Bernard Ewell Art Appraisals, LLC.

HOLA FROM MEXICO (again)

Bernard Ewell — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:27:03 +0000

How is that possible? We’ve been back in San Miguel de Allende for a full week. I’m working on the final polishing of Artful Dodgers: Fraud and Foolishness in the Art Market using the excellent comments of my writing hero John Nichols and in anticipation of receiving the comments from readers C. Boys, Melinda Ewell and Fred Smith. The last may not be free to read the manuscript right now because he is prosecuting what he calls the biggest case of his career. That must be enourmous because his list of prosecutions is long and impressive indeed.

I’m also writing some incredible stories that will hopefully astound and entertain readers of my next book Persistence of Enigma: The Salvador Dali Market. It will also be great fun in a couple of weeks to have Enrique Zepeda and his family visit us from Mexico City. Enrique and I always have so much Dali stuff to discuss. This year, I have prepared a special Dali present for him as well.

How wonderful it feels to be back among these small, sweet, quite people with so much laughter, good feelings and so many beautiful little children running everywhere, feeling safe and loved. Our weather started out beeing cool and overcast but is turning more and more to the sunnny days, warm nights and blue skies that we have so enjoyed in previous years. Now I’ll be able to read on my rooftop terrace outside my writing studio. Yesterday I went with an Audubon group out into the campo (countryside) and spent a couple of hours walking along a little river looking at birds and wandering over corn fields picking up ancient and modern pot shards and a rather nice awl made of white quartz. Aaahhh, YES!

You’ll remember that someone once said that the best revenge is to live well? It certainly works in my life and there’s no question that I know how to live well. I can sit out at night smoking a cigar with the great dome (second largest in Mexico) of the adjacent convent lit and glowing behind me. I can check on the position of Venus (setting early) Jupiter (catching up), Orion, Mars and Saturn and feel satisfaction and gratitude. I can also think about those who have made me their enemy and target and think about what pitiful little people they are in their hate-filled, myopic and valueless lives. I enjoy knowing I’m going to live longer, have more fun and share so much more love than they’ll ever experience.

In a couple of days I’ll tell you about a very fine book that will open up for you one of the most astounding art stories of the twentieth century.

APPALLING APPRAISER

Bernard Ewell — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:46:11 +0000

I visited a gallery the other day and heard from the dealer a very disturbing story about an appraiser that will certainly now be inserted in Artful Dodgers: Fraud and Foolishness in the Art Market. Chapter 7 of the book is titled What’s Wrong With Appraisers? Plenty, as you’ll eventually read when you get your copy. When will that be? Soon.

It seems the dealer had a client who was interested in purchasing a painting, but said he would like to have it appraised by an independent appraiser first. “That will be fine,” responded the dealer. “Get whomever you want.”

Unfortunately, the buyer called someone other than me. The “appraiser”–who holds certification from the International Society of Appraisers–examined the painting and prepared an appraisal report. She then called the gallery and said, “My client only paid me $600 and I think you should also send me a check. After all, thinking that it would help you sell the painting, I raised the value.”

That, in my opinion, is a very clear ethics violation and reflects very badly on what I refer to as TPAs–True Professional Appraisers. Unfortunately, as you’ll also read, there are very few of us. Obviously certification or accreditation by one of the three major appraisal societies, even training in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) is not a guarantee of quality service. I state in the book that I don’t believe that more than 10% of those who hold themselves out to be appraisers are any good. The other 90% includes a great many who have some training, hold certification and state they practice in compliance with USPAP.

In my town, there are two “certified” art appraisers and I have been asked several times by attorneys, insurance companies or art owners to review their reports for various reasons. Shocking. One (the individual who stars in the story above) was clearly guilty of appraisal fraud in one assignment and both have demonstrated to my satisfaction in their written reports that they don’t understand the various types of value and when they should be applied.

So what is one to do if an appraisal is needed?

That’s easy——CALL ME: 1-800-884-3254.

I am in my 40th year of appraising!

It’s not a celebration, IT’S A GUARANTEE.

It seems the

ART MYTHUNDERSTANDINGS Part 3

Bernard Ewell — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:49:51 +0000

Copyright has been with us in this country ever since the earliest prints were published with the notation along the bottom that they had been “Entered according to act of Congress”. The concept actually goes back to William Hogarth (1697-1764) and even Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), both of whom had to take measures against others who were copying and reproducing their images without permission. A history of the concept and full information about copyrights today will soon be found in my Artful Dodgers: Fraud and Foolishness in the Art Market. After all, I taught copyright law to appraisers at George Washington University, Rhode Island School of Design, University of Nebraska-Kansas City, University of California- Irvine and other venues.

