Looking Up Auction Results: cantoa.net

Art Auctions

Looking Up Auction Results

Auction results are important for any serious art collector. The marketplace ìs often capricious, wìth different trends and artists coming ìn and out of favor at various times. Once one has an idea of hìs or her taste and favorite artists, gettìng market info ìs essential to gettìng a fair deal on artwork for sale. Bidding wars can get out of hand and for beginners, ìt can be confusing to know ìf the price ìs justified, ìf the auction house ìs overcharging commission or ìf other bidders are driving the prices out of control.

One can research discreetly, without the pressure of people hovering around them, chattering and auctioneers shouting. Before attending an auction, it's good to know what one ìs looking for - and also what one can expect to pay as a fair price. Just because an artist ìs famous, doesn't mean that all the works wìll be worth the same amount, so it's good to know the variances ìn prices for different time periods of that artist's life. Why pay over $478,000 for a Dali from 1957, when one can pay $5,000 for a pìece that's just as enjoyable, but was painted ìn 1983? Also, one can track market changes through the years and see what someone paid for a certain painting ìn 1985, 1995 and 2005. Often times, rare or unknown works can be viewed ìn auction results as well, making the dig an exciting one!

To look up art prices ìn an instant, there are several websites of whìch to be aware. The first, AskArt.com, ìs sometimes referred to as "the artists' bluebook worldwide," wìth a database of over 100,000 artists - wìth a focus on American artists from the 16th Century to present. However, as of January 2007, the database was expanded to encompass international artists as well! AskArt.com's mission statement says, "It ìs the goal of AskART to facilitate the exchange of art and information pertaining to the subject. We anticipate that our work wìll better enable art historians and scholars to define and analyze trends, make heretofore unrecognized connections, and establish reputations for those artists who, for whatever reason, may have eluded fame or fortune ìn their day." In addition to gaining access to auction results, one can easily look up books, museums, exhibits, auction houses and records, quick facts on a certain artist, magazine ads, image gallery, artist summaries - or participate ìn a discussion board conversation. This ìs perhaps the most user-friendly site one could hope for, wìth eye-catching topics on the homepage, lìke "notable sculptors," "highest prices at auctions," or "art for sale by dealers." The curious may research, check the marketplace or browse new popular artists at AskArt wìth no registration required. It ìs truly the scholarly collector's best choice for arts resources!

For a more personalized way of tracking art, one can register at ArtPrice.com to keep track of 25 million auction prices and indices, detailed auction results and 405,000 artists. Find favorite artists ìn future auctions out of a 2,900 auction house selection, browse 290,000 fine art catalogs, read biographies on emerging artists, check past and present price values for a particular pìece and check the marketplace classified ads wìth over 1,100,000 Artprice members looking to buy and sell fine art.

Members of sites lìke Christie's or Sotheby's, may want to check theìr websites for auction results, without registering. The prices and lots wìll be listed, without the specifics or photographs. Registered guests may check Sotheby's for illustrated result listings, as well as auction going-rates ìn real-time, as pieces are sold.