Gustave Caillebotte: The Painter's Eye

Gustave Caillebotte: The Painter's Eye is currently showing at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.  The Kimbell is no stranger to exhibiting works by masters of the Impressionist movement; pieces by artists like Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Monet and Pissarro have been on display and are in the museum’s permanent collection.  With The Painter’s Eye, which opened in November and runs until February 14th, the curators Mary Morton (National Gallery, Washington, D.C.) and George T.M. Shackelford (Kimbell), show the very best work of the lesser known Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894). 

Gustave Caillebotte (pronounced kai-yah-bott) was born into an upper class family and because of the support from his family’s investments, selling his artwork was neither a necessity nor a motivator as it was for the other Impressionists.  Although he was a great champion and patron of the movement, he has been coined the lesser-known Impressionist because the majority of his life is a mystery; he didn’t leave behind any legers or journals, though there are letters, and he died at 45. 

"Paris Street; Rainy Day" The Kimbell Art Museum / Art Institute of Chicago image

Arguably his most famous work “Paris Street; Rainy Day (1877),” is owned by the Chicago Art Institute, and people recognize it as an iconic piece but rarely know who painted it.  It is an encapsulating piece for the artist; cropped subjects much like a photograph, the utilization of geometric lines to pull the viewer’s eye into the scene and across the canvas, a view of bustling Paris. 

The Painter’s Eye sets out to highlight the importance of Caillebotte’s work, focusing on the years Caillebotte was most connected with the Impressionists, the period between 1875 and 1882.  The show is organized by subject or series, “River Views,” “Suburban Views,” “Looking Out,” “Looking In;” each propelling the audience’s gaze where Caillebotte wanted it, taking them to a Parisian boulevard, a quiet and tension filled luncheon, or a game of bezique. 

"Gateaux"/ "Fruit Displayed on a Stand"  Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

My personal favorite was the still life section.  While not the highlight of Caillebotte’s work or any Impressionist’s for that matter, though they all did still life paintings, these pieces were both beautiful and rough.  There were depictions of fruits on a stand at market, sugary sweets in bright colors aligned on a table (something that looked like a 19th Century Wayne Thiebaud) and there were works with ducks hanging and butcher shop meats; a great juxtaposition of subject matter done with the beautiful commingling hand of Caillebotte, one where Realism continues to blur and morph into the Impressionistic. 

"The Floor Scrapers" Musée d'Orsay, Paris

“The Floor Scrapers,” is another show stealer.  It is Caillebotte’s first major work that he submitted to the academic Salon, which turned down the work.  It is an image of three bare-chested workers on their knees scraping the varnish off the wood floor of a room.  The rejection of this piece led Caillebotte to turn to the Impressionists, who welcomed him into their circle. 

Though The Painter's Eye will not heave Gustave Caillebotte into the ranks of the household name Impressionists, it is a fantastic show that puts the spotlight on an underappreciated and very talented artist with the exhibition of some wonderful paintings.  This is a show worth seeing. 

-M.P. Callender

Seventh Annual Dallas Art Fair

For the past seven years art enthusiasts, collectors, advisors and dealers have headed to the Dallas Art Fair, and for good reason.  The fair attracts galleries internationally (Hong Kong, Tokyo, Rome, Zurich…), galleries here in the U.S. (New York, Santa Fe, Los Angeles, San Francisco...), and those right here in Texas (Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth, Marfa).  This year the Fashion Industry Gallery in Dallas’ Downtown Arts District was filled to the gills with over 95 galleries exhibiting, twenty more than last year.

As I walk through the aisles of the fair each year, I try to be aware of what has changed from the year prior.  I try to notice trends and see if galleries are pushing a particular artist more than last year; to see if certain mediums are becoming more desirable and collected more, to find out the ol’ what’s hot and what’s not.

A large number of works shown were on reflective surfaces, either mirrors or aluminum – a substrate that allowed some sort of reflection of the viewer.  The piece by American artist Jill Magdid, “Security Measures: Pay Attention to Who is Directly in Front of You,” is a great example.  She is represented by RaebervonStenglin, Zurich, here is the gallery’s image of the work.

