One of the most exciting and fascinating aspects of collecting art is finding out about the painting and the artist. Who painted it? Is the artist known? When was it painted? What is known about the painting? What sort of medium has been used? Does it have any value? So we often find ourselves with a new purchase eagerly delving into google and surfing across websites to find out what we can - how did people manage before the internet we ask ourselves?
Sometimes the artist is not obvious and ends up being tracked down through geographical association or by similar looking pictures. Often there can be several artists with the same name in which case the signature is all important. Trying to enhance the signature on a painting from a website on a computer screen can at times however be a challenge. Still we like the challenge!
What can be frustrating though is not being able to identify the picture or the artist. Actually the most frustrating thing is not being able to decipher the signature at all which can lead to much speculation and guesswork often unresolved or if there's no signature at all. Here are three examples that fall into this category.
The first is a picture of a Balinese dancer called Dullah. We know this because her name is on the picture (at first we thought it was the painter's signature). In addition there is a label to the rear of the painting indicating that she was painted by a 'state artist' under president Sukarno of Indonesia and purchased in Singapore in 1965. It's a beautiful painting (though it probably needs a clean) and the artist his really captured something in her eyes that goes beyond the portrait.
The second is an artist's proof print of some sort (maybe a screen print) that has lovely shades of colour from the water to the mountains. Its called snowy peaks though we can't decipher after that perhaps the name of the range or of a sound and we haven't been able to decipher the signature. It could be Turnbull but there are numerous artists called Turnbull and we haven't been able to match up the signature. It looks like it could be Scotland or Canada but there are several Canadian and Scottish artists with that name so it doesn't really help. The only thing that we do know is that it was produced in 83 (1983) so that gives a further clue - the search continues!
Finally is this oil painting, which is a big and bold impressionist style picture of a waterfront town. It could be Venice or another Mediterranean port. It seems to be signed D4 Rici Not sure what the D4 means and we can find no trace of Rici so it's puzzling. Anybody got any ideas? Please let us know. It's a fabulous picture though as are each of these featured pictures and just because we don't know who painted them doesn't change our appreciation of them. We love them all.
What can be frustrating though is not being able to identify the picture or the artist. Actually the most frustrating thing is not being able to decipher the signature at all which can lead to much speculation and guesswork often unresolved or if there's no signature at all. Here are three examples that fall into this category.
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| Balinese dance Dullah by unknown artist |
The first is a picture of a Balinese dancer called Dullah. We know this because her name is on the picture (at first we thought it was the painter's signature). In addition there is a label to the rear of the painting indicating that she was painted by a 'state artist' under president Sukarno of Indonesia and purchased in Singapore in 1965. It's a beautiful painting (though it probably needs a clean) and the artist his really captured something in her eyes that goes beyond the portrait.
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| Snowy peaks |
The second is an artist's proof print of some sort (maybe a screen print) that has lovely shades of colour from the water to the mountains. Its called snowy peaks though we can't decipher after that perhaps the name of the range or of a sound and we haven't been able to decipher the signature. It could be Turnbull but there are numerous artists called Turnbull and we haven't been able to match up the signature. It looks like it could be Scotland or Canada but there are several Canadian and Scottish artists with that name so it doesn't really help. The only thing that we do know is that it was produced in 83 (1983) so that gives a further clue - the search continues!
 |
| Venice by unknown artist |
Finally is this oil painting, which is a big and bold impressionist style picture of a waterfront town. It could be Venice or another Mediterranean port. It seems to be signed D4 Rici Not sure what the D4 means and we can find no trace of Rici so it's puzzling. Anybody got any ideas? Please let us know. It's a fabulous picture though as are each of these featured pictures and just because we don't know who painted them doesn't change our appreciation of them. We love them all.
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