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Home » An Original Watercolor Painting by Charles Nicolas Sarka (1879-1960)

An Original Watercolor Painting by Charles Nicolas Sarka (1879-1960)

I believe the information you need is in the photos. Thank you for looking at these I look forward to hearing from you.

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This is a professional appraisal report, provided upon request. In this report, I researched and interpreted information provided by the requester. The appraisal report contains different sections to complete the description, identification, and appraisal of this artwork ( ). Extra information like provenance, author, style of painting, date, appraisal method (Mark to Market Valuation) and recommended venues to pursue selling.

This report is designed to give you an appraisal value for the artwork you own, whether it is a painting, sculpture, or another type of art. The information provided will help you to understand your piece and its value. I use the world reserve currency (US dollars) to appraise each artwork. The selection aims to avoid currency risk variations that could affect appraisals over time. This report is not intended to encourage you to sell your art; rather, it aims to provide information on your art’s value, so that you know what steps to take if you do wish to sell. It is recommended to update the reports (if for insurance) every three years, to reflect changes in the market and account for inflation.

Description, research and provenance of

Image Recognition with Artificial Intelligence

To investigate this work of art, I used image recognition with artificial intelligence to try to find the first clues. Image recognition, in the context of machine vision, is the ability of software to identify artworks, objects, places, people, shapes, or forms. Computers can use machine vision technologies based on artificial intelligence software to find images similar to the input picture. A specialized program is used to determine whether the front photograph of the artwork is available on the internet. The software takes the picture as an input, compares it with millions of other works in the database, and outputs similar images. This software will be useful later to determine the origin of the art piece. For clatification, the input image is a frontal picture, straight, leveled and filtered image of your artwork. The results of the automatic recognition are not conclusive. If a match is found, it will be shown below:

What specific information can we obtain from this test?

The artwork frontal picture isn’t similar to any of the previous results. In this case, we can confirm that the artwork is an original scene and original artwork. By “original scene”, I refer to a painting of a scene that has never been painted before. By “original artwork,” I refer to an artwork that has been hand painted by an artist as opposed to a print, a limited edition print, a poster, or a postcard. While some results may show similarities, I concluded they are too unconcise to be considered relevant.

It is true it has some similarities with Paul Cézanne’s artwork, but my best guess is the artist took inspiration in his artworks. I don’t have doubts this is an original scene and an original painting.

Signature Investigation

In this part, I study and research the signature of the artwork. I used a larger picture of the signature and try to interpret it. In this step, I also consider any signature or information that is located on the back of the artwork. In some cases, we can see a signature on the back or even an identification sticker that can be used to identify the artist.

A picture of the signature and/or back (if relevant) is depicted below:

I can read the signature as:

Arka Tahiti

Fortunately, on the back of the painting there is a sticker with the information about the artist:

At this point, I can use the signature and try to find the artist’s name in a database of known-listed artists. Basically, it is a database with information about the names, surnames, origins, and biographies of the most well-known artists. The database is really large, so if the artist is known, I can find him/her. Otherwise, the artwork was made by a local, amateur, or unknown artist. Keep in mind that if the artist isn’t listed in the database, it is unknown to art collectors (potential buyers of this artwork).

Also, it is important to note that around 98-99% of artworks are made by unknown artists. If I can’t find the name in the database, I typically search in online orbituaries to try to find the person who made it.

I found that the artist is listed for this painting.

Charles Nicolas Sarka (1879-1960)

I could find a picture of the signature from a genuine, known painting by Charles. I can see the signature is identical:

The artist made all kinds of paintings, drawings, prints, and limited edition prints. In this case, this painting is a watercolor painting.

Medium, frame construction, style and frame

Now that I have more information about the artist, I can check if the style and type of painting matches the artist referenced. An artist may change painting style, scenes and compositions with time, so I checked similar paintings during the whole lifetime of the artist. In this test, I would expect to find similar known paintings made by this artist. 

Another important point is to date the painting and check if the frame construction technique, medium used and colors matches the lifetime period of the artist. There are many variables in this step, so I will explain here an example so you can understand the purpose of this part. I check the frame construction for small details, like the type of metallic parts used, if the wood joints and cuts are irregular, or if the wood cuts were machined. That small details can help to know the age of the painting. For instance, a the frame construction that includes modern metallic pieces like flat-head nails, staples, or Phillips-head screws can be dated circa 20th Century. Older frames comprises the use of irregular wood cuts (hand made) and hand forged metallic parts. In some cases, you can see absence of metallic parts. This is only an example for the frame construction, but I consider the type of medium used and the color palette. As a reference, a picture of the back of this artwork is included below:

For this painting, I find the frame construction perfectly matches the period, late 20th Century. The artist is listed and known, but his artworks aren’t so valuable to have reproductions. In this case, I couldn’t find any reproductions made.

