About 6 years ago, I received a call at our gallery from a very excited gentlemen. He was elated over his latest art find. Apparently, he happened upon 6 antique paintings by the famous western artist Charles M. Russell. The signatures were authentic, and the paintings were safely stored in a vault. I grew more and more excited that he was going to have us fame all 6 paintings.
The man called after 2 weeks and said he was bringing his prized paintings in the next day. He arrived carrying a large, flat box. He shook my hand, and then began to unveil his treasures on my framing counter. One by one he showed me the paintings. I just didn't have the heart to tell him yet, so I asked how much he paid for them. He said it was a "super deal" at $650 a piece.
Finally, I had to be the bearer of bad news and tell him: "What you have here are Circa 1960 vellum and acrylic-coated mounted prints. They're worth approxipately $75 each."
"No!" he insisted, "These are worth more than that!"
"Sorry," I quickly returned, "but they just aren't what you thought." He stared blankly at me in shock. His mumbling and expressions were priceless. I nearly broke into a laugh, but decided against it. After several minutes of consoling, he slowly gathered his faux-treasure and whimpered out the door. I just couldn't believe he had mistaken crappy prints for originals. Collectors, beware, seek advice first. Until next week, happy hunting.
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