Aero Art Collector Poll

joegertler · 2 June 2005, 05:59 PM

Does your aviation collection contain?
Check all items that apply:

0-5 Signed limited edtion prints?

6-12 Signed limited edtion prints?

More than 12 signed limited edition prints?

0-5 open edition art prints?

6-12 open edition art prints?

more than 12 open edition prints?

0-5 pieces of Original aviation art?

More than 5 pieces of original aviation art?

3 June 2005, 03:44 PM

Only joegertler has:

1)More than 512 signed limited edition prints? YES

2)More than 612 open edition prints? YES

3)More than 715 pieces of original aviation art? YES

4)Scores of unimaginable aviation treasures and artifacts? YES

...Sorry, dear friend, but I couldn't resist!

You do have an impeccable collection, afterall!

"Prost!"

joegertler · 3 June 2005, 06:16 PM

Hello,my friend, vonR.
This is not a post for bragging by anyone.. It is completlely anonymous. As one who very much enjoys all forms of aviation art, I was hoping that such a poll might reveal that there are many others on thearodrome forum who also enjoy various forms of aero art in their own homes

And I was hoping to learn which types of art are the most popular, among them. It may encourage more prints by some of the artists who look in on the forum and may help them to decide if they want to produce signed limited editions or open edition prints, if they are in a quandry.

karrart · 3 June 2005, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joegertler

And I was hoping to learn which types of art are the most popular, among them. It may encourage more prints by some of the artists who look in on the forum and may help them to decide if they want to produce signed limited editions or open edition prints, if they are in a quandry.

No quandry- I want to produce WW I works so bad I can taste it.I have a batch of of open edition (but I still sign 'em)WW I stuff almost ready to go next week when my cranky old website is put to rest and the new site debuts in it's new form on my own domain name..next week...finally. Hereto fore karrart.com has only been a redirect to my old aol/members site. It's kind of the same basic site but with improved navigation, some new things AND shopping cart/secure real credit card service. Sometime next week, karrart.com goes to, well, karrart.com. Smallish affordable prints- but WW I!
Robert Karr
karrat.com

Taz · 5 June 2005, 08:32 PM

Robert-Need to do do more research on your work. Collect original art and have just about given up on prints. No room and the framing ( I am picky) on a print is just as expensive as on an original. Would rather have an original James Dietz/Russ Smith/Steve Anderson/Mike O'Neal/Bill Marsalko/Richard Groh/Robert Karr pencil or pen and ink or remarque than anybody's print. Have a bunch of prints, but most are in flats and will never be framed. May be barking up the wrong tree here, but hope you make way more money on commissions than prints. Prints pay some bills, but commissions and original spec works fill your artist's soul.

Terry Phillips
Taz

karrart · 5 June 2005, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taz

Robert-Need to do do more research on your work. Collect original art and have just about given up on prints. No room and the framing ( I am picky) on a print is just as expensive as on an original. Would rather have an original James Dietz/Russ Smith/Steve Anderson/Mike O'Neal/Bill Marsalko/Richard Groh/Robert Karr pencil or pen and ink or remarque than anybody's print. Have a bunch of prints, but most are in flats and will never be framed. May be barking up the wrong tree here, but hope you make way more money on commissions than prints. Prints pay some bills, but commissions and original spec works fill your artist's soul.

Terry Phillips
Taz

Yeah, prints vs original. The problem with selling originals is the "feast or famine" aspect. I do sell quite a few originals, always have, and the big chunk o' change that comes along is great! Then another may not sell for months, or more months....or more months!....then a couple may go in a week. It's a balancing act- originals ( both what I've already done, and commisions), prints and publication, plus finding the occasional quarter on the sidewalk......BTW, A gallery owner once told me to drop WW I because nobody wants that stuff- I've made more bucks from WW I than any other era.
I've been following the poll at the heart of this thread and will somehow make sense of it!
Robert Karr
karrart.com

joegertler · 6 June 2005, 10:51 AM

Hi Taz; I have thoroughly enjoyed all the images of your original art collection. Thank you so much for sharing. some beautiful pieces there. Do you have space to hang all or most of them at the same time? or do you rotate them? You are a one-man airforce (not army!) of Patron of WWI aero art!
I didn't have them when I started this poll/thread. But today was a good day! DHL truck dropped off 151 pounds of orignal WWI art for me. and that is without any glass in frames to add to the weight..(I love to describe some of my collections by the pound

) One of my favorite archival collections is the personal papers/photos, contracts etc of the National Air races promotor, Cliff Henderson @ 420 lbs!

