I am assisting a friend in handling the settlement of (essentially) three estates which have accumulated several reasonably valuable pieces of art throughout the years. Old blue-bloods died, passed art to not quite as blue-blooded kids, who never looked at it and put it in storage, passed to kids, etc... until now, there are only two kids left and they could essentially wallpaper their homes with all of these pieces.

The obviously valuable pieces were easy to identify- one Edward Hopper study for example, but I'm having some difficulty with a few of the more obscure pieces.

So, I was curious if any of you has had to have art appraised or used art brokers to sell fine art. Experiences? Words of wisdom? Rates to expect? There is one piece which will probably go to auction if all goes well- but a majority of these pieces just need to be connected to people who know and appreciate the artists.

There is also a ton of art glass (some with Sotheby's lot stickers on them, but no hallmarks/makers marks of any kind), china, silver, etc.

Anyone have any thoughts?

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i've tinkered in the antiques and fine art markets for about 40 years ~~~

first rule of thumb ..... never throw anything away until someone with knowledge and your trust goes through it ~~~ if you feel the need to separate it, put those things (what you consider that has no value) in another section

the internet has a stockpile of info ~~~ couple of starter sites

www.askart dot com (american paintings)
www.liveauctioneers dot com (lil bit of everything)

skinners in boston is probably the best known auction house of general art in your area

Most of the experts on the US PBS show "Anitiques roadshow" have their own firms or are connected to a major firm and have the connections to get the goods to the folks that want them.

You can simply go onto the PBS website, note the names and the firms and contact them.

Example-Cermaics/Tiles/Art Glass- Suzanne Perrault is a well known appraiser and dealer and has a stellar reputation.

Give it a shot.

the idea is to do your "due diligence" first before contacting the experts, don't have to look everything up, just want a idea of what one really has and the rarity of it

egos in the high end fine arts are quite large, an estate, fresh to the market, will bring higher prices than the same things that are shopped around to different experts

btw ~~ "Suzanne Perrault is a well known appraiser and dealer and has a stellar reputation" ~~~met her 10+ years ago and she is a hotty

I'd PM Carleton Hughes. He buys a lot of fine art from estates, and does this for a living, IIRC.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Their other location in Bolton, MA less than 5 miles away! I've been researching them extensively and think we'll probably try them for some of the pieces.

Thanks for the other links.

Yes, we're not trashing anything, even if we think it's crap! Of course, how many martha washington tables can you have? ha ha.

I'll be excited if my friend ends up with one particular piece of art- could really be a winner at auction. I'm having good luck tracking down some of the other art too- fun for me, artist that I am.

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Cannondale ST600 XL
Redline Monocog 29er
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www.djugurba.com
www.waldenwellness.com

What do you have and how much do you want for it?

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