Considerations of acceptability before acquiring a painting for your collection often seem complex and arbitrary. There is the primary consideration of aesthetics, which is in itself inherently complex. This description might only imply beauty to one collector and vibrancy to another. However, to each there is the intuitive concept of acceptability.

Any impressionist work that has a bright light palette, summary treatment with form produced by visualization of color, pigment juxtaposition to create the sensation of movement, and pleasant subject matter will be acceptable as an example of this genre.

Alternatively, a somber work with dark colors, even melancholy subject matter with distinct interfaces and figures engaged in a laborious task, would be an acceptable example of the Ashcan School. Thus, acceptable aesthetically means that the painting represents what it is supposed to be. "Interesting" by the same token does not mean a work is heavy with messages. For example, many collectors feel that if a landscape has figures it is more interesting. Most of the landscapes of Willard Metcalf and the monumental works for Frederich Church did not have figures and are desirable by any criteria.

The entire Indiana (Hoosier) School of impressionists created paintings celebrating the landscape in their native state. Nature represented in a painterly fashion is always interesting and collectible.

A painting might illustrate an important subject and be interesting because of that fact if the work is technically competent. For many reasons, the back of a painting may be very important in judging interest, importance, and acceptability. Here you might uncover the artist’s inscription of place and title of the work or even technical notes regarding the composition. You may also discover an exhibition label and an inventory number from a museum, a famous collector, or of a prominent gallery. In my own collection I have paintings of their home and studio by Henry Ward Ranger and J. Francis Murphy, the self-portrait of a number of artists, stretchers with the Pennsylvania Academy or National Academy of Design Labels, MacBeth Gallery, and Salmungundi Club exhibition labels and a Vose or Kennedy Gallery inventory number.

If you find a personal label of a George A Hearn, one documenting purchase by the Ranger ______ or evidence that the work had been selected by the artist and had met the criteria of the committee for a juried exhibition increases its value.

I have two paintings that are very interesting to me, their artistic merit notwithstanding, one is an "atypical" Childe Hassam painted in Havana in 1895 with matting instructions written on the back of the watercolor in 1897. The other is a tonalist "swamp" scene by the Louisiana artist Wil Owsley describing the mixture of sizing and pigment used and an elaborate description of the scene depicted. This is written in pencil on the book of the canvas.

The condition of a painting is a very important determinant of its acceptability. With an oil, you should decide upon how much of the original still exists, what is the relation of the pigment layer to the surface (canvas, artist’s board, panel, paper, masonite . . . ), and how much the anticipated repair and restoration will cost. If a watercolor has significant mold, foxing, acid stain or water damage understand that restoration will not only be difficult but expensive and not every restorer is facile in their regard. With pastels, stability of the pigment layer and its relationship with the protective glass should be stable, otherwise the image will change over time.

I once bought a Gilbert Stuart because of the prominence of the artist, the fact that it was Asher B. Durand’s wife, and the fact my restorer was convinced that the apparel of the sitter had been painted by applying pigment thinly and the area had not been "skinned" (overcleaned) as the seller believed. Later I exhibited the painting and a Stuart expert informed me that Mrs. Durand’s lace shawl and dress were thinly painted because it was done either by Mrs. Stuart or a daughter, apparently a common practice for them.

Certain groups of artists used pigments and other materials in such a manner that predictable changes of deterioration will occur. Tonalist works are composed of varnish and pigment as was the practice with the visionaries. Thus, these paintings will manifest crackleur (crackle) seen as linear fissures in the pigment layer. If the apposition of the pigment at these interfaces is in close proximity, this is acceptable. If, however, the pigment is curled in a convex manner at the edges, then some type of conservation will be required. Loss of pigment will require inpainting which can be detected in the future by black light inspection. This can devalue a painting but whether it makes it undesirable depends upon a complex set of circumstances. We have a R. A. Blakelock which has significant restoration and has been inpainted. Since it is a Category I (provenance the art family of Gruppe) and many, if not most, "Blakelocks" are Category III or IV and have extensive works, our painting is important and valuable.

Thus, there are many considerations in judging a painting desirable; condition and aesthetics in the broadest context are the most important.