Howdy 116pws-ga,
Before the internet, art experts used books to ascertain information on
specific artists. Lots of books. They also used contacts that are experts
in specific art fields, or even experts in particular artists, following the
old adage of "It's not what you know, but who you know."
That is still how most scholarly work is done to this day, as most of the
information still exists in books and in the heads of experts. There is,
however, more and more information showing up on the internet, but just as
in the "real" world, it is scattered here and there on various web sites,
and in art databases or directories. There is no one place for all of this.
There is, as an example, AskART, which has "extensive information about
32,000 American artists."
http://www.askart.com/
Here is their entry point for Aiden Lassell Ripley. Note the spelling for
his middle name differs from yours.
http://www.askart.com/artist/R/aiden_lassell_ripley.asp?ID=24163
"Biographical information for Aiden Ripley
...
Image Gallery of Aiden Ripley 153 images"
As one might suspect, detailed information doesn't come for free.
Subscriber membership details for AskART can be found here.
http://www.askart.com/members/
"For Individuals, Dealers, or Institutions: Becoming a subscriber
($21.95 for one month, $19.50 per month if Automatic Renewal, or
$11.95 for a 24-Hour Membership), will enable full access to our
database of Auction records and prices, Artists' Graphics, and
full details that accompany Images which we have available."
To locate other such artist directories or databases, you can refer
to listings in places such as the dmoz open directory project.
Arts: Visual Arts: Resources (746) [entries]
http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Visual_Arts/Resources/
Arts: Visual Arts (16,408) [entries]
http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Visual_Arts/
You can also try the following searches on Google to locate more listings.
Google search on: "art database"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22art+database%22
Google search on: "art directory"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22art+directory%22
One of the easiests ways to do a quick assessment of any one artist is to
"Google," or search on that artist's name. A search on his name produces
over 700 hits and some of the results have images.
Google search on: "Aiden Lassell Ripley"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22Aiden+Lassell+Ripley%22
Google search on: "Aiden Ripley"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22Aiden+Ripley%22
If you are located near a large library, they can be great resources for
reseaching an artist's works.
A warning though, as it would be hard for a layman, regardless of their
resources, to be able to do anything but a cursory inspection of an
artwork to ascertain its authenticity. A print by Aiden Lasalle Ripley
could be worth up to $2000 and a painting of his could be valued upwards
to $30,000 or more.
If after looking at some images of his work you suspect that you have one
of his pieces, it could be well worth getting it appraised by an art expert.
If you need any clarification, feel free to ask.
Search Strategy:
Used the searches listed above and personal knowledge as an Art History
major in college.
Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher |
