HELP!
I need to sell my Lawrence Lee paintings!
I'll try to ASSIST, but it’s complicated.
When I was still a young man, it occurred to me that if I remained an artist for many years, at some point my greatest competition would be myself as a younger man. I was right. Life happens to us all: people move, people die, people divorce... stuff. It happens. So more and more often, now, I see my work showing up on auction websites and the like. Often, people contact me about whether I'd be interested in acquiring one of my old paintings, or about where they might sell it--and how. I've seen my work sold for cheap on Ebay and in galleries and auction houses from coast to coast. One painting was (quite fortuitously) rescued from a dumpster full of trash. That was not a confidence builder. And secondary market sales do not help me in any way. I receive no royalty payment. Instead, such sales force me to compete against myself and make ti harder and harder for me to make a living wage.
I understand that people are free to do whatever they want with the paintings they have purchased (with the exception that they are legally proscribed from altering or defacing the work). And in the best of all possible worlds, I would have enough money to be able to buy my painting back. Sadly, my world remains imperfect.
For years, I have wanted to assist my collectors who for some reason find it necessary to convert one or more of my works into cash, and to do so without doing too much damage to my continuing career. I need to sell new paintings in order to keep painting, after all.
THAT SAID…
Charitable donations may be the best way to go.
I think you should seriously consider giving your original Lee painting to a trusted charitable organization in your community. It feels good to support such groups, and it also may be a way for the owner to enjoy significant taxes, since there will be a cost basis that can inform long-term capital gains. Talk to your accountant about the possibility.
Commission Sales & Auctions
YOU MIGHT Try one of these Businesses who might be interested in selling your original Lee on commission or at auction:
Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery
6872 East Sunrise Drive
Suite 130
Tucson, AZ 85750
(800) 422-9382
www.medicinemangallery.com
AskArt
Larsen Art Auction
3705 N. Bishop Lane
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
(480) 941-0900
www.larsenartauction.com
Richard Beau Lieu & Associates
422 West Industrial Ave
Boynton Beach, FL 33426
(561) 736-8181
What is it worth?
Typically, the only artwork that tends to appreciate over time is that which has become a commodity and is auctioned or otherwise traded between members of a select group of investors. Prices paid within this world can be astronomical. Paintings by most living artists do not appreciate much except as they may be driven by demand, and that demand is usually created by great galleries and expensive promotion; works by deceased artists may do better... or not. In the end, a work of art is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it on the open market. My work—like the work of most other artists—is subject to the whims of the market. As my collectors have downsized or died, more and more of my work shows up on the secondary market. And there, people are most often looking for deals. Sometimes paintings are being auctioned due to a divorce or have passed into the hands of children and very often the owner is just looking for quick cash. This conspires to drag down my prices even where my work is being consigned for resale in reputable galleries. And all this puts pressure on me. Luckily for me, there seem to be willing buyers sufficient to keep up steady demand. If not, I’d just have to retire (again).
If you have enjoyed the company of one of my paintings for ten years (or twenty or thirty or forty), then you have made a good investment in yourself and the quality of your life. And in my view, that should be profit enough.
What is your painting worth?. The only way you’ll ever know for sure is to sell it. :-)
If you want an updated value for insurance purposes, send me a photo and I’ll come up with something reasonable. Insurance values are most often “replacement” values, and with original art this is kind of a non-starter, but I do my best.
