The New Kingdom Cemetery is in South Saqqara, better known for its pyramids. The Step Pyramid of Djoser is 203 feet tall. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. CAIRO (AP) – The tombs of seven men, including several who served King Tutankhamen and his father, the pharaoh Akhenaten, were opened to tourists on Monday after restoration.
Egypt’s minister of antiquities, Zahi Hawass, told reporters that the tombs in the New Kingdom Cemetery could draw more visitors to the site in South Saqqara, which is better known for its pyramids, including the Step Pyramid of Djoser.
The area served as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital at Memphis.
Hawass noted that two of the men who built tombs for themselves – Maya, the treasurer of King Tutankhamen – and Horemheb, a general under King Tut who later became king himself, “were very important men during one of Egypt’s most tumultuous periods.”
Akhenaten, who lived some 3,300 years ago, closed down the temples where Egyptians worshipped in Luxor and moved his capital to a site in the desert known as Amara. After he died, King Tut tried to restore order in Egypt by moving the religious capital back to Luxor and re-establishing worship of the traditional god, Amun.
Under King Tut, “Maya was responsible for restoring order in Egypt, while his colleague Horemheb restored order abroad,” the antiquities ministry said in a statement.
A tomb built for Meryneith, who was temple steward under Akhenaten, was of mudbrick encased in limestone blocks. A scene on a rear wall shows metal workers plying their trade.
Other tombs were built for Ptahemwia, who was the royal butler to both Akhenaten and King Tut; Tia, a top official under Ramses II who ruled from 1303-1213 B.C.; and Pay and his son, Raia. Pay was the overseer of the harem under King Tut, and Raia was a soldier who later took over his father’s post.
Some of these tombs were first discovered in 1843 by German explorer Richard Lepsius, but were not fully excavated until an Anglo-Dutch mission began excavating there in 1975. Now a Dutch team from Leiden University excavates at the site and has been restoring the tombs.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-05-23-11 1610GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The New Kingdom Cemetery is in South Saqqara, better known for its pyramids. The Step Pyramid of Djoser is 203 feet tall. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Rare and important Cowan Jazz bowl designed by Viktor Schreckengost and executed at Cowan, circa 1930. Height 12 inches tall and over 16 1/4 inches in diameter. Estimate: $40,000-$70,000. Image courtesy of Humler and Nolan.
CINCINNATI – Humler & Nolan will hold its annual auction of Rookwood pottery, American and European ceramics and art glass at its showroom, located in the Tower Place Mall, 28 W. Fourth St. in downtown Cincinnati on June 4 and 5.
LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern both days.
Humler & Nolan, who auctioned Rookwood pottery, art glass and other ceramics for nearly 20 years at Cincinnati Art Galleries, is now an independent company, but with the same auction staff. The 1,300-lot sale will be held at their showroom at Fourth and Race streets, convenient to many attractions, restaurants and hotels.
Saturday, June 4, begins with the Keramics section. Some excellent examples of Weller pottery will be presented, including a Hudson vase colorfully decorated with a peacock by Mae Timberlake (est. $4,000-$6,000). Also charming is a Dancing Frogs lawn ornament, estimated at $7,000-$9,000, so the high bidder probably won’t display this happy pair on his lawn.
A large group of Cowan pottery pieces, most from a single collector couple, will prove interesting. A large Jazz Bowl, an Art Deco icon, is predicted to sell for between $50,000 and $70,000. The first of these was ordered by Eleanor Roosevelt for her husband, and the small number of subsequent examples are all individually decorated and unique. A pair of Gothic Monk bookends, with a brown crystalline glaze, is scarce and appealing (est. $1,500-$2,000). Selections from other potteries – George Ohr, Fulper, Newcomb, University of North Dakota, Saturday Evening Girls, Tiffany and Doulton – will also be offered.
On Saturday afternoon, the art glass portion begins with a nice variety of works from accomplished artisans, including Steuben, Galle, Tiffany, Lotton, Labino, Daum Nancy, Lalique, Loetz, English cameo and Orientalia. A Galle cameo vase featuring a small hamlet abounds with charm (est. $3,500-$4,000) as does a scenic vase with two rowboats (est. $2,500-$3,000). Also interesting is a Loetz vase ensconced in an Art Nouveau-style pewter mount, estimated at $900-$1,200. Quite striking is a Tiffany Lily Pad bowl replete with vines and leaves and estimated at $2,000-$3,000.