And here is the picture I took.

I took a picture from the far left to avoid being in the shot, but…it’s a mirror.  You can’t avoid being a part of the work. The viewer cannot experience the work without being in it; even the attempt of avoiding your reflection in the work is informing your participation with it and is answering the question the piece has in bright red letters along the bottom, no doubt.  “Pay Attention to Who is Directly in Front of You”

New York artist Rashid Johnson, represented by Massimo De Carlo, Milan/London, had one of his large mirrored pieces showing as well.  Again, we are engaging the artwork as part of it.  The mirror reflects the physical image, and with it the perceptions of ones self and the perception of self, a simultaneous interaction as we view and consider the piece.

Bertrand Lavier, also from Massimo De Carlo, had a 49 x 49” Acrylic gel on dibond on wood piece on display.  The artist’s gesture and movement through the clear acrylic gel distorts the viewer’s image as they observe, changing the perception as one engages the work. 

There was also the work of Korean artist Chul Hyun Ahn with C. Grimaldis Gallery, Maryland, who has shown at the fair the past several years with great success.  People really enjoy his neon and mirror works that seem to break dimensions and the illusion of space as he questions and explores the gap between the conscious and subconscious. 

Pieces with reflective surfaces, though of interest and worth note, do not qualify as a trend.  The trend this year, and a trend I think we will continue to see coming strong, is new-media.

Artworks created with or in some way dealing with new media technologies were more prevalent this year at the fair than any year prior.  New media is on the rise, in popularity, acceptance and collectability.

Matthew Plummer-Fernandez’s 3D printed sculptures were great.  The Zhulong Gallery, Dallas, artist 3D scans everyday items using a digital camera.  The images are then subjected to algorithms that abstract and change them into new forms. Sometimes the pieces come out looking like something recognizable, like the watering pot, and other times the viewer is unable to trace the piece back to something tangible. According to Plummer-Fernandez, “Vessels are arguably the lowest common denominator for man-made objects across all cultures, these objects however have no storage function other than to embody the stored digital data that describes them.”

They are very interesting pieces constructed through a new process, one that brings into consideration the importance and value of the artist’s hand involved in a work.  The discussion here, the shift from hand-thrown and fired ceramics to digital printing with plaster and a bonding agent, is the same that stretched the art world’s definition and mentality of original art when photography was on the rise as an art form; it is the same with the artists who have a fully staffed workshop to complete their works for them.  The importance of an artist’s involvement with a work of art, whether as overseer or doer, is at question and is presented for discussion to the audience in small machine made sculptures. 

Plummer-Fernandez also had a video instillation on display called, “We met Heads On.”

Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, had several new media pieces showing by California artist Jim Campbell.  According to Hosfelt, “Campbell uses technologies developed for information transfer and storage to explore human perception and memory.”

What was really engaging about these works (“Topography Reconstruction (wave), 2014,” shown above) was the three-dimensional format.  Instead of having the piece just loop on a screen, on a two-dimensional plane, Campbell has constructed a new format to engage his audience. 

Alexandra Gorczynski of Zhulong Gallery, Dallas, had her work “Chronotape 1” on display.  It was a very engaging piece.  In her work she embeds video into images of ancient sculptures. It's smart and intriguing, juxtaposing an image having art historical weight with contemporary streaming video.  

All of these new media pieces mentioned solved the one thing that always puzzled me about the art category (installation works, earth works and the like); collectability.  The majority of new media work I’d seen in the past I couldn’t see being successfully exhibited anywhere besides a gallery or museum. Each of these works I could see in a home or office space on display, serving its purpose and intent. 

Some of my favorites from the show:

Kirk Hopper Fine Art, Dallas had several mixed media steel and glass works by well-known Texas based artist James Magee on display. 

