About Ben Mahmoud Expertise Questions regarding "the business of the arts (ie.artist/dealer relations).
Questions regarding the collecting of contemporary art.
Please keep in mind that I am not a professional appraiser, however, I can direct interested parties to sources of information.
Experience 40 years as professor of art, Northern Illinois University
Curator of University Art Collection (responsible for purchase and care).
Member of the board of directors, Illinois Arts Council.
Juror of many competitions.
See vitae: http://benmahmoud.com/resume.html
Publications Many conference proceedings.
"Advice to Young Artists in a Postmodern Era" with William Dunning, Syracuse University Press, 2000.
Education/Credentials MFA, Ohio University, 1960
Awards and Honors See vitae: http://http://benmahmoud.com/resume.html
Question We have several pieces of Hugh Cabot's work but have NO idea how to value them or potentially find a market for them. Have any ideas? Thank you very much.
Answer I am not an appraiser, but I can tell you how you can find out exactly what the pieces are worth.
Contact the Hugh Cabot Gallery at this phone number: 520.398.2721
If you do not wish to call, then you can e-mail them at this address:
gallery@hughcabot.com
Or you can write them at this address:
Hugh Cabot Gallery
PO Box 1478
Tubac, AZ 85646-1478
When you contact them, you should have some information available to you. The size of the works are important, so, you will have to be able to relate the size of the works (not the size of the frame). You will also have to tell the gallery the medium of each work. If they are paintings are they in oil or acrylic? I suspect that Cabot may not have worked in acrylic. The ground the work is on. Paper? Canvas?
If the work is a print, you will have to provide the edition number if there is one. The number would be written in pencil just below the image. It would look something like this: 25/250 This means that it is the 25th print of an edition of 250.
And if you can discern any dates on the work, that would be helpful. Finally, if have some excellent photos of the works, and you can scan them in to your computer, I am sure that you attach the images to the e-mail.
I think that the Hugh Cabot Gallery is a very reputable gallery, and I feel that you can trust what they have to say. However, if they should offer to buy the works from you, before they have established to your satisfaction the value of the pieces, be wary of that. Most reputable galleries will take work on consignment, but they would retain a commission on the sale.
There is an auction record for Hugh Cabot. Some of his works have been auctioned, and that really sets the value. However, in order to obtain that information, one must subscribe to the service. It might cost about $15 for one day...but that would be all you would need.
Should you wish to know more about the auction record, please do a follow up question.
