Tag Archive for: paintings

Diverse offerings in Jasper52 Nov. 15 fine paintings and prints auction

On Tuesday, November 15, starting at 8 pm Eastern time, Jasper52 will offer a sale of Exquisite Fine Art Paintings and Prints. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

The 163 lots that appear in the lineup of the November 15 sale present a wide range of eye-pleasing images that represent an equally wide range of forms, subjects and eras. Of particular note are several charming beach scenes by French artist Huguette Ginet-Lasnier; an Italian circa-1600 painting of an old man and a courtesan; an 1869 Dutch School scene of barges on a canal in the process of loading; a Victorian English oil on canvas of a red-jacketed huntsman in full gallop atop his black steed, surrounded by a pack of running, eager hunting dogs; and a circa-2000 market scene that deftly dances the line between the figurative and the abstract.

Francisco Ruiz Ferrandis, ‘The Pottery Seller,’ estimated at $1,500-$2,000

View the auction here.

Learn more about the auction on Auction Central News.

Jasper52 delivers fine art paintings and prints, Aug. 9

On Tuesday, August 9, starting at noon Eastern time, Jasper52 will offer a sale titled Exquisite Fine Art Paintings and Prints, containing 149 lots in all. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

Works with connections to France and Paris are clear standouts in this sale. Choices include a summery Giverny landscape; a huge circa-1960s depiction of Paris on the Seine; a French Impressionist river scene; a circa-2000 image of a smartly dressed, seated, behatted Parisian woman with a leopard; a French Modernist painting by Jean Marc of two nude, blue-skinned men fighting; a mid-century vibrantly green French oil painting of a lake dotted with swans; a 1960s Ecole de Paris Cubist abstract; a set of nine French abstract paintings, dating to 1993; fashion illustrations by Genevieve Thomas; and a Robert Ladou 20th-century anatomical drawing of the skeleton of a horse.

Contemporary French School canvas titled ‘The Giverny Landscape,’ est. $2,000-$2,500

View the auction here.

Clementine Hunter wedding scene a highlight of Jasper52’s July 6 auction

Paintings by Georges Clairin, Clementine Hunter and G. Campbell Lyman should all earn top lot status at Jasper52’s Fine Prints, Paintings, and Decorative Arts auction, which will take place at noon on Wednesday, July 6. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

The lineup contains more than 300 lots, certain to contain something you didn’t know you wanted until you see it. Also featured are landscapes by Alexander Drysdale; a Leroy Neiman serigraph of a Paris scene; a few Blue Dog images by George Rodrigue; and a large Gunner Dongieux 2019 painting that depicts the interior of a New Orleans streetcar. Nudes are available in abundance, most notably in the form of the stylized figures shown in Robert Gordy’s Red Sofa #2.

Clementine Hunter, ‘Wedding,’ est. $15,000-$18,000

View the auction here.

Learn more about the auction on Auction Central News.

How to determine the condition of paintings on canvas, board or linen like an expert

This article will explain common condition issues found in paintings on canvas, board or linen. It will give you the tools to determine if common condition issues are present in the paintings that you own.

Keep in mind that if you discover condition issues, they will not necessarily hurt the sales value of your artwork. Some condition issues are inherent to the materials used to create the piece, and their presence can help confirm authenticity. Should an expert determine that restoration prior to a sale would increase the resale value of the piece, that same expert should be able to recommend a restorer who can perform the work.

It is best to remove a painting from the frame when looking for condition issues because the frame can conceal parts of the work. However, if you are not comfortable with the idea, do not remove the piece from the frame.

When handling the work, make sure your hands are clean and dry, or wear clean gloves. This step is vital because the oils from your fingertips can cause damage to the artwork.

Many condition issues can be detected with the naked eye, but you should also examine the painting using a light source. Note that certain issues may require a magnifying glass or a black light to detect.

Once you’ve set up the painting for examination, you should look for the following issues:

  • Tears or Rips
  • Paint Loss
  • Craquelure
  • Inpainting, Overpainting and Retouching
  • Water Damage
  • Varnish Discoloration
  • Fading or Overcleaning
  • Surface Dirt
  • Re-lining
  • Sagging or Looseness on Its Stretchers
  • Frame Damage

Tears or Rips
Examine the front of the work. Are there any tears or rips in the canvas? Look at the back of the painting. Are there are any patches? Canvas patches can indicate that a tear has been repaired.