A new entry in the sale is a group of World War II era posters from the collection of Vernon Rader. The Cincinnati Enquirer and USA Today recently profiled Rader and his posters in an article by Cliff Radel.
Sunday, June 5, brings over 400 lots of Cincinnati’s own Rookwood Pottery. Gracing the cover of the printed catalog is a 17 1/2-inch-tall decorated porcelain vase, crafted by John Dee Wareham in 1924. Wareham encircled the vessel with lush grapes, vines and leaves against a mottled maroon ground (est. $8,000-$10,000).
A rare French Red vase decorated with incising and painting by the creative Sara Sax displays detailed carving and lavish use of color and is estimated at $8,000-$10,000. A standard-glaze vase with a full-length portrait of a Native American member of the Ute tribe, by Grace Young, is estimated at $20,000-$25,000, while a portrait of a Maori mother and child of New Zealand is predicted to bring $2,000-$3,000.
Another standard-glaze vase, with a trio of barn swallows and having sterling silver overlay by Gorham, displays great detail and color use ($4.000-$5.000). Carrying the same estimate is a vase attributed to Jens Jensen featuring Pablo Picassoesque faces and having descended in the family of one of the Rookwood Pottery’s last owners. Spectacular describes a sea-green vase decorated with five white geese flying around the shoulder. Decorated by Amelia Sprague in 1899, it is estimated at $9,000-$12,000. A wide variety of styles, glazes and estimates are available in the generous selection of Rookwood.
For details go to the auctioneer’s website www.humlernolan.com or phone 513-381-2041.
Decorated Porcelain Rookwood vase by John Wareham in 1924, 17 1/2 inches tall. Estimate: $8,000-$10,000. Image courtesy of Humler and Nolan.Important Native American portrait vase in Standard glaze, painted by Grace Young for Rookwood in 1900. Marks include the Rookwood logo and date code, shape number 904 C, Young’s incised monogram and the incised notation, ‘Suriap Ute.’ Estimate: $20,000-$25,000. Image courtesy of Humler and Nolan.Weller Hudson scenic vase by Mae Timberlake, 12 1/2 inches tall, Estimate: $4,000-$6,000. Image courtesy of Humler and Nolan.Tiffany glass 10-inch bowl with flower frog. Engraved ‘Louis C. Tiffany Furnaces Inc. Favrile’ and the number 1790-8553 M. Estimate: $1,500-$2,000. Image courtesy of Humler and Nolan.N.C. Wyeth ‘Buy War Bonds’ World War II poster, 30 inches x 40 inches. Estimate: $600-$800. Image courtesy of Humler and Nolan.Galle four-color cameo vase, 14 inches tall, with logo that reads ‘Fabrication Francaise’ and the Cross of Lorraine acid pressed beneath the base. Estimate: $2,500-$3,000. Image courtesy of Humler and Nolan.
The tiger oak side-by-side bookcase with bowed glass is in excellent condition. Image courtesy of Specialists of the South. PANAMA CITY, Fla. – The living estate of James Commander, a collector of vintage primitives and American Victorian furniture, will be sold on Saturday, June 11, at 9 a.m. Central by The Specialists of the South Inc. It will be an on-site and Internet auction to be held at the Commander residence, 443 North Star Ave., in Panama City.
Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers. Hundreds of lots of quality primitives and furniture items will cross the block as the owners downsize their collections.
Items to be sold include a copper rooster weather vane made circa 1920, a nice gingerbread mantel clock, a blue and white wash bowl with pitcher, a butter churn crock with painted blue decoration and two table-top butter churns, silver pieces (to include a complete flatware service), shadow boxes, beaded purses, crocheted neck collars, vintage ladies’ leather boots, and baby shoes.
Antique furniture includes an immaculate oak icebox, a painted Hoosier cabinet, a round oak pedestal dining room table with large scrolling feet, an oak side table with spool turned legs, and an interesting tiger oak side-by-side bookcase with bowed glass and fall-front desk over serpentine drawers.
