Sections:

It can be difficult to put a price tag on artwork that so completely inspires the soul and delights the imagination. However, it's never good to find that one has paid 75% more than anyone else for that particular piece. The best way for an art lover to gauge the marketplace is to keep tabs on auction results for their favorite artists and styles.

One can research discreetly, without the pressure of people hovering around them, chattering and auctioneers shouting. Before attending an auction, it's good to know what one is looking for - and also what one can expect to pay as a fair price. Just because an artist is famous, doesn't mean that all the works will be worth the same amount, so it's good to know the variances in prices for different time periods of that artist's life. Why pay over $478,000 for a Dali from 1957, when one can pay $5,000 for a piece that's just as enjoyable, but was painted in 1983? Also, one can track market changes through the years and see what someone paid for a certain painting in 1985, 1995 and 2005. Often times, rare or unknown works can be viewed in auction results as well, making the dig an exciting one!

To look up its prices in an instant, there are several websites of which to be aware. The first, AskArt.com, is sometimes referred to as "the artists' bluebook worldwide," with a database of over 100,000 artists - with a focus on American artists from the 16th Century to present. However, as of January 2007, the database was expanded to encompass international artists as well! AskArt.com's mission statement says, "It is the goal of AskART to facilitate the exchange of it and information pertaining to the subject.

We anticipate that our work will better enable its historians and scholars to define and analyze trends, make heretofore unrecognized connections, and establish reputations for those artists who, for whatever reason, may have eluded fame or fortune in their day." In addition to gaining access to auction results, one can easily look up books, museums, exhibits, auction houses and records, quick facts on a certain artist, magazine ads, image gallery, artist summaries - or participate in a discussion board conversation.

This is perhaps the most user-friendly site one could hope for, with eye-catching topics on the homepage, like "notable sculptors," "highest prices at auctions," or "art for sale by dealers." The curious may research, check the marketplace or browse new popular artists at AskArt with no registration required. It is truly the scholarly collector's best choice for arts resources!

Auction results can be found at ArtPrice.com or ArtNet.com, where one can browse hundreds of auctions and thousands of selections. ArtPrice has a much larger database with 2,900 auction houses listed, compared to ArtNet's 500 international houses and 3.5 million sales compared to 25 million sales. However, ArtNet also has a great area with contemporary art for sale, including a design section for the furniture junkies.

It can be convoluted trying to find auction information on eBay once the auction's already taken place. It's recommended to use one of the other sites instead, before going to auctions on eBay. Popular auction house sites like Sothebys.com or Christies.com, who sell fine art, will publish their auction results. However, Sotheby's is the better of the two, as it shows illustrations and titles along with the prices. Christie's is more or less just a "lot / auction" kind of listing that only pertains to Christie's bidders, who may have been outbid and wondered what their favorite artwork went for.

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