Paint Loss
Look closely at the entire surface to see if there is any paint loss. If you have a magnifying glass, use it. Examine the surface in raking light, which is light that falls across the surface at an angle. Viewing the work in raking light can help you determine if there are cracks in the surface of the paint or areas of loss. Related issues include cleavage (separation between the paint and ground layers), flaking and lifting.

Craquelure
Craquelure is a very common condition issue. The term describes a network of fine fracture lines in a paint layer. It often resembles spider web­-like cracks, but it can manifest in several different ways. Craquelure may only be present in certain areas of the surface, and the size of the cracks can vary from a centimeter to a few inches. It often occurs naturally as a painting ages, but it can also be caused by an impact to the canvas, by rolling or folding the unstretched canvas, and by exposure to humidity or other environmental influences. Craquelure can lead to flaking and lifting and can indicate poor adhesion between the paint layer, varnish layer and support. To look for craquelure, examine the surface in raking light.

Inpainting, Overpainting and Retouching
Inpainting or retouching is the introduction of new paint into small areas of loss in order to restore continuity and conceal damage. Overpainting is an application of new paint that completely covers the old surface. The results of these conservation techniques are difficult to detect. Look for areas where the paint color is slightly different. Inconsistent brush strokes or areas where the paint is thicker can also be signs of restoration. Often, inpainting is used to conceal a tear in a canvas that has been patched on the reverse. Sometimes, areas that have been restored can be detected because condition issues present in other parts of the canvas are absent. If you have a black light or ultraviolet light available, take your painting to a dark room and examine the surface under the black light to see if any areas of the paint fluoresce differently. Older paint will look different from new paint under black light; new paint will usually look darker.

Water Damage
Examine the back of the work. Are there any discolored areas that might indicate the artwork came into contact with water or another liquid? Moisture exposure can cause the canvas and the wooden stretcher bars to expand and contract or warp, which can disturb the paint layer and cause lifting.

Varnish Discoloration
A final protective coating of varnish is often applied to a painting in order to protect and preserve the paint layer. Varnish can discolor, darken and deteriorate with age, affecting the overall appearance of a painting. Varnish often yellows with age and becomes brittle.

Fading or Overcleaning
Fading is a gradual loss of color or intensity. This can be caused by exposure to sunlight, or it can be inherent to the type of paint. Fading can also result from overcleaning.

Surface Dirt
If a painting is not kept under glass, a layer of surface dirt will naturally accumulate on the surface as time passes. This dirt often consists of dust, soot, smoke and natural particles found in the environment. To determine if your painting is dirty, closely examine the surface. Does it appear dark or soiled? Check the frame to see if a layer of dirt has accumulated on the top edge or along the lower interior lip. Then, put on clean white cotton gloves, or take the corner of a clean piece of paper towel, and press it gently on the surface of the painting near the edge. If the material is darkened when you lift if off, your painting may need to be cleaned. Do not attempt to clean the work yourself.
Example of surface dirt

Re­-lining
Re­-lining is the process of reinforcing the canvas by applying a second canvas or material lining to the back of the original and securing it with pressure and an adhesive, usually wax or glue. Until the 1970s, re-­lining was a common restoration technique used to fix tears, unstable paint and deteriorating canvases. Because the adhesive used in this process eventually can seep into the original work and cause adverse effects, re­-lining has become less common today. To determine if a canvas has been re-­lined, turn the painting over and look carefully at its edges. Does it look like another piece of canvas has been sandwiched to the back of the original canvas? There may be glue or wax residue along the edges. The back of a re-­lined canvas may also appear new.

Sagging or Looseness on Its Stretchers
The fibers in stretched canvas often lose their tautness over time, causing the material to sag on the wooden frame. When you gently shake the painting, does the canvas move? Does the canvas sag or bend? Examine the canvas in raking light. A restorer can easily tighten a canvas that has become loose on its frame.

Frame Damage
Is the frame stable? Are there chips? Has the gilding worn away or flaked off? Frames are decorative and also serve to protect the edges and surface of a painting from damage. Because frames can be replaced, experts generally do not consider the condition of most frames when valuing an artwork.

Past Repairs or Conservation
If your painting has been conserved or restored, do you have documentation of the treatment? This paperwork should accompany the painting so that future owners know what treatments it has received and when the services were completed.

