View other works by the same artist to determine if the style, subject and signature are similar to the work you are considering. Keep in mind that over an artist’s professional lifetime all these things may vary.

Subject and style – Some artists often paint many different subjects while others may only paint one subject. If an artist is known for market scenes and you are shown a landscape you need to do your research. It may be a very old painting or a newer style…or it could be a fake. Older paintings, paintings done before an artist found his style are not necessarily valued differently than the ones that he/she is known for…do your research.

Signature – Some artists have signed every painting in the same way on the same spot on the canvas. Others may have signed in different places on the canvas. Even more confusing, some have changed the way they sign over the years; changing from full name to only last name or abbreviating a part of the name. Sometimes they might date a painting, other times not. Again, do your research.

Much has been made about price and how it implies value. This is always true, but it is coupled with another valuable tool…know your source. Yes, a number of Jonathan Demme paintings went at auction for far below their expected market price. This does not imply that these paintings are not authentic. One can know and trust the source of these paintings, Jonathan Demme, a noted artist and collector with an impeccable reputation. The fact of the matter is that attendance was very low at this auction due to lack of publicity and this resulted in some very good bargains! The same cannot be said for auction sites like ebay where the integrity of the seller is not verified by an outside source. The buyer is left to judge for himself, and only has past performance and limited communication to go by. We advise caution.

Really, short of buying from the artists themselves, the best advice and the surest way to avoid costly mistakes is to:

Do your research!
Know your source!

We look at Ebay on a regular basis and see many paintings for sale that are obviously fake! These are put on the net by individuals as well as “dealers” with websites, at prices for that are truly ridiculously low. When a painting sells for a price that is too good to be true, it is time to become suspicious. These “fakes” hurt everyone…the legitimate dealers, the artists whose work is devalued, and the collector, who now owns a worthless painting.

Recently we had dinner with a very well-know Haitian artist and he told us about the “Haitian mafia,” a group of unscrupulous people in Haiti that are hiring young artists to produce these fakes. Unfortunately, Haiti has not done anything to stop these people and we see no sign of this changing in the near future.

The artist went even further when he saw a forgery of one of his paintings on Ebay. He asked the gallery that was selling the painting to remove it because he didn’t paint it and he didn’t want it sold with his name on it. The gallery never responded to him and the fake painting was sold to an unsuspecting customer.

Unfortunately, the art world has its share of disreputable people and wise buyers need to be careful when contemplating a purchase. When purchasing, know your source.

WE STAND BEHIND EVERY PAINTING THAT WE SELL!