So here are some frequently asked and widely misunderstood questions:

If I buy an original artwork, do I then have the copyright? NO. The copyright automatically belongs to the creator of the work, but can be defended in court only if it has also been registered with the Copyright Office. It belongs to that creator until and only if it is passed in writing. This need not be a long legal document. It can be written on a sales receipt or as a simple statement, but the artist must give up his rights to the image for commercial use.
Does this mean that I could own and dislay the original painting but the artist could still publish and distribute reproductions? YES. It’s quite possible.
Can I make reproductions (prints) of my painting which I bought and sell them? NOT without owning the copyright. You might use the image in a non-commercial context, such as your family Christmas card, but you cannot sell reproductions. Galleries will often use an artist’s image in an exhibition invitation without formally getting permission to do so, but this is usually not a problem because they are not selling the invitations and the publication is in support of the artist.
If I’m an artist, do I own the copyrights to my art internationally, or only in the U.S.? PROBABLY you do. The US compliance with international (and reciprocal) copyright stems from our finally joining the Berne Convention in 1988 with the passage by Congress of the Berne Convention Implementation Act (which became effective March 1, 1989). Some important protections for artists were added with the Visual Artists Rights Act in December, 1990. International copyright protection is, as you would expect, a bit more complicated and detailed questions should probably be answered by an intellectual property attorney.

This last piece of legislation carries some very intersting provisions and I’ll make it the topic of a future posting on this blog.

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS THAT YOU WOULD

LIKE ME TO ANSWER HERE,

CONTACT ME AT info@bernardewell.com

DALI AUTHORIZED ALBARETTO PRINTS

Bernard Ewell — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:20:19 +0000

There has been much discussion about the authenticity of the prints of Dali images that were published by Giuseppe Albaretto through the Paris publicatuion firm that he had a half interest in, Les Heures Claires. This is the company founded by Jean Estrade which published almost all of the Divine Comedy sets.

Having twice examined all of the original watercolors and ink drawings which were translated into prints, having seen hundreds of pages of documentation and a couple of hundred photoigraphs of the Albaretto family with Gala and Salvador Dali and having always had my questions answered completely by the Albarettos, I know the prints are fully authentic. They are not fully original because the original works are the drawings and watercolors. The prints are what has become to be known as cooperative prints.

A couple of days ago while working my way through several runnng yrds of Dali files, I resurrected a photocopy of an important documnent relevent to this topic.

It is a written and notarized authorization from Dali to “docteur Monsieur Giuseppe Albaretto de Turin dated 1973. It grants permission to reproduce (in and on various listed materials) all of his (Dali’s) works that he (Albaretto) owns without restriction. It also grants permission for the blind (uninked) embossed Dali signature which appears on every Albaretto print.

I am not going to post a scan of the document because of the manner in which some unsavory characters have been known to lift images out of this blog and post them online with attendant lies. If you have reason to want a photocopy, contact me at artpro@berardewell.com

FRIENDS IN GALA’S BEDROOM

Bernard Ewell — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:10:56 +0000

There has been much speculation and skepticism about the relationship between two couples who are central to so much of the Salvador Dali story. Dr. Giuseppe and Dr. Mara Albaretto of Turin, Italy were among Dali’s biggest collectors for years. Their collection is eclipsed only by that of Reynolds and Eleanor Morse, whose collection forms the core of The Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Morses visited the Albarettos and Ren wrote effusive letters of thanks praising the Albaretto collection and its importance. He also asked if it could be exhibited at the Florida museum. That never happened because at the time the collection was still pretty much a personal secret of the Albarettos.

Of the various people who today claim to be Dali experts, I am the only one who has personally visited the collection in Turin – twice. Not even anyone from The Salvador Dali Museum has followed up on the Morse’s friendship and gone to Italy to see the original darwings and watercolors. That’s one reason I set myself apart from those who claim to know what they’re talking about. I’m the only one who has done due diligence in this matter.

At the Albarettos, I have twice seen over two hundred photographs of the family members with Salvador and Gala Dali.I do not have copies of them and the Albarettos, ever very private, have not posted them online.