Cutting-edge contemporary artists defy tradition in Jan. 19 auction

On Wednesday, January 19, starting at 6 pm Eastern time, Jasper52 will present a tightly-curated sale of Cutting Edge Contemporary Art. Fewer than 80 lots were chosen for inclusion, and they include photographs, paintings, works on paper and other pieces by established and emerging artists such as Kwame Brathwaite, Elliott Erwitt, Lily van der Stokker, Hiroji Kubota, Inge Morath, Tina Barney, Burt Glinn, Gillian Laub, Richard Bosman, Yael Martinez, Jack Savitsky, Emin Ozmen, Klara Liden, Justine Kurland, Stephen Shore, Renee Green, Mary Ellen Mark, Laurie Simmons, Joel Meyerowitz, Vik Muniz, Richard Misrach, Sigmar Polke, Torbjorn Rodland, Herbert List, Carl de Keyzer, Steve McCurry, Lyle Ashton Harris, Andro Wekua, Antoine D’ Agata, Nick Relph, Matt Ducklo, Thomas Hoepker, Daido Moriyama, David Benjamin Sherry and Bob Gruen, among others.

Elliot Erwitt, ‘NYC USA,’ est. $300-$500

View the auction here.

Learn more about the auction on Auction Central News.

Emile Gruppe, Artist-King of Gloucester

An undated Emile Gruppe canvas titled ‘Old Dartmouth’ sold for $1,270 in March 2021 at DuMouchelles Fine Art Auctioneers & Appraisers in Detroit, Michigan.

Mention the name Emile Gruppe to just about anyone in Massachusetts art circles and their eyes instantly brighten. Gruppe (1896-1978) was born in Rochester, New York, raised in the Netherlands, and in the early 1930s made his way to the picturesque fishing village of Gloucester, Massachusetts. There, he embarked on a long and prolific career, first as a tonalist painter and later as a Monet-inspired impressionist, a hallmark style for which he became famous. Gruppe’s vivid depictions of life on the water, especially fishing boat scenes, earned him a nice living.

A signed, untitled Emile Gruppe painting from the estate of Diana H. Douglas of Southern Pines, N.C., sold for $24,200 in September 2014 at Leland Little Auction Gallery in Hillsborough, North Carolina.

You could say Emile Gruppe had a head start in life. His father, Charles P. Gruppe, painted with the Hague School of art in Holland and served as a dealer for Dutch painters in the United States. He actively encouraged Emile’s artistic interests (as well as those of siblings Karl, a sculptor; Virginia, a watercolorist; and Paul, a cellist). Emile would watch his father create Barbizon-inspired landscapes and in so doing learn the rudiments of painting and drawing.

The family moved to the United States permanently in 1913 because of growing tensions in Europe. Young Emile’s formal training, such as it was, began in Rochester, where his parents apprenticed him to a sign painter. But he had larger ambitions for himself. He enrolled at the National Academy in New York City and later the Grande Chaumiere in Paris. He also attended classes at the Art Students League. In Provincetown, Massachusetts, he learned from the landscape painter Charles Hawthorne at the Cape Cod School of Art. But his most influential teacher was John Carlson, whom he met at the Art Student League’s summer school in Woodstock, New York.

This Emile Gruppe painting Early Morning Gloucester sold for $13,310 in May 2016 at the Rockport Art Association in Rockport, Mass.

“John Carlson turned me into a painter,” Gruppe once said. “He taught me to see all the pictorial possibilities of a subject.” By the time he arrived in Gloucester, his style had been pretty well cemented. He was a bold, robust Impressionist, one who earned places in gallery shows and exhibitions throughout the United States. While based in Gloucester, Gruppe also maintained a studio in Carnegie Hall in New York and had vacation retreats in Jeffersonville, Vermont and Naples, Florida. He painted every day, completing around 200 paintings a year for 60 years.

An oil-on-canvas winter harbor scene by Emile Gruppe sold for $14,400 in March 2013 at Cottone Auctions in Geneseo, New York.

