Category: Reference Center

Best Tips when Hunting for Antique Art

Posted on by Katia Baizan
David Hunting for Antique Art in Paris
David Hunting in Paris for Antique Art

Hunting for antique art is a lot of fun. The secret of effective antiquing is to know where to look. As professional art dealers, my wife and I spend a fair amount of time in the search of the unusual and unique pieces. We cover many fun places here in the USA and in over 10 different countries. Here we will share with you how you can benefit from our experience.

The main secret is to be quick in making decisions, we follow our gut feeling and buy, buy, buy (and then study, restore and research each piece). The problem is finding the right opportunity to buy, as the occasion does not present itself frequently. Therefore when buying we need to cover many venues as quickly as we can, this is why we don’t spend too much time thinking about an acquisition but rather follow as we said: our gut feeling.

Where to go hunting for antiques? In our case we are looking for artwork on paper, antique prints and old maps that date over 500 years old to the present. Old paper such as what we are looking for can occasionally be found in the midst of traditional antiques such as furniture found in malls and antique shows.

The best advice is to map out your itinerary (of course we do this, we sell antique maps). You need to know the opening hours of all the venues you are covering and have phone numbers on hand in case you have difficulty locating a store or market. Start early and carry lots of bills in small denominations. If writing checks, keep a couple of pens handy as well as your driver’s license.

To cover a wide area, my wife and I split up. We will enter an antique mall and head off in opposite directions. We play a game we call Quick Tiq (for Quick AnTIQuing). Whoever finds the oldest, most unusual and unique pieces first, wins. Believe me we are fast.

Keep your eyes focused on the prize, turn off your phone, scan quickly in all directions and give special attention to bottom shelves and higher up. Most people don’t look there.

We will visit antique malls, antique stores, consignment shops, thrift stores and flea markets in search of the prize. There is always a little something.

Now we are not all art dealers and do not have unlimited space to exhibit our finds at home or office, so we need to be selective. This doesn’t mean you can not play a game of Quick Tiq! Set yourself objectives. One of our favorites is to be the first to find something that is over a certain age, such as 200 years old when in Europe and 100 years in the USA. For this you should keep your cell phone on to call or text your opponent with the location of your win. Happy hunting for antique art!

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What is a Giclee Print and How Does it Fit into the Art World? Buyers Beware!

Posted on by Katia Baizan

Giclee art, giclee prints and giclee paintings are all the rage these days. They are, however, not always adequately represented. We will give you greater insight in this article about the intricacies of an industry that has begun to often mislead the public.

First what does giclee mean? Giclee is a modern printing technique that is used almost exclusively in creating a facsimile, a reproduction. The word “giclee” is from the French word for spittle, as the printer spits in a spraying fashion the colors being reproduced onto paper or canvas. It is not a very pretty word in French as it also refers to ejaculation and is therefore not very popular in France in trying to sell one’s art as you can imagine.

The giclee printing technique uses a fancy printer which is not cheap making it mostly unavailable to the general public. The giclee image is generally of better quality than what you can obtain from your laser or inkjet printer. You may have seen giclee printing services at your local art store or online. These services will offer, on submission a high quality digital picture, the option to print that very image onto paper or canvas of varying sizes. You can order as many as you like and they will all look alike. The giglee printing company may enhance some colors for you and will keep your digital image on file for you to order more reproductions in the future. The set up cost is high enough to eliminate the general public and reserve the technique to artists, galleries, framing shops and small to large businesses. You do not just print one giclee as it would not make good business sense.

Giclees are offered throughout the art world today as real works of art and are often signed and numbered by the artist. Their appeal is in the perceived reasonable price and accessibility, they are nonetheless just copies costing very little in production. Philosophically art becomes art when the artist gives it life. If the artist wishes to distribute cheap versions of his or hers original work of art by using giclee then that is legitimate. There are more questionable circumstances though.

Giclee prints and giclee paintings are more and more often offered as the “real” thing. You will find them listed as “Original Giclee Painting” or “Original Giclee Art” which is very misleading. It has been our personal experience as dealers of original art that the public understand giclees to be original paintings or original art. Original art is unique in scope, it is not reproduced in any way and is not a knock-off of an original painting. Therefore Buyers Beware: when you buy a giclee you are just buying a fancy photocopy.

MapsandArt.com is your online art, map and print store in which you can:

LEARN about engravings, etchings and antique art in general by visiting the REFERENCE CENTER on our website COMPARE thousands of original works of art on paper by viewing products and zooming in with our magnifying tool. SHOP for original art, old maps and antique prints at our convenient ecommerce store.

We have thousands of antique prints, old maps and original art on paper for sale, visit our website at http://www.mapsandart.com.

What is the Difference between Antique and Vintage?

Posted on by Katia Baizan

Antiques are items that were manufactured over 100 years ago. Used items which are less than 100 years are considered vintage.

