Monday, August 30, 2010

highwaymen appraisal policy

Here are the nuts and bolts of the process.

As an example, here is an email I received and my response today.


Good afternoon Bob,

I hope this finds you doing well!

Thanks so much for responding. I am not sure how this process works. What is the process once I submit the photo of the painting? Is there a fee?

Thanks so much in advance!!

Wishing you a great day!!

Customer X



Hello, Customer X,

There is a fee of $ 100.00 to appraise your painting and issue one of my certificates.

Here is an example :
http://128.121.177.59/CERTIFICATE%20OF%20AUTHENTICITY.htm

The value I place on these is for insurance purposes, based upon current "replacement" cost for a similar painting by the same artist. I also inform you of its current liquid value, which generally is approximately half of the appraised value.

If you have a painting that I can use in inventory and you wish to sell it to me, I will refund your fee when we agree to a purchase/sale agreement.

In that case, I would need to physically inspect it or arrange for a trusted associate from your area to do so on my behalf.

If you think that's fair, we can proceed and I will give you my mailing address.

I accept payment only by personal checks or cash, and occasionally Paypal, although I prefer not to.

Please let me know.

regards

BOB

Saturday, August 21, 2010

highwaymen art appraisal policy

I charge a simple flat fee of $ 100.00 per painting.

For larger collections, I always offer a discount.

In most cases, I can create them with images sent by email.

There are exceptions, of course, because prints are known to exist for several of the artists, including Sam Newton, Livingston Roberts, Charles Walker and R L Lewis.


An internet hignwaymen "highjacker" has captured images from various websites and created prints of Harold Newton's work and is offering for sale mousepads and clocks featuring them.

Because of such practices , this is my official disclaimer:

I may need to physically inspect the paintings which is always preferable in any case.

You can get free appraisals in many places by many people. They may or may not be accurate regardless of the so-called credentials and societies they may have paid a fee to belong too. No matter how high-profile these appraisers may appear, very few would be accurate if you showed them a Roy McLendon painting with a shack and some people on canvas, and a similar scene on upson board.

Other appraisers may or may not wish to buy your painting which could influence their evaluation.

I am willing to buy, sell, trade and authenticate and appraise. If your painting is for sale it will not lower my evaluation.

My services have been used by other dealers, museums and the retail public.
References are available.

Buying depends on many factors, especially whether or not I like your painting as an easily salable property. Having sold thousands of highwaymen paintings over the last decade and a half, I know which ones are easy or difficult to sell.

That helps me to appraise their value realistically. The liquidity factor, let's call it.

As an example, here's a recent email I sent a potential customer: copy/paste

Hi, each artist has his own market.
And although every painting is unique, there exists a lot of repetition.

There are several prices for each piece based on scene desirability by the public.
Consumer demand has been watched closely for the last 15 years.

A liquid price, which means I write a check to you and we're done.
If you choose this option, I return the appraisal fees.
A fair wholesale asking price which is a little higher than what I would pay.
A fair retail price, higher still. What I would expect the market to bear.
What you could expect at auction minus commissions.
And the high retail insurance value I use for the certificates.

Upon payment, I give you these numbers and create the certificates.

There are willing buyers at fair wholesale. Fortunately I know a few.
Retail buyers are more difficult to find. And they are picky.

BOB

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Florida highwaymen art appraisals

Welcome.

If you need to know the value of a highwayman painting, we can help.

First of all, the artist must be on the official list of highwaymen artists who were inducted into the Florida Artists' Hall of Fame in Tallahassee, maintained by the Division for Cultural Affairs.

However, their information is currently inaccurate, as of August 17, 2010.

Here is a copy/paste of the email I sent to the Administrator today:

********************************************************************
kcrawford@dos.state.fl.us

Dear Mr Crawford:

In the interest of accuracy, I thought you would be interested in updating the Florida Artists Hall of Fame web page regarding Alfred Hair and the Highwaymen.

Since their induction in 2004, the last 6 years have seen 3 more additions to the deceased list.

I also see that there is some incomplete information regarding various birth dates, etc.

Please accept this information with my compliments. Should you wish to add my website to your resource list, I enthusiastically grant permission.

Alfred Hair (1940 - 1970)
Harold Newton (1934 - 1994)
Sam Newton
Lemuel Newton
Al Black
Livingston Roberts (1942 - 2004)
Johnny Daniels (1954 - 2009)
Willie Daniels
Mary Ann Carroll
R. A. Mc Lendon
Al Moran (1930 - 2003)
James Gibson
Curtis Arnett
Hezekiah Baker (1940 - 2007)
Charles Walker
Robert Butler
Ellis Buckner (1943 - 1991)
Charles Wheeler
Issac Knight
George Buckner (1942 - 2002)
S. M. Wells
Cornell Smith
John Maynor
Willie Reagan
Rodney Demps
Robert Lewis

regards, Bob LeBlanc


*********************************************************

TheDivision of Cultural Affairs responded thusly.

Subject:
RE: Fl Artist HOF Updates
Date:
9/1/2010 4:03:42 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From:
KCrawford@dos.state.fl.us
Reply To:
To:
Hwymnbnb@aol.com

Thanks very much for your kind email. I saw your message when I returned yesterday. We will review the list and update as needed.
I certainly appreciate it.
Best,
Ken Crawford


OK, so it looks like they are on the ball. That's pretty good for a government office.
Kudos to Mr. Crawford.

With the success of my other blogspot website, and with the increasing demand for appraisals of highwaymen art, I thought we might as well create this one.

Eighteen of the original twenty six Florida highwaymen artists are alive and painting, exhibiting and marketing their new work.

It is the eight deceased artists in the group that we are most concerned with, but the vintage works from the 1950's to the 1980's by any of the artists can have a considerable value.

Our main website, http://www.highwaymen-buy-sell-trade.com/ was created about a decade ago.

Our blog http://www.highwaymenart.blogspot.com/ was created in May of 2008.

My next post will outline our appraisal policy.