oil painting signature

[jlm...@grape.epix.net]

We recently bought a painting, probably European, depicting an attractive
peasant mother, seated at a primitive kitchen table, surrounded by her 3
children & baby. It's a very sweet scene, fairly well painted. In
excellent condition.

The hard part: can't quite read the HANDWRITING of the hand-painted
signature of the artist. One person thought it was Jules Thayer, but,
not sure. In need reference book w/ photos of signatures, perhaps, the
way pewter books have touch marks either photographed or
sketched.

Any recommendations of a good guide to 18th thru 20th century painters
would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! jlm...@epix.net and/or
to rec.antiques.

[Mark Humpal]

In <Pine.SUN.3.91.950705...@grape.epix.net> jlm...@grape.epix.net writes:

Deciphering signatures can be a bear, especially if the artist was a
doctor for his/her day job....;>

1. Another thing to try to read the signature is to hold a black light
over it - sometimes the sig will pop out this way depending on the paint
color used for the sig.

2. A useful book would be "Classified Directory of Artists Signatures,
Symbols, and Monograms - European Artists" by H.H. Caplan. I don't have
this one, but I do have Falk's guide for American artists and if you plan
to buy paintings on a regular basis, these are good to have. If it looks
like a one-shot deal, the book lists at $125 and is not widely
available. An art dealer would have it most likely, but then expect to
pay him/her for the time....

3. Good luck!

Mark

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[Anne Shatrau]

> In <Pine.SUN.3.91.950705...@grape.epix.net> jlm...@grape.epix.net writes:
>
> >We recently bought a painting, probably European, depicting an attractive

>

> >The hard part: can't quite read the HANDWRITING of the hand-painted
> >signature of the artist. One person thought it was Jules Thayer, but,

In article <3tfuub$p...@kelly.teleport.com>, zi...@teleport.com (Mark Humpal) writes:
> Deciphering signatures can be a bear, especially if the artist was a
> doctor for his/her day job....;>
>
> 1. Another thing to try to read the signature is to hold a black light
> over it - sometimes the sig will pop out this way depending on the paint
> color used for the sig.

And another thing that can help if it's an oil painting... Wet your finger
(lightly!) and run it over the signature. Sometimes that will help it pop
out more.

Annie