Featured Artist Joseph Comellas
Morning Dance

Getting Fine Art Appraised
by Corinne Cain
Does the appraiser need to bring a ladder? Will the appraiser need to wade into a pool to examine a sculpture? Will the appraiser need to wear washable clothing? ... more

Art Theft: Most Famous Cases
by J Reider
The first documented case of art theft was in 1473, when two panels of altarpiece of the Last Judgment by the Dutch painter Hans Memling were stolen... here

New Tools for Designers
Powerful new features added to www.art-exchange.com
for designers... more

Artist Spotlight
Just a few of the 8,000 great artists on art-exchange.com
... here

Tennessee Designer Uses Art-Exchange To Find Art
Sara Beth Warne contacted Art-Exchange to help locate art that would reflect various recreational sports ... here

New Tools for Designers at
art-exchange.com

Art-Exchange is a business service provider that specializes in solutions for the design trade. We offer solutions to designers as an art consultancy, and we provide solutions to art consultants to help them be more effective and efficient. For the past five years Art-Exchange has been actively contacting artists to list their works on the exchange. Today there are approximately 100,000 different works of art created by over 10,000 different artists. Imagine searching 100,000 records to locate the perfect art solution. Nearly 60% of all the works are originals... and the remaining 40% is a variety of editions. All of these works are organized in a database, and a search engine locates works using any or all of the following criteria:

Suppose you need oversized original works and price is an issue. Maybe you want only works with lighthouses. Or perhaps you need large public works. That's how specific the search engine can be. And with the new design, if you enter several criteria and the search engine can't find a work that matches all your criteria exactly, it will refer you to the works that match your criteria most closely, so that you don't have to start over. As one of the new site's designers said, "We don't never want to show nobody nothing."

Normally, designers hire an art consultant or visit multiple galleries or view print books to find the perfect art solution. That's the old way of finding art. Now designers can look in one place and view tens of thousands of originals alone. This is the new way of finding art. Art-Exchange lets designers search for all the art they need in one place. That alone has the potential to save time, but the website has some other very powerful features that give designers even more flexibility and power.

Powerful Features
One very important new feature is the Designer Portal. Art-Exchange has four different portals that members can use to enter the site. There's one for retail clients, one for community partners, one for artists and another for sellers. But the Designer Portal is available only to designers. Once you enter the portal, you can search for the art you want, view images of the art, and immediately see designers' wholesale pricing.

Here's another great new feature: Portfolios. How do you keep track of the works that fit your client's needs? You keep a portfolio. Designers can set up portfolios for individual clients, different locations, or just for future reference. It's easy to save works to custom-made portfolios. And it's easy to show the portfolio to clients -- from anywhere in the world.

Another feature that can help designers and clients work together especially when clients have trouble describing their interests is the Postcard feature. Clients can go to the website to browse for themselves. They can view an exhibition, browse by artist, or do a search. When they find something they like, they can send images to their designer using electronic postcards. In the future, Art-Exchange will even offer the ability to create Custom Frames online so that clients can view the artwork in different frames and matting to choose and/or purchase the one they like best.

How To Access the Features and Benefits of Art-Exchange
Go to www.art-exchange.com. Log in as a designer and learn about how the service works. You can easily search for art, access our full-service art consultancy. or guide your favorite art consultant to Art-Exchange. A subscription is free. Art-Exchange is paid by the sellers on completed transactions -- so they only get paid if they're helping designers find the right art, for the right job, at the right price.

Getting Fine Art Appraised
by Corinne Cain

Preparing for the Appraiser's Exam

• Locate all items in advance of the appraiser's arrival and make them accessible.
• Share pertinent records about when and where items were purchased, including their receipts. Receipts often have a painting’s title, which may or may not appear on the back of the frame or on an attached plaque. Art works without a title may be determined if the artist is still living. Unfortunately, some artist’s do not remember titles or record them in a permanent ledger. Not all art bears the date or dates it was completed. The date of the receipt could assist in dating the artwork. The goal is to create as complete a record about the artwork as possible. Don't slow the process down or create an opportunity for the document to be less complete by holding back information.
• Allocate enough time for the appraiser to carry out the inspection and the photography. Appraiser's typically need about 15 minutes an item for both activities. While the appraiser often enjoys visiting with clients, he or she must focus on the task at hand in order to not take additional time or overlook pertinent information.

Discussing Value With a Prospective Appraiser

Identify what you need to have appraised by providing the following information:

• Artist's first and last name
• Medium such as bronze, painting, or print
• Condition, especially if you are not sure if the item has enough value to warrant an appraisal.

State why you need the appraisal.

The same item can have a different value depending on the purpose of the valuation. Appraisers ask why you need an appraisal document because they want to investigate value for the appropriate market. Imagine that you are buying this item instead of having it appraised. Would you expect to pay the same price for the item at a flea market or at an estate sale as you would in a high-end antique shop or art gallery? Different purposes mandate different markets, which translates to correspondingly different value levels.

Identify the timeframe needed for the appraisal document's completion.

Is this a rush job? If there are 200 items and your moving van will arrive in less than 60 days, this is a rush job. Also, the appraiser may have too many active assignments to meet your desired timeframe. If this is the case, the appraiser may redirect you to someone else who can fit your appraisal into his or her schedule.

