Want to sell a painting - but how?

Ogriv

Hi there

I have only a little debt left at this point. One thing I would like to do to cancel it completely is to sell a painting I have. But I don't know how to do it.

I bought the painting back in 2003 from a local artist down on the South coast. It cost £600. It is about 60cm x 90cm and it is unframed.

This artist continues to do well, in that she has a thriving gallery and website. Paintings on the website have an asking price of about £1600, but this is for ones that are on one hand smaller than mine (60cm x 60cm), but which are framed (mine isn't).

Therefore I don't know how much mine is worth, but let's assume very conservatively it's now worth £1000. This also because it has a few spots of mildew on the back (invisible from the front) as a casualty from when I lived in a damp flat.

My questions are:

a) How would I sell it?

b) How do I get a decent price for it?

To sell it the obvious answer is eBay, but when I looked there was no painting worth more than £500 on there, and postage costs might be prohibitive.

The artist herself 10 years ago was supplying paintings to a well known restaurant chain, but they don't seem to use her any more, so I can't sell it to them.

If I asked the artist herself whether she'd like to buy it back from me, would it be cheeky/insulting? And what would she think about the mildew spots?

Or do I just have to assume that it can't be sold?
Also, might its value have somehow depreciated?

Any wise thoughts much appreciated. :beer:

Ogriv

midnight_express

A gallery or auction house ?

theoretica

With selling anything you need to decide whether you want to sell it fast or for a good price. If you want a good price I would see no harm in contacting the artist and asking if she might sell it on commission. If you want to sell it fast then auction houses almost always give free estimates of what they think it might fetch (I would guess lower than you want).

Chrisblue1962

I think a good start would be to do a bit of research.

1. Assuming you know the name of the artist , have a search for galleries in the area / country that may be selling their past or currents works.
2. Check records of previous sales at galleries / auction houses for typical prices
3. Spend some time researching on internet how much in demand their work is at present.
4. With regard to the damage , get a quote regards restoration / repair - a few pounds spent now may reap rewards at sale time.
5. Remember just because you paid £600.00 for doesn't mean it will sell for that - it may be more , may be less - all investments can go up or down in value.

Hope this helps.

Ogriv

Thanks all for the useful replies.

Apologies for delay in thanking you - I was busy with some family stuff.

Many thanks... will let you know how it goes! :j