This very simple definition can create much controversy among antique dealers, collectors and even wine drinkers! There is only one official definition of antiques in the United-States from US Customs in the Smoot-Hawley act of 1930. It basically says that an antique must be over 100 years old to be called an antique. In Europe and indeed in many other countries around the world there are many more laws governing antiques which help to define the subject. The US lacks such a base and this explains why there are such a variety in quality of “Antique” stores and malls around the country.

An antique store in France (Antiquites) will have to be operated by a state approved professional that has undergone appropriate studies in art, history and valuation. Those that do not have this training sell in stores or fairs called “Brocantes” which must hold a “Livre de Police” or Police Book in which items that are bought and sold are listed to fight against theft. All others can sell at the “puces” or flea markets where no legal mention of authenticity can be maintained.

Such safeguards do not generally exist in the US so the market for antiques is a wild place where dealers can use the word antique to describe items from the 1940s or even sell reproductions under dubious terminology such as Antique Chest circa 1940s. Such terms help increase the value in the eye of the buyer but nonetheless it is only a used chest (unless it was made from a desired designer or manufacturer).

Using the word “Antique” can up the price on a very simple object. Keep this argument in mind, it will offer you more perspective on price and value.

Now vintage is even trickier as there is no institution such as the US customs to define it. Vintage is the term commonly used by people in the antique world to define objects that have some age and are as one says “of a particular vintage”. We would define a chest of drawers from the 1930s as being vintage.

Now wine drinkers are not very happy with the use of the word vintage for anything else than defining the age of wines. However common usage has applied the word to the world of antiques and collectibles for over a century now in the US. Quite respectable really.

MapsandArt.com is your online art, map and print store in which you can:

LEARN about engravings, etchings and antique art in general by visiting the INFO CENTER on our website COMPARE thousands of original works of art on paper by viewing products and zooming in with our magnifying tool. SHOP for original art, old maps and antique prints at our convenient ecommerce store.

We have thousands of antique prints, old maps and original art on paper for sale, visit our website at http://www.mapsandart.com.

Original Antique Copper Engraving The Golden Fleece 9186m

What Affects the Value of Art, Antique Prints and Old Maps?

Posted on by Katia Baizan

Supply and demand: Some subjects are more sought after than others and have become quite difficult to find, this drives up the price.  MapsandArt.com strives to offer a fair market price based on auction results, the price of our competitors and our professional opinion of the value of the piece of art.

Identity: Historical importance, age, famous artist, engraver or map-maker, size and display qualities, aesthetics and decorative qualities all affect the value of art.

Condition:  Art, prints or maps in good condition have more value than those that suffer from a bad backing in a frame, severe creases, large tears and major stains.  MAPSandART.com tries to always offer you works on paper that are in good condition.  Each piece of art has a description of its condition.

Color:  Either in black and white or in color it is important for the colors to be vibrant and not have faded from extended exposure to UV light.

Original or reproduction:  Reproductions are not worth a fraction of the original.  Always buy an original print, artwork on paper or old map.  Reproductions are sometimes more expensive to buy than an original, but are not really worth much.  Go for the original!

Original Antique Copper Engraving The Golden Fleece 9186m

Basics in Caring for Antique Prints

Posted on by Katia Baizan

This article will give you the easy basics in caring for antique prints. Antique prints, old maps and manuscripts were printed or written on paper. This paper was treated during its manufacture to hold inks and with-stand the pressure from a printing press. Old paper is organic and undergoes many transformations throughout the years. In order to preserve it there are things you can do. The following points are what you need to avoid doing when dealing with old paper.

1. Don’t expose your print to sunlight.
Paper is sensitive to UV light and it should not be exposed to it. The colors and inks used for writing and printing will fade over time if exposed to natural light. If you do have sunlight, protect your print or paper in a frame using UV protection glass that filters out 97% to 100% UV. You should also avoid exposing your print to fluorescent lights.

2. Don’t leave your print in a humid environment.
Once again as an organic material paper is sensitive to the elements. You should avoid exposing the paper to humid environments. Paper often contains unseen mold that will proliferate under humid conditions and deteriorate your print over time. Keep your prints somewhere dry, such as in a box on the top shelf of your closet in an air-conditioned house.

3. Don’t touch the paper with dirty hands.
This may seem obvious. However, even apparently clean hands contain oils that will be absorbed by the paper and will affect it over time. Buy some cotton gloves and use these when touching antique paper.

4. Use appropriate materials when framing.
When framing your antique print use acid-free materials. Cheap framing materials often contain harmful acids which will leach into the paper over time and destroy the integrity of the paper. For this reason it is best to use 100% cotton rag mat board and acid-free back board for your matting.

5. Avoid solvents, petroleum-based glues or tapes for repairs.
These products will damage your print irrevocably. It is best to avoid them and use natural products such as wheat paste glue. These were used hundreds of years ago and have proven to be very good. Remember that repairs of expensive prints should be left in the hands of professional restorers.

