EMAIL: suityou@suityourself.org All Content is Copyright
Suit YourselftmInternational, Inc. All Rights Reserved.Suit YourselfTM International, Inc.
Fine Frivolity For Fastidious Folks.
Purveyors Of Foreign Paraphernalia To The Trade Since 1978.
|
120 Pendleton Point, Islesboro
Island, Maine USA 04848 EMAIL: suityou@suityourself.org All Content is Copyright Suit YourselftmInternational, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
|
Many of you write us asking
for more information about something you have. We
appreciate your concerns about the pieces you own. We are always happy to
hear from people interested in our expertise, and we read all the email we
receive from people interested in buying our items. Please
excuse this automated reply to your request to research the value of some item for
you to determine its worth. We're glad you're curious enough to ask further
questions and we hope this FAQ is helpful to you.
|
AN EXPERT, BY DEFINITION, EASILY DOES WHAT IS NOT EASY TO DO.
People don't think twice about paying their dentist, but most people are convinced anybody can quickly become an "Art Expert Dealer". All you need to do to make a bunch of money is go to a few flea markets, buy a couple of paperback pricing guides, buy and sell a few pieces occasionally on eBay, and watch Antiques Roadshow on PBS TV.
If you do what we suggest in this FAQ, you will improve your arts abilities but like all good suggestions, these require time and effort. People usually snort at our suggestions and say "But That Takes Too Long" and then we remind them "Yes, Of Course, It Takes A Lifetime Or More And That's Why We Are Called Experts and Why We Charge to Apply What We Know To Your Problem". An expert, by definition, easily does what is not easy to do.
We aren't just guessing when we describe our items. We have worked in this field for decades, our family has also worked in this field for generations before us, and we have the benefit of all their accumulated acquired knowledge, experience, and wisdom. We also have official degrees from venerable institutions of learning that substantiate our knowledge and expertise.
On the other hand, we don't know everything. Not only are we a little fuzzy about the beginning and end of the Universe and that green stuff in the refrigerator (which is also fuzzy), we don't even know everything about our own items. If you are very familiar with one of them and have spotted a serious error or omission in our description, please let us know. We'll be happy to make a correction. The accumulated knowledge and expertise of internet users never ceases to amaze us. Please consider using yours to benefit your fellow creatures.
FIRST & FOREMOST: Understanding Art requires personal participation in and with Art. Art is not learned vicariously. Evaluating Art Pieces is an Art in itself. The ability to correctly evaluate and discern any form of art is acquired through personal participation in that same art form; the degree of participation may vary between the artist and the evaluator, but the act of participation does not. In other words, there's no quick short path up this mountain, sorry.
HERE ARE OUR SUGGESTIONS TO YOU. Learn as well as you can to duplicate the technique and process that you think may have been used to create the piece. We do not mean to imply that you should become an expert , for example in oil painting, silk screen printing, glass blowing, ballet, or piano playing. You do not need to become an expert in something or spend a lot of time with it in order to learn to detect its presence.
You can read about these things forever, and you can study physical examples in museums, photos in books, watch videos and listen to music, but the level of discernment you are asking to acquire is only had through some amount of direct physical experience. YOU MUST ACTUALLY TRY TO DO IT. When you have done one or two experiments first on your own, however, you will then be able to better detect how something was created and your knowledge will be incontrovertible. Nobody will be able to fool you once you have done some of these actual processes yourself, such as sculpting, painting, and printing using as wide a variety of techniques and materials as you can get your hands on.
Again, we wish to stress that it is unnecessary to become an expert at these processes; you do not need to master them; it is enough to simply DO them a few times, to expose yourself to them by doing them yourself. While we have degrees in Art, and a remarkable pedigree, these are NOT absolutely necessary and there are other ways to acquire the knowledge you want for yourself.
Yes, all this takes time, effort, and perseverance, but you have our word as experts; you will learn it when you try to do it yourself and then you will know it for yourself. Taking a local Hands On art class in some form of art creation about which you know little or nothing, and you will quickly be answering your own questions.
ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE ARE NOT THE SAME THING.
ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE ARE NOT THE SAME THING. An Original is UNIQUE. An Original is the 1st of its kind, and often, but not always, the only one of its kind. A dance, a musical performance, a painting, a drawing, and a sketch are each an Original, even when they are a copy or a reproduction of some other piece, in the same way a musical performance by an orchestra is both Original and a Copy or Reproduction of every other previous performance ever given of that same music.
Each member of a pair of human twins is unique, but they are also an original pair, the first pair of their kind, and they are " twins ". Likewise, there are many ways in which something genuine can be "authenticated"; if you have ever played a flute, you know the difference between a synthesizer flute and a human played flute sound, and if you have ever tried to draw anatomical skeletons, you know whether or not an image was created by a human or a computer drawing program. You know which is the original and which is the fake.
COPIES AND FORGERIES ARE NOT THE SAME THING.
A copy is just another version of the original and it may, or may not be a reinterpretation of the original.
A forgery is a copy represented as the original that was created deliberately with the intent to deceive.
Click here for our FAQ on artist's copies.
Below is a quote by the Ancient Greek philosopher Hippocrates. He is known as the father of modern medicine and this saying is still used today to teach medical students; it applies equally well to the Arts:
SEE ONE, DO ONE,
TEACH ONE, KNOW ONE.
If you have read this FAQ and still have a question, by all means send an email to us directly at suityou@suityourself.org .
120 Pendleton Point, Islesboro Island, Maine USA 04848
EMAIL: suityou@suityourself.org All Content is Copyright