have had good luck with one auction house selling a rather nice piece worth a good amount of money that didn't have any. They "just knew" it was authentic. I have a friend though that believes they have a great painting and called I believe Sotheby's and were told that if they found this piece of artwork approx. 30 years ago at a flea market, that it must not be real and basically dismissed it. I personally looked at it and while not having a very educated eye, felt it really could be. I also heard about the Teri Horton story with her Pollock that even scientists have deemed to be by his hand and the art community has basically dismissed the piece of art. If you have any advice for how I might go about authenticating a piece of artwork so that the art community would accept it if it is indeed authentic, please let me know. Thanks so much, Stephanie

January 27th, 2010, 12:25 PM	#3
tyblossom Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 47	Thank you for your response Can I ask what you do? You seem to know so much. So I'm curious if you are an educator, an artist, or collector. If you'd rather not say, that's totally cool. I've had some luck with an auction person who seems to always just give me an answer as to what I have, but they don't always want it, because it's not the type of works they offer. So I'm trying to figure out how to go about reaching out to other auction houses without putting them off since I'm not the sofisticated art collector/dealer. I've seen someone online named Mark Winter's who authenticates works of art. His fee starts at $300, but I'm hesitant to use him if I come across a treasure, because I wonder what the auction houses think of an outsider's authentications. I have considered that some artists do have experts willing to take a look, but I'm wondering about the one's that don't. I also wonder what type of tips you might have that would make someone steer clear of a painting that does have a signature that seems "right". Are there signs good or bad to look for? Thanks again John. Is there a better forum area for the type of questions I have as far as learning to be a collector/dealer of fine art? If so, please give me a link. Stephanie

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

January 27th, 2010, 12:10 PM	#2
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,400	I'm not a dealer or an art expert, but here's my two cents... To get the really top-level prices, you need experts in that artist's work and a provenance and scientific tests and so on. However plenty of works sell for thousands or tens of thousands with none of these things, especially if the work stands on its own. I would focus on this market rather than trying to uncover a Jackson Pollock or a Picasso. Also, I wouldn't bother with Sotheby's or Christie's. In my experience they're more concerned with keeping the wrong stuff and the wrong people OUT of their auctions than with getting unauthenticated works in.

January 27th, 2010, 04:56 PM	#4
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,400	FYI, I run this site as well as Artcyclopedia.com. I don't have any formal training in fine art. I've developed a pretty good eye for figures and composition over the years, but I don't pretend to be an expert. As for paintings, my approach is to hit the Internet or the library and view as many of the artist's known works as possible. Not the greatest hits; as much work of all kinds as possible. Once you've looked at a few dozen paintings, you'll get a sense of the different phases of the artist's career, the range of works they produced, how they look on their best day and their worst day, and generally what they are trying to achieve. Also, I always ask the opinion of my wife and my mother-in-law, both of whom do have training and have better eyes than I do. Having someone whose opinion you trust who you can bounce ideas off of is invaluable.