Getting large collections of paintings can be exhilarating. Some may be everyday decorations, while others are hidden gems! It’s like a treasure hunt, making the long hours of sorting through endless stacks of frames and loose boards worthwhile. When sorting through paintings it is important to look closely at the image, in order to make sure that it is in fact a painting. This time around we had come across a few paintings that turned out to be serigraphs! But, how do you tell if it is a serigraph? You may be deceived and identify the work as a painting, as most do when the print is high quality, but upon closer inspections, there are some dead giveaways. Sometimes these serigraphs will have an edition number in one of the corners. Sometimes they are hand embellished with paint, but if you look closely the image appears smooth and flat. Sometimes you can even see the tiny little ink dots made when the image was printed. Sometimes you have a legitimate painting! But that does not necessarily mean your art is worth selling. For people who are interested in selling their art, try to look up the artist and find a resale value. Ebay is not a reliable source, but auction websites can give an idea of how the current market for your painting is doing. This will give you a ballpark of how much the work will realistically sell for, just make sure you look at the most recent postings and not ones from 2012! Here at Bruneau and Co., we do this for every work of art that crosses our desks in order to give an accurate estimate. The art market is constantly fluctuating, so if it is not worth much now hold on to it and revisit it later. Sometimes you may find that your paintings are not signed or illegible, but that is okay! It’s exactly why we have appraisals every Tuesday from 9-12. Although your painting may not be signed, it may belong to a school of art that we recognize, and we can check the market value for that. If coming in for appraisals during this time is not an option, the next best thing is to email us clear photographs of the art and the signature (if present). That way the appraisers can give you accurate information and makes the process much faster for you and us!