There will be a square oak table with decorative scrolling feet and large turned legs and five wide half-back chairs with pierced hand-holds and applied decoration, a tiger oak hall tree and a large solid oak roll-top desk. A Depression-era dining room suite has a table with hidden fold-out leaf, trestle base and large Jacobean-style legs, plus six chairs with linen fold decorations on the backs and large turned front legs. It also has a matching buffet with linen fold decoration. Also to be sold is an antique settee with beautiful carving and a vintage oak commode washstand with curving towel rack.
For details go to the auctioneer’s website www.SpecialistsoftheSouth.com or phone 850-785-2577.
Hubley Messenger Boy cast-iron doorstop, designed by Fish, est. $4,000-$5,000. Bertoia Auctions image.
VINELAND, N.J. – It took weeks to catalog the enormous array of beautiful toys, banks and doorstops chosen for Bertoia Auctions’ June 10-11 Toys with Character sale, and gallery associate Rich Bertoia says it was worth every minute of the effort. “When collectors get this catalog, they’re going to want to take their time,” he said. “There’s literally a surprise on every page. We didn’t plan it that way; it just turned out like that.”
Both auction sessions feature Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com and will open with still banks, including what may be the largest and finest single-owner collection of “safe” banks ever to pass through Bertoia’s doors. Many are pictured in Bob and Shirley Peirce’s Iron Safe Banks book. “We were quite fortunate to get this collection. It’s extraordinary,” Rich said. “Guy and Kim Zani, who built the collection, only went for rarity. They didn’t collect anything common.”
Between the still banks and safes, there will be nearly 400 lots from which to choose, including many rare examples. Standouts among the “stills” include one of only two known Grover Cleveland banks, as well as J.M. Harper’s Lincoln, Indian Family and Peaceful Bill. Rare safes include what may be the only known Uncle Sam bank.
Friday will be devoted primarily to cast iron, including automotive toys; with the addition of a small selection of antique advertising, paintings and primitives from the Tom McCandless collection. “The McCandless collection includes two very unusual stagecoach horns and two important silver-finished firemen’s presentation horns fabulous embossing,” said Bertoia.
Pressed-steel toys to be offered include popular work vehicles, fire trucks and even airplanes by favored manufacturers like Buddy ‘L,’ Keystone and Structo. A Buddy ‘L’ Tugboat is among the top pieces in the grouping.
A sampling of Marx toys will close out the session and serve as a preview for Saturday. “We think the diversity of Friday evening’s selection will hold everyone’s interest. It’s going to be one of those ‘I don’t want to get out of my seat’ sales,” said Bertoia.
Saturday begins with round two of the still and safe banks. Stills that might ignite strong competition include a Betty Boop bank and a Santa bank that Bertoia describes as “one of the better ones I’ve seen. It came in on its own, as a single consignment.”
Bell toy collectors are sure to be raising their paddles for a Mr. Flip, a second Mr. Flip with comic character pal Little Nemo, a Buster Brown, and a Goose waddler.
Mechanical-bank choices span various price points. The assortment includes a superior Picture Gallery and more-familiar banks like Teddy and the Bear, Leap Frog, Peg Leg Beggar, Eagle and Eaglets, Mason, Santa, and Football. Banks with black Americana crossover interest include Darktown Battery and ’Spise a Mule.
After the banks have accepted their last coins from bidders, it will be time for the phenomenal selection of comic character toys, with themes spanning radio, TV and print. Approximately 300 of the toys are from the collection of Ronnie and Sandy Rosen. Originally Lionel train enthusiasts, the Rosens spotted a Li’l Abner Band while at a train show in 1994. “We learned it was one of four or five toys with a similar action – Howdy Doody, Ham and Sam, the MerryMakers Band – and the quest began.”
The Rosens, who are members of both the TCA and the ATCA, became such avid comic character collectors, they had to custom-build a wall unit across their 23-ft.-long living room to accommodate the 1,200 toys they eventually amassed.
The collection grew from character bands to include walkers, Lehmanns, Martins, eccentric cars and Popeye toys – all in beautiful condition. When the decision was made to downsize to a more-manageable home, the Rosens contacted Bertoia’s to consign their collection. The June 11 session includes a wonderful variety of toys, from Pinocchio and Harold Lloyd walkers to an Amos & Andy Fresh Air Taxi and Mickey Mouse Sparkler.
The Rosens’ Lehmann toys tie in nicely with the selection of European limos and cars. Highlights include a large Carette limo, a boxed Gunthermann Silver bullet, and a very rare circa 1915-1920 Carl Brandt clockwork open touring car made of wood. The fleet of autos continues with a boxed Carette rear-entry tonneau and a series of Marklin constructor cars. The section then moves into boxed Mecannos, a few gas-powered Speed King racers and several other motorcars.
