Being an antique dealer is an exercise in security (or insecurity) everyday. Heck, being a person is an exercise in this vulnerability. As a dealer my taste is constantly questioned or praised depending on the situation. I often ask myself if the customer is always right as I was told everyday as a waitress. That’s where I learned the ‘kill them with kindness’ mindset. But sometimes that kindness can be mistaken for weakness by folks.

I’ve never subscribed to that as I feel that my kindness is my strength and I have to say that more often than not it is rewarded as such. You know, the ‘you get what you give’ philosophy. In that same vein, when I get a good deal, I try to give a good deal. Case in point, this vintage silkscreen poster. I bought it from a favorite vendor down in Philly. His place is deep in a rough neighborhood, but it’s where I’ve scored some pretty nice finds.




Anyway, if you read my last post about being chased out of City of God favela in Rio by a couple guys with R-15’s, then you know I’ll go deep for good stuff. So, back to the poster that’s now safely in my car and I’m headed home to NYC. As May Brimfield was around the corner, I brought it there.



And guess what? I couldn’t sell it. I thought this would be one of the first things to go, but as that thinking goes, it’s always what you least expect that sells first - in this instance it was a set of ten religious paintings on masonite from the 1950’s that had been in a fire. Go figure. Feeling somewhat confused by the lack of interest and total lowball offers (less than what I paid) I emailed a local NYC auction with images of the poster. Early in June I dropped it off with them to actual interest. Go figure. They set an estimate and told me the auction would be in October.



So why in December am I telling you this story? Because I just got paid for it. Here’s another of my favorite sayings, ‘money talks and bullsh!t walks’. Stay strong and go with your gut. It will always lead you where you need to be. ;-) hkv .