Delia: Joseph Nechvatal Pencil Drawing
27 July 2020
Description

16.5" W x 13.5" H. Very nicely framed. Pencil on paper. It depicts Elvis in the lines. It is mounted so it floats sort of in the frame.

Provenance

Purchased it from Jack Tilton at the Jack Tilton Gallery in 1984. I have the receipt. I called Joseph several years ago and we discussed the piece. I know he is doing a lot of digital art these days.

Acquired from
Gallery/Dealer
For sale
Maybe
Answered within about 11 hours
By Delia
Jul 28, 10:34 UTC
Fair Market Value
$200 - $300 USD
Insurance Value $0 USD
What does this mean?

Hi John,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.
Based on the photographs and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:

Joseph Nechvatal (American, born 1951)
"Tough Guy Die", 1982
pencil on paper
11 by 14 inches, matted and framed 13 1/2 by 16 1/2 inches
PROVENANCE: acquired from Jack Tilton Gallery in 1984
$200-300*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.

John scheib Jul 28, 18:49 UTC

Hi Delia - I guess Nechvatal did not appreciate the way the gallery predicted. Hah. And, I assume the same for the Hartman. I thought maybe there would be some value but I guess the Woodstock folks don't garner any real interest. Thanks for looking into it.

Delia Jul 28, 18:57 UTC

My pleasure. It's such a random thing, why some artists' work resonates in the longterm and others dont. I suspect some of the success is based on the representation by the gallery.
I can say that it's the general rule of thumb that regional auction houses often do better selling works made by art schools local to them. For example, Freeman's in Philadelphia does REALLY well selling Pennsylvania Impressionists and works made at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, sometimes getting higher prices than some of those bold-name artists bring at fancy auctions in New York City. So an auction house near Woodstock might be able to get a higher price for the artists from the Woodstock colony.

John scheib Jul 28, 19:37 UTC

Good point. Thanks for that wisdom. Of course at those prices, I will keep them anyway...I like them. Enjoyed our communications. I will be back in touch with other things. I recently sold a Jimi Hendrix piece for $20K that I paid nothing for, so I'm still feeling lucky.

Delia Jul 28, 19:44 UTC

Nice!
I'm always happy to help; if it's a European artist I generally defer to other specialist colleagues but can do American art, as well as furniture, glass, porcelain, textiles, collectibles, etc...

John scheib Jul 28, 20:17 UTC

I generally have a number of people I know who are trying to figure out pricing on things...so I will recommend them to you. What is your background in the this type of work? Can I share your experience?

Delia Jul 28, 20:27 UTC

I've specialist expertise in American furniture and folk art, having worked at auction houses on both coasts, both regional and international, including Christie's and Sotheby's. More generalist knowledge in silver, glass, porcelain, textiles (including rugs) and English/European furniture and fine art but there are specialists at Mearto who have expertise in some of those categories, including prints and silver so I will often defer to them. I've more than 25 years in the antiques field, both working for auction houses and dealers so I've a pretty good handle on market trends, the nuances between collecting categories and regional markets, etc. Let me know if you have additional questions.

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