Some great Disney toys will be offered, including the perennially popular Minnie pushing Felix in a pram made by Isla (Spain), an early boxed version of the Mickey Mouse celluloid walker, and a Distler Mickey/Minnie Hurdy Gurdy.
Cast-iron automotive collectors will be lining up for the super-rare Arcade “White” oil truck. “I had seen old ads for this truck but had never held one in my hand till now,” said Bertoia. Other top lots in the category include a 12-inch White van in a red and tan color scheme, two different Hubley Static speedboats, and a very rare red and orange Kilgore motorcycle with side-body boxcar.
Possibly unique, an electrified 16- to 18-inch-long aluminum Twin Coach bus has hinges that allow it to open in halves. It’s a striking production in silver with yellow and green trim. “We believe it was presented to the top executive of Twin Coach. You can just picture it in a CEO’s office,” Bertoia said.
Cast-iron doorstop collectors can look forward to seeing a festive array of figural rarities slated for the Saturday session. Jeanne Bertoia, owner of Bertoia Auctions, has spent years collecting, studying, writing about and selling the very best doorstop examples at auction. She said the June sale contains about 75 doorstops, many of them in outstanding condition.
“There are so many highlights to mention, starting with the Hubley Fish series, which is so Deco,” said Jeanne. “There is a mint-condition Bathing Beauties under Parasol, Charleston Dancers, a Messenger Boy, Parlor Maid and the Double Footmen. All of the Fish series doorstops came from a single owner’s collection. They’re the nicest examples of the Messenger Boy and Bathing Beauties we’ve ever sold. The present consignor bought them in one of our sales several years ago.”
Other desirable doorstops include Bradley & Hubbard’s Turkey, Standing Rabbit and an extra-special floral. Hubley designs include a Grace Drayton Little Red Riding Hood doorstop in “spectacular condition,” a Banjo Player, Mexican Guitar Player, and a Penguin in Top Hat that Jeanne describes as “so mint, it must have been leftover store stock.” Rounding out the group are a mint-condition Fred Everett Quail doorstop and a matching set of Quail bookends in near-mint condition.
For information on any item in the auction, call 856-692-1881 or e-mail toys@bertoiaauctions.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Lighthouse clock made by German toymaker Doll et Cie., with celluloid main clock face and world time clocks as windmill blades, est. $5,000-$7,000. Bertoia Auctions image.Lehmann Baker and Chimney Sweep clockwork toy, original box, est. $3,500-$4,500. Bertoia Auctions image.J.M. Harper cast-iron “safe” still bank incorporating bust of Pres. Grover Cleveland, one of two known, est. $8,000-$9,000. Bertoia Auctions image.Linemar lithographed-tin, battery-operated Popeye Stopping Tank, est. $3,000-$3,500. Bertoia Auctions image.Shepard Hardware Picture Gallery cast-iron mechanical bank, circa 1885, est. $10,000-$12,000. Bertoia Auctions image.Arcade cast-iron “White” gasoline delivery truck, circa 1931, est. $4,000-$5,000. Bertoia Auctions image.Marklin hand-painted tin “New York” ocean liner with lifeboats and other accoutrements, 19½ inches, est. $20,000-$22,000. Bertoia Auctions image.Bradley & Hubbard cast-iron Standing Rabbit doorstop, est. $2,000-$2,500. Bertoia Auctions image.
Buenos Aires is a city of color and artistry, as evidenced by this picture of Caminito (Little Way) in the neighborhood known as La Boca (Mouth). July 16, 2008 photo by Luis Argerich, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
BUENOS AIRES (AFP) – A portrait of a murdered activist stares from the graffiti on the wall, a slogan makes a passer-by smile, a colorful pastiche turns visitors’ heads: welcome to the city where the walls talk.
“Buenos Aires has become a haven for street art, like Sao Paulo and Mexico City,” said Fernando Aita, one of several young editors of the project “Grafiti escritos en la calle” – or “Graffiti street writings.”
His website, which encourages fans to “look at the city through different eyes,” has compiled 1,000 photographs of graffiti art dating back to 2009 in a remarkable visual and linguistic archive of modern times in Argentina.
