Yazz's at www.williamverdult.com

Will Obama tax hikes for the wealthy boomerang against the arts? Yazzy's at www.williamverdult.com

AP — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:01:04 +0000

Nonprofit arts organizations that count on citizens in the upper income brackets to kick in big donations -- and that would be just about all of them -- may want to put their fundraising efforts on fast-forward this year according to the Los Angeles Times.

If President Obama has his way, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported Monday, tax deductions for charitable donations will be capped at 28% starting in 2011 for individuals earning more than $200,000 and joint-filers whose income tops $250,000. The current tax write-off for people in the top bracket is 35%.

So an arts philanthropist donating a $1-million gift to a museum or performance group would get a $350,000 tax break this year, but only $280,000 in 2011.

Besides potentially lessening the tax incentive for the wealthy to give, the president's tax proposal would end tax cuts for wealthy Americans, restoring the top tax bracket to 39.5%, where it stood before 2001 cuts, slated to last 10 years, reduced the top bracket to 35%. That means the wealthiest donors would have a bit less disposable income to contribute to their favorite charities, arts or otherwise. If the very rich decide to put dollars that they otherwise might have given away into a rainy-day fund to pay the taxman, arts groups and other nonprofits could suffer.

Christie’s Sees Art-Market Recovery After 24% Decline in Sales: Yazzy's at www.williamverdult.com

AP — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:48:58 +0000

Ramses III

Christie’s International said that it is confident of the art market recovering after sales declined 24 percent in 2009, a “demanding year” according to Bloomberg

Total sales decreased to 2.1 billion pounds ($3.4 billion at today’s rate), the London-based auction house said in an e- mailed statement today. Revenue from contemporary art was the most badly affected by the economic crisis, falling 59 percent to 244.3 million pounds.

Collectors responded to the financial crisis in 2009 by selecting the best 20th-century classics, Old Masters, wine and jewelry, and rejecting some contemporary works at international auctions by Christie’s and its rival Sotheby’s. Private bidders, especially from Asia, have been boosting success rates even as totals decline. Average selling rates by lot at auctions increased 5 per cent to 80 percent in 2009, said the company.

“These figures were much better than we expected,” Edward Dolman, Christie’s chief executive, said in a telephone interview. “The art market is vulnerable and we thought we’d be down 50 percent, as we were in the last recession in 1991.”

Bolstered by the record 342.5 million-euro ($480 million) success of the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge in Paris in February, Impressionist & Modern works dominated Christie’s 2009 earnings, with 500.9 million pounds of sales. Asian art, for the first time, was the second-highest contributor at 265.1 million pounds, said the auction house.

The Saint Laurent sale -- the most expensive single- ownership collection ever auctioned -- was held when confidence in markets had been at their lowest ebb, said Dolman.

“It showed us the reality of the new masterpiece market,” he said. “People are looking for exceptional objects, and they’re looking for the same things. Most of the top lots went to Middle Eastern and Russian buyers, underbid by Asian clients. Our new clientele was in place.”

Some Truely Rare Stuff - Yazzy's at www.williamverdult.com

AP — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 15:00:15 +0000

Black China Pottery Special Edition

Master Ramses III - The Rarest of Rare

For the first time ever Verdult's King Tut renderings are combined with China’s black pottery providing rare, exceptional one of a kind artwork.

Combining the significant works of William Verdult with China’s ancient and rare black pottery, Verdult’s King Tut Black Pottery Special Editionprovides investors, collectors, and art enthusiasts with an opportunity to own Verdult artwork that are truly rare.

As a listed artist Verdult’s King Tut renditions are known internationally, coupled with the grace, ageless beauty and magnificent charm of China’s ancient black pottery and you have a limited and rare edition of Verdult work previously not available anywhere.

For more info>>>>

E.E. Cummings And His Works in Paint - Yazzy's at www.williamverdult.com

AP — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:00:58 +0000

According to Judith h. Dobrzynski of the Wall Street Journal, You have to go out of your way to get to Brockport, N.Y., a pretty little Victorian village west of Rochester that had its moment in the sun before the Civil War, when the Erie Canal briefly ended there and canal boats loaded up on products like grain and cod liver oil. Yet a few enterprising Brockporters are hoping that arts-lovers will beat a path to their door this month to help them restore the works of the painter E.E. Cummings, which are torn, dusty, stained and otherwise in pitiful condition.

