At the brocante last week I spotted three paintings that caught my eye. Talking with the dealer I discovered that they were œuvres cotées, meaning works that are listed and valued on the art market. Even the artists themselves were artistes cotés, recognized figures with an established market value. It made the whole find like I won a blue ribbon, knowing these weren’t just ordinary pieces but part of the official art world. Oh la la! Though truth be told my heart leans towards the unknown artist.
When I first started antiquing, I asked an antique dealer how he knew such things. He told me that he read, went to museums—but most importantly- he learned with his eyes. “The more you see, the more you know; the more you know, the more you begin to appreciate the details.”
So I did just that—comparing one object to another, starting with something I knew a little about but admired, and then looking for another to compare it to. Gradually, I began to see what he meant: differences in color, texture, thickness, age, and shape revealing themselves the more closely I looked.
Leave a Reply