Will have to take a few days to let this new WWI aero art soak in, and enjoy it. Probably get in on the website and also in a magazine or two..

Russell Smith · 6 June 2005, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by karrart

Yeah, prints vs original. The problem with selling originals is the "feast or famine" aspect. I do sell quite a few originals, always have, and the big chunk o' change that comes along is great! Then another may not sell for months, or more months....or more months!....then a couple may go in a week. It's a balancing act - originals ( both what I've already done, and commisions), prints and publication, plus finding the occasional quarter on the sidewalk......BTW, A gallery owner once told me to drop WW I because nobody wants that stuff- I've made more bucks from WW I than any other era.

Yep! I'm travelling that same road myself. I too have been told by gallery owners and even other artists that there is no market for WW1 subjects.(Of course, I also know a couple of well established aviation artists who claim that you can't make a living as an aviation artist any more. HA!). Like Robert, I am now doing far better painting WW1 subjects than I ever did with the other eras - and having a heck of a lot more fun doing it. The way I see it, the folks who think that way are shortsighted. They aren't looking down the road to the day that all their print signers are dead and gone (but that, of course, is another subject). Funny thing is, many of them are now going out of business while my business gets better each year.

IMHO, the WW1 market should see increasing popularity in the next decade leading up to the WW1 centennials. Hopefully this "Flyboys" flic will be all that we hope it will be and we'll start seeing more interest generated by its release.

There was a time when almost all of my aviation art income came from print sales. Nowadays, I would estimate that my income consists of 1/4 print sales and 3/4 original sales and commissions. Believe it or not, of the print sales, my limited editions seem to sell better than my open editions.

Russ

Taz · 6 June 2005, 07:09 PM

Joe, Russ, Robert- I love WW-I aviation art because it allows you to show things photos never will. Pick out your favorite engagment, research it (sometimes more than once as Russ and one N.16 know), and you can make it magically appear and have it until you die. All my originals (~60) are hung along with a bunch of clocks (8 English Lantern Clocks, several dozen others). Made a decision to use a lucky buy of company stock to build an art collection. Stock all gone, so I have to save for paintings (and framing) just like everyone else now. Envy Joe who sees so many great paintings come through. I have to go to shows to do that.

Hope you will all be at Dayton and Seattle this year. Russ and I met at Dayton during a fly-in at the AF Museum and it has been a fruitful relationship for both of us. Still owe him money, so it must be working.

Found your website Robert (blind me, it was on your e-mail). Good work.

Terry Phillips
Taz

karrart · 7 June 2005, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russell Smith

. HA!). Like Robert, I am now doing far better painting WW1 subjects than I ever did with the other eras - and having a heck of a lot more fun doing it........ Funny thing is, many of them are now going out of business while my business gets better each year.

IMHO, the WW1 market should see increasing popularity in the next decade leading up to the WW1 centennials. Hopefully this "Flyboys" flic will be all that we hope it will be and we'll start seeing more interest generated by its release.

There was a time when almost all of my aviation art income came from print sales. Nowadays, I would estimate that my income consists of 1/4 print sales and 3/4 original sales and commissions. Believe it or not, of the print sales, my limited editions seem to sell better than my open editions.

Russ

Hah! I do have an interest in most eras of aviation- but nothing is as much fun as WW I- and the business part does keep getting better and better the more I do.
As for the approaching centennial- if I last that long it should great if it's anything like the 50th hoopla. Back then you couldn't open up an avmag without seeing at least a little WW I....and many "normal" magazines for that matter. That's the time I was swallowed up in all this.
If "Flyboys" is a hit we may have at least a temporary boost in "pop culture" notice. I certainly hope so. When Top Gun came out 20 years ago or whenever that was, all the big military air shows were so crowded you couldn't fall down without bumping into another person- and that effect hung on for a few years. AND all the collectors should see a hefty increase in the value of their collections if there's even a quarter as much popularity generated. I honestly have doubts that any WW I aviation movie would have this kind of Top Gun impact, but it certainly can't hurt, and who knows? Flukes occasionally happen!
And the 12 year old kids who talk their folks into getting them a WW I print ARE out there( I know- I've sold to them at air shows). My own 20 year old likes this stuff....and if (see thread on the Pfalz dummy)Achim's kid is running around claiming to be a Camel, then there's hope!
Robert Karr
karrart.com