Conclusion

I think this artwork is valuable and can be interested to art collectors and decorators.

The artwork is of good quality, the composition is harmonious, and the creator chose a distinctive, alluring, and warm color palette. I believe that decorators and/or collectors would be interested in this work of art. Such high-caliber paintings are uncommon.

: Final Appraisal Value ($)

700-900$

Appraisal Report made by:

Andrés Gómez

BSc, MSc, Expert Art Appraiser

10+ year of Experience in Online Art Appraisals.
100k+ Customers Served.
Antique Store Owner.
You can check my portofolio of past appraisals here:

https://www.appraisily.com/andres-portofolio/

Signature:

Pictures received

We have Experts online now.

How to sell it

Antiques, art, and other collectibles are difficult items to sell online. This can take a lot of time. Be patient, but also make sure that the price you are asking for is the right one for your pieces of art. Consider the following tips on how to sell antiques and collectibles online. These tips will help maximize the price of your antique or collectible.

I would recommend selling it online, there are many ways to do this, for instance: Post an ad on Craigslist. Use eBay to sell antiques online. Post a listing on the Etsy marketplace. Sell with direct messages using Instagram. Create a website using Squarespace or WordPress. Use Shopify to sell via a website, POS and social channels. List your items on Bonanza.com, Facebook Marketplaces or Amazon Marketplace. The higher number of ads the better, if you don’t have time, I would recommend to start with Facebook, Etsy and Amazon.

The key to selling antiques on-line is to let potential customers know that you know what you are talking about. It’s much more difficult to sell something when the potential buyer can’t be sure it is authentic. Sellers should use a well thought out descriptive guides, like this report. A good lead generation service should be helpful in establishing these relationships with online buyers, and an effective way to do this is through a classified ads. If a buyer asks for more information, giving them some valuable facts well ahead of time will get you more sales because your reputation increases and real customers are the ones who ask for more details.

In order to sell your Antiques online, you will need to create a profile on the relevant forum (Etsy, Amazon and FB). Make sure you add a high-resolution image of the product (include at least 3 detailed photos) and add some text. The text should be informative and straight to the point, nothing fancy or fluffy.

Asking price is a big factor to sell your antique. If your asking price is too high (fancy company stickers, missing parts, or chip paint) you are unlikely to get many bids. If the asking price is too low it will cost you money for repairs, shipping, and insurance. As a general rule, I would recommend setting an asking price that is 80% of the value of this report, so you will make the listing attractive from the beginning.

About the valuation method

To value this item I have considered the results from past auction sales. Keep in mind that the final price can be different from asking prices that you can find on the internet. You can see ads on the internet with different asking prices. However, a very high asking price doesn’t normally find cash from a buyer.

That’s why our method comprises searching and comparing similar past sale results that had a buyer. That’s why we can provide an accurate estimation of this item.

For art pieces, remember that it isn’t the same a print, a limited edition print or an original art piece. If the artist can’t be identified, the value assigned corresponds to the quality and potential interest of the market for the painting.

To value this item I have considered the results from past auction sales. Keep in mind that the final price can be different from asking prices that you can find on the internet. You can see ads on the internet with different asking prices. However, a very high asking price doesn’t normally find cash from a buyer. That’s why our method comprises searching and comparing similar past sale results that had a buyer. That’s why we can provide an accurate estimation of this item.

Trying to determine likely interests and tastes of a broad market can be tricky. Works by a lesser-known artist may reveal greater interest to collectors than you might expect, but it is difficult to know without some market research. The same applies for artists who have works in the major museums or galleries but whose work doesn’t command large prices at auction or from dealers. Do not confuse print original limited edition. Be aware that the value of a piece of art is linked to the artist’s name and reputation. The quality of the work of art, its potential interest, are also major factors in its evaluation.

Quality art can be a good investment, but a large print or lithograph might not be as valuable. There are many different kinds of prints. An original piece of art has the highest value, followed by limited edition prints, which have a set number of prints produced.

3 thoughts on “An Original Watercolor Painting by Charles Nicolas Sarka (1879-1960)”

  1. Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the images on thisblog loading? I’m trying to determine if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

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