If you own a Glen Loates, or you are looking at one and wondering, the signature is the first thing to read.

It changed over the course of his career. That is ordinary for an artist working across six decades, but it matters here for a practical reason: collectors buying on the secondary market frequently see a signature they do not recognise and assume something is wrong. Usually nothing is.

The variants

Glen's full given name is Martin Glen Loates. That single fact explains most of the variation, because several of his signatures use the M.

M. G. LOATES, in block capitals.

M. G. Loates, in script.

The GL monogram.

G. Loates.

Glen Loates, stacked.

What a signature can and cannot tell you

A signature is useful evidence. It is not proof, and we would not want anyone to treat it as such.

What it can do is place a work loosely in a period, and flag something worth a second look. What it cannot do is confirm authenticity on its own, establish an edition, or tell you whether the piece in front of you is an original watercolour, a signed limited edition, or a later reproduction. Those questions need the work itself: the support it is on, the sheet measurements, the numbering if there is any, and what is written on the reverse.

If you own one

We hold the archive, and we are usually able to help identify a work from good photographs of the front, the signature, and the reverse of the frame.

We are also building a Certificate of Provenance and Authenticity programme for collectors, issued at no charge. If you have a Glen Loates and you are not certain what you have, write to us.

One thing we will not do is value it. For insurance or estate purposes you need an accredited independent appraiser, and we would point you to the Canadian Personal Property Appraisers Group or the International Society of Appraisers. A gallery valuing work it also sells is not an independent opinion, and you should not accept one from us.

Michael Loates, Owner
Glen Loates R.C.A., Artist