Activities
Expertise
Identifying
Charles-Wesley Hourdé offers to help you identify your artworks. His experience and his personal specialized library will allow you to learn more about their origin, their symbolic and their use.
Valuing
Strengthen by his experience in both public auctions and private sales, Charles-Wesley Hourdé offers his valuation services. Free of charge for an opinion from a picture or by quote for a valuation requiring travel and research, he will provide you with all his skills.
Advising
Charles-Wesley Hourdé can provide you with his personal advising service. Whether you are an individual, a company, a professional (designer, architect, etc.) or an institution, collecting African and Oceanic artifacts is an art that cannot be improvised. Our advises cover the following situations:
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Selling your artworks under the best conditions (privately or through auction)
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Negotiating and acquiring an artwork from a professional or an individual
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Acquiring an artwork from an auction house
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Building and managing your collection depending on your profile
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Placing your artworks within cultural events (forthcoming exhibition or publication for instance)
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Networking with professionals (basemaker, restorer, etc.)
Relying on his experience and on his network of collectors, institutions and professionals cultivated over the past 20 years, Charles-Wesley Hourdé is at your disposal to guide you both in your one-off acquisitions and in the long-term management of your collection.
Research
Research is an integral part of every aspect of our business.
Charles-Wesley Hourdé is passionate about artworks and their history, and regularly organises themed exhibitions and catalogues, both in and outside the gallery. He also publishes scientific works.
Whether for appraisals or valuations, it is often necessary to consult specialist libraries and databases.
Research is also used to retrace the history of a piece in order to establish its ‘provenance’. Provenance has become a fundamental factor in the thoughtful and, above all, ethical acquisition of works of art.