Updated Wednesday by 12 Noon PST Last Updated: Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Gallery Talk Focuses on Fine Art and its Value
By NANCY WALBECK, Arts Editor
(Excerpts from the article)
Mark and Haydee Allred will discuss "What's Art Worth?, An Art Appraisal Forum" from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 14, at the Insights Gallery, 516 Commercial Ave. The lecture is free and open to the public; refreshments will be served.
"Almost every household has a special ‘painting,' " said Mark, but often those turn out to be prints or copies, not an original or significant work. He and Haydee are trained to spot the real from the faux and they do that often, and fairly inexpensively, for families. A typical initial query on an item can often cost less than $100.
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"You don't always need an appraisal, which is an expensive legal document", he said.
Photo by Nancy Walbeck
Art appraisers Mark Allred and his wife, Haydee, pour over research in their home on Cap Sante, the first and foremost step in discovering the value of art and antiques. The Allreds will discuss how its done in a talk Sunday afternoon at Insights Gallery.
The Allreds, who picked Anacortes as a base of operations about three years ago, work out of their home office. They carry a large library of research material, in book form and computer-based, and have links to research throughout the world, Haydee said.
In fact, the couple are pure historians, immersed in research about fine art and antiques and members of the International Society of Appraisers. Most of their work is in Seattle and Bellevue, but they have been called out to examine items north to Blaine and south to Olympia.
One curious fact is the lack of historical information on Northwest artists, which Mark finds a fascinating puzzle.
"The art market determines the value," Haydee said, adding that that is the case for every long-established and long-dead artists of particular note.
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Even artwork can change in value, but not necessarily after the artist dies. "It's a fallacy that once the artist dies, the art will go up in value," Haydee said. Instead, the artist's work can drop in value because no new work is being created to show in a gallery. Many artists' work will slip from view, she added.
Reference:
www goanacortes.comarticles/2004/03/10/ae/ae02.txt