I got involved in the art world at the right time. Prices were low, auction rooms were not well known to all people and so few bought and sold art thirty years ago. The internet was unheard of and so all the business was done through word of mouth and catalogues. Being at auction and visiting auctions was primary and extremely rewarding.
London is a big place and in those days it had small auctions here and there, where one could buy good quality items at a discount and a good discount for that, provided you knew your business well. Among the small auctions I frequented and I bought many items from was Phillips on Marylebone Road. This room was mannned by a few people who knew very little about art and sold whatever came their way for next to nothing. Really cheap and real good value for money.
I bought great looking paintings from them with very little money and I still own many of those, because they are good but I know nothing about the artist and so, I refuse to sell. Some of the ones I sold I regret, and this story is even more painful to me than many others.
I cannot remember exactly the year but it must have been 1986 or 1987 in these Phillips rooms. The work was a sketchy drawing of a ship in distress but to me it was very clear who by:
Ivan Aivazovsky
The most important and most famous Russian Marine artist. The drawing was clearly signed to those who knew his work and I did happen to have seen several of his paintings. I needed no research, I needed no prices at the estimate of 30-50 pounds.
I was hoping to be lucky and buy it cheap because nobody else recognised it. On the day I paid 75.00 pounds which was great. I was over the moon but not impressed as the drawing was small, dark and just wash. Masterly of course but I ….
I liked pretty, colourful things. So, No wait, No thinking for the future and a few months later the drawing sold for 750.00 pounds at Sothebys as by Ivan Aivazovsky. For 1987 that amount and that return was great. How can a tenfold return being sneered at? How could I be unhappy about such an event?
I was absolutely thrilled with the result. My horizons and expectations were in percentage terms 100-200% percent. To get 600-700% was fantastic ! But, why did I need to sell something that cost me so little?
The result was fantastic, it was great until just a few days ago.
The same drawing, the same drawing that I sold through Sothebys appeared in a Russian sale at Sothebys again this May or june . Hold your breath readers,
It sold for 33,000 pounds inclusive of commissions. That just turned my head, it spinned and saddened me enormously. I was supposed to know and I knew. However, to anticipate about thirty times appreciation in about twenty-three years, I did not.
It was not the only mistake I made with Russian works of art but this one was the second biggest! I shall come to the biggest one in the next few months.
I learned things in this trade and one I am trying to adhere to now is,
Keep the good or a few of the good items for the future! It is always good to know that you own a work by a big master!
