Has anyone ever heard of an artist by Amin?

Question

My grandparents found an ugly painting in their closet. It looks like it is of rice patties or something it has palm trees in it. They think some guy from Georgia did it like forever ago. It looks like it is signed AMIN in print. The last letter is kind of fuzzy but is definately AMI and we think an N I did find something about an artist named Ebrahim Amin but how do I know if this is his work? Thanks!!

Answer 1

First, try entering a name into a meta search engine like www.dogpile.com. Enter it in quotes "John Smith" to narrow down your search, Or "John Smith California" to narrow it down even more.

For information on artists living or dead, try sites like: "absolutearts.com" or "worldwidearts.com" and type in whatever you have--artist name, type of work, style of work, medium used, size, etc. Is it a print, a painting, a photograph, an original, a copy? a numbered lithograph print is a lot different than a giclee print. These things all effect the value, as does the condition.

If the artist is dead, a gallery link might pop up. A gallery dealing with the works or the estate of an artist can give you a lot of useful information, might be able to tell you the value and if there is a market for the work. If you are looking to get a piece appraised, do as much research as you can on it first. If it's a print, that is a different kind of dealer than if you have an original oil painting. A print might be more appropriate for an antiques dealer while a painting might be more appropriate for a gallery to appraise. Museums do very little if any outside appraisal. They do not have the time or the staff to offer that service.