Chris Mansell help pls..

Hi all,

Back again.

I picked up a piece by the artist Chris Mansell today.. pictured under the other stuff

He is obviously respected based on the fact that his work is in the royal college of art collection and the piece they have indicates he was in the John Moores exhibition 1976..

I can see that he works out of his studio in Sussex these days but I’m surprised that I can’t find any record of an auction involving his work.. or any of his work for sale anywhere online..

Can anyone see anything?

Thanks a lot,

Sam

 

It doesn't surprise me that you don't see auction results.

My uncle's work has been held and exhibited by at least a dozen museums and galleries in the U.S., including the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum, and one piece is currently in the U.S. National Gallery of Art. But there are no auction results available for him since while he was alive he mostly held onto his work other than to lend it out for exhibits. After he died, my cousin was told by auction houses that since there were no prior auction results, they couldn't take his work. My understanding is that's common today, which I assume is because they can't estimate value without a known history to use as a base.

So apparently it's a vicious circle... you need prior auction results to sell at auction, but you can't sell at auction unless there are prior auction results.

 

Some of my 1st nations artists who were included in shows and exhibits ...are now nearly impossible to find on line..............

 

OUCH!!! That's nasty!!!

 

Agreed!

I know my cousin found it frustrating. We haven't talked lately so I don't know if she ended up finding private buyers for any of the pieces.

 

LOL!! Sounds like Actors' Equity.

 

Yup.

 

In short, you need to establish "believable auction results."

There are auction houses who would gladly help - but not the "top tier" ones.

Fortunately, there are a great many auction houses who gladly take paintings in the $750 to $10,000 range in this world. Just make sure you do not use "shill bids" as they become known way too quickly! Just stress the collections his work is in - and you should fairly easily get an auction house to handle several pieces over time.

 

Good to know.

My cousin's in the NYC area, so my guess is she probably approached the top tier houses. I don't know if she expected top tier price ranges, too.

 

Hear, hear.