The Art Hunters Handbook: How To Buy Art For $5 And Sell It For $1,000,000

Good read, but short. A few interesting stories and lots of bios on many different artists.

This is a nicely done book but I wouldn't say it is a "Art Hunters Handbook". I've been picking fine art for 17 years. Yes I've found a few for less than $100 and sold in five figures but I've STUDIED Fine Art for years by reading Fine Art Magazines, going to the libraries (before the internet was big) and going to museums, etc.. basically put in the time and work to gain the knowledge.This book is more just to get you to contact the author if you do happen to stumble onto a piece of art with some value.But with the Antique Roadshow you've got everyone and his brother now chasing art and 99% of them wouldn't know quality art if it smacked them up side their heads. All they got to do is read a signature then go run online to look it up.The days of finding great art laying around at flea markets and garage sells are getting farther and farther apart.

I had this book on my desk for a couple weeks, but didn't get to it. Finally, a perfect chance. For air travel, this book is perfect - - small and easy. The Art Hunters Handbook is a how-to for finding undervalued art work all around us.I've never had much patience for garage sales and flea markets, but my wife loves them. Now, I can't wait to start. I'm imagining old childhood treasure-hunting fantasies, but this time, FOR REAL! With the help of a new, faster cell phone, I'm ready to begin a new adventure, searching for hidden treasure, right in front of our eyes. And in the process, I'll learn something, too. Great book!

The book didn't really give me that much inside information on how to find valuable art. I didn't really need to read about other folk's one in a million finds and of course I already know that flea markets and thrift shops exist but beyond that, the info was not quite as useful as I had hoped. I would rather have learned a few little known techniques for spotting and valuing any quality artwork. The book was well written, easy to understand and the price was very reasonable. I'm glad I bought it but I was hoping for a little better inside advice but maybe I was being unrealistic.

This book was recommended by mother and I have to say that she was right when she said that it was an informative book to own. I have learned quite a bit since my purchase of the book and have been able to apply some of the information that I've learned from reading it. I would recommend this book to any art enthusiast as well as those who are just looking for a new and easy way to make an extra buck with little investment.

While I didn't have any illusion that this book was going to make me rich, I did hope that it would have some helpful pointers on sourcing high quality artworks at below market prices. It doesn't.The useful information in this book can be summarized in an almost unabridged fashion as follows:Look for oil paintings at tag sales, flea markets, thrift stores, and estate sales. When you find a painting, buy a subscription to ASKArt's auction price database, and see if the artist has sold for high prices at auction. If so, buy the work. There's a sprinkling of almost comically basic advice, including the fact that an oil painting will have texture, while a print reproduction won't, but that's about it.The rest of the book is filler. There are some anecdotes about expensive works in unlikely places, but these works were almost all purchased by dumb luck or were never for sale at all (works owned by schools and churches for instance). There's no analysis of how seasoned "pickers" go about finding inexpensive works. Additionally, there are short profiles of 120 artists you might come across, but many of them are wildly unlikely. The notion that you might find a Glenn Brown or a Richard Prince at a garage sale is laughable, unless it happens to be held by a deranged billionaire. There are also sections on what the rich and famous collect as well as a profile of the new Crystal Bridges museum which seem at best remotely tangential to the subject.The book totally dismisses all forms of art other than oil painting, so if your interest is in rare prints, sculpture, photography, ceramics, or oriental rugs, this book won't offer even obvious advice. The authors also continuously plug their "American Art Advisor" service, which is kind of cheesy in my opinion, as well as opine on the success of their "Beanie Baby Handbook".This book is an easy pass. I'd pick up a book like The Intrepid Art Collector as a much more useful and professionally produced resource.

This book is worth every penny I paid for it and then some. I have read it from cover to cover and it is a handbook for anyone wanting to go find art works that you can uncover a hidden gem. I carry this book with me every time I go to auctions or garage sales. You never know when you might come across a real treasure.

Excellent book with lots of beautiful photos and illustrations. They have a strategy for identifying valuable art that can still be found at flea markets, etc.

If you love art and want a little bit of knowledge on a range of artists this is a great read. Will be able to look over again and again for artists information

Really just a collection of pictures that anyone could Google. Imparts a few tricks of the trade, but no more than your average blog post.