Mary Westcott of Kaminski Auctions in Beverly, Massachusetts, said Emile Gruppe is revered in the New England area for his outstanding contribution as a local artist who taught and mentored many other artists. “Whenever one of his paintings comes to auction, it is given prominent advertising and always photographed,” she said. “Although he painted other subjects and locations, he is best known for his ‘Ships in Harbor’ scenes.  He’s often compared to William Lester Stevens, Aldro Hibbard and Anthony Thieme, and his work is most easily recognized. He is a giant among giants and continues to be sought by collectors and museums.”

Alexa Malvino of Clars Auction Gallery in Oakland, California, said Emile Gruppe benefited from being able to create art alongside a collection of other talented American artists, adapting and experimenting with impressionistic plein air painting. “The California artist Armin Hansen comes to mind first,” Malvino said. “Not only is their subject matter very similar, but even the color palettes of their works align. Small details like the execution of the hats on their fishermen make you wonder how familiar they were with each other’s work, despite working on separate sides of the country.”

The Emile Gruppe work titled ‘Morning Light at East Gloucester’ sold for $10,240 in August 2020 at Clars Auction Galley in Oakland, California.

The American Impressionist landscape was a subject often seen coming out of California from painters such as the Society of Six, Mary DeNeale Morgan and William Ritschel, the latter of whom spent much time in New York but created many of his great works after his move to Carmel in 1918. “Gruppe’s work also had a similar feel to the paintings coming out of Canada during that time,” Malvino observed. “The Group of Seven included artists like A.Y. Jackson and Tom Thomson – who passed before the creation of the group but whose work greatly influenced it – were also capturing the fantastic fall landscapes of the East Coast.”

As for the current demand for paintings by Gruppe, Alexa Malvino said the painter’s auction market has been fairly consistent for the past 10 to f15 years, with works selling for a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars, contingent on the provenance, subject matter and condition of the works. “Despite the current demand for contemporary and Pop Art,” she added, “I don’t see his market softening in the coming years. His themes and beautiful execution of the Impressionist style seem to be timeless. The Impressionist era was such an important part of American art history and given his talent and many contributions to the movement, it’s likely the demand for his works will remain steady.”

Emile Gruppe’s ‘The Old Timer’ sold for $42,500 in November 2018 at Kaminski Auctions in Beverly, Massachusetts.

Mary Westcott said there continues to be a demand for Gruppe’s work. “The prices realized are on a broad spectrum and depend mostly on subject matter, early or late work and quality. Rarely are any of his paintings not sold. The demand for his work is still here and likely to continue.” Matt Cottone of Cottone Auctions in Geneseo, New York, concurred, remarking, “There has been a recent resurgence in the Gruppe market, with new interest on a national level.”

Emile Gruppe was as much a teacher as he was a painter. He founded the Gloucester School of Painting in 1942, operating it until his death, with a faculty that not only included himself but many of his own teachers, including Carlson. He wrote books for artists on brushwork, color and technique. His paintings can be found in major auction galleries, such as Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Skinner. His son, Robert Gruppe, a painter, maintains the Gruppe Gallery at Rocky Neck in Gloucester, while his daughter, Emilie, maintains the Emile A. Gruppe Gallery in Jericho, Vermont.

Market for horse portraits keeps trotting along

What would you prefer: a great portrait of a horse, or a great portrait of a car? Andrew Jones, founder of the eponymous Los Angeles auction house, suggests that 90 percent of people would choose the horse, which may seem surprising to some.

More than 100 years have passed since the automobile displaced the horse as our main form of transportation. Admittedly, there are some truly spectacular cars out there. But a painted portrait of a car? Even a magnificently rendered image of a Murphy-bodied Duesenberg, or a Bugatti Type 55? No. The horse wins, and by far more than a nose. But why?

An 1879 Herbert Kittredge portrait of the stallion Bonnie Scotland and chief groom Robert Green sold for $40,000 at Case Antiques Inc Auctions and Appraisals in January 2018.

Well, the mammal has a long head start. Horses have appeared in art pretty much since human beings began creating images as art. The walls of the caves at Lascaux, France, are famously adorned with images of galloping equines rendered in charcoal and ocher. According to current scholarship, the cave paintings are about 17,000 years old. Horses star in other pivotal works of art. Two of the three paintings in Paolo Uccello’s 15th-century trio of tempera-on-wood panels dubbed the Battle of San Romano, showing the artist’s understanding of linear perspective, place white horses front and center. Eadweard Muybridge’s 1878 images of Sallie Gardner galloping with a rider identified as “G. Domm” on her back literally changed the way horses are portrayed. The photographs proved that at some point, however brief, all four of a horse’s hooves leave the ground when it runs.