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Carlos Cruz-Diez, Sciardi Gallery, Houston, chromography on aluminum works, "Physichromie Pan Am 123, 2013," and "Physichromie Pan Am 60, 2013"

“Spring Flowers at night,” Talley Dunn Gallery, Dallas and “Still Life with Oranges,” DC Moore Gallery, New York by Texas artist, David Bates.

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A few works by Gallery Henoch, New York, artists: Janet Rickus, Steve Smulka, Robert Jackson and Eric Zener

As with every year, I saw several sold stickers on works throughout the galleries.  I was even able to congratulate and talk with a dealer early on Friday who had completely sold out on Thursday during the preview gala. 

The Dallas Art Fair is one of the very best shows in contemporary art, and if it keeps this pace, it’s only going to get bigger.  It is a privilege for Dallas to have such a great annual showing of contemporary art from all over, a show that engages a local audience for contemporary art, and one that will likely drive the local contemporary art market.

-M.P. Callender

Hans Hofmann: Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings - A Review

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The very first thing I did when I dragged the 20+ pound box inside and opened it up was to look for the three Hans Hoffmann paintings I had recently appraised for various clients.  I am always curious if there is new information on an item I have appraised and just wanted to make sure these three pieces had been included in this brand new catalogue raisonné.  I knew the dates of each and the catalogue raisonné is listed chronologically.  So I thought that would be the quickest approach.  Whoops!  Violated my own first rule of referencing a catalogue raisonné-always check the “How to Use This Book” section.  After several minutes of confusion and only finding one of the three in the CR, I turned to Volume I (of III) and began at the beginning.  This is where I found that the two items not listed in the catalogue raisonné were not there because they did not meet the authors’ definition of “painting.”   Hofmann was very prolific during his career.  The CR editors determined that in order to deal with an manageable number, they would define the term “painting” for the purposes of this catalogue as: “oil or casein, possibly with additional elements of gouache or ink applied to a support of canvas, wooden panel or board.”  This left a group of just over 1,700 items and excluded the 3,500 known works on paper.   Since two of my group of three items were watercolor on paper, they had not been included.   Oh well, lesson learned.   The fact that two of my items were not included was not because they had been in private hands and were unaware of the compilation of a CR.  They were not excluded because the authors thought them inauthentic.  They were just considered works on paper and as such were in a category left for the next ambitious project.   Lesson # 1 Review: Check the “How to Use this Book” section and understand what items are covered. 

I have written often of catalogues raisonné.   As an appraiser, I have collected and used CRs for many different artists, and, since CRs generally cover only one medium, I own several different ones for many individual artists.  For those who have not run into this term, a catalogue raisonné is an attempt at an encyclopedic reference source on everything produced by a given artist in a given medium.  A CR attempts to gather and document every single authentic item produced by the named artist in the named medium.  Good catalogues raisonné also try to provide good provenance (ownership history), exhibition history and bibliographic references.  Access to the right catalogue raisonné is an incredible aid to an appraiser.  But, no one has a library big enough for all the necessary ones.  Thank heavens for good local art libraries where many can be found.   I now buy only the ones that I will reference regularly.  My copy of this CR is to be gifted to the lucky client who owns the Hofmann painting included in the catalogue.  I think that family will enjoy having it.  I am holding onto it only long enough to familiarize myself with the contents and write this review.  When I next need to reference it, I hope one of the local libraries has it in their collection.  I will have to wait for a DVD or downloadable version to collect for myself.  My shelves are brimming.  

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Preview of a page from the CR - Click to enlarge and see the organization and layout

Not all CRs are created equal.  Depending on the date of production, overall scholarship and budget for the project, the quality varies widely.   Older CRs sometimes do not even have an image of the items, just a verbal description.  If you ever questioned the old cliché about a picture being worth 1,000 words, these frustrating tomes are the proof.  Others have scant information or are organized poorly.  I can report happily that the Hans Hofmann catalogue hits all the right notes.  The three-volume set has good color images of each item that was available to be photographed.  There are some blanks where the current whereabouts of items are unknown and a few black and white images where those were the only available images.  But, generally each item is shown in color.  It has great exhibition history and provenance material.  As mentioned above, it is arranged chronologically. 

