Tips on Appraising, Managing, and Donating Your Art Collection

Starting March 2007, Afua Trading Fine Art and Educational Services will provide monthly tips to assist you in managing your art collection. Topics will include why you should have your artwork appraised; how to inventory your art collection; why donate your artwork to charity, among others. The monthly tips will be coupled with a resource in print or multimedia format to include in your personal art resource library.

We welcome your feedback on our monthly tips and growing resource library for your fine art collection and management needs.

International Caribbean Art Fair, November 2007, NYC

For artists, collectors, appraisers, and other visual art related professionals, check out a forthcoming exhibition on Caribbean Art held at the Puck Building this November 2007, International Caribbean Art Fair.

African American Fine Art Auctions (NYC)

On February 3rd and 6th two auctions of African American Fine Art were scheduled to take place. Welancora Auction House started the process featuring Post-War and Contemporary Art from the collection of the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art. Swann Galleries followed with a robust supply of African-American art works from the 19th century to present day.

I attended the Swann Galleries auction. The auction took place on two floors. Telephone bids were as aggressive as bids from the audience. This auction featured twelve black female and fifty-seven male artists. The majority of the artists were deceased. The works included paintings, prints, and sculptures.

The most noteworthy sales were that of works by Walter Williams, Lois Mailou Jones, Alvin Hollingsworth, Kara Walker, and Beauford Delaney. Two nineteenth-century works (Edward Bannister and Charles Porter) were sold. Works by Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence dominated in volume and sale price. One could also recognize bids from institutions using same qualifiers. Screenprints of 30 years or more did particularly well.

I hope you were able to attend either auction as they both represent the growing presence and importance of African American Fine Art in the marketplace. I encourage you to view the web sites of these auction houses for sale results and further information.

New York City's Black Fine Art Week Activities

It has been a very busy six days in New York City as swarms of black fine art lovers flock to a myriad of activities celebrating the artistic achievements of visual artists representing the African diaspora.

On January 31st the 11th Annual National Black Fine Art Show kicked-off with a benefit gala reception and preview. The benefit recipient: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The 31st also noted the opening day viewing of Swann Galleries' Department of African American Fine Art lots to be auctioned on Tuesday, February 6th.

The weekend of February 3-4 featured the National Black Fine Art Show and its accompany educational series, coordinated by the Museum of Contemporary Art in the African Diaspora (Brooklyn, NY) and an auction of Post-War and contemporary art at Welancora Auction House (Brooklyn, NY). Later this month, Swann Galleries will auction African American Ephemera, Memorabilia, and Printed Manuscripts.

Black fine art collectors and art enthusiasts will round-off the month with a plethora of community-based events commemorating the political, social, and cultural achievements of black America.