Should I spend money having an old painting valued?

June 3rd, 2011

I’m sure I have an Old Master hanging on my wall.
After months and even years dithering about it, I have decided to call in an art expert to examine that old painting that grandpa left me. I was looking at it the other day while waiting for my creaky old computer to come on line, and I thought that the signature read ‘van Dongen’. If it is by the Dutch Master, I may have a fortune hanging on my wall. I read an article in the NYT recently that said that a van Dongen had come up on an auction at Sotheby’s and how there had been enthusiastic bidding. The painting had eventually sold for about 300,000 dollars. Oh man, could I use money like that!

Will they come and look at it?
How do I get hold of Sotheby’s and Christies? Will they come out and inspect the painting or do I have to take it to them?

It would be a dream
This could be as good as a Lotto win. Can you imagine living with a piece of art that you never even glance at as you pass it a thousand times a day and it suddenly turns out to be something of great value? Is it possible that the old painting that’s been hanging on my study wall since grandpa died in 1957 could really be worth great globs of money? The lovable old guy knew exactly what he was doing. He probably bought it from the artist himself back in the early 1900’s when grandpa started making his first money and wanted to help the starving artist.

We all do it
I’m not the only one taking a new look at the things I live with. We all go through life picking up pieces we fancy, or that we think will go well with the curtains, or some of us with an eye to the future. We live with them and most of us probably leave without doing anything about them. The more I look at the picture the more I am convinced I should call in an art expert. Of course, the painting may turn out to be someone’s third lesson at art school, but who knows?

So why not me?
My financial situation is not good and I am taking second looks at anything that may mean money. I wouldn’t have the nerve to try and put up some of my own paintings, I means the ones I painted, as collateral against the loan. But I am not hesitating about walking from room to room peering at everything that’s hanging on the walls and the pieces on the coffee tables. I read that an increasing number of art owners are realizing that an Old Master or a prime photograph, when used as collateral, can bring in much-needed cash.

After all these years
Imagine what a nice surprise this would be if my suspicions about the artist are right – a windfall that’s been hanging on the wall for over 50 years!

This entry was posted on Friday, June 3rd, 2011 at 9:46 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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