Need sites to research paintings & artists

My Mom has a painting she wants to sell. There are no qualified appraisers within driving distance. I’ve looked at some websites which have indexes of artists and I’ve done image searches on Google but found nothing relevant. Can someone point me toward sites which would be good for research? Please?

The subject of the painting is a bullfighter. The size is 30 x 40 inches. The last name in the signature is clear but the first name is not; it reads “A---- James”. The first name begins with an ‘A’ but subsequent letters are unclear.

She inherited it from people who would not have owned cheap stuff.

The only way that you will get a genuine appraisal is through an appraiser. (I have no idea whether there are any appraisers who would give an unguaranteed rough guesstimate of worth based on a photograph (snail-mailed or e-mailed).)

You might try seeing where the Art Cyclopedia might take you.

www.artprice.com
www.icollector.com

I once sent Butterfield & Butterfield a photo of it through email & they sent back an appraisal free. I don’t know if they do that anymore.