307 N Michigan Ave., Suite 308
Chicago, IL 60601
Downtown: 312.814.8510
Suburban: 630.734.3300
Birger Sandzén: Colors of the Midwest
This week, we decided to feature a Midwestern artist to celebrate the rich culture and tradition of art in the Midwest. Acclaimed landscape painter Birger Sandzén was born in Blindsbery, Sweden in 1871. When he was eight years old he was gifted his first art supplies, and began drawing lessons with art student Kommminster GustafRead the Rest…
Whistler’s Etchings; A Master of the Art Makes his Mark
Nocturn: Palaces James McNeill Whistler, 1879, Etching/drypoint, 11 5/8″ x 7 7/8″ Recently here at MIR we have been lucky to have the chance to work on a large and impressive collection of etchings by the artist James Abbot McNeil Whistler (1834-1903), one of the most prominent American artists of the late 19th century. He isRead the Rest…
Graffiti as Contemporary Art
On April 4, 2013, the prominent New York City artist Kenny Scharf was arrested in Brooklyn while creating public art. Scharf was incarcerated because his composition, a signature squiggly snake in black and white spray paint, was deemedRead the Rest…
Finders Keepers: Stolen Artwork Uncovered
Marcia Fuqua, a 51-year old Virginia woman, unwittingly purchased an original painting by French Impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) for $7 at the Harpers Ferry Flea Market. News of the discovery made waves in the art world this month when an Alexandria auction house announced its intentions to sell the Renoir landscape, and a journalistRead the Rest…
Recto/Verso and Vice Versa: The “Backstory” Behind a Famous Drawing
Recto and Verso are, or front and back, are common terms used when describing art. Although most of the time we appreciate a painting or a drawing from the front, the verso should not be dismissed. ARead the Rest…
The Power of Provenance: A Picture Worth a Thousand Words
Every picture has a story. To be able to follow an image from its inception to its current-day location is an incredible example of provenance, or the documented story behind a piece of work. In terms of the art market, provenance is a means by which art experts can examine and verify authenticity and establishRead the Rest…
Damage and Insuring Art
This past January and February, just a few months after the catastrophic Hurricane Sandy flooded parts of New York City, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published a new map assessing the risk levels per neighborhood of possible future flooding inRead the Rest…
Accidents Happen: Restoring and Maintaining the Condition of your Fine Art
The condition of your fine art is one of the most important variables in determining its value. During an appraisal, an expert inspects whether the original condition of the item has been preserved, and if it has not, to what extent it has been damaged. After assessing the overall appearance of the object, factors suchRead the Rest…
Examining Authentications
In art and antiques, the authenticity of an object defines its value and importance in the trajectory of art history. Without legitimate provenance, or a sequence of historic records of the chronology of ownership, custody or location of an item, evidence of an object’s legitimacy can be seen as ambiguous and circumstantial. In these casesRead the Rest…
The Importance of a Professional Eye
There exists something in the art world called “connoisseurship.” It simply means the combination of knowledge, experience, and instinct that enables experts to discern a true work of art from the superfluity of fakes and imitators in the world. It is this quality that can elevate a simple sketch into a treasured part of history,Read the Rest…
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307 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 308
Chicago, IL 60601
phone: 312.814.8510
email: info@mirappraisal.com
