From the 1994 Sanders Price Guide to Autographs
by Bill Safka and Arbe Bareis
In recent years there has been tremendous interest in autographed material relating to the performing arts. Film stars, composers, opera stars, classical instrumentalists, and popular performers are highly sought after by both collectors and dealers. The great performers of the past and present will be remembered long after ordinary mortals are gone.
The Stars of Yesteryear Can Now Be Seen Again
Video and audio recordings are available to the general public as never before. Complete recordings of such luminaries as Enrico Caruso, Sergei Rachmaninov, and Edith Piaf can be heard on compact disc. Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony and a recently discovered performance of Verdi's La forza del destine featuring Renata Tebaldi, Franco Corelli, and Boris Christoff in addition to "Voice of Firestone" programs starring the likes of Jussi Björling, Lauritz Melchior, Helen Traubel, and Leonard Warren can all be seen on video for the first time since their initial respective telecasts in the 1950s.
A whole new generation can view the films of Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Spencer Tracy, and James Dean by renting them at their nearest video stores. Listening and watching inspire many people to collect autographs of the artists they have seen in performance.
Composers and Other Musicians
Composer autographs are more highly prized today than ever before. Among the rarest and most expensive are Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. It is not often they are offered for sale. More affordable are Gounod, Meyerbeer, Leonard Bernstein, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Beginning with the late 19th Century it is possible to find signed photographs of such composers as Verdi, Wagner, Liszt, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky in addition to valuable autographed musical quotes and letters.
Among concert artists, collectors most frequently request examples of conductors Arturo Toscanini and Wilhelm Furtwängler, violinist Jascha Heifetz, and pianists Artur Rubinstein and Vladimir Horowitz. Pianists, in particular, have a tendency to start playing in public at an early age and continue at an advanced age. It is therefore possible to have signed photos of one artist spanning many decades. We once had a signed photo of Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau taken when he was a boy in knickers.
Actors and Actresses
Performers who led tragic, mysterious, and turbulent lives have always fascinated the public. The English actress Lily Langtry is remembered today more for her affairs with royalty that for her stage appearances. Her autographs sell while her contemporaries (with the exception of the ever-popular Sarah Bernhardt) are neglected by the public.
Other performers were justly famed for their remarkable talents; Marilyn Monroe, Jean Harlow, Maria Callas, and Vaslav Nijinsky all fetch healthy prices.
Singers
Recordings have kept the memory of many opera singers alive. People are still held spell bound by the artistry of Adelina Patti, Enrico Caruso, Kirsten Flagstad, Claudia Muzio, Rosa Ponselle, Beniamino Gigli, Jussi Björling, and many others. We get many requests for these singers as well as many others each year. Among the most requested current singers are Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Frederica von Stade, Kiri Te Kanawa, Jessye Norman, and Jose Carreras. Some collect material relating to only one singer and will buy any photo that they do not already have in their collections. We have customers who collect exclusively such singers as Mattia Battistini, Germaine Lubin, Beniamino Gigli, Eva Marton, Mirella Freni, and Enrico Caruso.
Photographs
Celebrity photographers have become more and more collectable. Photos taken by Nadar, Sarony, Dupont, Falk, Mishkin, Hurrell, and Steichen are greatly appreciated today. Cabinet photos and carte de visites are particularly popular as are larger photos while some people prefer postcards.
Signed photos of Bessie Smith, Billie Holliday, Elvis Presley, and Judy Garland are in high demand and hard to come by. Among today's performers the most requested are Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra. It is particularly difficult to find a genuine signature of Frank Sinatra as his secretary often signed for him. So too is the case with Elizabeth Taylor. Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and Gloria Swanson always signed their own autographs. Others rarely signed at all, like Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and of course Greta Garbo. Of particular interest are signed photos of actors costumed in roles they were particularly identified with but which rarely turn up. Vivien Leigh as Scarlett, Clark Gable as Rhett, and Bela Lugosi as Dracula come immediately to mind. Also popular are dance poses of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
Values Continue to Rise
Autographs increase in value. Some merchandise has doubled in the last ten years. In glancing through catalogs that we issued several years ago we are amazed at the appreciation in value of many items. In many cases we wish we had them back! We frequently purchase merchandise at higher prices than we sold them for several years ago. We always look for quality items and aim to meet the needs and requirements of our many customers, whatever they collect.
Bill Safka and Arbe Bareis are full-time dealers who feature classical music and cinema items, with specialization in opera and other performing arts. They issue a bimonthly catalog from Safka and Bareis Autographs, P.O. Box 886, Forest Hills, NY 11375, Phone/FAX (718) 263-2276