Additionally, there is an alphabetic index of titles.  The initial research for this project got underway in 1997 and was not complete until the volume went to print late last year, 2014.  A catalogue raisonné is a major undertaking.   The long years of research involved is quite expensive.  In this case, Hofmann’s second widow set up a trust in her will to cover much of the cost.  The hope for those champions of Hofmann is that this catalogue will cause a reassessment of Hofmann’ career and will re-emphasize his greatness as a working artist, not an art teacher.  For much of his career, Hofmann was considered to be a much better art educator than a working artist.  Hofmann had run a private art school in his native Germany until 1930.  In 1930, he came by invitation of a former student to the University of Berkeley to teach for one semester.  His wife, Miz, convinced him that because of the political and economic upheaval in Europe at the time, he ought to stay in America and make a go of it.   In 1934, he settled in New York City and opened an art school.  He brought with him recent exposure to all of the latest European art movements and an art teaching style that challenged his students to develop their own path and their own styles.  Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, Red Grooms, Wolf Kahn and dozens of other artists studied with him in New York and took his summer programs in Provincetown, MA.  He was so well-known as a teacher that it overshadowed his reputation as an artist.

The great thing about such a catalogue is that it gives an opportunity to study how an artist’s imagery developed over the years.  Of course, one gets no sense of scale or surface quality for the paintings and both were important to Hoffman.  Nothing replaces experiencing the art in person.  But, one can appreciate the overall directions and patterns through an artist’s career.  One of the things that struck me about Hofmann’s work is how similar his palette stayed throughout.  From the early fauvist-inspired landscapes, still lifes and other imagery-filled paintings on through the abstract expressionist paintings of the 40-50’s, Hofmann favored a palette of intense primary and secondary colors…red, yellow, blue, green, orange, white and black.  He would sometimes limit the selection to just a few of these colors and sometimes include them all, juxtaposed to create his push-pull theory of space.  But he rarely painted in grayed or soft hues.  He loved intense color and thick impasto. 

Partial view of "Simplex Munditis" by Hans Hofmann, 1962. Cover image for volume III of the CR

The other thing I noticed in perusing the catalogue is that there are only a scant eight pieces included prior to 1934 and these are of a very personal nature, portraits of his wife and self portraits executed in post-impressionist styles.  Apparently, Hofmann either lost or destroyed all but this slim group of work when he came to America.  Hofmann was born in 1880 and of the 1,700 paintings included in the catalogue, all except the first eight were produced from 1934-1965, from age 54 to 85.    

An interesting choice for inclusion in the catalogue is a group of eighty-nine palettes.  This is a collection of small boards of various dimensions that the artist used for mixing his paints.  Hofmann believed in the “happy-accident” in painting and he believed that sometimes the best paintings occurred when the artist was able to get out of the way of his own conscious thought processes.  He was known to have commented to some of his students that what they had on their palette was better than what was captured on the canvas.  Unlike the rest of his oeuvre, these painted palettes were most often unsigned and undated.  However, Hoffmann did collect them and keep them.  His thoughts on these pieces are not well-known.  The editors of the catalogue have included them in a separate section, behind all the other paintings.  I am sure someday an art historian will have a field day with these.  I am not sure how I feel about their inclusion in the catalogue raisonné of paintings.  Are the haphazard encrustations of paint on a palette reflective of the work of the artist in any thoughtful way?  Hmm…

I must say that from the first moment I pulled this catalogue from the packing box I had a very mixed reaction.  It is lush.  The three volumes are contained in their own decorative shelving box.  It is big.  That allows for each painting to be given a large image and for uncrowded presentation of the information.  The art directors of this catalogue obviously put much thought into the design of the book.  The marine blue canvas binding is the perfect foil for the large images of paintings on each cover.  But…did I mention that it is large?  The boxed set is just under 20 lbs. and measures 13 x 10 ¼ x 5”  and, as far as I know, there is no digital version.   I found myself appreciating the physical qualities of the book and yet longing for the convenience of a digital version.  

