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TRADITIONAL INDIGENOUS ART

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ArtTrak has evolved during its 20-year history from art gallery and data resource to an international conduit for dynamic relevant and applicable art information. ArtTrak’s newsletter and blog have over 4,000 subscribers who have found ArtTrak’s database, galleries and Antiques Roadshow links, in addition to the newsletter and blog, invaluable. Furthermore, The International Society of Appraisers awarded John Buxton, the founder of ArtTrak, the Lamp of Knowledge for its excellence in education.

Japanese Noh Theatre Mask
Online Exhibition

As Noh is an art form that utilizes masks, there is a great variety of them. There were originally about 60 basic types of Noh masks, but today there are well over 200 different kinds in use. Noh is classical Japanese musical drama based on tales from traditional literature performed since the 14th century. Noh masks are carved from single piece of wood painted with natural pigments. Mask represents age, gender and social ranking of human or nonhuman being like animal, demon or divine.

Testimonials

Mr. Buxton is the leading authority for the appraisal of Tribal art, and his gallery presents some of the finest objects of their kind. His eye for objects, market analysis, and valuation methodology are unequalled in the industry. He is responsible for the development and valuation of some of the finest collections in the world. His long-standing positions with the International Society of Appraisers, and Antiques Roadshow are a testament to his character, acumen, and personality.

- Scott W. Hale, Curator

I have always looked to John Buxton as the expert in the field of African art and early-American (North, Central and South) cultures. I trust his judgment regarding appraisals, as he always has the current information on both academic research and market trends at his fingertips (and I don't mean Google). His ArtTrak newsletter has been a great source of current info and data in these fields, including what happens at auctions, what is going on in the areas of appraising and current thought, and general scuttlebutt. Our professional relationship goes back more than twenty-five years, starting when I was working at the IRS (where I was a Senior Appraiser and then Director of Art Appraisal Services) and continuing into the present in my current position as an independent appraiser.

- Joseph Bothwell, Appraisal Expert, Director, Bothwell Fine Art

The world of tribal art steadily gets more complicated as the years pass. The ArtTrak Newsletter provides a key way for me to keep track of this changing situation, bringing many important issues to my attention in a timely and well-written well-illustrated manner. I would not have been aware of many of these issues important to me as a long-time tribal art collector, if they had not been reported by John Buxton in ArtTrak.

- Jay Last, Collector

Every serious collector needs, from time-to-time, an informed opinion from a trusted expert in ethnographic art. John Buxton has been, for many years, the “go-to” guy for honest, reliable and carefully researched authentication services, as well as advice on values in African, Pre-Columbian, Oceanic, and American Indian art. John’s cumulative experience and research facilities are second-to-none.

- Joe Kinker, Collector

I have known John for many years and have always found his connoisseurship, intellectual curiosity, openness, and sensitive nature to be differentiating. Where scientific testing is appropriate, John has consistently taken a dispassionate, matter of fact, and collaborative approach to interpreting and presenting results.

- Mark Rasmussen, Rare-Collections.com