Online Art Brokers

You will find free links or sponsor links on many

search engines for someone called an art broker (also

known as an online art dealer). These are people who resell

artwork on the net. Some will tell you they have brand new

artworks from established artist ready to sell. Be in doubt,

as today's art industry tends to control who has access to

artworks by well-known artists. Most of these art brokers

are getting you an item someone has already possessed, or

they are somehow buying this item on the sly from a

"private source." In any event, there are several reasons to

avoid this type of dealer.

The main reason is the support behind the art. You

are buying something of great value sentimentally because

you have fallen in love with it and you are paying a lot of

money for bringing this love into your life. Should this work

be found defective in some way, not apparent on the

surface... say, the wrong type of varnish was used and it

begins to bubble in a year... Should you try to return this

piece to the manufacturer or publisher, they could inform

you, you didn't buy this piece through an authorized

dealer and they don't support purchases made

outside of their authorized dealer base. Not all

manufactures and publishers have this policy; some will

stand behind their product no matter where you got it.

However, if the work is of high value, such as a sculpture

which needs to be re-patinaed, or a wall piece with

scratches, you may very well be left in a situation where

something you paid a great deal of money for is worthless

as a sales item and you have no recourse.

More importantly, most brokers have a difficult time

getting certificates of authenticity. Publishers nowadays

take the view that certificates of authenticity are