Highwaymen paint loss

Here we go again. Ebay, of course, as always.

I hope the images are  clear when I transfer it onto the blog.

In any case, if you're new to this market and beginning to learn about the vintage works on upson board, here's fair warning regarding what at one time was a very pretty Sam Newton ocean scene.

At first glance, this looks like a reliable seller in Jensen Beach with 3999 positive feedbacks (100%). It popped up last night and my jaw dropped when I saw the description which I will copy and paste for you. It's short and to the point.

 THIS A EARLY SAM NEWTON OCEAN SCENE . THE PAINTING IS ABOUT 34" X 22". IT IS PAINTED ON UPSON BOARD.THEIR SPOT OF PAINT MISSING. THIS IS NORMAL FOR THE OLDER PAINTING.

This is currently listing #350672856857,. The description is comprised of five sentences:

1. TRUE
2  ASSUME IT'S TRUE
3. TRUE
4. TRUE. YOU GET THE IDEA, RIGHT? THERE IS MISSING PAINT.
5. PURE UNADULTERATED BULLSHIT!

This would be normal if someone got some heavy duty sandpaper and worked on the surface for a little while. I don't need to go into what I think it's worth, do I?

Be careful out there.

And stay safe through the holidays.

Highwaymen Harold Newton Forgery

Here we go again, eBay skulduggery at it's finest.

We don't know if the seller forged this signature, or if someone else did and the seller is (sort of) innocent of fraud.

Here's the seller and the disclaimer after a nice smokescreen copy/paste of factual information.

Interesting that the seller added a standard disclaimer.

Seller information

utmstudent (172)

100% Positive feedback

Item number 271112718669 listed 12.29, 2012

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HAROLD-NEWTON-1934-1994-FLORIDA-HIGHWAYMEN-OIL-PAINTING-/271112718669?pt=Art_Paintings&hash=item3f1f93c94d

Terms of Sale: Sold as described.

The paintings are sold as "attributed" or as in the "style of" the artist unless otherwise specified.

A Hair, unsigned pieces.

I stumbled on an old file that I had thought was lost the other day, and I saw things I hadn't seen in almost a decade.

I haven't seen much in the way of eBay skulduggery for a few weeks, but I want to share with you three pieces from this file by Alfred Hair which I sold back in 2004-2006 which he had left unsigned.

All three were standard size 24x36's on upson.
All three sold to other highwaymen dealers at a market discount because of it.
All three reappeared shortly thereafter on eBay as signed paintings.

This is not meant to be accusatory to any specific dealers, it simply states facts.
These three separate eBay sales were generated from Ft. Pierce, Vero and Arcadia.

Apparently Alfred would occasionally return from his grave and sign his unsigned paintings for these people. That's the only possible explanation.

Right?

Not to confuse things, but the two seascapes are similar but different, easily distinguished by comparing the clouds. I honestly don't remember which one was unsigned, but I think it was the darker one. 

The images I'm posting today are in their original unsigned state when they were in inventory, except for one of the seascapes which was in fact signed.  

Highwaymen Art on Facebook

If you found your way here looking for appraisal information, just scroll down through the archives on the right until you get there.

Yikes, July is almost over and I've ignored this blog all month..
Apologies. Been busy.
Deal with it.
Had a deadline for an article for the little magazine, AARF 2012-2013.
It features Harold, Chico, Ty & Jean, Sandy & Jim, Jeffrey and of course, yours truly, the star of the story.

True life adventures of an art dealer in South Florida.

I've created FOUR countem FOUR Facebook pages featuring:
A E Backus
Newton and Hair
The other 24 highwaymen
Highwaymen Art Appraisal.

Here they be:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/A-E-Backus-paintings/

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/H-Newton-and-A-Hair-Paintings/309497962412013

https://www.facebook.com/#!/TheOther24HighwaymenArtists

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/highwaymenartappraisalblogspotcom/176480022424353

APPRAISE HAROLD NEWTON PAINTINGS

As I continue to make semi-regular entries in this blog, all the "How can you help me" posts tend to get buried below all the new exciting things that I write for you, gentle readers.

I've created more certificates of appraisal just in the last week than you can shake a stick at. A seller in Wisconsin posted a Hair appraisal with his listing on eBay, and I'm waiting for a check from a seller in Northern California for another Hair certificate. The demand for an impartial evaluation, dripping with the truth in a difficult market to interpret, has become very strong lately.