But the biggest difference is an insurmountable one: cars don’t have personalities, but horses do. Great portrait artists don’t just capture the facts of the sitter, they also capture the intangibles known only to those who love them best, and fix them to the canvas for all to see. In the case of equine portraits, the sitter just happens to be a horse.

A set of 12 equine portrait prints, based on the work of 18th-century British artist Thomas Spencer, sold for £4,600, or roughly $6,300, at Cheffins in September 2015.

“Sitter” also happens to be a contradictory term in this context, as the horses are never shown sitting. Many picture the subject in profile, standing perfectly still, which presents the viewer with another contradiction. We seem to love horses best when they’re moving; Uccello, Muybridge, and the Lascaux artists agree on that. But painting a horse that’s standing still allows us to appreciate the horse at rest, and to admire the skill of the portraitist. “If you’ll Google paintings of horses, you’ll be shocked at how many don’t look like a horse should,” Jones said.

Sarah Campbell Drury, vice president of Fine and Decorative Arts at Case Antiques Auctions & Appraisals in Knoxville, Tennessee, points out that the noted equestrian artist Henry Stull “credited part of his success to actually having studied horse anatomy at veterinary school.”

Commissioning a painted portrait is expensive; horse portraits, in and of themselves, are luxury goods, not unlike a Patek Philippe chronograph or a Ferrari 599 Manual. Horse portraits represent the fact that decades or centuries ago, someone was rich enough to pay an artist to immortalize a favorite horse. “There is the emotional connection and desire to have a portrait as a remembrance and keepsake. But we must also remember that many horses were in fact the livelihoods of their owners. They were raced and bred for large sums of money,” Campbell Drury says. “They were extremely important financial assets. So equine portraits could be used almost as marketing or promotional materials to represent this asset in situations where the horse itself could not be present, not to mention as status symbols.”

An 1895 horse portrait by John Chester Mathews sold for $1,600 at Case Antiques Inc Auctions and Appraisals in January 2017.

British demand for these images during the 18th- and 19th centuries was strong enough to sustain dedicated specialists. “During the period when equine portraiture was at its peak, it was common for the wealthiest of racehorse owners to commission portraits of their most important animals, allowing a handful of artists to earn a living solely from those types of picture,” says Patricia Durdikova, an associate in the Paintings department at Cheffins auction house in Cambridge, England. “Portraits of the horses which defined the development of British horse racing, known as the Foundation Sires, are as sought after in the current market as they were at the time of painting.”

Some horse portraits present the animal as a supreme luxury object. An 18th-century English canvas of an unknown equine with a manor house in the background sold for $9,750 against an estimate of $800-$1,200 in February 2018 at Litchfield Auctions.

In September 2015, Cheffins offered a set of 12 equine portrait prints based on the work of British artist Thomas Spencer, one of the few who made his living by depicting elite horses. He portrayed the animals in profile, attended by riders and grooms and surrounded by text that recounted their accomplishments. Estimated at £1,000 to £2,000, or about $1,300 to $2,700, the mid-18th-century group sold for £4,600, or roughly $6,300.

Horse portraits become more interesting to collectors with each proven fact they can claim. An anonymous artist painting of an anonymous horse in a nondescript field can sell well if it’s competently rendered. If we know the name of the artist, that’s good; if we know the name of the horse, that’s equally good, and sometimes better. If the horse has a confirmed racing history, better still. If human beings appear with the horse, collectors prefer to know who they are and why they’re there. If the backdrop contains details that support and confirm what we know about the horse, e.g., buildings belonging to specific horse farms, or a glimpse of the country house of its owner in the distance, that’s beneficial, too.

Lucy Kemp-Welsh might be best known as the illustrator of the 1915 edition of Black Beauty. Andrew Jones Auctions sold an undated horse portrait of hers for $550 in December 2019.

Most desirable of all, obviously, is a portrait of a horse whose name appears in the bloodlines of winners of the Kentucky Derby and other high-stakes races. A painting that sold at Case in January 2018 featured just such an animal. The work depicted the stallion Bonnie Scotland with chief groom Robert “Uncle Bob” Green. The horse’s descendants include Man-O-War, Sea Biscuit, Secretariat, and several other immortal champions.

