Antique collecting on the art trail

To quote Cilla: “Surprise, surprise”, she did not. It was in fact called “What’s love got to do with it”.

But what has art got to do with Lozza’s Loot?

The answer is lots and maybe more than you would have thought.

Art is all around us (no, not Wet, Wet, Wet) it is the cars we drive, the houses we live in and the public street art we see in our towns and cities.

Where we do see art is in our homes. We all have art. It could simply be a photograph, a poster in a bedroom or a framed poster or picture.

We all enjoy art as it holds memories. This could be related to the subject matter, why or where we bought the art or just because we like it.

Oscar Wilde is quoted as saying: “Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known."

If we have art in our house it should enhance and fit into our decor and not stick out like a sore thumb. It is reflective of our personality and says something about us and our tastes.

An antique fair or eve n a car boot is an ideal of picki g up some art. I would say cheap but it does have to be cheap but we all like a bargain.

To illustrate the point of buying art and what art I liked enough to buy, I will talk about those pictures, posters of paintings I have purchased.

- One is a poster advertising Vincent Face to Face exhibition at the Museum of fine art in Boston July 2, 2000 - September 24, 2000.

The poster is a self portrait of Vincent van Gogh.

- An advertising poster with the headline The Great British Picnic. There is a colour cartoon drawing depicting a family on a picnic and various things just about to go wrong. At the bottom is the kicker: “It would have been a disaster without Stork SB margarine.”

- An original 1960s poster advertising Coney Beach Porthcawl. It depicts a woman sitting on a carousel horse waving to her family or friends on the beach.

- An piece of modern Scandinavian art.

-  A 1963 copy of Saxton’s map of Hampshire in 1575.

- A map of Northamptonshire.

When it comes to finding art it is much the same as looking for antiques,you just got to look.

See what takes your eye, think where you could put the piece of art work and do you have enough room.

Nothing worse than buying a piece of art and you do not have enough room to hang it.

Study the painting, print or poster and get as much detail as you can. If it is an advertising poster or a film poster make sure you know if it is original or reproduction.

Make sure yo u know if you are buying a print or an original painting and what it is created by using pastels, acrylics, oil or watercolour.

It all adds to where you should hang it.

You do not want to hang them in direct sunshine or they will fade quickly, look terrible and be worth nothing.