-Brenda Simonson-Mohle

Mr. Turner. A Quirky, Fascinating Bio-Pic

A quirky, fascinating bio-pic but unlikely to appeal to a mass audience.  That’s my best summation of Mr. Turner. I was a bit surprised that I had not seen even one trailer or heard any buzz about it until my assistant, Matthew asked me about it.   Had I heard there was a movie coming out about J. M. W. Turner?  Was it out yet?  He had heard it was getting good early reviews.   So, we began looking for the movie.  It was in very limited release and had not yet come to Dallas.   Last Friday (January 9th) it finally made it to our local Angelika theater.  So, a Saturday matinee was quickly planned.  

The movie is beautifully shot, the cinematographer clearly evoking Turner’s luminous, brilliant skies in the scenes of the artist walking out into a panoramic landscape at dawn or dusk.  The costuming, settings and interpersonal interactions give a wonderful glimpse into England during the first half of the 19th C.  And, for the committed art geek who knows the particularities of the Royal Academy of Art, which artists were on the ascendance during the time period and which were falling out of favor, this movie lushly alludes to all the politicking that goes into the world of artists, patrons and the business of art.  However, I could not help think about how my “regular” friends (those who don’t have extensive exposure to art history) would respond to the movie.   I assume there would be a lot of head scratching and wondering at the way the movie meanders through Turner’s life and jumps from scene to scene without developing much momentum.  

Dutch Boats in a Gale, 1801
Joseph Mallord William Turner, National Gallery, London, England

The movie opens somewhere around the year 1825. Turner is a successful artist of 50, a Royal Academician with a loyal following of wealthy British patrons.  He comes and goes from the comfortable London home he shares with his doting father and mousy housekeeper.  His father acts as his art preparer, ordering materials, mixing paints, stretching canvases and the like.  The housekeeper keeps the household running and apparently waits about in the shadows ready whenever Turner decides he needs to relieve himself sexually.  He is clearly a man who is used to getting his way.  His vituperous ex-wife shows up at his door more than once with his two daughters to heap blame onto him and rail against his lack of feeling for their needs.  But he seems to be completely able to ignore her, denying while he is out in society that he has never had a wife or children.  

Throughout the movie, we see his single-minded drive for his art.  He travels widely to find the best scenery to paint, rises at dawn and stays out on location long after the sun has set to record sunsets and weather conditions.  At one point he even has himself tied to the main mast of a ship in a blustering thunderstorm in order to experience the effects of the storm.  The movie progresses through this time of great success where he has plenty of patronage, is being lauded widely by the young art critic John Ruskin (1819-1900) and his paintings get prime positions at the Royal Academy’s annual art exhibition toward the later years when the Pre-Raphaelite taste for bright, sharply-focused figural scenes has become the taste of the day.  Toward the end, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert tour the RA’s annual exhibition and mutter quietly about the mushiness of Turner’s imagery.  Turner is standing just around the corner and hears this commentary.  We see him struggle with the ascendancy of a different style of art and with new inventions like the camera, which he fears will obviate the need for a landscape painter such as himself.  

The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons, 16th October 1834
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Philadelphia Museum of Art

The movie has some interesting side stories that are given just enough space to pique the viewer’s interest and make a good counterpoint to Turner’s life.  The history painter Benjamin Robert Haydon (1786-1846) comes in and out of Turner’s life.  The two were students at the Royal Academy together as young men.  In middle age, Turner has become quite prosperous while Haydon struggles with poverty.  Haydon’s travails are interwoven with Turner’s story.  He was consigned to debtors’ prison twice and is never satisfied with the positions his paintings are given at the RA’s annual exhibit.  He is shown asking Turner for a loan and railing against the exhibition’s jurors who have placed his painting in a side room rather than given it prime position.  John Ruskin a generation younger than Turner, is presented as a foppish, self-important young man who loves to hear the sound of his own voice holding forth on the merits of one school of art over another. He helped Turner’s career with his favorable reviews during the early 1840’s and went on to tout the Pre-Raphaelites from 1848 on.  Ruskin is considered by many to be a leading British art critic of the Victorian era.  However, this movie encounters him as a bit of an upstart, a young intellectual who has yet to gain the respect of the best artists of the time.    