So, once again, I will show you an email from this morning and my response.

Here you go:

Hello,

I found your information on the internet. My husband and I have two Harold Newton paintings that my husband inherited from his grandmother. We have had them for several years and now are looking to sell them. I am writing you for advice on what they might be worth and how to go about finding a buyer.

I've uploaded some photos. The sizes are approximately 23x35 and 23x31.

Sincerely,

*anonymous*
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Hi, *anonymous*.

I can take care of evaluating them and also finding a buyer for you.

I've been searching for and finding buyers for these things since 1995, so I can guarantee success.

First thing you need to know is how much they are worth in today's market.It takes special knowledge as H Newtons are currently valued between $500.00 and $10,000.00.

I can issue certificates of authenticity and appraisal for my standard fee of $100.00. An example can be found on the buy-sell-trade website below.

The value I place on the certs is a high one, a "replacement cost" for insurance purposes. Since I buy as well as appraise, in addition I will give you a rundown of the following values.
Insurance value.
Fair retail asking price.
Fair retail acceptable price for offers. (All buyers ask for "the best price")
Fair wholesale, or what you could expect at public auction such as eBay.
My "return to you" price if I sell them FOR you on consignment.
My outright "write a check and be done" buy price.

If I handle them for you, or simply buy them, I refund the appraisal fees upon a succesful purchase or sale.

My goal is always to be accurate enough to insure a quick sale. Many galleries and auction houses appraise them ridiculously high, and they don't sell quickly.

Again, the fee is $100.00 by check or $105.00 via Paypal for each.

I do most of my certificates (I've done hundreds) via images such as you've sent.If we need to meet in person, I live near Tampa, but I will be in West Palm Beach next Fri, Sat, Sun, July 6,7 & 8.

You can find a wealth of examples and information on my websites listed below.
Thanks for sending the images, and please let me know your thoughts.

regards, BOB cell 727 809 1691
http://www.highwaymen-buy-sell-trade.com/ http://www.highwaymenartappraisal.blogspot.com/ http://www.highwaymenart.blogspot.com/ https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/A-E-Backus-paintings/226383987441293 https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/H-Newton-and-A-Hair-Paintings/309497962412013 https://www.facebook.com/#!/TheOther24HighwaymenArtists https://twitter.com/#!/BobLeBlanc

Harold Newton appraisals

With Harold Newton's work still holding it's own at the top of all the value charts, and with a current price range of $ 500.00 to probably a top of $15,000.00, it's clear that the general public needs to know what his work can bring on an individual basis before agreeing to a sale, or setting a minimum at a public auction.

Damn, that's a long sentence, eh?

It's extremely gratifying for me to note that the appraisals of his work that I've doing lately have increased phenomenally. It seems that when someone has one of his paintings, the odds are that they have another one, or even several.

When you consider that a scholar of his work, such as Tim Jacobs, thinks there might be 50,000 of his paintings still in existence, there seem to be enough to go around.

I'm at the point where I've done at least a couple of hundred certificates in the last decade, and let there be no doubt that I'm looking forward to more.

I thank you, friends and strangers alike, for your trust.

Harold Newton, highwaymen

I see that Harold's sister, Rosetta, is selling her book on eBay again.
When she first published it, she was asking like $34.95.

I bought 100 copies from her back then, years ago, @ $6.00 and sold them @ $10.00.

They didn't last very long.

I'll put it this way....it's interesting.

Harold Newton and Florida State University

Some folks think I'm out here only for self promotion.

They would be incorrect.
This would be an example of my willingness to assist in educating the public.

Interesting (to me, anyway) is that I allowed Florida State to choose any image they wanted from my main website, you know the one, highwaymen-buy-sell-trade.com, and this is their pick.

I salute their choice.

This beauty ended up in a Tallahasse collection, sold by us back around 2004 or 5 when we had shows at the National Guard Armory.

Those were the days. I wish the show had persevered, but  like many things, it just blew away in a puff of smoke one sad day.

 http://museum2012.omeka.net/items/show/35

Rights

Materials in the Florida State University Spring 2012 Museum Objects class project site are provided for educational use under fair use as outlined by current U.S. Copyright law and accompanying guidelines. Written permission from The Florida State University Libraries Special Collections Department or the rights holder must be obtained before using an item for publishing or commercial purposes.

