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Hello,i`m Jerry,new here,yous can help me pls
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Message
Posted
I and a friend recently found a painting in his grandma's attic and we cant understand the signature, we searched online for some words that we believe are in the signature but we didn't find too much. Maybe someone who recognizes the signature, or understands what is written there, can help pls...
Posted
At first I thought it might be Cyrillic, but it isn't. The first letter might be a 'T' or an 'I', the name thereafter looks something like Kagano, a full stop, and then three other faint characters - which isn't very helpful, because I've never encountered an artist of that name or anything much like it. Maybe - and it is only 'maybe' - a photograph of the whole work could help; and what dealers do normally is to pay as much attention to the back as to the front, looking for auction house or dealer labels, and other tell-tale details. I imagine you've tried that?
Posted
A professional restoration would be expensive - the picture needs to be cleaned, and there seem to be areas where the paint is lifting from its support. I wonder if the paint - the pinks especially - has faded in places: that could just be dirt. I think that if you did get it restored and cleaned, and varnished, you might be surprised by a whole new painting revealing itself. (I don't mean there's another painting underneath this one, but that the painting has got so dry and grubby that a thorough clean should reveal colours we can't really see at the moment.)
Financially - well, Jakob Koganowsky IS a known painter (looking him up, I see he was a Ukrainian, born in 1874, died in 1926), whose work varies a good deal in value. So it depends on what you want to do with it: if I had it, I would take it to a dealer and sell it - leaving them to take care of the restoration, which would considerably increase its value. Or I'd go to an auction house: but take advice on the best place to sell a Koganowsky painting.
If I were richer than I am, I might pay for the restoration myself - and either keep the picture, or sell it on. I think you should certainly do SOMETHING with it - don't just put it back in the attic: it does have a value, but it's very hard indeed to estimate. Personally, I should love to see it cleaned, restored, and varnished.
Posted
Sound advice from Robert!
I’m not familiar with the artist but it does definitely need some serious cleaning and minor restoration work.
However, don’t be tempted to undertake this yourself, I’ve seen amateurs attempt to clean old canvases, it’s specialist work and more difficult than it appears. You would almost certainly lose any potential value that it may have.
Posted
Yes, absolutely and a hundred times over - do NOT try this at home: amateur restoration could strip the painting of any value it might have. At the very most, give a small portion of the canvas a gentle wipe with a turps-infused cloth - if the colour then jumps out at you, get it to a professional.