A E Backus and highwaymen sales Results

OK, I told you I couldn't wait, and I couldn't.

I called Rennick at 9am and asked how his Backuses did.

They did not sell and it's NOT because there is no demand.

Above are posted the 6 footer to the left, the 25x30 to the right.

These are high quality pieces by a listed artist, the "Dean of Florida landscape artists" as he is known. The three I'm going to discuss were painted in the 1940's, his heavy palette knife period which many consider his finest era, pre-1970. The Backus Gallery itself, has historically consistently priced his early pieces higher than the later ones.

That ought to serve as a pretty reasonable barometer.

(Interestingly as an aside, they no longer publish prices on the internet.

...................................................... Now you have to call them.)

These three.

The "Bigun", 6 foot by 10 foot north Indian River view from the hotel.

The "Little sister of the Bigun", a 25x30, Beanie's favorite size, same north Indian River view. Close to identical.

And the vertical "Gates of Heaven", Beanie's fantasy.

All three are worth buying. So where does that leave us ?

There's a very simple reason that they did not sell. It's called a reserve price.

In this case, the reserve was undoubtedly the "opening bid", which the house did not get.

The owners of these paintings have only BEGUN to negotiate the selling prices by starting these pieces at "too high" levels the market would not bear. The owners were fishing. The auction house is their publicity.

They are now "out there, available in the marketplace" if you feel like getting involved.

Now, it's the buyer market's turn to fish back at them and try to decipher what they will really take for these. They are willing to listen to offers below the published starting auction prices of $35,000.00, $35,000.00, and $150,000.00.

So, if you have the proper mix of balls, brains, and cash, you might be able to buy one or two or even three. I could even help you, you know ? I'm only missing the cash.

There is no better place, in my opinion, to invest, than in this type of product in a sluggish market which could turn around at any moment.