eBay

sarahd53 · ‎08-14-2021

I am wondering about this painting and the artist who made it. Hard to read the signature, but the back says Cover Windom's Way. After searching I found the book cover and information about the book, but having a tough time figuring out who the artist is. Can anyone help point me in the right direction?

melda58 · ‎08-15-2021

In my part of the woods, cleaning and restoring paintings by a professional is extremely expensive.

Rita

mmadigan · ‎08-15-2021

From his obit on June 7, 2004 Asbury Park NJ he did more than just Pulp covers.

sonomabarn67 · ‎08-15-2021

Well, in my neck of the woods in Calif there is a network of restorers who have emigrated from the Slavic countries. Many of them work for museums but when it is slow they work from home at reduced prices. A $1500- $5000 job can go for $500-1,500 so they can pay bills.

However, it is just another unknown in a big pile of unknowns on this piece. Having spent 40 years buying/selling art I tend to think of myself as someone who knows their way around the workings of said vintage/antique art world, that is, until I post on this board and most don't believe a word I say.

argon38 · ‎08-15-2021

@sonomabarn67 wrote:
Having spent 40 years buying/selling art I tend to think of myself as someone who knows their way around the workings of said vintage/antique art world, that is, until I post on this board and most don't believe a word I say.

I don't think anyone is questioning your advice, or arguing that it shouldn't be cleaned or restored under any circumstances. The point, as I see it, is that the OP is looking to sell. So it's really the familiar dilemma: do they take the work upon themselves, or do they leave it to the buyer to decide? I can just imagine certain collectors wringing their hands in dismay when they learn from the listing description that the seller has had the artwork prettified, or even simply cleaned. The eventual buyer may well profit from what you recommend - but they will likely want to do it themselves, or have it done by somebody they know and trust.

sonomabarn67 · ‎08-15-2021

Of course they are. These cleaning/restorations are done by thousands of art dealers/restorers every year. I was just watching a video in the Smithsonian's "Prettify Department" where they took an 18th c engraving that was soiled and cleaned it by repeated submergings in de-ionized water allowing it to dry in between. No bleach or chemicals, just very pure water. Of course this was done by qualified paper conservators.

Dealers are buyers and they buy abused artworks needing restoration every day on ebay.. In fact, one just sold while I was typing this. I never said for sarah to undertake this work on her own. I mentioned it looked faded and would look better if a treatment was undertaken. Gotta find out if it's worth doing that and if the painting would be enhanced. Money talks.

argon38 · ‎08-15-2021

@sonomabarn67 wrote:
I mentioned it looked faded and would look better if a treatment was undertaken.

Yes, it would make it look better cosmetically. I'm just not sure a dedicated collector would necessarily need (or want) to acquire it in that "improved" state. Some might prefer to have it as it stands, if it is original cover art, and oversee any conservation work themselves. No doubt a professional restorer would do a good job, but it does take matters out of the buyer's hands - and they might rather nobody else messed with it at all.

sonomabarn67 · ‎08-15-2021

I give up.

argon38 · ‎08-15-2021

@sonomabarn67 wrote:
I give up.

I was wondering how long it would take. 😀

mmadigan · ‎08-15-2021

I would think with 40 years experience in selling art Sonoma might have an idea what the average collector will want.

What you said has some truth to it. A friend collects a regional artist and most cases would rather purchase a piece which needs cleaning. The reason is he can get a discount due to the condition. The first thing he will do is have it cleaned. He will not pass up a painting which has been cleaned if it fits his collecting needs.

argon38 · ‎08-15-2021

@mmadigan wrote:
I would think with 40 years experience in selling art Sonoma might have an idea what the average collector will want.

What you said has some truth to it. A friend collects a regional artist and most cases would rather purchase a piece which needs cleaning. The reason is he can get a discount due to the condition. The first thing he will do is have it cleaned. He will not pass up a painting which has been cleaned if it fits his collecting needs.

Yes, Sonoma unquestionably knows his stuff - and again, I don't think anyone is saying the painting wouldn't benefit from treatment. The only question is whether OP should pay for this work (in the expectation of increased profit), or should leave it to the buyer. It's obviously sarahd's decision. I would say the pros and cons have been well and truly aired.

jpgharv29 · ‎08-15-2021

Late to the party, but I just wanted to give the OP @sarahd53 a big shout-out and congrats on what appears to my eye, an original oil on masonite cover-art painting by Tom Dunn. CONGRATS! Such a great piece!

As far as cleaning/restoration....................... OP's piece does appear to be in need of a general cleaning only, and this lite cleaning will only enhance its value and improve salability. If OP doesn't have much into the piece, investing a couple hundred bucks to clean and preserve the piece isn't going to hurt, only help.

Below are before and after images of a piece we got both cleaned and restored for just under $1K. After this investment, we placed the piece here on the Bay for sale and it sold within a couple hours after listing. If it weren't for the monies invested into the piece, I'm afraid the sale would have been quite different........just saying! Anyway, I wish you much luck and many bids on whatever you decide to do with your painting, it's a wonderful work of art. Congrats!

Before:

After:

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sonomabarn67 · ‎08-15-2021

Well, I'll come back in for this wonderful two boys painting. Wonderful restoration of a wonderful painting and I hope it made it's way to the Smithsonian by now. I actually think about this painting from time to time and it underscores what I said about about the Dunn painting. OP should take notice.

mopata · ‎08-15-2021

FYI - I researched Tom Dunn on the Heritage Auctions website and found an example on masonite painted for a paperback cover that brought $3,375 in 2012. Heritage runs regular sales of illustration art. Here is the link:

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/painting/tom-dunn-american-20th-century-cress-delahanty-paperback-cover-1...

sarahd53 · ‎08-24-2021

Thanks for all the comments. I posted this, found the answer of who the artist was, and forgot about it till today. This actually belongs to a friend who got it from a sale with a lot of art work. Although I agree that having a painting cleaned or touched up can increase value, I am not sure it would be justified with this piece.

I have never had a painting cleaned professionally, but I am looking to. I have a piece of art that I posted a while back that is 'attributed to' Hubert Robert. A guy from a large auction house in New York viewed it and said that he thought it was restored in the early 20th century by inexperienced 'conservator' who covered up the cracking and missing paint by painting over a lot of the original artist's work. He advised me to have a professional clean and hopefully remove the conservator's work. I reached out to a guy I watch on youtube that does a lot of nice work Baumgartner Restorations and was surprised to find his estimate was around 1200-1500. I live near NY City so there are probably a lot of qualified conservators nearby as well. The appraiser said if the conservator's work was removed, and it was real, it would increase the value by 10's of thousands. Whereas in the current condition he placed an auction estimate of 1500-2500