# Artist ID help **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 12, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724 "2013-03-12T16:52:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/1 "2013-03-12T16:52:12Z")
I’ve had this print for a long time. It has a signature, but I cannot make out the artist’s name. Any idea? Also, what’s the deal with a “print”. It is signed and numbered. Does it have any real value? I _like_ art, but lack any true knowledge. [Here it is. I can get a better pic of the sig if that would help…](http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/vv174/kayaker01/cce86a28fe36d80625cc3c06b6f6a6f9_zpsc7705772.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/2 "2013-03-12T17:03:09Z")
It’s not Jacob Lawrence ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/3 "2013-03-12T17:08:12Z")
Moved to Cafe Society. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/4 "2013-03-12T17:08:49Z")
I dont’ know who the artist would be…but regarding the print, I have a Lassan print like what (I believe) you are describing bought from his gallery on Maui. What we were told when we bought it was, the a certain number of the print is made, and then the artist would touch up each one individually and sign and number each one. I don’t know if that is the case with yours. I’d love to know if what I was told is correct or a total BS sales pitch. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/5 "2013-03-12T17:12:45Z")
[Guimtette Jazz by Marcel Mouly](http://sales.parkwestgallery.com/art/All/Marcel-Mouly/cTitle/19/) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/6 "2013-03-12T17:25:48Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > [Guimtette Jazz by Marcel Mouly](http://sales.parkwestgallery.com/art/All/Marcel-Mouly/cTitle/19/) Thanks!!! I can see Mouly in the scribbled sig. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/7 "2013-03-12T17:32:36Z")
> [@edwards\_beard](#): > > What we were told when we bought it was, the a certain number of the print is made, and then the artist would touch up each one individually and sign and number each one. I don’t know if that is the case with yours. > > I’d love to know if what I was told is correct or a total BS sales pitch. I wonder the same thing.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/8 "2013-03-12T17:33:00Z")
Just for the record, all I did was take your photo and use [images.google.com](http://images.google.com) to search by image and look for matches. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/9 "2013-03-12T17:39:17Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Just for the record, all I did was take your photo and use [images.google.com](http://images.google.com) to search by image and look for matches. Shit. I’m not stupid, honest.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/10 "2013-03-12T17:42:07Z")
Numbered prints mean nothing as far as quality. It’s become customary to number them because the uneducated public thinks that a lower number means better quality (and therefore brings more money), but it’s pretty much nonsense. The only thing a number tells you is how large the print edition is. It doesn’t tell you how many production runs there are, however. An artist could make 20 runs of 1000, if he was so inclined, so you need to do the homework to find out if there was only a limited run. Most prints are nearly worthless, although there are exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/11 "2013-03-12T17:54:18Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Shit. I’m not stupid, honest.:smack: You can’t be expected to know how to do something if no one told you in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/12 "2013-03-12T20:11:06Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Just for the record, all I did was take your photo and use [images.google.com](http://images.google.com) to search by image and look for matches. Wait: how did you do that, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/13 "2013-03-12T20:23:08Z")
I doubt it will be very helpful for the Musee painting. If you go to [GIS](http://images.google.com/), in the search box on the right is a camera icon. Click on that and it will say Search By Image. Now you can either paste in a URL of a photo or upload one from your computer and it will compare that image against what it has recorded and displays the closest results it can find. Mouly is pretty modernist and brightly colored so it worked well. If you tried, I dunno, an impressionist landscape you’re going to get mostly photos of greenery. You can also add search terms to try to narrow the search but I don’t usually play with that. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/14 "2013-03-12T23:57:13Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Numbered prints mean nothing as far as quality. It’s become customary to number them because the uneducated public thinks that a lower number means better quality (and therefore brings more money), but it’s pretty much nonsense. The only thing a number tells you is how large the print edition is. It doesn’t tell you how many production runs there are, however. An artist could make 20 runs of 1000, if he was so inclined, so you need to do the homework to find out if there was only a limited run. Most prints are nearly worthless, although there are exceptions. Artists with marketable reputations will document their print runs and destroy the blocks after they are made to preserve the value of the prints. A friend of mine was swindled buying Dali prints from an unauthorized run of genuine plates slated for destruction after the original print run. I would imagine a mid-tier name like Mouly would attract fewer counterfeiters, and the OP’s certainly looks nice. My WAG is that this one is worth under a thousand dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/15 "2013-03-13T13:28:52Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I doubt it will be very helpful for the Musee painting. If you go to [GIS](http://images.google.com/), in the search box on the right is a camera icon. Click on that and it will say Search By Image. Now you can either paste in a URL of a photo or upload one from your computer and it will compare that image against what it has recorded and displays the closest results it can find. Mouly is pretty modernist and brightly colored so it worked well. If you tried, I dunno, an impressionist landscape you’re going to get mostly photos of greenery. > > You can also add search terms to try to narrow the search but I don’t usually play with that. But that doesn’t work for the OP’s link, so how. . .? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/16 "2013-03-13T13:38:55Z")
I’m not sure why you would think that but I can assure you it did. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/17 "2013-03-14T14:32:31Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I’m not sure why you would think that but I can assure you it did. I must be doing something wrong, but that’s normal for me. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/18 "2013-03-14T14:48:38Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I’m not sure why you would think that but I can assure you it did. I followed your instructions from upthread, and determined my other print is [“Beached” by Alex Pauker](http://www.gallerydirectart.com/sp-204.html#.UUHiwjdfTIg). Cool! ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/19 "2013-03-14T15:45:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I must be doing something wrong, but that’s normal for me. At what point does your attempt deviate from my description? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724/20 "2013-03-14T15:55:39Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > At what point does your attempt deviate from my description? Clicked on the link; copied the URL from the search line at the top of the page linked to; pasted to the camera icon link; got a message saying it wasn’t a valid image. Perhaps I missed a step. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artist-id-help/652724.md?page=2)