eBay

irinahat · ‎06-15-2018

As per usual, I ended up at a garage sale where I bought many limited edition prints. They're small editions with 150 ever made of each print.

And as usual, I can't read the artist's last name (this happens to me more times than I'd like to admit)

I've tried searching everywhere for what I THINK his last name is - I've tried doing several variations and came up with nothing.

His art is listed in my store as "unknown artist" in the title unless I can find out who he is.

Any help would be appreciated but I have a gut feeling that this is some obscure artist and I won't have any luck. Obviously I can see his name is David J... something. I've tried searching that alone and came up with nothing. His listings are up in my store if anyone wants to take a look at his art style. His art titles aren't unique either, being: "West Gate", "East Gate" (I don't know where these places even are...), "Market", "The Well", and "The Hunter"

If nothing else, anyone have an idea of origin? I bought these from a couple and one was British and the other was Australian and they said all their art was either from the UK or Australia and all of it is quite vintage, they said.

maxine*j · ‎06-15-2018

They look like illustrations for a fantasy novel, if that helps.

I don't find the last name clear, either, but I don't know what possibilities you've already tried, and I don't care to just duplicate your efforts.

If you coud give us an idea of what "very vintage" means to you, it would help, too.

irinahat · ‎06-15-2018

Well, they were an elderly couple who haven't been back to their homelands for decades (one was from Australia and the other from England) and they said all their artwork in the stack that I made was from one or the other. I already listed a few from England that are a lot more legible.

They were the ones that said they were "quite vintage", not me.

I see what you're saying about them looking like fantasy novel illustrations. They don't ALL seem surreal / fantasy-esque per se, but then there's this:

Titled "East Gate" and I definitely noticed right away that this location is fictional and not a real place, so you may be on to something with thinking these are illustrations for a fantasy novel.

I guess I just have to re-think my keywords because I want these to get some visibility with what little info I have to go on. That's where the real challenge lies for me when I come across art that's rare, obscure, and very hard to accurately describe. I still manage to make sales on most of the obscure art I've bought over the years, it's just going to take some keyword editing in the title.

pixzee · ‎06-15-2018

One signature looks like "David J Daley" , the one above looks like "David J Daloy".

They may also be children's book illustrations.

pillarboxred · ‎06-15-2018

The way they are framed looks 70s/80s to me. I agree that they have a fantasy fiction illustration style.

maxine*j · ‎06-15-2018

@pillarboxred wrote:
The way they are framed looks 70s/80s to me. I agree that they have a fantasy fiction illustration style.

Agree about the framing. "Very vintage" and "elderly" just don't tell me anything. If you're young, 55 is elderly. If you're my age, then it's people in their 100s.