That's right: The very same enduringly popular, inventive bard of love, sex, rebellion and nature who ranks with the best of 20th-century poets painted with paints as well as with verbal images arranged just-so on a page.

Cummings's paintings are largely forgotten, but he considered himself just as talented a painter as a poet, and worked hard at it, especially on his early abstractions. He made thousands of works. "He painted every day, and devoted more time to it than to his poems," says Milton A. Cohen, a humanities professor at the University of Texas at Dallas and author of "Poet and the Painter: The Aesthetics of E.E. Cummings' Early Work."

How 72 of those paintings ended up in disrepair at the State University of New York at Brockport -- miles away literally and figuratively from Cummings's bohemian life in Greenwich Village, Paris and New England

The Original Book of Appraisals, Yazzy's at www.williamverdult.com

AP — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:00:44 +0000

The Original Book of Appraisals
Click to get Appraisals

The Recent Appraisal Book provides you with up to date hard copies of appraisals recently conducted by the National Institute of Appraisers. This book provides credability for Verdult art and insight into buy/sell, lending and insurance decisions.

For: appraisers, buyers, sellers, lenders, and owners
Full color documents.
Provides the latest formal appraisals of William Verdult artwork.

By Invitation Only, Yazzy's at www.williamverdult.com

AP — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:00:25 +0000

Is a Private Auction by Invitation Only.

Here is how the program works: At least every three months a Private Auction is held by invitation. During the private auction three things take place:

1. First rare works not seen by the public eye are presented to invited guests.

2. The items presented to guests will have great value, in most cases works will have already been appraised by the National Institute of Appraisers and their full market value will have been established; and

3. A great value will be passed on to invited guests. In other words not only will the art work be rare, guests will have the rare opportunity of acquiring the work at minimum cost.

For More information

Why Should You Own Verdult Art? Yazzy's at www.williamverdult.com

AP — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:00:21 +0000

Why Should You Own Verdult Art?

Here is our response to a recent email inquiry concerning owning Verdult art:

First let me say that we are not investment advisors and we do not purport to provide you with any sort of investment advice. That said, in the past year or so the value of Verdult paintings has increased two to three fold. This is the same trend in general with the overall art market.

We do not see this value decreasing anytime soon. We have been working with Verdult art work for four to five years and most reputable sites consider our company the experts in this artwork. Our intent is to get the paintings in places such as Christies and Sotheby’s so the true value of the art can be recognized.

We have done a number of things to achieve this goal including making sure that the prices are transparent and working with major art reporting sites such as artprice.com and artnet.com to ensure that Verdult paintings are well recognized and well received.

In addition to the normal appreciation and asset diversification strategies gained from owning art; there are tax advantages as well for those persons that want to participate in a tax donation program. So there are many ways to make money on your investment. It really depends upon your strategy and purpose for the investment.

In addition, please understand that the Certificate of Authenticity (COA) value is established by the artist and or company which can be much different from the actual market.

Most items that we market return a certified appraised market value by an independent and highly qualified third party appraiser of anywhere between 5 and 12 times the value paid for the artwork.

Yazzy's at William Verdult Western Gallery

AP — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:00:18 +0000

The first edition of what is known as www.verdultgallery.com is now open and available. We have started off with some great Original Portraits and Abstracts and that are available. In the coming days, we will be adding other sections of the Gallery to include, landscapes, the King & Queen of Europe Series, King Tut Series, Portraits, Western Series, Palms, limited Edition lithographs and special editions rarely seen by the pubic. We would like your comments and suggestions on how we can improve things so let us hear from you in our Verdult Forum. Click here to Go to Western.

Tyra - Portraits Yazzy's at www.williamverdult.com

AP — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:00:16 +0000

The first edition of what is known as www.verdultgallery.com is now open and available. We have started off with some great Abstract art that is available. In the coming days, we will be adding other sections of the Gallery to include, landscapes, the King & Queen of Europe Series, King Tut Series, Portraits, Western Series, Palms, limited Edition lithographs and special editions rarely seen by the pubic. We would like your comments and suggestions on how we can improve things, so let us hear from you in our Verdult Forum. Click here to Go to the Gallery-Abstract.

Tell A Friend About Yazzy's at www.williamverdult.com

AP — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:00:51 +0000

Click here to tell a friend or relative about Yazzy's at www.williamverdult.com