ART SALES
- Our primary business is selling art. What distinguishes us from
auction houses and most other galleries is the wide range of services we can provide to
our collectors.
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QUALITY OF
WORKS AVAILABLE
- As the leading Latin American art gallery in the world, mam/fa is
well known for the museum quality works it makes available to collectors. We focus on
masterworks from the 20th century by the most important artists of Mexico and Latin
America. Our reputation for quality, integrity and expertise ensures that collectors and
institutions wanting to sell works in this field come to Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art.
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CONTEMPORARY
WORKS
- While mam/fa specializes in masterworks of the 20th century, we
also handle works by important contemporary artists from Latin America. It is not unusual
at mam/fa to see a work of Diego Rivera or Frida Kahlo hanging next to works by
contemporary Latin American artists like Botero, Bravo or Morales. mam/fa also
represents a small number of contemporary artists whom we feel will be regarded as
tomorrow's masters. At this time we are the US representatives for Alfredo Castañeda, Elena
Climent and Gunther Gerzso. For more information
on these artists, please visit our artists
page.
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LOCATING
WORKS FOR COLLECTORS
- Because of our pivotal position in creating the market for Latin
American pictures in this country twenty years ago, we have access to private collections
around the world. Many important works were placed in these collections by mam/fa
over the years and we can frequently locate works that are not currently on the market. If
there is a specific work in which you are interested or a type of work you are seeking,
please let us know.
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CONSIGNMENTS
- Not all art for sale in galleries is necessarily owned inventory.
A work may be consigned by its owner to a gallery which earns a commission when it sells
the piece. By consigning a work to mam/fa, a collector can take advantage of our
sales experience and expertise and still be assured of receiving the highest possible
return for his work. A particular advantage of consigning property to an art gallery, as
opposed to an auction house, is that the work is handled discretely and offered only to
the collectors most likely to buy. For this reason the work is not burned on the open
market if it is not sold. Works which fail to sell at public auction are usually much more
difficult to sell afterward and frequently need a cooling down period of a year or more.
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CLIENT
SERVICES
- In addition to the sale of art, mam/fa provides services for
clients in the following areas:
- Appraisals
It is very important for collectors to have an accurate, professional appraisal of the
works they own. For insurance and estate planning it is more than important, it is a must.
mam/fa's knowledge of the retail and auction market for Lain American works is
unequaled and we are available to do accurate appraisals of Latin American Art collections
for insurance or fair market value purposes. Please note, however, that as a member of the
Art Dealers Association of America, mam/fa does not do appraisals for tax
purposes. The ADAA specializes in such valuations, which must be prepared in a special
format by a panel of specialists in each field. For this reason ADAA appraisals have had a
high degree of acceptance by governmental tax authorities. Please visit the ADAA website for more information.
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- Auction advisory services
Auctions are becoming more fashionable every day. What was once a forum for wholesale
purchases by dealers acquiring stock has now become retail, a do it yourself occupation,
open to everyone. But everyone does not have the specialized professional knowledge needed
for buying expensive art at auction and doing it yourself can have some pitfalls. Some of
the biggest traps an unwary auction goer can fall into are set forth in one of our
newsletter articles Thirteen Questions. This has
become our most frequently requested text and excerpts from this article have been
reprinted in a number of trade magazines and business journals.
A smart collector will seek advice from professionals when considering an auction
purchase. Dealers are practiced auction buyers and can usually spot problems if they
exist. mam/fa's staff will personally examine works for you and arrange to bid in
your behalf if you cannot attend the sale. We can check the physical condition of a work
and, if necessary, arrange for a restorer's examination before you buy, advise you on the
authenticity, quality and suggested estimate of a work. We can also let you know if
similar works are available on the retail market.
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- Private collection advice and
consulting
A good art gallery must do more than just sell art. Its principals must provide honest
advice to its clients, in order to build long term relationships, based on trust. It must
provide complementary services to the sale of works, both for consignors and purchasers.
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- Acquisitions
An art collection makes a statement about the collector, his eye, his interests and his
taste. Private individuals are more and more building art collections with an eye towards
posterity, either to benefit favored institutions or simply to pass on wealth to their
children. It is very important for collectors to develop strong relationships with art
dealers who understand their taste and motivation. The art dealer in turn can recommend
new artists or works which will be consistent with a collection's purpose and aesthetics.
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- Restoration
Sometimes bad things happen to good art. mam/fa can arrange for the restoration
of damaged works. Over the years dirt or smoke can accumulate on pictures, making them
lose visible detail. A simple cleaning can restore the lost detail, brighten colors and
increase the attractiveness of a work, but the wrong restorer can cause irreparable harm.
Over the years mam/fa has formed relationships with highly skilled conservators of
paintings, drawings, sculpture and prints and we will be happy to direct you to them, so
that your valued art is preserved for future generations.
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- Framing
The wrong frame can detract from a picture and possibly cause deterioration to the
work. The right frame can make an incredible difference, enhancing one's appreciation of
the artist's intent, and even protecting the work from damage. Selecting the right frame
for a picture takes a practiced eye and a knowledge of where to find the best frame at the
proper price. Few amateur collectors have access to framers who work with galleries and
museums but mam/fa can arrange for your work to be framed by to the trade only
suppliers.
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MUSEUM SERVICES
- mam/fa has traditionally been an important resource for museums curators planning
to acquire or exhibit Latin American art. We have helped museums all around the world
locate lost works for exhibitions, since our wide collector contacts have
frequently put us in the position of knowing where things are. Collectors can count on our
discretion as we never reveal the location of works without first obtaining the owner's
permission. In some cases we have acted as the lender's agent with the museum, thus
preserving the collector's privacy while enabling the public to view a work that would
otherwise have remained hidden away in a private collection. We are frequently called upon
to negotiate the terms of loans with collectors, provide insurance appraisals for works
being lent by collectors to museums, and for works going from one museum to another. In
several cases we have provided insurance valuations for entire exhibitions. Since the
founding of mam/fa, Mary-Anne Martin has acted as the special advisor to a number
of prestigious shows, among them Diego Rivera, the Cubist Years, at the
Phoenix Art Museum and IBM Gallery, NY in 1984, the Diego Rivera Retrospective
traveling show organized in 1985 by the Detroit Institute of Arts, the 1988 Tamayo
exhibition organized by the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, the Frida Kahlo
traveling exhibition held in Tokyo by Seibu in 1989, Mexico, Splendors of Thirty
Centuries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1990, Mexican Renaissance
(Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros) at Nagoya City (Japan) Art Museum in 1989 and the Rufino
Tamayo Retrospective organized by Nagoya in 1993 and, most recently, the Leonora
Carrington exhibition for 1997 and 1998 by the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper
organization.
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