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 QUESTION: I have a taber prang print, maybe signed by "neumann" 1901, was probably a wedding gift to my great aunt ca 1918. is there a catalogue of taber prang prints where I might find out more about the artist. the print is of a monk, priest and acolyte in a wine cellar.
ANSWER: Hmmm. I get a lot of questions about Taber-Prang prints. It is very difficult proceed correctly without the size and the medium. However, I will make some assumptions and proceed.
If your print is mechanically reproduced, there should be some signs of the process. In fact, I don't think that Taber-Prang did unique prints. My suspicion is that the work was produced by lithography. I wonder how many colors are used in the process? That would have some bearing on the value. The aspect that has the greatest impact on value is this: how many of this print did they produce. I wonder if you can find any signs of an edition number. It would be written on the paper below the image and would look something like this: 12/50. This would mean it is the twelfth print in an edition of 50. The first number has no impact on the value. It is only the size of the edition that matters.
It could be, too, that your print was reproduced by the process of photogravure. I know of some prints by T-P from 1907 that were done by this process. These prints can be very colorful. I have found one that is 12 3/4" x 26" (a photogravure) that was priced at $485.00.
You might be interested in the history of the Tabor-Prang Company.
In 1856, Prang and a partner created a firm, Prang and Mayer, to produce lithographs. The company specialized in prints of buildings and towns in Massachusetts. In 1860, he bought the share of his partner, creating L. Prang and Company and began work in colored printing of advertising and other forms of business materials.[1] The firm became extraordinarily successful and also became well known for war maps, printed during the American Civil War and distributed by newspapers.
In 1864, Prang went to Europe to learn about cutting-edge German lithography. Returning the next year, Prang began to create high quality reproductions of major art works. Prang also began creating series of popular album cards, advertised to be collected into scrapbooks, showing natural scenes and patriotic symbols. At Christmas 1873, Prang began creating greeting cards for the popular market in England and began selling the Christmas card in America the next year. Therefore, he is sometimes called the "father of the American Christmas card." Prang is also well known for his efforts to improve art education in the United States, publishing instructional books and creating a foundation to train art teachers.
In 1897, Louis Prang and Company merged with another company, creating the Taber-Prang Company and moving to Springfield, Massachusetts. Prang died in Los Angeles on vacation in 1909.
I have found Tabor-Prang prints ranging in price from $3.00 to close to $400.00. Your's is rather old, and if in good condition, I would tend to place it closer to the upper range of prices.
However, I am not a professional appraiser, but you can go to theInstappraisal web page where you can submit your item for a free appraisal. Here is the link to their site:
To get a really accurate appraisal, you would, of course, have to pay a fee. When you contact Instaappraisal, you should have the size of the paper upon with the print is made. The size of the image on the paper. It would be best if you could send them a digital scan of the print, but that might not be necessary for their free appraisal.
Please, do not touch the paper with your bare hands. The oil from our skin would eventually cause damage to the paper. If the print is framed, and you take it out of the frame, please replace the print with acid free paper behind the print. Acid free matte board can be purchased at any frame store. This is very important, since the acid in normal paper or matte board can do great damage to the print.
Well, I hope that I have been of some service to you, and good luck.
Regards, Ben Mahmoud
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QUESTION: That you so much for the info, the signature, under a magnifying glass appears to be H Baumann, or Boumann not Neumann. I cannot find a run mumber on the front. I had it professionally rematted 10 yrs ago, and hesitate to remove it from the frame. They said it was a hand colored lithograph, the colors are bright, reds, blues, and well as earth tones it is aprox 16"x20." thank you agaim, jim
Answer Well, a hand colored litho is not a bad thing. You would do well not to let any bright light fall onto the image. Those older colors can fade in sunlight.
I have found a document from Clars Auction Gallery that has this information:
_______________
Unframed pen/ ink drawing, San Francisco Landscape [''1318 from 17th
Street hill''], by Karl H. Baumann (Californian 1911-1984), initialled lower
right, estate stamped verso, sheet: 11''h x 14''w. Information: from the artist,
by family descent, South Carolina. Condition: taped to matboard in upper
right and left corners; light foxing; paper tape residue upper right and left. low appraisal$ 200 high appraisal$ 400
_____________
The term "foxing" refers to a mold or fungus that attacks paper. The evidence for foxing is small, light brown patches in the paper. Foxing can be treated, but it is expensive.
Now what they have is a drawing, not a print. A drawing would have more value, all things being equal, than a print.
The document is dated June 30 to July 1, but there is not a sign of what year the document was drawn up. There is a telephone number for the Auction Gallery: 510.428-0100. I found that Clars Auction Gallery is still in business, and is located on Telegraph Hill in Oakland, CA. You can go to this page. On the upper right hand is a line in red, "Send Email." You can surely get a response from them as to what the Baumann litho sold for. They might be interested in handling the work for you. Here is the link:
