Buying fine art (Dali particularly)

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mojave
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Buying fine art (Dali particularly)

Post by mojave »

My dad is an artist and it is a big part of my family and background. Though I unfortunately did not inherit the artistic gene, I enjoy reading about art history in my spare time. One of my favorite artists is Dali. I just found out there is an estate sale near my office that has some Dali. They probably will be gone by the time I can make it and they are likely way out of my price range plus I don't know if they have any certificates of authenticity.

Some day I would like to own something by Dali, I'm curious to know who here has bought fine art (who was the artist out of curiosity if you don't mind sharing) and how you prefer to buy - art dealer, fellow collector, auctions...also what is the most trustworthy resource? Fine art is dang pricey. I am not looking at this as an investment but I don't want to be taken advantage of either.
111
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Re: Buying fine art (Dali particularly)

Post by 111 »

Dali is one of my favorites too and I think I have a signed print of his in storage that my parents bought me. I couldn't believe they could afford something like that, so I started doing some research and found they were relatively cheap. Then I found where he said that thousands of his "limited-edition prints" were basically fake. Apparently, he found that he could make more money signing blank pages than painting. I saw it estimated that he signed between 50,000 and 350,000 blank sheets. Plus, his signature was very inconsistent and easy to fake so who knows how many more forgeries were created after that.

Personally, I would go into it just assuming that it is fake and has little real value.
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mojave
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Re: Buying fine art (Dali particularly)

Post by mojave »

111 wrote:Dali is one of my favorites too and I think I have a signed print of his in storage that my parents bought me. I couldn't believe they could afford something like that, so I started doing some research and found they were relatively cheap. Then I found where he said that thousands of his "limited-edition prints" were basically fake. Apparently, he found that he could make more money signing blank pages than painting. I saw it estimated that he signed between 50,000 and 350,000 blank sheets. Plus, his signature was very inconsistent and easy to fake so who knows how many more forgeries were created after that.

Personally, I would go into it just assuming that it is fake and has little real value.
Interesting! Frustrating as a collector, but what a smart guy lol.
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Rob5TCP
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Re: Buying fine art (Dali particularly)

Post by Rob5TCP »

A friend bought Dali years ago on a cruise (terrible idea). I believe the price was under 5k. For years he thought he had a great deal. Ultimately he found out that this could be bought for around $1,500.
The estimated value of $12,000 (from the cruise auction) was probably inflated 5 to 10 fold. Live and learn. In addition to Dali (which probably has a flood out there with real signatures) there have been the
same issues with Chagall and others.

If it were a genuine original Dali it would be worth a small fortune. A print that has 1,000 or even 5,000 copies has minimal value.
Here is an auction of a Dali at Swann Galleries - the estimate selling price was $1,000
it didn't sell.

http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp ... &saletype=

This one sold for $1,000
http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp ... &saletype=
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mojave
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Re: Buying fine art (Dali particularly)

Post by mojave »

If they're not "popular" right now maybe I can get an original for a decent price :)

My all time favorite is Hieonymous Bosch but I would need a small fortune and extreme luck to come across something of his. Also, my husband would not be happy with me if I brought one of those home, price aside.

Yep, almost 1 mil.
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_ ... ID=5649682
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widestance
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Re: Buying fine art (Dali particularly)

Post by widestance »

After seeing the 60 minutes story on this art forger and how how leading experts are relunctant to authenticate, it would be extremely hard for me to pay any significant amount of money for any well known artist.

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-con-artist/
Everybody's got a plan until they get punched in the face - Mike Tyson
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mojave
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Re: Buying fine art (Dali particularly)

Post by mojave »

widestance wrote:After seeing the 60 minutes story on this art forger and how how leading experts are relunctant to authenticate, it would be extremely hard for me to pay any significant amount of money for any well known artist.

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-con-artist/
Yes, that has been in the back of my mind as well. There are a lot of very, very talented people out there that unfortunately could use that talent in nefarious ways. I guarantee it is happening a lot more than many think.
111
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Re: Buying fine art (Dali particularly)

Post by 111 »

Personally, I think I enjoy spending my money to travel and see the artist's work in a museum. I've been to the Dali museum in St. Petersburg, FL and it was amazing seeing some of his works in person (not previously realizing how large some of them were.) I plan to go to the other Dali museum near Barcelona this spring/summer. Just a few weeks ago I went to the MC Escher museum in The Hague.
msj16
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Re: Buying fine art (Dali particularly)

Post by msj16 »

+1 Loved the Dali museum in St. Petersburg. Did a whirlwind tour of it unfortunately during a hectic business trip, but it was well worth it.
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