Need advice on authenticating a mid-century drawing

Does anyone know the best way to get original drawings authenticated? I have a stand-alone drawing and two interesting artist's sketchbooks that I found among my mother's things that I'd like to sell.

The drawing should be easier to authenticate. It's signed "Schary" and the signature is very much like those of Saul Schary that I've seen on the web. In addition, his wife had a high-level position in a nonprofit that was providing help to the countries mentioned on the drawing, Uganda and Sierrra Leone. It's been a while since I looked it up, but if I remember correctly, her organization was trying to help women in third world countries.

The sketchbooks are going to be trickier. They include different styles of work, and I believe include either original work by what looks like several different artists or were done by an exceptionally gifted student emulating those artists' work. Two of the artists whose work they resemble are Raphael Soyer and Arshile Gorky.

What's interesting is that Schary, Soyer, and Gorky were all friends and two or all three of these artists had summer homes in the area of Connecticut where my mother would visit my aunt and uncle every summer. During her visits my mother always went antiquing, so it's quite possible that she purchased these items during one of those visits. The drawing and the sketchbooks were stored together, so it's also possible they were purchased at the same time.

Also, at least one of the sketchbooks was originally sold by an art store located very close to where Gorky lived in Manhattan and where Soyer had an art studio.

Any suggestions on who to contact about these items? Since I'm only about an hour from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, would it make sense to get their opinion?

Here is the drawing...

 

Very nice, Pat! I would think there would be no trouble in confidently attributing the first drawing to Schary. The others...why don't you first contact a few New England museums that specialize in art, then maybe Freeman's Auction House?

 

Pat, I'm not sure whether museums will generally give opinions to members of the general public regarding authenticity of art that they own. But I've never tried asking one about that. Maybe others will know? I'd think there should be certified art appraisers doing business in Boston.

My closest brush with doing this: There's a (sales) gallery in Chicago called Joel Oppenheimer that sells beautiful botanical art: http://www.audubonart.com/ for eye candy...

I've told this story elsewhere (on the "other" old site) -- I had bought a certain piece at an antique show and Mr. Oppenheimer looked at it and gave me an informal opinion that it was from the 18th century and worth between $400-$700. He told me that he could do a formal appraisal for a couple hundred dollars. I didn't want that since 1) I was not planning to sell it and 2) It was worth more than $200, but less than $1,000, so it didn't seem worth it.

The point is, there may be somebody at an art gallery who would be willing to help identify yours. Official appraisals will cost $, though.

 

Thanks for the replies, and sorry for not getting back to my thread sooner. I've been busy doing things mostly offline, and catching up now.

Moon, I think it's very nice, too! Thanks for the tip about Freeman's... they do seem like a good resource. I'd like to start using auction houses this coming year for the first time and am just starting to learn about them.

Fig, thanks for sharing your experience. For the Schary drawing, I think I probably don't need a formal appraisal. For the notebooks, I might need it since they're not signed. But I figure I can pursue getting informal opinions before deciding what to do next.

 

I would believe that everything you wrote in your opening would be of interest to a prints and drawing curator at the BMFA. Those folks authenticate work all the time and for many good reasons. These are public museums, even though they are owned by members. I would send an eMail to the P&D department along with attachments of this and the sketchbook and ask if there is a time you could come in to show it to them and then follow up with a phone call if you don't hear from them.

But they do discourage folks from bringing their crap in (if you have spent much time on the eBay boards, you know the level of crap that some dealers will want an opinion on, like a 1967 print on board of Rembrandt's Man in a Gold Helmet) So, no they don't advertize, but yes, if the curator is professional, he would look at the pieces. I do know that curators do feel used and abused by dealers who knock on their doors every week with a pile of what-not they got at the sales that weekend to see if it's worth anything.

But when you are talking about the type of work the museum shows, or buys, they would be interested because 1) they might offer to buy it, 2) they might hope you will donate it, 3) they might hope you will loan it to them.

If these are Gorky drawings, they would be interested. They also would have a library with tons of books you could go through to perhaps match a sketch in the book to one of the artist's known works, like a preliminary sketch or part of a series, that could help date and authenticate the sketchbook. And then there is always finger pints, (from the medium, not sherlock type) which if not smeared, are better than a siggy.

