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Much to the chagrin of art schools everywhere, it is likely that the anonymous street artist Bansky will be the best remembered artist of the post-millennial generation. His capacity to grab attention with his illegally spray painted designs in major cities, and  deliver a message (often a punch line or a hidden layer of meaning) may make him the most important artist of his generation.

Find Art Experts recently traveled to Toronto, Canada to view The Art of Bansky, to discover the message behind the artist. As far as we could determine, Bansky is the closest thing we have in the art world to Che Guevara. He didn’t so much knock on the closed doors of the art world, as he literally kicked them down.

Banksy sees himself as the liberator to remind the viewer that their ideas about art are just as valid as anybody else’s. To his mind, art should be truly democratic, part of everybody’s life, not just the privileged few.

As his former associate Steve Lazarides is quoted as saying, In my humble opinion, he helped normal people feel it was ok to like art. For the first time, they felt that they didn’t need a degree to ‘get it.’ In their minds, he created art just for them…He was owned by the general public, they took him to their hearts across the globe.

That’s the message.

Follow Find Art Experts for more upcoming blogs about Bansky

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For one Detroit-area couple, it was a trip to a thrift store and then a local art gallery that led to an important discovery.

For many years, the local couple had driven by a prominent art gallery, but were a bit too intimidated to go in and explore. Finally, out of curiosity, they decided to wander in, and were pleasantly greeted by a gallerist. They ended up spending several hours exploring the gallery with their guide, and enjoyed looking at art by various old and contemporary masters, many of whom were unfamiliar to them. Among the works of art that most interested them was a colorful, geometric abstract composition known as an 'Agamogragh.'

On another leisurely weekend drive several months later, the husband decided to stop by his local Salvation Army store. As an inveterate thrift store patron, he pulled over and began picking through the racks of used clothing and cases of tchotchkes, but came up empty handed. As he was about to leave the store, he noticed something hanging on the wall which caught his attention. There, in a narrow gold bargain-basement frame was a small, unmatted print, covered with a grimy piece of glass. Although unremarkable looking at first glance, two things stood out:The composition reminded him of the piece he found intriguing during his recent gallery visit; and even better still, it was clearly priced at $7.50! He snatched it up and took it home to show his wife.

When he got home, they examined the print further and found something which appeared to be a registration number on the back. Their curiosity now peaked, they returned to the art gallery that they had visited months before to show the gallerist their thrift store find. Could it be possible that their hidden gem was by the same artist that they saw hanging on the gallery walls several months prior? Upon closer inspection, the gallerist confirmed that the piece was, in fact, an authentic Agamograph, made by Israeli artist, Yaacov Agam, born 1928, best known for his optical art and lenticular prints.  Even better news: their piece is from a sold-out edition now valued at over $8,000.

Thankfully, the couple sought the opinion of an expert, and the authentication process showed Agam’s trademark compositional structure, together with registration numbers which identified the gallery that originally sold it.

When it comes to authenticating art, a professional opinion matters. There are many ways to authenticate art, and a statement by an art expert can greatly enhance an artwork's monetary and scholarship value. At Find Art Experts, we help clients navigate the oftentimes opaque art world to find the answers they need. Our multinational expert referrals specializing in art authentication, provenance review, art loss services, and scientific and forensic testing can help provide trustworthy and accurate information to art collectors’ individual and unique questions about their collections.

At Find Art Experts, we help clients navigate the oftentimes opaque art world to find the answers they need. Our multinational expert referrals specializing in art authentication, provenance review, art loss services, and scientific and forensic testing can help provide trustworthy and accurate information to art collectors’ individual and unique questions about their collections.

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There is an age-old saying in the art world that the "perfect fake" does not exist. Even expert forgers agree. But how does one go about proving if something is a fake or if it is authentic?

Take the case of one of the world's leading furniture dealers, Bill G.B. Pallot, who masterminded the forgery of at least four chairs, sold them to the Palace of Versailles, and then admitted it to the French police. French officials suspect Pallot may be responsible for other copies that currently exist in museums and private collections all around the world.

The Paris Match called Pallot "the Bernie Madoff of art," and Le Monde  referred to Pallot's crime as a "fraud against national identity." But Pallot actually takes a degree of pleasure in what he did. When asked about his crime, Pallot admits: "The first time, it was a stupid joke: Gotcha.' Nobody sees: the art experts don't see, the curators don't see, the auction houses don't see, the dealer doesn't see." He frankly admits that he found it amusing and even 'exhilarating' to humiliate the denizens of his world. 

When art collectors feel that they have been defrauded, they are either too embarrassed to come forward, or they do not know where to begin to find an expert to help prove the authenticity of their object. When it comes to authenticating art, a professional opinion matters. At Find Art Experts, we help clients navigate the oftentimes opaque art world to find the answers they need. Our multinational experts specializing in art authentication, provenance review, art loss services, scientific and forensic testing can help provide trustworthy and accurate information to art collectors' individual and unique questions about their collections.

