Posted April 17, 2002

Gordon's Photography Prices, 2002-1970, CD-ROM is the world's leading resource of price information for 19th and 20th century photographs as well as for books and periodicals containing original photographs. It contains nearly 140,000 sales results for photographs sold primarily at international auctions, but also includes some dealer prices. Sales results date from as far back as the 1930's, but most are current and date from the past ten years; 13,000 are brand new and date from the 2001 auction year. Each entry includes the name of the photographer, title of the image, type of print, data about the negative and date of the printing, signature, date, condition, additional annotations (when applicable), auctioneer, catalogue number, and selling price in Dollars, Pounds, Euros, and the currency of the country where the sale took place. Dimensions are given in inches and millimeters.

Added bonuses are that buy-ins and withdrawals are included, whenever noted in an auction house's sales results, and approximately 6,000 price records are accompanied by illustrations of the actual photographs. For the uninitiated, a buy-in is an item that is placed up at auction, but fails to sell. A withdrawal is an item that is removed from a sale before it takes place; reasons for removal include ownership disputes, problems with authenticity, misrepresentation by consignors, and so on. This data is important to have when researching photographic works of art that are being offered to you for sale. For example, if you are offered a photograph for $7000 and find out in Gordon's Photography Price Annual International 2002-1970 CD-ROM that it failed to sell nine months ago because bidding didn't reach the minimum reserve price of $3000, you'll know not to buy because you're being offered previously shopped merchandise at an excessively high price.

Gordon's Photography Prices, 2002-1970, CD-ROM runs faster on your computer than editions from previous years and also includes extras like a lexicon of terms, and worldwide directories of auction houses, print dealers, and photograph dealers.

For those of you who prefer traditional hard-copy photography price references, Gordon's Photography Price Annual International 2002 also happens to be the world's leading guide to fine art photography prices at auction. The current edition contains 13,000 sales results for original photographs and photographically illustrated books that sold worldwide at auctions during the year 2001. Image titles are arranged alphabetically under each artist, rather than from highest to lowest selling prices, which makes locating selling prices for particular titles easy.

Gordon's Photography Prices, 2002-1970, CD-ROM edited by Sara J. Collins, Gordon's Art Reference, Inc., Phoenix, 2002. Initial subscription: $595. Subsequent annual updates: $195.

Gordon's Photography Price Annual International 2002 Edition edited by Sara J. Collins, Gordon's Art Reference, Inc., Phoenix, 2002, hardbound, 617 pages, 8 7/8 by 11 1/4, $145.

Available from Gordon's Art Reference, Inc., 306 West Coronado Road, Phoenix, AZ 85003-1147 or call 1-800-892-4622 or visit the Gordon's Art Reference website.

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Biographical Encyclopedia of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers of the U.S., Colonial to 2002, compiled by Bob Crebs, contains 27,000 artist entries including 5,000 for living artists and a number of artists who received little or no recognition during their lifetimes. Much of the biographical information in this two-volume set has never before been published and was taken from over 600 historical sources. As an added bonus, the encyclopedia contains 1,100 American artist signature examples, 900 of which do not appear in any other signature directory or encyclopedia. Artist entries contain basic biographical information including birth and death dates, places of study, teachers, organizational memberships, awards, specialties, exhibits, and more.

Many listings in the Biographical Encyclopedia of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers is updated from listings in books originally edited and published by Glenn Opitz. These include the 1986 edition of Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers; the 1984 publication of Dictionary of American Sculptors, 18th Century to the Present; the 1987 publication of American Art, 1939 New York World's Fair; and Women Artists in America, 18th Century to the Present (1790-1980), published in 1980. Biographical Encyclopedia of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers of the U.S., Colonial to 2002 makes a welcome addition to any working reference library on American art and Artists of all time periods.

Biographical Encyclopedia of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers of the U.S., Colonial to 2002 compiled by Bob Crebs. Dealer's Choice Books, Land O' Lakes, FL, 2002, hardbound, 2 volumes, 1629 pages, 8 3/4 by 11 1/4 inches. $175.