Duration : 0:8:49

[youtube MBhRgT99h9I]

If you’re looking add African American art to your home, you need to know where to find it.While it might seem like an easy task, finding prints or paintings that are authentic and high quality isn’t always simple. There are three main venues that you can use to find African American art, however, but each has its advantages and disadvantages. Here is what you need to know.

Galleries are the first place to go when you’re looking for authentic pieces that are displayed by the artists themselves. You can also find an assortment of up and coming artists that are showing their work, enabling you to find an African American art piece while it’s still new and not as valuable as it will become. You can find these galleries by looking in your local phone book or simply talk to the curator of your local modern art museum. By talking to the museum, you can get an inside scoop as to where this art can be found. The only downside to galleries is that they can be difficult to find at first, and the pieces of art can be very expensive. Sometimes, these pieces of art will not grow in value, so you are taking a risk when buying newer pieces.

With online stores, you can gain access to a number of great prints, paintings, and sculptures that are hand created or reproduced pieces of African American art. These pieces are sometimes easier to locate online as they can be found in mass numbers as well as through a number of retailers. You can also find a wide variety of styles and prices to fit your home and your budget. The main concern with buying art online is that some of the pieces may not be produced by who the seller says they are produced by – in other words, you can find some that are fakes. However, if you take the time to investigate the seller and determine whether or not they are reputable, you should have no problems with your purchase.

Another option that the internet provides for buying African American art is online auction sites. These sites tend to offer an easy way to find specific time periods of art as well as numerous pieces that are for sale at any given time. By allowing you to bid on the works, you will be able to set your price and your limitations on that price. These sites also offer safe payment options as well as options for larger ticket items. The main concern with these sites is also the authenticity of the pieces of art. Since you’re not always able to investigate the background of the seller, you may be spending a lot of money for something that isn’t the real thing.

Finding African American art has become easier in today’s age of the internet and many local galleries, but when you’re shopping, you need to be careful that what you’ve paid for is what you’re actually getting in return.

Maigida Africanarts
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-articles/finding-african-american-art-138499.html

Duration : 0:0:23

[youtube XYq8HdHJ9RE]

Duration : 0:10:19

[youtube i3RJTinZhgc]

Please don’t take me seriously on the price or discussion on the last artwork. It’s just another fun poke at minimalism and conceptual art.

Duration : 0:8:35

[youtube -krWV_lJQxw]

You can find art for sale almost anywhere, most of it coupled with a variety of forms of certification, documentation, authentication, provenance, attribution, and all other claims that the piece is by this artist, etc. But guess what? None of these papers, claims, certificates of authenticity, documents or even tall tales mean a thing if they’re not stated, authored, or else traceable to or directly associated with accepted, recognized, and qualified authorities about the art in question, and also the artist themselves.

So here are some of the essentials to know on attributing and authenticating art, how it works and who the people to be trusted are.

They’re All Connected-Not!

One of the most pervasive problems in selling art deals with “attributed” art. It’s so common that every kind of unqualified individual would attribute artworks to different kinds of artists, sad to say 100% of these attributions are considered to be worthless.

How come? Simply because in the art industry, legitimate attributions are only made by known and recognized authority figures that have legitimate authority on the attributed artists’ names.

Defining “Attributed”

Officially and technically speaking, “attributed” means a specific work of art, which is most likely an original, is at the hand and is certified by a qualified authority on the matter. Take note that your keywords here are “qualified authority”. Thus, if the attribution is done by an unqualified person, then it would be meaningless.

Who Are The Qualified Authority?

A qualified authority is someone who really knows what he/she is talking about and has the proof to anything he/she says. Qualified authorities are those people that have deliberately studied the artist under consideration, have already published papers about the artist, and have curated major gallery shows or museums catering the works of the artist.

They can also be someone who have taught courses about the artist; bought or sold at least dozens or even hundreds of artworks by the artist; have written magazine articles, books, or catalogue essays about the artist, and the like.

The artist him/herself can also be a qualified authority, along with his relatives, employees, direct descendants, and heirs. Also, people who have formal, legal, or estate-granted sanctions or entitlements in able to pass judgment the artist’s works are considered to be qualified authorities. Most importantly, they should be recognized throughout the whole art community to the people in charge when it comes to the matter of dealing with works by that artist.

Who Are Not Qualified?

The list of people whom are not qualified could take forever to complete. However, here are some of the general characteristics of those unqualified people who most likely say that they are qualified.

First off, you should watch out for those who think that the piece they are selling is by this certain artist just because the work ‘looks like’ it is done by that artist; also, those who think that the piece is by that artist because they saw some illustrations from art books that are similar to the piece at hand.

Additionally, sellers that answer you with “that is what the previous owner told me” kind of questions are not to be trusted. You really can’t rely on tattle-tailing to very if the work is an original or not. This is just the same if they say that the work is by such artist because the previous owner is rich and famous.

You should also watch out for art appraisers, since they only appraise and not authenticate; unless they have qualifications to do so. Take note that appraisal and authentication are two different things.

So, if you’re planning on buying a so-called original, then you must make sure that the person you’re talking to is a qualified authority, or better yet, the artist himself!

Nicholas Tan
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-articles/art-collecting-the-essentials-on-authenticating-and-attributing-art-670229.html

Duration : 0:5:27

[youtube HwyJbYA-txA]

shameless advertising:
want some art? message me.
pay at PayPal: C0ct0pus@hotmail.com
examples of art for sale: http://s664.photobucket.com/albums/vv8/c0ct0pus/
want a shirt or mug or what the ever? go here (new designs all the time):
Store 1: http://www.cafepress.com/C0ct0pus
Store 2: http://www.cafepress.com/C0ct0pus3
Store 3: http://www.cafepress.com/C0ct0pus2
special requests (like a certain design on a certain product) can be done, just ask.

Duration : 0:10:59

[youtube m-WMIJEVq-Y]

Duration : 0:4:2

[youtube TrAzY1pZ_XY]