How To Buy Art?

Buying art has never been easier. With just a few clicks, you can bid on an artwork that speaks to you, no prior experience or background knowledge required. A key guideline is to buy art with your "gut feeling"—choose a piece that simply appeals to you. However, there are times when you might need assistance to make informed judgments and smart decisions, especially if you’re planning to invest significant time and money in the purchase.
Such evaluations are an art form in themselves, requiring knowledge, experience, and a keen sense of detail.
Here are some expert tips from Auctionet to guide you.

Who Is the Artist?

The significance of the artist is often crucial for a piece’s soul, its importance in the art world, and ultimately its value. The signature serves as the strongest clue. Often, the painting is signed with the artist's full name, sometimes with an alias or abbreviation, and occasionally not signed at all. You can find the signature in a corner of the painting or on the back. If you can decipher the name, the next step is to research the artist and their previously sold works, for example, through Auctionet’s records. If the signature is difficult to read or abbreviated, various registries, both online and in books, can be helpful. The Swedish Artists’ Lexicon (1952–1967) includes approximately 12,000 names. Contemporary artists are often easy to find online.

Anders Zorn's signature.

How do you know if a signature is genuine?
A signature is not a guarantee that the artist has touched the painting. In cases where forgery is suspected, carefully chosen expert knowledge is required to closely examine techniques, color schemes, and provenance.

All artworks sold via Auctionet.com are inspected by experts at the auction houses.

Carl Larsson. "Lisbeth by the Birch Tree."

Study the Subject

What the painting depicts is significant, as it often reveals something about the artist, their era, environment, and expression. Most importantly, the subject should appeal to you as the viewer. Ideally, it should evoke strong feelings or reactions.

Many artists repeatedly explore the same subjects. For instance, Bruno Liljefors is known for his foxes, Zorn for his depictions of women, and Salvador Dalí for his melting clocks. The better you know the artist, the easier it becomes to interpret a painting and link it to its creator, with or without a signature. By studying the subjects closely, you’ll eventually become familiar with the artist’s expression, technique, color palette, and themes. However, even this can be challenging for the sharpest experts, as many famous paintings remain disputed due to uncertain origins. One example is one of the world’s currently most expensive paintings: Salvator Mundi, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.

Bruno Liljefors is known for his fox motifs.

Determine the Age

If the piece is dated, it can often help determine whether it belongs to a strong or weaker period in the artist’s career—late in their life, during a specific style period, or influenced by their personal circumstances. An artist’s expression and techniques can vary across periods. For example, Picasso had different style phases, such as “Cubism” and the “Blue Period,” while Gustav Klimt is best remembered for his “Golden Period.” Bruno Liljefors, for example, had more or less sober periods, while Van Gogh’s mental health influenced the quality of his paintings.

The value and significance of a piece can also be affected by the time of its creation, such as during wartime, and how much preserved art remains from that period.

Experts look at clues both on the front and back to determine the age: Signature, pigments, mounting, varnish, canvas type, lables etc

Inspect the Condition

Experts at auction houses examine and note any damages, scratches, or defects in the piece. These factors naturally affect the value and are included in the appraisal. This information is always listed in the item description and should be considered when placing a bid.

Condition vs. patina

The value and interest in a painting can be influenced by factors like whether the original frame is included, whether touch-ups have been made, and how patina has affected the condition. Patina is the natural wear and tear, the patterns of use, and it can be either positive or negative for value. A beautifully aged, dark brown back of a painting or piece of furniture suggests authenticity and age, often cherished by buyers. In folk art, patina is highly valued because it tells us how an item was used and how extensively. Worn furniture can be both charming and valuable.

The same rules apply to furniture, glass, and collectibles. Examine the item and its packaging carefully. Is the oxidized metal attractive or a sign of neglect? Does the toy come in its original packaging, and if so, has it been opened?

Patina on a cabinet after many years of use.

Repairs

Repairs often lower the value, but there are exceptions. For porcelain items, staples around a crack can sometimes be seen as charming. In China, valuable items were traditionally repaired with gold to enhance the crack’s durability and aesthetic appeal. This art form is known as Kintsugi.

A repaired item is a loved item.

Look For Clues On the Back

Information a tergo

While the front of a painting naturally takes center stage, the back can sometimes be just as intriguing to art lovers. By flipping the piece over, you can combine the tips mentioned above to make a final assessment. In the art world, the back is referred to as a tergo.

The back may hold valuable information about condition, previous ownership, age, producer, editions, and more. Look for signatures, stamps, old price tags, or provenance.

A tergo, the back of the artwork, can hold valuable information.

There may indeed be valuable information to find a tergo, regarding condition, previous owners, age, producer, editions, and much more. Check what is there—signatures, stamps, old prices, or provenance.

Provenance

Provenance refers to an item’s ownership history and is often crucial for its value. It can reveal if a piece was owned by a notable person, passed down through generations without being sold, or was part of a collection or exhibition. Provenance can sometimes motivate buyers to feel “closer” to the artist or a figure involved in its history, significantly impacting its price.

For example, items from Ingmar Bergman’s home have fetched record amounts despite their simplicity. Keep in mind that provenance must be verifiable—notes on the back of a piece can be worth a fortune!

Helmer Osslund (1866 - 1938) "Våren". PROVENIENCE: Consul Emil A. Matton, Blewegården, Private collection.

Editions

The back might also indicate the number of editions produced or whether the piece is part of a pair. Generally, artworks have lower value if produced in multiple editions. This is why paintings typically achieve higher prices than printed art—because only one original exists. For auctioning books, it’s crucial to check the number of editions and the order in which they were published.

Earlier editions are almost always more valuable than later ones. Finding a first edition can mean significantly more money, regardless of condition.

Edition by Georges Braque. *"L'oiseau Traversant Le Nuage" (L'oiseau XI)*, color lithograph, numbered 48/75.

The Canvas

Also, inspect the canvas’s condition from the back. Holes or repairs are often more visible from this side. Most frames are made of wood, so take a look at the frame’s color as well. A dark and “aged” back can be just as beautiful as the subject on the front.

Inspect the canvas’s condition from the back.