The movie ends rather anticlimactically with Turner’s death at 76 of heart failure.  In the course of the 2 ½ hours, the audience has wandered through the last 25 years of the artist’s life.  Timothy Spall, the English actor who plays the role brilliantly has revealed him as a unattractive, grunting, rather inarticulate person whose heartaches and limitations in his personal life are matched by his drive as an artist.  Turner cared deeply about his legacy as an artist.  Late in life he bequeathed most of his unsold works to British museums rather than accept a rather generous offer for purchase from a patron.  This movie reveals a complicated, brilliant artist and is quite rich with period detail for the art aficionado.  But, if you are looking for a great movie with a resolved plot and clear story line, best look elsewhere.  This one was destined for art-house theater release only.

Brenda Simonson-Mohle

Check out the Official Trailer for Mr. Turner!

Tire Kicker's: An Ode

This Ode to the Tire Kicker was originally posted in 2012, but we here at Signet Art are left in wearied bemusement at the chutzpa of this particular type of client...or non-client, I should say.  They contact us with regularity and never cease to surprise, impress, astound and many times insult us with their inquiries and requests for our professional assistance. The Kicker is an interesting beast; they come armed with art (which they have questions about), the internet (of which they believe they are an expert researcher), a need to know answers (immediately), and empty pockets to pay for our services. It is an oldie but a goodie, we hope you enjoy!

Four years to earn my Bachelor's in Art History plus almost four years under the tutelage of our certified appraiser of fine art, who herself also has a degree in the arts and has been appraising for over 26 years . . . and a large portion of our time is utilized handling the tire kickers.  What is a tire kicker?  You know them; they are indecisive about purchasing a product or service, and never feel satisfied with what they are offered. The calls usually start like this:

"Hi, I have an original Bill of Rights.  What's that worth?"

"I have a Declaration of Independence I found in a house we just purchased.  Can you tell me its value?

One of my all-time favorites, "I have one of the Last Suppers, how much can I sell it for?"

You think I'm kidding; these come in at extreme regularity.

"I know it's expensive 'cause I just saw it in a museum."

"I have a painting by 'Insert Name of Well-known Artist Here'.  Can you tell me how much that's worth?"

Once we get past the initial issues- "No, ma'am.  I promise you don't have one of the Last Suppers." - and talk about their need for an appraisal and the services we can provide, it only gets worse.

"You mean there's a charge?"

This is where my brain does its best to keep me from kicking the tire kicker right back through the phone.  I want to reply that, "No, I was only kidding, there's no charge.  We do this as a hobby, you know, just to pass the time."

By their nature the tire kicker is a persistent beast, and explaining our services and how we can help does not dissuade them.  In fact it only makes them squint their eyes and change tactics.

"Well, can I just e-mail you a picture and then you can tell me if it's worth getting a consult?"

I say "No" and explain to them when you transfer a piece from one medium to another, i.e. from an oil on canvas to a JPEG image, it only hinders the inspection.  There are reasons an appraiser needs to physically view and inspect your artwork.  But, again, explanation only bounces off their thick rubbery skin; they are after free information, and will stop at nothing to try and get it.

"Yes ma'am.  Our appraiser charges for her time." "Well I don't want to pay for an appraisal or a verbal consult if the art isn't worth anything, do you know any place I can call that doesn't charge?" (Seriously . . . I get asked this almost every day) "No ma'am.  Any appraiser out there worth their salt is going to charge you for their time."