Identify if there are special conditions for examining your artworks.

For example, does the appraiser need to bring a ladder? Will the appraiser need to wade into a pool to examine a sculpture? Will the appraiser need to wear washable clothing? While unforeseen events do happen at most appraisal inspections, pre-planning keeps them to a minimum.

Corinne Cain is the principal of Corinne Cain, Ltd, a nationally recognized firm affording expert appraisal and consulting services on Fine Art and Native American Art. Her background includes an MFA and MBA from Southern Methodist University. Ms. Cain is also the proprietor of http://Savvycollector.com, a nationally known secondary art market dealer.

Article Source: Article Search Engine Directory at ArticleSphere.com

Tennessee Designer Uses Art-Exchange To Find Art

The artwork of several art-exchange artists is now hanging at the new Student Recreational Facility at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee. Interior Designer, Sara Beth Warne of Interior Spaces, Nashville, Tennessee, contacted Art-Exchange art consultant, Teressena Bakens to help her locate art that would reflect various recreational sports. Using our extensive data base, we were able to find a wide range of sports-related art ranging from cycling, kayaking, soccer, baseball and gymnastics, to rowing, basketball, skiing, tennis, swimming, and running. Eleven different artists on our site sold multiple pieces of art for a total of 38 works including original paintings, giclees, prints and photographs.

"The art and framing looks great", commented designer, Sara Beth Warne. "We had a tight timeframe to work with for the Grand Opening, and Art-Exchange delivered on time and within budget.  I’m very impressed."

"I’ve worked with Sara Beth on projects before," notes Teressena. "It’s very gratifying to have repeat business from designers because we are able to find exactly what they and their client are looking for. We offer the best selection and the best solutions for any designer’s art needs."

Art-Exchange.com is a full service art consultancy and an ASID Industry Partner.
For your next project requiring artwork, contact Teressena at: 1-800-647-6336, ext. 113.

Art Theft: Most Famous Cases in History
by J Reider

Art theft is an ancient and complicated crime. When you look at the some of the most famous cases of art thefts in history, you see thoroughly planned operations that involve art dealers, art fakers, mobsters, ransoms, and millions of dollars. Here you can read about some of the most famous cases of art theft in the history.

The First Theft:
The first documented case of art theft was in 1473, when two panels of altarpiece of the Last Judgment by the Dutch painter Hans Memling were stolen. While the triptych was being transported by ship from the Netherlands to Florence, the ship was attacked by pirates who took it to the Gdansk cathedral in Poland. Nowadays, the piece is shown at the National Museum in Gdansk where it was recently moved from the Basilica of the Assumption.

The Most Famous Theft:
The most famous story of art theft involves one of the most famous paintings in the world and one of the most famous artists in history as a suspect. In the night of August 21, 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen out of the Louver. Soon after, Pablo Picasso was arrested and questioned by the police, but was released quickly.

It took about two years until the mystery was solved by the Parisian police. It turned out that the 30×21 inch painting was taken by one of the museum employees by the name of Vincenzo Peruggia, who simply carried it hidden under his coat. Nevertheless, Peruggia did not work alone. The crime was carefully conducted by a notorious con man, Eduardo de Valfierno, who was sent by an art faker who intended to make copies and sell them as if they were the original painting.

While Yves Chaudron, the art faker, was busy creating copies for the famous masterpiece, Mona Lisa was still hidden at Peruggias apartment. After two years in which Peruggia did not hear from Chaudron, he tried to make the best out of his stolen good. Eventually, Peruggia was caught by the police while trying to sell the painting to an art dealer from Florence, Italy. The Mona Lisa was returned to the Louver in 1913.

The Biggest Theft in the USA:
The biggest art theft in United States took place at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. On the night of March 18, 1990, a group of thieves wearing police uniforms broke into the museum and took thirteen paintings whose collective value was estimated at around 300 million dollars. The thieves took two paintings and one print by Rembrandt, and works of Vermeer, Manet, Degas, Govaert Flinck, as well as a French and a Chinese artifact.

As of yet, none of the paintings have been found and the case is still unsolved. According to recent rumors, the FBI are investigating the possibility that the Boston Mob along with French art dealers are connected to the crime.

The Scream:
The painting by Edvard Munchs, The Scream, is probably the most sought after painting by art thieves in history. It has been stolen twice and was only recently recovered. In 1994, during the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, The Scream was stolen from an Oslo gallery by two thieves who broke through an open window, set off the alarm and left a note saying: thanks for the poor security.

Three months later, the holders of the painting approached the Norwegian Government with an offer: 1 million dollars ransom for Edvard Munchs The Scream. The Government turned down the offer, but the Norwegian police collaborated with the British Police and the Getty Museum to organize a sting operation that brought back the painting to where it belongs.

Ten years later, The Scream was stolen again from the Munch Museum. This time, the robbers used a gun and took another of Munchs painting with them. While Museum officials waiting for the thieves to request ransom money, rumors claimed that both paintings were burned to conceal evidence. Eventually, the Norwegian police discovered the two paintings on August 31, 2006 but the facts on how they were recovered are not known yet.

An amateur painter himself, Jack Reider works for a guide to online casinos but he is also an avid lover of painting and he frequents Art Museums whenever he can.

Article Source: ArticleMap.com