6. Be careful of which materials you use to store your prints.
Just as cheap framing material can damage a print over time, it is best to use proper conservation materials to preserve your print. For example do not wrap them in news print as this paper contains high levels of acid. Use plastic acetate bags from your art supply store or specialty folders with plastic sleeves to fit your prints into.

These guidelines should put you on the right track to correctly protect your old print, map or manuscript.

How to Know the Value and the Price for Old Antique Prints

Posted on by Katia Baizan

This article will tell you about about the value and price of antique prints.

You have found an antique print that you like in the attic or at an antique mall, but you wonder how much it is worth or if the price sticker is a fair one? Antiques are all unique in regards to their condition and therefore there are no two that are exactly alike. What you must look for is a reasonable estimation of the price for this particular print. It will take you a bit of time, though we will make it easier for you with these two tips.

We are going to have to assume that you have the real thing in your hands and that the print is not a reproduction. Reproductions are another subject and are usually not worth anything. In this case just follow your gut feeling: does the print look old or is something not right about it?

What you need: time to investigate and access to the internet. We are assuming you have at least access to the internet otherwise you would not be reading this. Time is something we seem to enjoy less and less of in the information age.

Let us start our investigation. Look closely at the print. Here we are looking at condition as this influences the price. We want the print to be complete, with no missing corners, holes or tears. We prefer prints with no water stains, mold, spots (called foxing) and finally the fading of colors, if present. Check the back of the print for repairs – plastic tape (very bad), writing (hopefully in pencil and not a ball point pen) or any notes about the origins of the print.

Write down your observations of what you have found. Your print should be in as good condition as possible to attain the highest price. Condition is an important criteria in the value of old prints. Your benchmark on price with be a print in very good condition.

We should mention that prints in frames are of particular concern as the actual condition of the print is difficult to determine without taking the print out of the frame. This can be tricky and the risk of damage to the print is very high. Taking the print out allows you to find out if it has any writing behind it, any repairs, look at general condition and most importantly see how it was framed. It the worst case the print may have hidden portions missing and could be glued to a board (not good).

Now you will need your second tool: the internet. In this step you will need to find and compare your print with other similar prints on the internet. Try eBay and the multiple e-commerce antique print shops. A Google search is equally good. You must find the same print, from the same edition or year as yours.  Now you can make a comparison between the condition of your print and the one for sale online.

You may not be able to find that exact print, so go for a ball park figure. If you have difficulty identifying your print because it lacks a title or information on it then read our article on Print Identification.

New Videos on How we Package your Artwork and How to Frame

Posted on by Katia Baizan

5 Tips for Selecting Art

Posted on by Katia Baizan

Here are 5 easy tips to help you when you are selecting art:

1. Don’t think too much, don’t process and dissect your choices.  Try to relax, it’s easy to choose art really.

2. Follow your first impulse, it is usually the right one.

3. Don’t worry what others may think.  The piece of art you choose is speaking to you personally, not to others.  Others will have their own experience, it is their own.  Art transcends.

4. Let your heart decide for you.  Are you feeling excited about a certain piece of art?  That is a good sign, you are in love with a piece of art!

5. Go ahead follow your heart and get that piece of artwork.

To get started and use your new found skill try a look at our web store at MAPSandART.com for hundreds of unique art pieces from around the world, all originals no reproductions and great prices.

Recommended Reading – How The States Got Their Shapes by Mark Stein

Posted on by Katia Baizan

A lot of our map customers ask us for recommendations for further reading. Here is our first recommendation.
How the States Got Their Shapes by Mark Stein
This is an interesting and easy to read book about the history behind the borders of each state. For example, why is the border between Tennessee and Kentucky not a straight line? You can find the answer to this and much more in this book.
How the States Got Their Shapes by Mark Stein  Available on Amazon (isn’t everything?)

How to Clean Plexiglass Frames

Posted on by Katia Baizan

Plexiglass is a wonderful framing material, it is light and does not shatter.  The downside to using this material is that it can become scratched if it is not cared for properly.  When your plexiglass frame needs to be cleaned please follow these instructions to avoid any of those dreaded scratches!

1. Lay an old towel on your work counter.
2. Take the frame off the wall and lay it on the towel picture side up.
3. Blow off any dust and then wipe with a soft damp (not wet) cloth. For fingerprints use a weak solution of dish detergent and water.
4. Gently dry the plexiglass with a clean soft cloth to avoid water marks.
5. When scratches are present, use a plastic cleaner such as Novus or Brillianize to remove scuffs. Always spray the product on the soft clean cloth and not directly on the frame to avoid getting any cleaner inside the frame and damaging your artwork.
6. Never use Windex, any product containing ammonia, or directly touch the Plexiglass with your fingers, as this may scratch it.