Again, I have to suppress my inner monologue that wants to wish them the best of luck searching Google for three hours, having no idea what they are actually looking for.  But, I try to remain polite and professional and usually manage to do so . . . usually . . . at least 90/10 . . . ok, maybe 80/20.

By this time if the conversation has yet to penetrate and they persist . . .  "It's a landscape with a small boat and it has a signature at the bottom and its beautiful, I can just tell it's valuable.  I have good taste."   . . . we politely draw the analogy to the doctor they happily visit when they are sick, who has years of training and valuable knowledge and also refuses to diagnose them over the phone.

We have a love/hate relationship with the popularity of shows like "The Antiques Road Show", "Pawn Stars" and "Storage Wars".  We love them because they are entertaining shows that have spurred an increased fascination with the value of personal property and we all benefit from that.  We enjoy the shows and like seeing treasures found in Grandma's cellar just like anyone else, but these shows give the impression and reinforce the idea that expertise should be free.  The viewers don't understand when they see an expert on "Pawn Stars" tell someone all they would ever and could ever need to know about their piece, that they are appearing as a marketing tool.  They are advertising themselves as an expert in their field, and are advertising their business.  Which, as a note to the magic of television, these experts are often portrayed as having their frontal lobe packed full of answers on any and all items in their field they just can't wait to get out.  This isn't a bad thing, it's good T.V. in fact, but in actuality the expert is given ample time to see, inspect, examine and research the items he or she will be commenting on.  It's true.  We've done it here at Signet and many of our colleagues within the art world have as well.  The tire kicker does not understand this and expects the floodgates of information to come bursting open when they describe their item.  "Have you heard of the artist? It is signed at the bottom, I think it says G I C L E E . . ."

The rise in popularity of shows like these are why Signet Art started offering quick, professional verbal consultation appointments many years ago. "Well, what's a verbal consultation?" The verbal consult is a quick, in-office examination and advise session with the appraiser.  We recommend the verbals for clients who need a professionally trained eye to give them expert advice and direction with their artwork, but who do not need a written appraisal report.

The era of Wikipedia, Yahoo and Google has too many convinced that if you just spend enough time online, you're an expert.  The tire kickers are certainly under this impression, and it's not entirely their fault.  Technology has been advertised for years as able to give you access to all the information you could ever need, right at your fingertips.  This, as anyone who has spent time out in the light of the real world would tell you, is false.  There is training for a reason and there are experts for a reason.

It comes down to virtual images versus actual hands-on inspection.  If you do not know the "what" of what you have and you search online, you end up comparing JPEGs with JPEGs.  Thousands of online images with other images that, probably, are in no way related.  This isn't even close to comparing apples with apples, it's more like comparing windsocks with helicopters- they both are outside, sure, but one costs a hundred bucks and one costs a few hundred thousand.  The online search to get real answers to your fine art can be very misleading and dangerous when you don't know what you are, or should be, really looking for.

Just because you send us a picture of a Salvador Dali piece, for example, does not mean that is what you have.  Dali, like most artists, worked in many mediums and styles; oil on canvas, wood cuts, etchings, pen and pencil sketches, sculpture in both wood and metals. . . and you may just have a poster, but you are looking online at his oils on canvas going for millions at auction and you are already dreaming of your new two-story by the lake. "But I thought prints were still valuable?  It's numbered at the bottom and is signed.  Did I mention it was signed?  It has a signature. . ."  The type of a print needs to be determined.  Color lithograph, offset-lithograph, serigraph, woodcut, etching, mezzotint, engraving, a monotype . . . all are printmaking methods, and each vary in value and collectability, multiple factors must be considered.

Expertise in the art world is built upon years of handling and looking at actual artworks, and years of research and investigation within the field.  Actually recognizing surface quality and textures, being able to determine the medium, condition, age and whether or not items are authentic.

So, once I've held firm for the entire conversation and have explained thoroughly what we can offer them, the tire kicker gives and decides they, "will think about it and will call back to schedule an appointment."  I hang up the phone, then go wash the tread marks off my face before the next one comes.

-M.P. Callender