 

Thanks for the perspective, Lilfont. Sounds like the way I should go.

The more I've looked at examples on the web, the more I think there really is a chance that most of the sketches were done by Raphael Soyer. In particular, several of the sketches are nudes, and the poses and techniques to my eye look very much like his work.

Soyer lived about 5 miles from where my aunt and uncle had their summer home in Connecticut, and his studio was very close to where at least one of the sketch pads was purchased in Manhattan. So at least it seems feasible.

If the MFA in Boston can't help, I think I saw previously that a museum in Connecticut has a Soyer collection.

 

Could you post a few examples of the possible Arshile Gorkys and Soyers?

Just curious how close they are to authentic drawings by these artists.

On the face of it it seems kind of odd for these particular artists to share the same sketchbook. Perhaps they are deliberate emulations done by a student?

 

Alec, I agree that it seems odd for artists to share a sketchbook. But the work in the pads differ so much, I have trouble thinking they weren't shared. With whom, though, is to be determined. I'll add scans of a few of the drawings to the bottom of this post.

I know it doesn't prove anything, but these are my thoughts...

1. My mother stored these two sketchpads with the Schary drawing, which certainly seems to be authentic. I actually found the Schary drawing as a standalone paper inside one of the pads.

2. In one pad, at the bottom of the drawings that look like Soyer's work, someone penciled "Soyer." As far as I can determine, it does not look like his signature... but it does look very much like my mother's handwriting.

Although my mom was an artist, she did not do this type of work at all, so she didn't do the drawings. She was a born skeptic, and had a fairly sophisticated appreciation of fine art, so I don't think she would have written an artist's name by a work without a good reason. I assume either the seller told her whose work it was or she did library research herself. (This was pre-internet days.)

3. At the bottom of one drawing, "Gorky" was written in pencil in the same handwriting that looks like my mother's. This drawing is just the initial outlines to indicate where the outlines of a person's head and body would be. Although I think it would be pretty hard to determine anything based on such a rough preliminary sketch, the approach actually looks like a couple of sketches I've seen on the web done by Gorky. I'm very doubtful, though, that anyone could authenticate this sketch even if it was done by Gorky.

4. From what I've read, Soyer, Gorky, and Schary were all friends, so there is at least a known association between them.

Here are a couple of the sketches, one from each pad...

 

I think it's reasonably safe to assume the Saul Schary drawing is authentic, subject of course to expert confirmation.

Interesting items...and the circumstantial evidence and provenance is suggestive.

Further, I understand why a perusal of the web may lead you to feel this is possibly a Raphael Soyer. There are some similarities of treatment, for example the fluid cross hatching one sees in his pen and inks . However, in my subjective view at least, I don't see the attribution holding up. The drawing lacks the authority of execution typical of Soyer...even in his least effective drawings. It is overly precious, cramped and awkward in places. This is more typical of someone attempting to work in Soyer's manner.

Again, with the Gorky, I can see that it is possibly reminiscent of some of his figurative drawings...but not much beyond that.

There is no reason for you to accept anything I say. The internet being what it is, for all you know I could be a Maytag repairman with time on his hands!

May I recommend you contact a widely respected drawings specialist in the business of evaluations, accessible to the public:

Todd Weyman
Director, Prints & Drawings
Swann Auction Galleries
(212) 254-4710 ext. 32
tweyman@swanngalleries.com

Tell him you're interested in possibly selling.

 

There should be no charge (or obligation) to get his opinion if you say you are interested in selling

 

Thanks so much, Alec, for sharing your thoughts. I see what you mean about Soyer's style... I agree that it's generally looser than what I see in these sketches.

Thanks, too, for the contact info at Swann's. I think I will try emailing him with scans and see what he thinks.

 

Pat,I joined this site years ago. Its nice to have when you need help on autographs,etc. They also send periodic email updates.

http://live.autographmagazine.com/

 

Thanks, Shiloh!

 

Pat, LOL....I mistook your thread for another one. I thought I read here that a painting had a siggy on the back and then I re-read yours and do not see it??? Either I was in the Twilight Zone or didn't have enough coffee ?

 

No problem, Shiloh. It's still a good site to know about!