Here is a reversal, however. The last time I was in Dali’s house – Casa Dali at Port Lligat, Cadaques, Spain – I was accompanied by my wife Melinda. In Gala’s bedroom we spotted a photograph of the Dalis with the Albarettos among the snapshots that Gala had taped to the cupboard doors in her bathroom. All were of close friends of the couple or movie stars with the Dalis. This photo shows from right to left: Giuseppe Albaretto, Mara Albaretto, Salvador Dali, unknown individual, Gala Dali.

ART MYTHUNDERSTANDINGS part 2

Bernard Ewell — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:07:38 +0000

SIGNATURES on artworks are always considered desirable. Hopefully they are readable or the painting, print or sculpture may be attributed to “annonymous”. On the many occasions that I have given lectures to artist groups or I have known there were a lot of artists in my aucience–such as at the C. M. Russell Auction or the Prix de West and frequently at museums–I have told them to sign their works any way the wish, but then to write their full name and address on the back along with a title, date and, hopefully, some contact information. That way, someone like me or an heir of the collector, can someday pursue research, valuation, insurance and possibly resale. The artist will then get full credit and the art will be appropriately valued.

Do people typically pay more for a work with a recognizably important signature on it? Oh, yes. The role of signatures in prices paid is an indefinable element, but an important one. That’s why so many unsigned paintings or ones with indistinct signatures at some point show up on the market with a clear signature–always of an important artist.

I have seen lots and lots of drawings, watercolors and even a few oils that are signed “Dali” or “Salvador Dali” and I know immediately that the Master never saw them. Are they fakes? Some definitely are. Others may have been the attempt of an amateur to copy an existing Dali work or to create something in the artist’s style and later someone else (dealer?) added the signature. Sometimes, a signature facsimile is just part of a copy, but it’s best to leave it out lest it someday become the basis for a sale of the work as genuine.

Are there many artworks offered for sale with forged signatures? Are there many Rolex watches sold with Timex mechanisms? Should you avoid the widows of Nigerian generals who offer to share a fortune with you?

So what does an innocent, honest person do? First of all, never buy a work of art without a signed money-back guarantee. If you ever have to return the art, be sure to get cash. Don’t settle for credit on another piece in the shop or gallery. You may find yourself in the old fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me dilemma.

It is very difficult to get opinions of authenticity on artworks and on their signatures these days. As I detail in Artful Dodgers: Fraud and Foolishness in the Art Market, more and more artist estates and foundations are getting out of the authentication business. Professional appraisers don’t authenticate explicitly (except for me with Dali), but they do authenticate implicitly by reflecting the way they believe the subject artwork would be treated in the market. They cannot be held responsible for these opinions, however, unless they have made no attempt whatsoever to check the probability that the signature is genuine. That’s negligence.

So what’s the take-home lesson? Well, first of all, a signature does not guarantee authenticity because it may be forged. On an oil painting it’s a good idea to check it with a long-wave ultraviolet light (a gallery should have one) and look to see that the signature does not fluoresce brighter that the surrounding paint. If it does, it was probably added to the painting later.

Secondly, always get that written guarantee so that if you have reason to question the signature or it has been questioned by an appraiser or art authority, you can get a refund.

Third, it’s always a good idea to consult someone with a great deal of experience with the works of the subject artist. For instance, it would be foolish to buy an artwork attributed to Salvador Dali without checking with me. Don’t ever expect that every dealer is going to be truthful with you. It’s just not in the makeup of most, especially if they’re selling online or over the telephone. I always say the artwork must authenticate the signature and that takes knowledgable stylistic analysis.

Any questions about this or any other topic (except politics), write me at artpro@bernardewell.com or call me at 1-800-884-3254.

ART MARKETS 2011 AND 2012

Bernard Ewell — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:40:36 +0000

I’ll get back to the new series Art Mythunderstandings next time with a post about artist’s signatures; but for now I want to look at the art market’s performance in 2011 and think about what 2012 might bring us.

It is usual this time of year (that is, after the last one and before the next one gets going) to look back at the art market numbers for the previous year and various magazine articles are addressing that. Here is my general take and then an opinion of what is driving the high-end sales that we keep hearing about.

In 2011, everyone told me whenever I went into galleries, to lectures or to parties, “the art market is kicking ass!” How do people know that? Easy. The huge PR departments of Sotheby’sand Christies, and increasingly Bonham’s and other second tier auctions, are busy after every sale sending out spin releases showing that the results were absolutely astounding and (it is at least suggested) art and valuable personal property are a great investment and the richest and the smartest are confirming that with every sale.

