Objective

Each week I will focus on one issue and the questions it raises when acquiring or managing an
art collection. I will offer factual examples, queries, suggestions and advice and for the whole
week this issue and my comments will be open for discussion. Viewers are invited and
encouraged to voice their reactions, make their own contributions and agree with or challenge
whatever I might say. Correction of any errors or presentation of alternative viewpoints are
welcome.

To clarify further, here are some questions that I propose to address.
How should the subject matter of pictures be chosen?
What are the relative advantages and drawbacks of oil paintings, watercolors, engravings,
drawings and prints?
What is the relative importance of technique, style and vision as criteria to judge the standing of
an artist?
What should determine what and when and how often you buy?How does one judge condition
and recognize reproductions and fakes?
How should paintings be displayed and maintained?

As well as a weekly blog a Picture of the Month from my gallery
at appreciatingfineart.etsy.com will also be nominated for discussion.
The picture of the month forJune is this panoramic summer landscape by David Bates (1840-
1921)

An important artist from the Midlands, who exhibited frequently in London, Bates follows a
traditional approach which evokes nostalgia for a time and place when all seemed well with the
world.
His expansive treatment, meticulous observation, and fluid style open the scene and portray not
only the far distance, but many features of rural life – a farmhouse, a horse-drawn hay wagon
on the bridge, geese and ducks by the pond, and a boy fishing in the stream.