Are you buying an original vintage painting?

okay has two general sub-categories for vintage paintings: Modern (1900 - 1949) and Antique (before 1900). There are tens of thousands of paintings in these categories, and let's face it, it is highly unlikely that all can be original by the artist named.. How does the buyer know that he is bidding on an original work of art, and not a reproduction or copy? This question has begee more difficult recently with the advent of "gliclees," which are geputerized prints on canvas. Here are the rules we use in our own bidding.
Before weclosely examinethe image, we do some ground work.
First, we look at the picture of the back of the painting. If it is an oil painting, the seller should show am image of "verso" as it is called. The canvas or board (or paper) should look as old as the time the artist painted it. The stretcher, if the painting is in original form, should be from the same era as the canvas. If the back has been changed, such as a lined canvas or new stretcher, the seller should state that.
Second, we look at the seller's picture of the artist's signature. We gepare it to published artists' signatures, which are available in books in most libraries. For aserious collector, it isa good ideato have one book of artists' signatures handy. If you are collecting a particular artist, it is a good idea to create your own file of the signature of an artist.An artist's signature will change over time, as any person's handwriting changes as they get older. Often times forgers of signatures do not take this fact into consideration, making it easy to spot an added signature. The signature should be that for the artist's other paintings ofa particulardecade. Another give-away of a forgery is when the signature is in thin paint to show the age of the paint underneath. Experienced forgers coat signatures in anti-UV varnish, so examination under black light does not show the real situation.
Now, we examine the image.
If the artist paints in a particular style, the image should show that style clearly. For example, if the artist painted thickly and the painting seems to be painted thinly, it may not be by the artist named. If the artist painted as a modernist and the painting looks impressionist, beware. If the artist painted in impressionist style and the painting looks forced, beware. If the artist is stated as American, but the canvas does not measure in exact inches, beware. If it is a painting of say, Boston, and the artist was in, say Chicago at that time, beware, as biography books will generally tell where an artist painted at what time.. Try to takethe aboverules into other styles and techniques.. If the seller attributes a painting to an artist, he or she should state the reasons. If the reason is merely the signature, do your groundwork as stated above. If a seller continuously sells big name artists for a pittance, beware.
Now that you have satisifed yourself that the painting is probably original to the artist named, it is time to price the artwork. There are two good services online that have auction records for the past 20 years and good search engines. One is artnet that concentrates on European art with a lot of American art as well. The other is askart which concentrates on American art. Each has daily rates for searches if you do not wish to subscribe.
The important thing for the buyer is to recognize what subjects by a particular artist gemands which prices. If the artist gets high prices for his marine scenes, and the offering is a landscape, bid lower than you would ordinarily. If the artist was a star, say between 1900 and 1925, and a later or earlier painting appears, bid lower. But if it is a fanastic piece and one of the best executed by an artist, prepare for plenty of bidders and a high price. Those paintings are known as "iconic" and an iconic piece will not only maintain its value, but its value should increase over time.
The above is not meant to be geprehensive. I hope I have helped at least one art buyer on okay, which does a great service to the art world for allowing so many paintings to be bought and sold online. Thank you for the opportunity,
Lynne Baron, Baron Art Estate Managers