Money still talkin'

Gotta keep you up with the latest, gentle readers, as you agonize over sprnding that extra $ 500.00 on a highwaymen painting that's available for half of what it was worth 5 years ago. From the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/arts/design/rothko-painting-sells-for-record-nearly-87-million-at-christies.html?_r=2&ref=design

Money Talks (actually screams)

from CBS news:
Sotheby's auction house in New York will auction off a 1895 pastel version of "The Scream" by Edvard Munch, one of the four versions of the artwork, on Wednesday. Experts say it could sell for up to $200 million, a world record price for a piece of art. But why would anyone pay that much?

 The artist was a game changer in the art world according to New York Magazine senior art critic Jerry Saltz. Saltz said Wednesday on "CBS This Morning," "(The artwork) seems to be coming directly out of (Munch's) nervous system like some sort of raw nerve, on a bridge, passing from his world to yours, from one world to another world, to one kind of a sunlight to another. And a new psychology is being born. Something that's really familiar, right on the cusp of the most violent century in the history of the world."

However, Saltz called it "disgusting" that people are attaching "this kind of value to (the artwork)." He said, "We're not talking about the work. We're just talking about the money. The money doesn't really mean much because I think this painting had been more or less lost to history.

... Now it's coming up for one night, where everyone will see it, and it will be gone again by tonight, 8:00 tonight. It will become a number, and in a private collection most likely." The possibility does exist, Saltz said, for the artwork to be put on display in a museum for a time by a private collector. "You could see it for a little bit of time on a museum wall, but my guess is it won't happen," Saltz said. "The person who's selling it is a person from Oslo who says they want to take the $100 million and start their own museum. I would say, just find a way to sell it to a Norwegian museum, put it up there for more Norwegians, it's part of their natural treasure and take the tax breaks, take the $50 million, take care of your parents and be happy."

Saltz said the likely buyer will be someone in a private room from Dubai, Russia or Beijing. He added, "Or Fifth Avenue. Or Mitt Romney - he may be the only American to afford to buy (this expensive artwork.)"

The record price for a work of art is $250 million for an 1895 painting called "The Card Players" by Paul Cezanne. The sale almost doubled the previous record-setter, Jackson Pollack's No. 5, 1948, which fetched $140 million in 2006.

from The Huffington Post:

Edvard Munch's iconic painting, "The Scream," broke a world record tonight, becoming the most expensive painting sold in an auction. Estimates for the sale varied from $80 million to $200 million. The painting ended up selling for $119,922,500, surpassing the previous record-holder, Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust," which sold for $106.5 million in 2010. Cezanne's "The Card Players" has the honor of going for the highest price, period (meaning not at auction) -- it was sold in a private sale to Qatar (yes, the country) for $250 million last year.



BOB (wishes he knew some people in Qatar)

cell 727 809 1691

www.highwaymen-buy-sell-trade.com

www.highwaymenartappraisal.blogspot.com

www.highwaymenart.blogspot.com

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=61882155&trk=tab_pro

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/H-Newton-and-A-Hair-Paintings/309497962412013

https://twitter.com/#!/BobLeBlanc

Alfred Hair's work

Look at the pictures carefully if you're planning to bid.

It's obvious to me that there is a lot of in painting to hide or distract from severe damage and paint loss.

Someone got a little carried away with the color red.

Be careful out there.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FLORIDA-HIGHWAYMEN-ALFRED-HAIR-PAINTING-OIL-UPSON-COUCH-SIZE-/130682100425?pt=Art_Paintings&hash=item1e6d429ac9

Forgeries of new highwaymen?

Not sure I understand this. The two paintings on the left, the first listed as R A McLendon, the second listed as R L Lewis, are being auctioned by Rennick this weekend March 18 in his Highwaymen auction along with a bunch of new Willie Daniels pieces.
They just can't be right and how can he not realize that?
So it's not just eBay you have to be careful with, boys and girls.


Never mind that there are Tracy Newton paintings in the sale, that's pretty irelevant in comparison.

This is the sale.

http://www.rennickauctions.com/UPCOMING-AUCTIONS.html

Next thing you know, he'll have paintings by Smitty.

highwaymen collaboration

First let me say I have no problem with the spirit of entrepreneurism exhibited by Heron Cay. They are more than entitled to try to make profits any way they see fit.

