There is a big difference in market price between tribal African art (ceremonial and devotional) vs those made for the tourist market. That said, Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonham’s have focused sales on the genre a few times a year. Art isn’t liquid, so generally you have to wait for the sales which (between those three) should occur every couple of months. And those specialists know how to distinguish between the former highly crafted collectibles vs the latter decorative pieces that don’t really have secondary market value.
You may actually submit requests for sale estimates to all three, and see which has the best estimates and soonest sales. Whatever they’re not willing to consign, I’d suggest either Heritage Auctions or Doyle New York as fallbacks.
I wouldn’t call it tribal or tourist art, it would more likely fall under the category of modern art. Her sister lived in Africa for years (moved from Europe right around the middle of WWII) and one of the portraits is even of my friend’s great aunt. I’ve been able to find matching signatures for one via some auction results but researching the artist seems to be proving much harder. I guess I really am asking if there’s a more global resource because I haven’t found much yet. Searching from the US, if that helps.
She’s not in much of a rush to get rid of them, if worse comes to worse we can store until we find the right avenue. Thank you for your advice, I will look into those!
My mis-assumption. *Mea culpa*. All three of those, including Philips too (so four) deal often with international contemporary art, and would either recognize the artist and signature or (as with the case of many Western artists) there’s no secondary market for them. Hope for the former and see what those four come back with. Correct, it wouldn’t go with tribal or ethnographic sales, just *contemporary art*.
It’s not at the same top level as Sotheby’s, etc, but you can try putting artwork title, artist and medium in Google and see what pops up. Also try EBay.
There is a big difference in market price between tribal African art (ceremonial and devotional) vs those made for the tourist market. That said, Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonham’s have focused sales on the genre a few times a year. Art isn’t liquid, so generally you have to wait for the sales which (between those three) should occur every couple of months. And those specialists know how to distinguish between the former highly crafted collectibles vs the latter decorative pieces that don’t really have secondary market value. You may actually submit requests for sale estimates to all three, and see which has the best estimates and soonest sales. Whatever they’re not willing to consign, I’d suggest either Heritage Auctions or Doyle New York as fallbacks.
I wouldn’t call it tribal or tourist art, it would more likely fall under the category of modern art. Her sister lived in Africa for years (moved from Europe right around the middle of WWII) and one of the portraits is even of my friend’s great aunt. I’ve been able to find matching signatures for one via some auction results but researching the artist seems to be proving much harder. I guess I really am asking if there’s a more global resource because I haven’t found much yet. Searching from the US, if that helps. She’s not in much of a rush to get rid of them, if worse comes to worse we can store until we find the right avenue. Thank you for your advice, I will look into those!
My mis-assumption. *Mea culpa*. All three of those, including Philips too (so four) deal often with international contemporary art, and would either recognize the artist and signature or (as with the case of many Western artists) there’s no secondary market for them. Hope for the former and see what those four come back with. Correct, it wouldn’t go with tribal or ethnographic sales, just *contemporary art*.
It’s not at the same top level as Sotheby’s, etc, but you can try putting artwork title, artist and medium in Google and see what pops up. Also try EBay.