The 1879 painting had even more going for it. Robert Green is outstanding in his own right. He was born into slavery and, after gaining his freedom through Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, rose to become the highest-paid employee of Bonnie Scotland’s home farm. The work was painted by Herbert Kittredge, who distinguished himself as a master of equestrian art before dying at the shockingly young age of 28. The painting sold at the top of its estimate range for $40,000 to Belle Meade Plantation, the Nashville farm where Bonnie Scotland lived and Green worked.

In June 2016, an undated painting by French 19th-century artist Rosa Bonheur made $6,500 at Wiederseim Associates.

Drury acknowledges that the 1879 Kittredge painting was something of a unicorn. A horse portrait with a wealth of information behind it is, in her words, “pretty rare.” Most collectors must make do with less. However, when asked how the painting would perform if it were re-consigned to Case today, Drury replied, “Actually, about the same. The market for equestrian portraits seems to be fairly stable – pardon the pun.”

Jones says horse portraits continue to hold our attention because they give us something we need. “Horses in motion, horses standing still, it’s a very peaceful form of art,” he says. “Even before COVID-19, it was a lovely thing to hang on a wall.”

Chagall experienced modernism’s golden age firsthand

NEW YORK – Marc Chagall (1887-1985), painter, designer and printmaker, was born to a devout Jewish family in Vitebsk, part of the Russian Empire. Throughout his life, he depicted its legends and lore.

After completing his art education, Chagall settled in Montparnasse, Paris, a hive of post-Impressionistic creativity. Like luminaries Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Piet Mondrian and Pablo Picasso, he experimented with modern trends, light, color and form.

‘Les Maries dans le Ciel de Vitebsk,’ 1969, oil on canvas, 16in x 10½in. Realized €400,000/$583,004 + buyer’s premium in 2011. Image courtesy of Millon & Associes and LiveAuctioneers

Chagall also explored Cubism, depicting fragmented, abstract forms from varied viewpoints. I and the Village (1911), for example, depicts man and goat, who, through shared memories, meet in concentric circles and interlocking geometrics. The Fiddler (1913), green-head atilt, arms angled, legs bowed and feet splayed, hovers above Russia’s rural slant-roof huts and steepled churches, all swathed in snow.

When World War I broke out, Chagall and his wife—just married in Vitebsk, were stranded in Russia. During these dark days, he created a delightful celebration of newlywed love, The Birthday. In it, the artist himself—swept off his feet with joy, bends over backwards to kiss his bride. During this period, Chagall also founded a Vitebsk art school, created stage designs for the State Jewish Chamber Theater and exhibited works in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Finally, in 1923, the couple resettled in Paris.

‘Romeo et Juliette,’ (CS 10 Sorlier), 1964, edition 15/200, Charles Sorlier engraver, Mourlot printer, signed, 26 1/8in x 40 in. gilt woodframe. Realized $28,000 + buyer’s premium in 2014. Image courtesy of Brunk Auctions and LiveAuctioneers

Though art forms continued to evolve, Chagall, true to his vision, continued to portray dreamlike images of curvy mermaids, tiny topsy-turvy villagers, flying cows, floating fiddles, blue donkeys, plump roosters and light-as-air lovers. He often adorned his etchings of Old Testament figures with folkloric and Hasidic elements as well. Moreover, scores of his colorful, complex Biblical scenes, like The Creation of Man (1958), The Binding of Isaac (1966), and Abraham and the Angels Going to Sodom (1956), depict glorious, winged beings guarding and guiding from above.

In Chagall’s world, couples, too, levitate with love. The Newlyweds Over Vitebsk (Les Maries dans le Ciel de Vitebsk, 1969), blessed by a floating fiddle and bouquet-bearing donkey, hover ‘twixt sun-kissed heaven and earth. Romeo and Juliette (Romeo et Juliette, 1964), crowned with flowers, soar atop a mermaid-steed through lush-green Parisian skies. A full moon, perhaps symbolizing universal love, reflects their joyous faces.