It is apparently true that the sales at the very top of the international market are doing well. There are record sales being made and “new” money from China and, to an increasing degree India, has replaced the Japanese money that launched the modern international art market. In 2011 not only have the prices paid been up from the previous two years, but the number of artworks “bought in” (not reaching their reserve price) has dropped.

If, however, one looks at the market for decorative art (a big topic in my book), it is impossible to escape the fact that a lot of art shops and galleries have gone out of business. It is not difficult to find empty storefronts and galleries in art districts of every city. Interestingly, here in Santa Fe there is another factor affecting the less expensive levels of the market. Since a lot of people come here with the expectation of returning home with a painting under their arm or an Indian pot being shipped home, many sales still take place, but it appears they are for less expensive works. One very popular painter of western landscapes has moved from painting “home size” paintings in the 24 X 36 inch range, to doing what he calls “depression paintings” that are just as appealing, but a quarter the size and price of his traditional creations.

So what about the middle of the market? For all but a few galleries it seems that the vast portion of the market between the top and the bottom continues to be much like the middle of a donut–a hole. I believe that the most and the hardest hits have been taken in the midrange and it is in those galleries that the beautiful, young art history graduate art consultants have been replaced by the owners themselves. Shows are mounted on smaller budgets and relatively few new clients come in the door.

So what makes the expensive art so desirable to those who still have lots of money, disposable money? Art has come to function as an all but liquid currency of ballooning excess wealth. We all know that in recent years the number of fabulous fortunes has skyrocketed, in spite of national near-meltdowns, unemployment figures and the US Government’s calculation that one third of all Americans meet the requirements to be considered poor. That’s 100 million people! Those concerns do not impinge on the way the superrich spend their money.

With so much evidence that we’ve been ill-served by traditional financial institutions and investments, is it any wonder a lot of people have become interested in “tangible assets”? The art sales at auction have gotten peoples’ attention. 2011 saw the largest auction season ever: $10.7 billion, according the Artprice.

Interestingly, just a year ago the auction spin was informing us that the antiques market was hot! hot! hot!–especially antique furniture. Well, it just didn’t continue and we are once again reminded that there is no such thing as “THE art market”. My book Artful Dodgers will demonstrate this. Some sectors are doing well and are probably going to continue doing reasonably well in 2012, but I expect to see a lot more vacancies on those famous art streets: Worth Avenue, Michigan Avenue, Canyon Road and Soho, Scottsdale, Fisherman’s Warf and Carmel.

A lot of the support for the high-end sales is coming from China and places like India and the United Arab Emirates, the Russian buyers are less in evidence and the eurozone is on thin ice. I think my son in Rio de Janeiro should be developing a practice in international art advisory and sales.

The outlook for 2012 is a lot like a weather forecast; we have lots of information today, but just what will happen when an airmass meets the mountains is anyone’s guess.

Next year at this time I’ll look back over 2012 and say, “See. I told you so.” Perhaps you won’t remember that I ducked the art market prediction trap.

ART MYTHUNDERSTANDINGS I

Bernard Ewell — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:18:36 +0000

CONFUSION BETWEEN PRICE AND VALUE

Two of the most misused and misunderstood words in the art market are price and value. In fact, it is possible for an artwork to have a price, but little or no value. It happens every day in art galleries, online art sales sites and offerings at all levels.

Price is the amount of money that a seller says he’ll accept in exchange for an artwork. It may or may not be negotiable and it may or may not reflect any other actual sales in the art market. That is why, for instance, a single print by Salvador Dali may be offered for sale at $9,500 by an online virtual gallery, $3,500 in an actual art gallery and $1,200 or $600 on an online art brokerage site. What, therefore, is the right price? Whatever a buyer is willing to pay. But, until it is paid, it does not reflect the value of the print.

Value is a concept that must be based on actual sales. That is, the amount of money the art buying public has demonstrated it is willing to pay for a particular artwork or the work of a particular artist. That means that any representations as to future value are nothing but speculation. There may or may not be a future value. Only time will tell.

