Your Questions, Answered

  • Lophius operates in Maplewood - South Orange. The broader area has so many vibrant towns full of both established and emerging art lovers and collectors who don’t plan on going to Sotheby’s or Christie’s any time soon.

  • The art primarily comes from members of the community - people in the area who have art that they want to sell.

  • We are looking for original art - interesting paintings, signed prints, unique sculptures, historical posters, photographic art. The ideal art is in good condition, framed, and the name of the artist is known. But we accept less than ideal art pieces so send your art pieces our way for review!

    Additionally, Lophius vets submissions to focus on art that people actually want - avoiding the porcelain figurines your grandparents had.

  • At this time there is no online component to Lophius auctions - only in person. It’s more fun to enthusiastically hold up a paddle and cheer on bidding wars than to click “bid” from home.

  • Typical auction houses charge 25-35% fees. Lophius charges 18% - 16% to cover event and operation costs and 2% for the Maplewood Foundation to give back to the community.

  • A catalog of items up for auction will be provided on this website (and sent out through our mailing list) in advance of the event.

  • Nope. This is why we start all auction lots at the same price level ($150 first bid) and let those in attendance determine how much an item is worth to them. If you are a seller and you have a piece of art that you think may be worth six figures, you should probably take it elsewhere. If you are a buyer, bid on the art because you like it, not for an investment. But of course we conduct baseline research on all items sent by sellers, and provenance information will be mentioned in the catalog.

  • The spirit of Lophius is to connect buyers and sellers of art collections. However, we want to support the amazing local art community, so artists, art dealers, or galleries that are local to the Maplewood - South Orange area can submit one item per auction.

  • Go to the “Inquire About Selling” page for more information

  • Go to the “Upcoming Auctions” page for more information

  • There is no set schedule for auctions. Auctions will take place based on inventory. So the more great art pieces you send us, the sooner we can have another auction.