‘Le Profil Bleu,’ framed lithograph, 1972. Signed and numbered 25/50, 25½in x 19in,
Maeght Editeur, Paris, publisher. Realized $3,000 + buyer’s premium in 2019. Image courtesy of Rago Arts and Auction Center and LiveAuctioneers

Although raised as a Jew, Chagall repeatedly depicted Christ on the Cross, especially during the Nazi Era when he fled France for the United States. According to Susan Tumarkin Goodman, senior curator emerita at the Jewish Museum, “For Chagall, the Crucifixion was a symbol for all the victims of persecution, a metaphor for the horrors of war and an appeal to conscience that equated the martyrdom of Jesus with the suffering of the Jewish people and the Holocaust.”

In addition to etchings and paintings, Chagall produced ceramics, sculptures, lithographs, tapestries and mosaics. He also created costumes and sets for the American Ballet Theater and designed magnificent murals for the Paris Opéra (1964) and the New York Metropolitan Opera (1966).

‘Tribe of Levi,’ limited edition lithograph from Maquettes of Stained Glass Windows for Jerusalem, 1964, signed, 29in x 20¾in, Charles Sorlier, printer. Realized $8,500 + buyer’s premium in 2015. Image courtesy of Dane Fine Art and LiveAuctioneers

In his later years, Chagall created exquisite stained-glass windows for the Art Institute of Chicago. the United Nations and several French cathedrals. His Twelve Tribes of Israel, a set of shimmering creations located at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center, is often considered his masterwork. According the Hadassah site, each pane, which honors a son of Jacob, the Biblical patriarch, “is a microcosm of Chagall’s world, real and imaginary; of his love for his people; his deep sense of identification with Jewish history; his early life in the Russian shtetl. … Chagall’s genius transforms time and space.” Each pane has been replicated in limited edition lithographs. Moreover, several adorn stamps issued by the United Nations and the Israel Philatelic Federation.

‘Lozna near Witebska,’1985, Adam i Ewa, signed, limited edition lithograph, approx. 30½in x 22¼in. Realized 26,000 PLN (Polish Zloty) or $7,444 in 2012. Image courtesy DESA Unicum SA and LiveAuctioneers

“It has always been difficult to untangle Chagall’s two interlocking reputations—as a pioneer of modernism and as a major Jewish artist, “writes Lauren Bradley, fine art specialist at Rago Arts and Auction. “To be sure, he was both. He experienced modernism’s golden age in Paris, where he forged a highly personal synthesis of Cubism, Symbolism and Fauvism that was widely influential and that would, after a certain period of incubation, give rise to Surrealism. At the same time, he was most emphatically a Jewish artist, whose work was one long dreamy reverie of life in his native Vitebsk.”

Lithograph 1977, signed and numbered 61/150, published by Sorlier Graveur on Arches. Approx. 26in x 19½in image. Realized $8,500 + buyer’s premium in 2016. Image courtesy Auction Gallery of Boca Raton LLC and LiveAuctioneers

 

Hawaiian images prevail in Jasper52 auction April 15

Tropical images of Hawaii painted by artists who lived and worked on the islands highlight an online auction that will be conducted by Jasper52 on Wednesday, April 15. Many of the paintings are fresh from an estate in Honolulu.

Charles W. Bartlett (1860-1940) ‘Man in Outrigger, Hawaii,’ 1923 etching print hand-colored with watercolor, titled and signed in graphite. Estimate: $12,000-$14,000. Jasper52 image

View the auction here.

Learn more about the auction on Auction Central News.

David Hockney: more than pool pictures

NEW YORK – David Hockney is synonymous with paintings of swimming pools, but throughout his career he has utilized many techniques and styles in creating art and his subject matter interests have ranged from landscapes to portraits. While celebrated as a painter, he is also a talented draftsman, printmaker, photographer and stage designer. From his double-portraits in the early 1960s, which gave way to swimming pools and California landscapes later that decade to rarely shown photographic collages in the 1980s and more recent iPad drawings printed on paper, the artist is known for bold and colorful works encompassing varied media.

David Hockney’s ‘30 Sunflowers,’ 1996, oil on canvas, made $2.2 million + buyer’s premium in May 2011 at Phillips. Photo courtesy of Phillips and LiveAuctioneers

Considered one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, Hockney was born in Bradford, England and has long maintained homes and studios in London and California, which inspires much of his artwork.

In early 2020, London’s National Portrait Gallery opened “David Hockney: Drawing from Life,” the first major exhibition of the artist’s works in two decades. The exhibition explored how drawing is integral to the manner in which Hockney (b, 1937) processes the world through his art and experiments with new techniques and concepts that later make their way into paintings. One art style seems to lead to another, creating a chain of sorts in his oeuvre.