Visit the Professional Service Directory at: www.findartexperts.com to discover over 15,000 art and auction experts in over 200 specialty categories 

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One of the most rare and lavish gifts from an art museum to the public will be unveiled later this year at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Salvador Mundi , by Leonardo Da Vinci, sold last year at Christie's New York for a record  $459.3 million on a bid from Saudi Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud on behalf of the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism. It will be exhibited until October 24, 2019, after which time it will be loaned to the Musee du Louvre in Paris. It will return to the Louvre Abu Dhabi on February 24, 2020.

Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Culture Department, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, and graduate of Northwestern University, remarked that Salvador Mundi, which has been hidden from view for so long, "Is now our gift to the world - it belongs to all of us."

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a universal museum that enables visitors to experience art in a new light. Masterworks by many of the world's greatest artists, including Da Vinci, are on display, revealing threads of creativity that connect diverse cultures across thousands of years.

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Ir's time to enjoy some of the best upcoming antique and art exhibits across the country. Whether you are an avid collector or simply looking to find a few unique accent pieces for your home, here are some of the best art and antique shows in July featuring something for almost everyone. Throw on some sunglasses and head out on a treasure quest!

July 1: Alameda, CA
Alameda Point Antiques Faire
2900 Navy Way
9-3

July 4: Tiverton, RI
Tiverton Four Corners Antiques Show
3852 Main Road
9-4

July 5-9: Palmer, MA
Marier's Pre-Brimfield Antiques & Flea Market
Route 20
7-4

July 6-8: Boxboro, MA
Summer Northeast Comic Con
Regency Hotel
Route 111 at Route 495
Fri. 4-8; Sat.n 10-6; Sun 10-5

July 6-14: Brimfield, MA
27th Brimfield Paper & Postcard Marathon
Route 20
10-6

July 7-8: Kenner, LA
NDGA 44th Annual Convention & Vintage, Decorative & Collectibles Glass Show & Sale
Ponchartrain Center
Sat. 10-5; Sun. 11-4

July 7-8: Grayslake, IL
Grayslake Antique Flea Market
Grand Expo Hall Lake County fairgrounds
Sat. 9-4; Sun. 9-3

July 8: Milan, Ohio
Mid-Summer Antiques Fest
Main Street Village Square
8-4

July 10-15: Brimfield, MA
Brimfield Antique Week
Route 20

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This month Find Art Experts sat down with one of our clients, art collector and enthusiast, Allan Harvey, to discuss his passion for the art of Rodin and his vision for a private art museum:

Find Art Experts:

When did your passion for art begin?

Allan Harvey:

My interest in art began with an elective Post-Impressionist art class I took in college. Although I had little or no expectations, it ironically proved to be my favorite collegiate course in undergraduate school. From this modest beginning, I was later exposed to a multitude of world-class art museums throughout Europe, while traveling during an elective year in medical school   

Find Art Experts:

When did you start collecting Rodin?

Allan Harvey:

After launching a successful business in my late 20’s, I began to have the resources to purchase significant art which launched my collection of Rodin sculptures. Over the years I have been able to collect a multitude of works by Rodin including his bronze sculptures, plasters, terra cottas and associated artworks which include works of art on paper, manuscripts, and photographs. I have been  honored to have these works requested by museums in Texas, California, Oregon, and the Musee Rodin in Paris. It is my desire to continue to share artworks with public institutions on a request basis

Find Art Experts:

What draws you to the work of Rodin?

Allan Harvey:

What intrigues me is how Rodin transformed his study of the classic, fragmentary elements of Greek sculpture into a new expressivity that established his career as the father of modern sculpture

Read more ...

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When Find Art Experts recently traveled to the Middle East, we were were interested to determine whether or not there was any truth to the Western notion that women in the Arab world are oppressed and given little opportunity for artistic self-expression. We found instead that Arab women artists are doing great works. Here is one important Arabic female artist that caught our attention:

Thuraya Al-Baqsami was born in Kuwait in 1951. In 1956, Thuraya was sent to the Choueifat boarding school in Lebanon, however she returned to Kuwait as a civil war broke out in Lebanon in 1958.

In 1974 she moved to Moscow. She enrolled in the Surikov Institute – one of Russia’s most renowned art universities – and eventually completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees there. Her exposure to a Russian art training was extremely beneficial. She was taught that being an artist was a profession, and that she should view her work as legitimate labor, a revolutionary idea for her at the time. Having that mindset lit a spark, and motivated her to tackle her work with a much more dedicated attitude. It is here that she learned various graphic print-making techniques – namely lithograph and linocut – that greatly affected her creative output. Later in life, her work became best known for these graphic techniques, which were virtually unheard of in the Arab world. 

Her work presents a strong voice in the region, one that does not bow down to the societal and political pressures it faced and continues to face. Her idiosyncratic background and multi-cultural exposure creates a mélange of histories, concepts and forms in her works that are still ever changing and evolving today.