Most Affordable Art Price Guide

The best bargain art price reference on the market today is Art Price Indicator International 2000 published by ADEC. It lists from one to five auction results for each of approximately 50,000 artists, is small enough to take along when you're out in the field, and the best news by far is that it only costs $19.95. Before Art Price Indicator, this amount of information cost at least $100 and often much more.

The 2000 edition has 73% new data and 25% of the artist entries have been updated. Price results are taken almost exclusively from auctions held during the past three years and are selected to accurately represent the overall markets for specific artists. Art Price Indicator includes price data for paintings, drawings, prints, miniatures, posters, sculpture and photography. It's fast, small, convenient, easy to use, and I take it whenever I go out buying.

Art Price Indicator International 2000 edited by Nadege Ehrmann, ADEC/Art Price S.A., St.-Romain-au-Mt. d'Or, France, 2000, softbound, approximately 2,500 pages, 4 1/2 by 7 1/4 inches, $19.95. Available from Dealer's Choice Books, Inc., P.O. Box 710, Land O' Lakes, FL, 34639 or call 1-800-ART-AMER. You can also order or browse their catalogue of art reference books and CD-ROMS online at dealerschoicebooks.com.

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Best Photography Price Reference

Gordon's Photography Prices, 2000-1970, CD-ROM is the best photography price reference available. It contains 30 years of worldwide price data totalling nearly 110,000 individual sales results and buy-ins of works by 8,000 photographers of all nationalities and time periods. Other features include instructions on how to use the disc, extensive bibliographies of reference books, and a choice of search options (by photographer, image title, catalogue number, etc.).

New to this year's CD-ROM is a library containing over 6,000 color and black & white images of significant photographs. This virtual walk through the history of photography is an excellent educational tool for anyone wanting to learn more about the discipline itself, relative values of images, and the variety of photographers and subject matters that collectors consider desirable.

As if that's not enough, the disc also contains worldwide directories of auction houses, photography dealers, and fine print dealers. In the Advertisers section, viewers can now link directly to advertisers' websites with the click of a button. Lastly, the Euro has been added to the list of currencies (dollars, deutschmarks, and pounds) that auction results are reported in.

Those of you who prefer your prices in book form can order Gordon's Photography Price Annual International 2000. The book contains over 12,000 international auction results from sales held during 1999.

Gordon's Photography Prices 2000-1970, CD-ROM edited by Lisa Reinhardt, Gordon's Art Reference, Phoenix, 2000, CD-ROM, 110,000 auction records, $595 (or $49.58 monthly) initial first year subscription purchase, $195 (or $16.25 monthly) for subsequent annual updates.

Gordon's Photography Price Annual International 2000 edited by Lisa Reinhardt, Gordon's Art Reference, Phoenix, 2000, hardbound, 605 pages, 8 3/4 by 11 1/4 inches, $99.

Available from Gordon's Art Reference, 306 West Coronado Road, Phoeniz, AZ 85003-1147 or call 1-800-892-4622. You can also shop or browse their catalogue of art reference books and CD-ROMS online at gordonsart.com.

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Poster Price Reference Preferred by Dealers

The price reference of choice for poster dealers and collectors is Poster Prices V, Revised and Enlarged Millenium Edition published by Poster Auctions International, Inc. It has prices realized and an index to over 14,000 rare and collectible posters sold at auction between 1985-1999. The reference also has instructions on how to use the guide and evaluate a poster. Added plusses are small black & white illustrations of representative posters that appear throughout the book.

Each entry lists the name of the artist, birth and death dates when available, title of the poster, the catalogue raisonne reference when applicable, the sale number (you have to check a separate table for the corresponding date), lot number, condition and selling price. Buy-ins are included with pre-sale estimates in place of final selling prices. The one minor drawback to Poster Prices V is that it lists only records of posters sold at Poster Auctions International sales. But seeing as they're the largest poster auction house in the world and the quality and accuracy of their lot descriptions are superior to those of other references, no one seems to mind all that much.

Poster Auctions International also sells a wide range of general poster reference books, monographs on important poster artists, surveys of specific poster subject matters, and heavily illustrated catalogues of their past auctions. If you order Poster Prices V or just like vintage posters, make sure you ask for a copy of their reference book catalogue, The Poster Art Library.

Poster Prices V by Jack Rennert, Poster Auctions International, Inc., NY, 1999, softbound, illustrated, approximately 200 pages, 9 by 12 inches, $50. Available from Poster Auctions International, Inc., 601 West 26th St., NY 10001 or call 1-212-787-4000. You can also order or browse online at posterauction.com.

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The Best Print Auction Records

Gordon's Art Reference first became known for their superior print price coverage 23 years ago and they're still the best. Their publications consistently beat the competition because they contain more entries, more details per entry, translated titles (for purposes of locating images in catalogues raisonne), catalogue raisonne numbers, and sales data on buy-ins. Added extras include cross indexed listings of prints by catalogue raisonne numbers and bibliographies of catalogues raisonne, monographs, and general print reference books.

Gordon's Print Price Annual 2000-1986, CD-ROM contains fifteen years and nearly half a million individual auction sales results by over 17,000 artists from auction houses around the world. New on this year's CD-ROM are thousands of representative images of prints that can be viewed for research, educational or pleasure purposes. Two additional features are that price results are now recorded in Euros (in addition to dollars, deutschmarks, and pounds) and users can click directly from advertisers to their websites.

If you prefer your print prices in book form, Gordon's Print Price Annual 2000 contains nearly 50,000 auction records of prints sold during 1999. All Gordon's print price references cover Old Master, Modern, Contemporary, Decorative, Historical, and Japanese print markets. They also include auction records for vintage, fine art, and film posters as well as illustrated books, artist books, and books and periodicals with original graphics.

Gordon's Print Price Annual 2000-1986, CD-ROM edited by Lisa Reinhardt, Gordon's Art Reference, Phoenix, 2000, CD-ROM, 500,000 auction records, $595 (or $49.58 monthly) initial first year subscription purchase, $295 (or $24.58 monthly) for subsequent annual updates.

Gordon's Print Price Annual 2000 edited by Lisa Reinhardt, Gordon's Art Reference, Phoenix, 2000, hardbound, 1,924 pages, 8 3/4 by 11 1/4 inches, $245.