David Hockney ‘Maurice 1998,’ etching A.P. II/X 44 x 30½in © David Hockney. Photo Credit: Richard Schmidt, Collection: The David Hockney Foundation; David Hockney ‘No. 1201,’ March 14, 2012, iPad Drawing © David Hockney. Image courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London

“Drawing from Life” explores Hockney as a draughtsman from the 1950s to now by focusing on his depictions of himself and a small group of sitters close to him: his friend, Celia Birtwell; his mother, Laura Hockney; his curator, Gregory Evans, and master printer, Maurice Payne,” according to a press release on the exhibition.

The exhibition includes new and early works that have not been publicly shown before. The exhibition was scheduled to travel to other museums, including the Morgan Library & Museum in New York.

This signed lithograph titled ‘Hotel Acatlan’ went for $67,600 + buyer’s premium in November 2019 at Palm Beach Modern Auctions. Photo courtesy of Palm Beach Modern Auctions and LiveAuctioneers

Among his most well-collected paintings are his California-inspired works, especially those of pools. The David Hockney Foundation website notes in its chronology for the artist that Hockney found endless inspiration in California’s landscape, both natural and man-made. Swimming pools were a favorite motif during the 1960s, where Hockney explored the reflective quality of pools and its interplay with sunlight. “He continues to be mesmerized, as his work attests, by that city’s swimming pools and other glistening surfaces,” according to the foundation website.

Hockney’s paintings routinely bring solid prices on the art market and it should come as no surprise little surprise that his sun-dazzled pool paintings are among the most desirable.

This 1976 photo portfolio, ‘20 Photographic Pictures,’ with 20 chromogenic prints, published by Editions Sonnabend, brought $60,000 + buyer’s premium at Millea Bros. Ltd. in May 2018. Photo courtesy of Millea Bros. Ltd. and LiveAuctioneers

Hockney’s self-portrait, one of many, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), 1972, set a new auction record in November 2018 for the most expensive painting by a living artist. It sold at Christie’s New York for $90 million. In February 2020, Sotheby’s London held a contemporary art evening auction that was led by The Splash, a 1966 acrylic, selling for over $28 million. The latter painting was made near the start of Hockney’s California era, which is marked by his California Dreaming series, where he began using acrylic paints.

While portraits and his California scenes are famous for being avidly sought after by collectors, Hockney’s landscapes are also notable, even ones not associated with West Coast locales. In February 2020, William Bunch Auctions & Appraisals in Chadds Ford, Pa., sold an English landscape from the 1950s, Kirton, an oil on board, well over its high estimate for $75,000.

This early landscape oil on board, ‘Kirton,’ circa 1950s, attained $75,000 + buyer’s premium in February 2020 at William Bunch Auctions. Photo courtesy of William Bunch Auctions and LiveAuctioneers

In the 1950s, Hockney painted landscapes around Suffolk County before discovering abstract expressionism, which had a profound influence on his artistic visions,” according to the auctioneer’s catalog notes for this painting. Still a teenager at this time, Hockney and fellow artist John Loker were known to have spent some time around Kirton in 1957, on their way to Constable, to paint or sketch local scenes en plein air. They were often seen riding around the countryside on their bicycles.

In his native Bradford, where he was born, he is so revered that Bradford Museums & Galleries, whose art collection likely intrigued and inspired the artist-to-be as a child, officially opened up its David Hockney Gallery in July 2017 as part of Cartwright Hall.

A polychrome pencil and tempera work on paper, inscribed ‘Small Californian Forest,’ realized $66,572 + buyer’s premium in June 2019 at Itineris. Photo courtesy of Itineris and LiveAuctioneers

Jill Iredale, curator of fine arts at Bradford Museums & Galleries, wrote in a blog a month later about the intimate look the new gallery offers and its rare insights. “It provides examples of the different medium he has used and introduces some of the recurring themes in his work, and it gives an insight into his family life through his personal photograph albums—albums that have never been seen in public before,” she wrote.

From his self-portraits to depictions of family and people in his inner circle to idyllic landscapes and color-saturated scenes, Hockney’s works continue to fascinate viewers. In more than 60 years of making art, he has made many memorable pictures, playing with the elasticity of space and time as well as texture, color and light.