Selling Works of Art

ThemeOne

I've inherited quite a few paintings by an artist who's considered "up and coming". Having kept those I like and given other works to relatives, I'm left with quite a few more which I'd like to sell.

I have zero knowledge of selling works of art but would obviously like to get a decent price for them, and would appreciate any advice.

Yorkshireman99

Unless you need the money then hang on to them. A dealer or auctioneer is likely to want to take at least 30% commission.

getmore4less

They should have been valued for the IHT return that may give you a guide

the usual trick when wanting to sell something is try to buy it.

google the artist, check ebay, auction catalogs etc.

That will start your knowledge base and give the ball park of what people are paying(not what you can get).

Yorkshireman99

With such a variable market you method is likely to be just as accurate as choosing figures at random.

ThemeOne

I was reading today that Instagram is becoming quite a market place for this sort of thing.

Yorkshireman99

I have heard it all now. RAOTFLOL!

jackyann

This has happened to me a couple of times.
I found that ringing auctioneers gave me a good idea at no cost. They were happy to give me a few minutes of their time in return for a possible future commission. They also directed me to a specialist in a niche area of modern art when I inherited a piece that turned out to be worth a few hundred pounds (that I didn't like one bit!)

It really depends at what level you are talking about. I inherited 2 nice ceramics by a contemporary of Picasso (actually the couple who bought them stood in the gallery debating which ones to buy and decided the Picassos weren't as lovely!). He is not currently 'fashionable' and I would have got about £100, so I'm hanging on to them.

As for 'trying to buy': it can give you a ball park figure, but I found out that some people will list stuff at inflated prices, just on the off-chance. I found this especially with books, and had difficulty persuading a relative that just because some chancer listed a book at £400 didn't mean anyone was actually willing to buy it.

Yorkshireman99

jackyann wrote: »

This has happened to me a couple of times.
I found that ringing auctioneers gave me a good idea at no cost. They were happy to give me a few minutes of their time in return for a possible future commission. They also directed me to a specialist in a niche area of modern art when I inherited a piece that turned out to be worth a few hundred pounds (that I didn't like one bit!)

It really depends at what level you are talking about. I inherited 2 nice ceramics by a contemporary of Picasso (actually the couple who bought them stood in the gallery debating which ones to buy and decided the Picassos weren't as lovely!). He is not currently 'fashionable' and I would have got about £100, so I'm hanging on to them.

As for 'trying to buy': it can give you a ball park figure, but I found out that some people will list stuff at inflated prices, just on the off-chance. I found this especially with books, and had difficulty persuading a relative that just because some chancer listed a book at £400 didn't mean anyone was actually willing to buy it.

Good advice. As regards books the following site can be very useful but the prices do need to be taken with a pinch of salt sometimes.

https://www.bookfinder.com

However there do seem to be a lot of chancers asking ludicrous prices.