Rembrandt "The Death of the Virgin" 17th Century Copper Etching

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, okay.

 

But he's the Park West Gallery director. That seems too ingrown to me for it to be a completely reputable appraisal. Of course they're going to appraise their own stuff on the high end. I'd want an outside appraisal and it might be more costly than the item is worth. It's up to you, but I wouldn't accept an appraisal from the person selling it!

 

If you are going to sell high-end art, you better make the necessary contacts to have it properly evaluated and appraised or every conman and faker will be beating a path to your door. I would consider even your Dali prints to be highly suspect: there are many reports of him signing blank paper.

You don't want to get a reputation for selling fraudulent art.

 

I bet I'm naïve but... if she fully discloses and says BUYER BEWARE AND ASSESS, leaving plenty of time for the buyer to see and research, whatever... that still doesn't work?

 

Many established auction houses have caveats ( a warning or proviso of specific stipulations, conditions, or limitations.) that go along with the items they auction.

These stated up front in their catalogs and online, so prospective buyers are aware of the terms and conditions of sale.

 

Why would anyone who knowingly has high end art consign it to an auction house that will have to stand there and say 'we haven't got a clue as to whether its real or not'? As a bidder, you would have no choice but to assume it's fake and bid accordingly. Lowest conceivable returns.

If you stand there and say 'we think it's real but we don't know for sure', then maybe you won't need art experts... but you will need lawyers.

 

Yikes.

 

Haven't been around much the last few days but yeah. Pretty much what Komo said.

We present our buyers with any and all info we have available however we make no guarantees. Which is a pretty standard operating precedure amongst auction houses. If a buyer plans to drop a large amount of money on an item then they should preview or have an expert preview the item before placing a bid. We encourage that. Which is part of the reason we are open weekly.

The only signed Dali we currently have was appraised and authenticated by a well known Dali expert and this particular print #10 of 250 was showcased on the back cover of a recent Salvador Dali catalog. I am pretty sure its real. LOL. It didn't come from Park West.

The others are just lithographs they aren't signed except for in the plate. No point in having any type of authentication. Which is why they start at $20. ;-)