Collecting art is an expensive hobby, but some eagle-eyed art lovers can buy precious masterpieces for next to nothing. Whether you're looking for deals at a thrift store or appraising a work of art at an art show, it helps to know how to determine the authenticity and value of a work so you can find a great deal among a sea of counterfeits.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Look for high-quality pieces
Step 1. Look for paintings by famous artists
For many people, the purpose of collecting art is to find a lost masterpiece by a beloved artist. While you probably won't find anything by Monet or Vermeer, you might just find a hidden gem by a lesser-known artist or an artist who is famous locally.
- Some artists whose works have ended up at thrift stores include Ben Nicholson, Ilya Bolotowsky, Giovanni Battista Torriglia, Alexander Calder, and even Pablo Picasso.
- Learn about different artists at local galleries, art museums, and online databases like the Web Gallery of Art so you can know which paintings to keep an eye out for.
Step #2. Search your phone for paintings to see what appears
If you come across a work that you think might be of value, try looking up the piece on Google (or a similar search engine). If you see the work in the results, you may have found a valuable piece.
- If you don't know the name of a painting, search for it with descriptions. For example, you can find Thomas Gainsborough's painting 'The Blue Boy' with the terms 'painting', 'child', and 'blue'.
- If you can get a good quality photo of the piece, try looking it up using Google's Reverse Image Search at https://reverse.photos. This will make the search process much easier.
Step 3. Buy limited edition and signed prints
While most art prints have little to no financial value, there are some notable exceptions. Look for prints that were part of a limited edition, meaning the artist only had a few copies made, and look for prints with the artist's handwritten signature on the front or back.
Most limited edition prints have numbers on the backs indicating which copy you have and how many copies exist
Step 4. Avoid buying small and subtle paintings if you intend to sell them
Unless you find an original piece by a popular artist, avoid paintings that are very small in size, or are so subtle that they are abstract. While these paintings can be beautiful, there is less widespread interest in them, making them more difficult to sell.
This is especially important if you plan to sell your paintings online, since small and abstract artworks are difficult to convey through digital photos
Step 5. Buy high-quality framed paintings
Even if you decide that a painting is not valuable, it is important to study the frame around it carefully before continuing. Picture frames are also works of art in their own right, so a vintage or well-made frame can be worth a lot regardless of the artwork inside. Look for lists with:
- Hand-carved designs
- Complex or unique patterns
- Gilded mouldings
- Light wear and other signs of aging
Method 2 of 2: Determining the authenticity of a painting
Step #1. Look for the artist's original signature
Often the easiest way to tell if a painting is authentic or not is to look for the artist's signature on the front or back of the work. In particular, look for a handwritten signature or paint added to the piece. If a painting doesn't have a signature, or if the signature looks flat and artificial, there's a good chance the piece is a counterfeit or fake.
- If you know the artist's name, look them up online to see if their signature matches the version in the painting.
- Signatures are easy to forge, so don't use this as your only proof of authenticity.
Step 2. Use a magnifying glass to check the piece for printer dots
Before you buy a painting, hold a magnifying glass against the piece and check for small, perfectly round dots in a grid pattern. If you see this it is a counterfeit piece printed with a laser printer.
- While this method will help you spot common prints, be aware that this method may not work for higher quality giclee fakes.
- Unlike laser printer prints, paintings made using a pointillist technique will contain dots of different shapes and sizes.
Step 3. Inspect oil paintings to see if they have embossed surfaces
Check the surface to see if there are any bumps or waves on it when determining the authenticity of an oil painting. If your piece has a good amount of texture, there's a good chance it's authentic. If the surface is completely smooth, you are dealing with a counterfeit.
If a painting has only 1 or 2 spots of texture, it can be a forgery that disguises itself as authentic
Step 4. Examine watercolor paintings to see if they have rough surfaces
To determine whether or not a watercolor painting is authentic, tilt the piece and look closely at the paint strokes. If the paper seems rough around large strokes, you may have an original piece of art. If the paper is evenly smooth, it is likely a counterfeit.
Step 5. Look to see if paintings on canvas have raw edges
Often artists working with canvases will create rough or uneven paint strokes around the edges of their paintings. However, they usually don't update these spots because spectators rarely look at them. So if a painting on canvas has perfectly smooth and even edges, there is a good chance that it is a factory counterfeit.
Step 6. Check the back of the frame for signs of aging
Often the back of a frame will tell you more about a painting than the artwork itself. Look for frames that are dark in color and have obvious signs of ageing, such as peeling paint and spots of worn wood. The older a list, the more likely the work in it is authentic.
- If the back of a frame is mostly dark but has a few bright streaks in it, there's a good chance the painting is authentic, but at some point needed a new lining.
- Many old frames have an X or H shape on the back, something that is much less common with modern frames.
Step 7. Look at the method of mounting the artwork to see how old it is
If the painting is held in place by nails, or if you see empty nail holes around the frame, there's a good chance the artwork is an original pre-1940s piece. If the painting is held in place by staples, there is a greater chance that it is a counterfeit, especially if it is an old work with no signs of an earlier method of mounting.