4856948570485714857248573Hi,

I have a question about two back-to-back photos of famous paintings. The photos are on a double sided matte and the artists names and the subjects are on the captions. The matteis all one piece and cannot be removed without tearing it in half. My question is how can I find out if these photos are actually vintage photos or worthless prints. Does anyone know when these types of mattes and photos were made. One of the photos was on the cover of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art Journal in the 20's. Also does anyone know how much they might be worth on Ebay.

Thanks ahead of time for the information,

Bob B

The frames don't look old. The captions are hand lettered in a style I would guess might be 30s (before 1948, because that's when Wiles died). I don't think the famous one of the woman is a photo. Can't guess about the man.
Take them to an art framer, and give permission to do some disassembly. But the framer might know instantly that they are just nice prints, and not worth much.
On ebay, the shipping might be too much of the cost to be worth listing. A local consignment or antique shop would be better, even with a higher commission than ebay.

Irving Wiles lived a long life as a painter, 1861-1948.

Hi,

Thanks a lot for the information. I didn't look at my questions in a while so I'm sorry for being several weeks late to thank you.

Bob B

Every larger city has an Auction House. Take your images there and ask for Photography Expert to help you authenticate, and price your photographs free of charge.

I don't think it is a good idea to go to the local antique store. There, owner may recognize the value of the print, downplay it, and hoping you sell it to him for few bucks

Don't sell until you know what you have

Irwing Wiles works sells for many thousands of dollars, so you want to make sure you know what exactly you are dealing with.

See some of the Wiles's work on auction here: www.invaluable.com
(http://www.invaluable.com)

Hope that helps

Milo