My elderly neighbour has many paintings her husband left. He was an artist. Does anyone know what the best way to sell his paintings?
Thank you!
Hello,
Auction / Gallery's?
It all depends on how known he is.
It's not easy, even if well known.
I know a few auction houses in Switzerland, but they only want known artists, and even then only some works depending on the theme of their current auction (size, technique, years, etc.)
Tom
Here's a thread about an artist who sells her own work directly, or through Saatchi (at two different price levels)
Thank you all, for your helpful information. One of my ideas is to promote and sell his paintings in his hometown, Lausanne. I'll approach galleries there and maybe ask the Gemeinde if they would support my initiatives to hold exhibitions. What do you think?
Is he like a known artist who might already have sold work, or a hobby painter that nobody ever heard of?
I mean my grandfather made a whole bunch of paintings, they do look nice, technically they are o.k. you could call him an artist, but actual value on the market is 5,- since the frames could be re-used.
This.
My wife's father is obscure but well known in certain circles (I have friends who have various works of his, long before I met them), has various catalogs, books, etc., has had shows in CH, I, and D, but still selling stuff isn't easy. And museums want donations, they don't want to pay.
Tom
Why not post a few ads on here and see?
I was going to say something similar. My husband and I, as we look to settle, also are (casually) in the market for nice local art without too high a price point...surely there are more people like us? I know several older women who paint, they have held small exhibitions and usually sell paintings that way, also they give paintings as gifts for loved ones’ big life events (marriage, first child, house purchase, etc).
AnnaSophiaA,
Do you know how those women organised their "small exhibitions"? Where? Through whom? Did they self-finance (e.g. pay to hire a venue, pay for the marketing? Or did they pay another venue to exhibit their paintings?
Did they, in the end, make any money out of it, or was it a nice way to live out (or perhaps part-finance) their hobby?
A family member is welcome to join our Forum and do so, but the rules don't allow advertising on behalf of others.
Even so, fortunately, this is done on this Forum from time to time, when someone - like OP here - wants to help someone else. And I think that's a very good thing.
Hi Neatjun,
Not sure if it helps, I know this only because I actually bought a painting off them from a Ricardo auction some time ago, but it doesnt hurt to ask..
They were nice and uncomplicated to deal with.
Good luck,
Suzie
I never did see in the rules that I'm not allowed to sell my neighbours BBQ here to name an example. Am I missing a second set of rules somewhere?
Thank you Suzie, this is very helpful. My neighbour's late husband left over 100 paintings. She will need many outlets and possibilities to sell them
Refer to the 5th paragraph under the Advertising section, it's been there a while:
https://www.englishforum.ch/forum-su...und-rules.html
Back to the OP - I've seen paintings for sale in a number of restaurants here in Switzerland, and not just high-end ones. Even some small restaurants next to the train station have the paintings hanging and a price next to each one. Are there some local restaurants or businesses where they could "decorate" the space while offering his paintings for sale?
Also what about getting a stall at a local market? I know sometimes these are booked well in advance, but if he left more than 100 paintings it will take time to categorize and price each one anyway. Christmas market, maybe?
Having diff sets of rules spread out over the site is not helping anybody, people should not be expected to look for an extra set of rules for selling an item when not even the rules of the marketplace itself hints that those are existing.
Was he a professional artist, or just a hobby painter?
Tom
He was a professional artist all his life.
Any chance he belonged to a club/verein? If so they may also have a network to help sell the paintings.