I have a 16 x 22 oil painting by Clyde Singer titled to Staten Island it's signed lower left corner by Clyde singer and dated 1970. How much is this painting worth?

Answer 1

American Regionalist Painter Clyde Singer [1908-1999] spent most of his life in Youngstown, Ohio, where he taught art classes and co-directed and co-curated exhibits at the Butler Institute of American Art for over 50 years. He also wrote a weekly art column for the Youngstown Vindicator. As a painter he was very prolific, and most of his pictures depict rural Ohio. But he did win a scholarship to the Art Students League in New York City while a student at the Columbus Art School (now the Columbus College of Art and Design) and lived in New York City then briefly, where he studied under Thomas Hart Benton and John Stewart Curry. Occasionally he returned to New York throughout his life and created many paintings that feature scenes of New York City. So, your painting is not unlikely for the artist. Most of his paintings have sold at auction for around $1,000 over the last decade, with a few reaching the $3,000 benchmark. The most desirable works relate to the region where he lived, as collectors of works by regional artists gravitate toward paintings that relate to the area associated with the artist. That alone would place your painting at the lower estimate. And on that note, should you decide to sell it, your best bet is to take it to an auction house within the region, such as Aspire Auctions or Rachel Davis in Cleveland. That way you are likely to get the get the highest price, because those looking look within the region first and most frequently.