Pay attention to some rules when buying art as investment

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 17, 2004 | by Barry Caine, STAFF WRITER

If you have the catalog on a coffee table, you can play show-and- tell when guests drop by.

Familiarize yourself with the artist's biography. This shows you the artist's schooling and teachers.

So if you're looking to invest in an undiscovered artist, you might uncover a lesser-known who studied under a famous artist and, therefore, is a good bet to become more desirable as years pass.

Wong uses Darwin Duncan as an example. The landscape artist studied under well-known California artists Sam Hyde Harris and Edgar Payne. "I've noticed that his auction records (sales) have gone up within the last five years," Wong says. "Not very much is known about him at this time, but he's becoming more collectible."

Clars uses standard biographical sources for its research. One is Peter Falk's "Who Was Who in American Art?" Others, for early California art, are Edan Hughes books such as "Artists in California 1786-1940."

Do a gut check. Pay attention to your visceral reaction to the work, and your first and last thoughts about it. "Allow yourself to connect with the painting (to see) if you have a response to the colors or the brushwork," Wong says.

Condition is key

Condition counts a great deal, even with works by well-known artists. You can't expect any notable jumps in value if the art is in poor condition.

Also keep in mind that even quality restoration lessens value.

Once you spot a piece you like on an auction site or at a preview, ask to see a condition report.

"Any person beginning to go to auctions should not feel shy about asking a specialist for this information," Clars' Wong says. "It's the buyer's responsibility to inspect the item. The condition report can give beginning buyers something to start with, conditions to look for, ... a second opinion of the artwork. But the ultimate judgment rests on the buyer."

What you don't want to find:

Inpainting or retouched paint. This usually shows up when the work develops some kind of paint loss and is brought to a restorer. If that happened, make sure tones match and brush strokes match.

Delamination. If the paint layer is separating from the base layer or ground, restoration could be costly. "You want to make sure artwork you purchase is stable and will not worsen in condition," Wong says.

Prints dry-mounted to a piece of mat board. Dry-mounting almost cuts the value in half, Wong says. You want a print placed loosely on top of the backing and held in place by photo corners, tape hangers or hinges.

Sculptures or ceramics with chips, cracks or other damage.

Prints with creases, smudges, scratches or tears.

Prints that turned brown from exposure to direct sunlight.

Poorly framed prints with mildew or black spots on the paper.

See if the condition report says the print was examined out of frame. If not, feel free to ask someone to take it out of the frame to see if there's damage on the paper hidden by the frame.

Other tidbits

Read the auction catalog to see if the art is listed "by," "after" or "in the manner of" a specific artist.