Old painting valuation: oils, watercolours and prints

A painting that has hung in a hallway for years does not immediately reveal what it is. Painting or reproduction? Old or more recent? Signed by whom? To value it, we look at the front, the back and very closely.

The works we value

• oil paintings on canvas, on wooden panel or on board;
• watercolours, gouaches, pastels and drawings;
• engravings and lithographs;
• portraits, landscapes, seascapes, still lifes, genre scenes and religious paintings;
• miniatures and small cabinet pictures.

What we look at to value an old painting

Technique and support

We look at how the painting is made. An oil on wooden panel, a fine canvas stretched on a frame, old paper: the support already gives clues about the period and the place.

The signature

A signature helps, but it is not enough. Some signatures were added later. On the other hand, many good old paintings are not signed. We check whether the signature was painted at the same time as the rest, and whether the style matches the name.

The back of the painting

The back often tells the painting's story. We look at the stretcher, the canvas, the stamps of the colour merchant who sold the canvas, gallery, exhibition or shipping labels, and handwritten notes. A new canvas stuck behind the old one, called relining, shows a past restoration.

Subject and quality

For the same period, a pleasant, well painted subject attracts more interest than a sad or clumsy one. We look at the fineness of the drawing, the hands, the faces, the light.

Condition

Cracking is normal on an old painting. We look above all at holes, tears, losses and lifting paint. Under an ultraviolet lamp, recent retouching shows up dark. A yellowed varnish can be cleaned by a restorer and does not necessarily lower the value.

The frame

An old carved wooden frame gilded with gold leaf can be worth something on its own. A moulded and gilded plaster frame, more common, is worth less. We value it with the painting.

Original print or simple reproduction?

This question comes up often. An intaglio print, such as an etching or an engraving, has a plate mark around the image, the mark of the copper plate pressed into the paper. A lithograph has no plate mark, but its line often has the grainy look of a pencil drawing. A modern printed reproduction shows a regular grid of small dots under a magnifying glass.

For 20th-century prints, we also look at the pencil signature and the edition number.

Mistakes to avoid before selling

• Do not clean the painting yourself: no water, no potato, no bread, no household product.
• Do not re-varnish the painting.
• Do not take it out of its frame, and do not tear off the labels on the back.
• Never roll up a canvas, and do not put sticky tape on a tear.
• Store paintings somewhere dry, away from radiators. Keep watercolours and drawings out of the sun: light makes them fade.
• Keep receipts, old catalogues, letters or family photos that show the painting.

How the valuation works

The valuation is free and comes with no obligation. We travel at no cost to your home in Paris and Île-de-France. For a first idea, send us photos on WhatsApp: the whole painting with its frame, a close-up of the signature, the whole back, and the labels.

If you sell, we buy with immediate payment, by bank transfer.

Paintings are often part of a whole, with the furniture and objects in a home. For an estate, we can look at everything at the same visit. If the home has to be emptied, we also offer house clearance, with the amount we pay taken off the price.

A photo of the canvas, one of the back and one of the signature are enough for a first opinion: send them on WhatsApp to 06 24 56 38 58 (+33 6 24 56 38 58 from abroad), or call us.