Ahem.

I found out more about that signed and numbered print. Turns out that it’s really a poster of a specifically commissioned commercial piece. To quote the artist’s wife:

The sand painting poster was commissioned by Germaine Monteil Cosmetics to promote the colors in their line back in 1975. We went to Minnesota to participate in the promotional activities – free poster with purchase!

It appears to me that you’ve got a collector’s item since there aren’t many artists signing — and numbering posters. But David didn’t know what he was supposed to do as he sat behind the table in the cosmetics area — Think I’d call it creative doodling and he was great at that.

Which is kinda cool, and makes it the second commercially commissioned piece I’ve got that was abandoned and ignored in later years. I have an artist’s proof of a print by Kenneth M. Freeman that I picked up at a Native American art store in NJ. When I moved to AZ, I discovered that he and his studio weren’t far away, so I emailed him and ended up driving up there with pictures of it to show him.

Mr Freeman told me all about it when he saw it, how it was a proof of one of 5 paintings commissioned by an oil or energy company in NJ back in the late 1970s (which tracks because the owner of the store who sold it to me said he’d had it for at least 20 years, and no one ever looked at it). That store owner sold it to me at a low price because he was moving locations and clearing out items, and because I’d been a good art customer with him over the years, and the artist said it was worth at least 10 times what I paid for it.

So it is a cool thing or a crazy thing that I keep discovering rare works of art that no one wanted for years?

Back in June 2005, I purchased a print from an art show at my massage school. I could tell from the butt-ugly frame that it was from the 1970s, but the geometrics of the print were stunning to me, as you can see here.

I had it rematted and reframed, and during that process I discovered that the rather inexpensive print was really a signed and numbered edition of the print. I made a note to try to find out about the artist, then I moved and promptly forgot about it up until this weekend.

I finally hung the print, and after hanging it, I decided to look up the artist. I found that David Chethlahe Paladin (1926-1984) was renowned Navajo artist. After poking around the website, I found an image of the print that I have, and was tickled.

So now, I’m wondering what a signed and numbered version of this print is worth, because I have a feeling it’s a lot more than the pittance I paid for it, and may even be worth more than what I paid to have it rematted and reframed.