Unregistered

I have looked at this pencil or maybe eteched art all my lfe. Now that it is mine I would like to know something about it. Major subject is a young woman in the door, a young lad with a flute,wearing a kilt sitting on a bench, and his border collie watching him. I find no artist or date.
Thanks, Brad

Judy

Greetings Brad,

The first thing you want to do is determine if it is a drawing or an etching (or maybe even a lithograph). Do you have a local art resource center in your area? Anyone who is knowledgeable in printmaking should be able to tell by looking closely at it if it is a print or an original drawing. Maybe a high school art teacher could help you - or even a nearby college professor? I am afraid that even if you posted the image here, it would be next to impossible for us to tell if it an original drawing or not. A trained eye should be able to tell by looking closely to see if there are any edges made by the impression of a plate. I might be harder to tell if it is a lithograph (but I think if I had it in hand, I would be able to tell).

Regardless, it will probably be very difficult to determine who the artist is.
Try to find out the hisotry of the piece. Who did it belong to? A relative?
Knowing more about the work of art will make it more meaningful and valuable to you, regardless of what any appraiser might say.

Enjoy this treasure that you now have.

Judy

John

If it's unsigned and it's an original drawing, it will probably be very hard to figure out who did it. Unless there's something very distinctive about the subject or style, it seems like a daunting task.

OTOH, if it's a print of some kind then other copies exist and it can possibly be tracked down. With luck it will be a well-known image and we can solve the mystery.

In any case, you're welcome to scan it or take a digital photograph of it, and upload the image here. To upload an image you need to click "Post Reply", because the "Quick Reply" doesn't have that option.

Unregistered Brad

Thank you folks for your help.

I will try to upload a picture Monday. I assume I may upload even though I can't view other uploads because I'm not registered. I think it will be a high res image (1Mb), hope that is OK too.

In the mean time I will look even closer at the picture. I can't imagine someone able to do this type of work and not identifying himself. I do assume it's print but even so it should have some ID. This work is roughly 16 x 20 on a thick paper board.

My Grandfathers last trip to the UK was just before 1900. I have his journal of the trip so I will look through it just in case he mentioned it.

thanks again
Brad

Judy Decker

Greetings Brad,

You will have to register to upload the image. I usually post without signing in...so I checked first. You don't get the option for uploading an image unless you register. Registration is free.

Regards,

Judy

Unregistered Brad

Thanks Judy,

I was afraid that would be the case - but not to worry because it is a bit of a trick to upload. My computer is a bit dated. SO lets talk about ways an artist might MARK his work. On Roadshows I've seen, folks tell the expert there's no signature - to which he then points! I always ask, Have you looked at your picture? Now the shoe is OTOF.

All kidding aside I FEEL like I have examined it well with a hand held glass. I found nothing that was text. I saw a few places that "marks" made me say to myself - If I knew who did this, that might be their mark.

The suspicious area to me is in the lower right corner (perfect location right?) On this mat of 16X20 the image, composed of thousands of tiny marks as if from a sharp pencil, in which every mark seems in its own perfect place, there is this blurry caterpillar that looks "wrong" on this piece.

Do artists sign anywhere they want? Or put a mark instead of a signature?

John

Yes, they can sign anywhere they want, but in my experience it's usually the lower right or lower left. With etchings (if that's what this is) they may also hand-sign the print on the paper outside of the print area itself. There may also be something written on the back of the paper or the back of the frame, but that may well have been added by someone else later.

Re marks: A few artists do use marks (such as Whistler's butterfly), but I would think that the vast majority would sign either their name or their monogram. That doesn't mean they sign legibly, though. There's one artist whose works I look for who has a signature that's virtually unreadable unless you know what you're looking at.

John

P.S. Etchings are printed backwards and thus may be signed backwards. I own one such print, and you have to read the signature by holding the work up to a mirror.