Selling artwork/paintings

[LadyBeBop]

About five years ago, my father gave us two paintings that he bought around 1976. They are of the great race horses Secretariat and Riva Ridge. I think he bought them for about $500 back then. Who knows how much they are worth now?

We are looking into selling them. But we don't know where to start. As mentioned, I don't know how much they are worth right now.

Right now, they are taking up space in the condo. If we could get enough to pay down bills and put into our Disney account, that would be great. We don't want to simply give them away.

Can ayone help? Thanks in advance.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

You need to start by finding a good art appraiser and getting them appraised. They may be valuable, they may be worth nothing. It's very likely that they will not even be worth what your father paid for them, so don't get your hopes up too much.

You might want to also do a Google search for the artist to see if you can find any information about him/her and sales prices.

 

[lastminutemom]

Before you pay an appraiser, I would google the artist and check EBAY -- though not a perfect measure, it may give you some idea of demand. Only a select few artist really see their work appreciate over time.

 

[furb & dez]

Both of the posts above me have good advice. Remember that purchase price is rarely recoverable for any non-real estate items. Art is generally a low-value, high cost proposition.

But who knows, you may get a pretty penny!