However.....I simply don't like giclee prints of highwaymen art. Especially at high listing prices.

And listed as "One of a kind", as it stands this morning on eBay, is certainly a misleading headline, especially when it is later identified as # 12 of 30.

Here's the copy/paste : 1 of a Kind Florida Highwaymen GICLEE COLLABORATION Painting Mount Dora FL

Even though the original painting doesn't appeal to my sense of "looks good", I found it to be somewhat interesting because of the manner of production, all these guys in a team effort, and signed by all of them.

I like that, and I like the idea that these originals are raffled off and cost the buyer whatever he or she invested in tickets in a game of chance.

Interestingly enough, I was asked to appraise the last collaboration produced and won the previous year. Or maybe it was this one, I don't recall the details. I simply declined to put a number on it.

I did, however, explain in my email to the person who requested it, how I might go about figuring its value if I had a gun to my head.

My "Do it yourself" guide. Like Home Depot.

See if you think the following makes sense.

Since all the artists are currently aggressively painting and marketing their new work, it's not so tough to start with the size, then find out what each artist prices that particular size for his work.

One would then assume each artist contributed equally, although that may not exactly be the case. Not being in attendance and manning a stop watch, it was impossible to estimate the amount of time and effort expended on an individual basis.

In the case of this particular original (remember, NOT this giclee), eight artists worked on it.

I quote the listing:
"The painting was begun by Roy McLendon... and then completed by the remaining 7 artists, as they added THEIR 'Touch': Next Al Black, then on to Willie Daniels, James Gibson, Issac Knight, R. L. Lewis, John Maynor, and Charles Walker: And of course, then signed by all 8 of the Highwaymen Artists."

Now, I would personally eliminate the highest priced artst and the lowest priced as well, in an attempt to be fair.

Charles Walker is easy to eliminate because he usually paints enormous sizes, for one thing, and prices them to the moon for another. As the lowest priced artist, I would choose Al Black. I mean no disrespect to either one, I'm simply stating that the elimination would even things out a bit.

Then I would add up the six prices and divide by six to get an average. I would then double that value as a "novelty factor".

I will take this opportunity to state that I will not appraise the newer work by any of these artists, as I generally don't deal in them.

the highwaymen movie

Help it happen, people. I'm doing what I can.

Go here:
http://www.starsnorth.com/highwaymen/

"You are ( I am) now an official backer of The Highwaymen Feature Film Project.

Help STARS NORTH spread the word by sharing this project with your friends:"

It's easy, people. Just do it.
... ... They activate the charge on THURSDAY MAR 8, 11:59PM EST

"Greetings from Amazon Payments,

We have received your Jan 9, 2012 authorization to let Kickstarter, Stars North Films charge you. "

Harold Newton Early work

H Newton and A Hair Paintings (Posted this morning on Facebook.)
Also posted on my other blog, highwaymentart.blogspot.com.
Images are at both places.

I'm offering two Harold Newton paintings, which in itself is not unusual. HOWEVER...both are unusual and very rare.

The first one I originally thought may be an experimental piece by Harold, but in considering everything about it, I'm now speculating that it's possibly the earliest known painting, executed with Backus in his studio at the time of transition from religious work to landscape art. It's an unusual size on upson board, 27x33 in original crown molding painted gray.


H Newton and A Hair Paintings
It doesn't look like H's typical Rio Mar, now, does it? If you happen to be interested in how we know it's authentic beyond a shadow of a doubt, and would be a potential buyer, contact me at hwymnbnb@aol.com or call 727 809 1691. This is a very exciting discovery piece.

This is the second one. It's "wunna them people pictures". Call or email if you want a centerpiece for your collection. There are many reasons why this is more desirable than many of H's dark and dreary people paintings. It's on upson, in an odd size slightly smaller than 18x24, but bigger than 16x20. A great size for you people who claim, "I don't have any wall space".

Go here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/H-Newton-and-A-Hair-Paintings/309497962412013

cell 727 809 1691
www.highwaymen-buy-sell-trade.com
www.highwaymenart.blogspot.com
www.highwaymenartappraisal.blogspot.com

https://twitter.com/#!/BobLeBlanc