At the point of sale, there is often “hype” about the value of an artwork and this is usually misleading (intentionally) to a prospective buyer. Whenever someone asks, “What’s it worth?” the answer is the price that is being asked, when in fact the salability of the artwork will drop to almost nothing ourside the original source–be it online site or actual gallery–and then its “worth” (value) is whatever someone is willing to pay.

This is a concept that we apparently fully understand in the automobile market. Everyone knows that when a new car is driven off the dealer’s lot it instantly is worth a whole lot less than was just paid for it. In other words, the price is what was just paid while the value is whatever the car could be resold for.

New York dealer, publisher, authenticator and appraiser Alex Rosenberg told a symposium of the American Society of Appraisers that 98% of contemporary art will never again sell for as much as it did the first time. So what’s the value?

Shortly after the purchase is made, it may be said that the value is the price that was just paid because it confirmed the value at the amount for which the sale was made. If the owner tries to sell it and discovers that: a. there is no venue in which to make the offer; b. no one is willing to pay the full price at which the work had originally been purchased, or c. only a fraction of the purchase price will be paid by anyone, then the value is whatever the artwork sells for at that time. The once-upon-a-time price paid is not the current value.

That’s why the IRS hired me to be an expert in a number of tax shelter cases in Tax Court. I understood that if buyers who purchased a quantity of art (or any other personal property) did so at a deeply discounted wholesale price that was well below the original retail, then the value of that art (and charitable donation) was the price paid by the donor because that is the amount of money for which identical properties could then be purchased. In such a scenario, a tax deduction is disallowed if the art was valued by the taxpayer (donor) at the once-upon-a-time price. That is no longer the value or, as Treasurey Department Regulations require, the Fair Market Value at the time of donation.

Whenever considering the purchase of art, be aware that the price being asked has nothing to do with the value. The only true value is what it’s worth to you to own it.

Announcing: ART MYTHUNDERSTANDINGS

Bernard Ewell — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:24:05 +0000

We, of course, receive telephone calls every day and since we so often hear from callers the same misunderstandings about the way the art market works, I thought it would be useful to address some of those repetitive topics. Since so many of them relate to The Six Myths That Drive The Art Market (a central theme of my upcoming book Artful Dodgers: Fraud and Foolishness in the Art Market), I’ll call the series “Art Mythunderstandings”. (Clever huh?)

I’ll start tomorrow with the first of such topics as:

Does a Certificate of Authenticity guarantee authenticity?
Does a signature on a work of art count for anything?
Do appraisals give assurance of authenticity?
What is the difference between value and price?
How reliable are online art offerings?
If you buy an artwork do you have the copyright?

And a whole lot more. Watch for the TRUTH about these and many other matters that few people understand and many art dealers don’t want you to.

Anthropologist on Adolescence

Bernard Ewell — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:00:38 +0000

In my office I have an extensive library of art novels, books by dealers and memoirs of various art market figures. These are not the hard core of the library, but they can be a lot of fun. Perhaps I’ll re-read them when I’m in my dotage. That won’t happen for a while because I’m still following my very successful formula for managing aging: deep denial.

One such book is Bets and Scams: A Novel of the Art World written in 1996 by Gary Schwartz, the authority on Dutch painting of the 17th century. He has an imaginary anthropologist do a riff on human development. Here it is:

“Human beings have the latest and the longest adolescence in the animal kingdom. It doesn’t end until a good quarter of their expected life-span has gone by. At that point, most humans begin supporting themselves. They mate and have offspring like any other animal. But some, especially in our society, choose to prolong their adolescence by going to college. At an age when most of their contemporaries are responsible adults with their own households, college students live in individual cells, pairing randomly and fruitlessly, and letting their parents pay for their keep. A small number of this cohort goes on to graduate school. There they become dependent for their living and their status on a professional hierarchy which bullies and charms them into imitating the established figures. This treatment turns the adult capacities of the student against himself , leading to an increased dependency on his elders. If it takes, the student loses his ability to make normal demands of life. The need he had as a child for parental love becomes a need for approval from his professors. And he gets it, in measured doses, cut with contempt. By the time you finish graduate school, your emotional metabolism is a wreck.”

This didn’t happen to me, of course. By the time I finished my doctoral studies at the University of Florida, the University of London and the University of Ghana (West Africa), I had done so much traveling, exploring (I hitch-hiked back and forth from Nigeria to Cote d’Ivoire) and research in interesting places that I had a self-knowledge and self-reliance that has stood me in good stead ever since; even when dealing with the worst characters the art market produces.