“Plants do not bite,” “A present for our future” and “The fight continues”are among the phrases that stop passers-by in their tracks, amid a flourishing collection of colorful frescoes.
“It’s difficult to speak of graffiti as the city’s heritage because they are ephemeral, but it’s true that street art is part of Buenos Aires,” said Luis Grossman, who heads the city’s historical center.
He supports the blossoming of graffiti which he says “embellishes the city.”
But the scribblings are also a menace. The Cabildo colonial building, where an uprising on May 25, 1810, sparked a revolution, is constantly tagged. Authorities have spent huge sums repainting it, in vain.
Graffiti Mundo, a local firm, is tapping into a touristic goldmine by organizing guided tours of the city’s best frescoes.
Even tragedy finds a place among the writings on the wall. “No more Cro-Magnon,” wrote the parents of victims who perished in a fire at the club of the same name in December 2004 that left 194 people dead.
Another graffiti reads “Caution: they are armed and at large,” a reference to alleged police brutality, complete with a stencil of a policeman’s cap next to the warning.
These walls can speak, providing a detailed account of how Argentine society has evolved over the past 10 years.
“In 2002, in the middle of Argentina’s economic crisis, the graffiti was even more political,” said Lelia Gandara, an expert in the study of signs and symbols at the University of Buenos Aires. “People were expressing their anger and outrage.”
Aita explained that after those fury-filled times, “more colored frescoes began appearing. And now, hip-hop tags are prevalent.”
But political commentary regained a graffiti foothold after the death of former president Nestor Kirchner in October.
He was featured on walls as the character “Nestornauta”, a reference to sci-fi comic El Eternauta, created by comic strip writer Hector Oesterheld, who was kidnapped and killed under the country’s 1976-1983 dictatorship with his three daughters.
Mariano Ferreyra, a student killed in 2010 by union activists, is also a popular character in the graphics dotted across the city.
Another popular figure is Julio Lopez, the first person to go missing after democracy was restored in Argentina. He was kidnapped in 2006 after testifying against policemen for crimes committed under the military dictatorship.
Along Defensa Street, one of the oldest in the San Telmo neighborhood home to many antique dealers, a cartoon cow, painted every 30 meters, asks: “Who is thinking about us?”
Scenes of people dancing the tango follow further down the street.
“The streets used to be gloomy. Painting the walls brings a little bit of joy,” said Jaz, a 29-year-old screenwriter who has had a passion for graffiti since he was a teenager. “It’s my way of making the city mine.”
Jaz acknowledged street painting is illegal, “but the government and the police turn a blind eye as they have more important problems to deal with.”
Sometimes even homeowners give in to the trend and order custom frescoes, some more expensive than others, to decorate their walls.
“What a beautiful wall to paint!” read one graffiti on a wall that had just been freshly whitewashed.
# # #
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Buenos Aires is a city of color and artistry, as evidenced by this picture of Caminito (Little Way) in the neighborhood known as La Boca (Mouth). July 16, 2008 photo by Luis Argerich, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Charles Bukowski, At Terror Street and Agony Way, No. 71 of 75 copies, first edition with original watercolor painting by Bukowski inserted at front, publ. 1968. Est. $4,000-$6,000. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com and PBA Galleries.
SAN FRANCISCO – On June 2, 2011, PBA Galleries will offer at auction one of the finest private collections in existence of the literary and artistic work of poet Charles Bukowski. Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.
Featuring a large selection of original typed, signed poems, a rare group of original paintings, and scarce broadsides and ephemera in additional to books, the collection presents a vivid picture of the earthy realism that was Charles Bukowski (1920-1994).
Dr. Ross Runfola, Woodrow Wilson Fellow at the University of Buffalo, was introduced to Charles Bukowski when his brother sent him a copy of Love is a Dog from Hell, and discovered a rare kinship with the alcohol-fueled poet and his work. Inspired to write poetry in the Bukowski mode, Runfola was also spurred to collect the creations of the German-American writer. After years of ferreting out rarities, haunting rare bookshops, searching the Internet, he has assembled a superb gathering, which he is now making available for sale at public auction.
Probably the most remarkable part of the collection is the nearly 175 original typed manuscripts, mostly poems, by Bukowski, many in the signed carbon or photocopy format that he would send to his publisher John Martin. Among the poems are “the copulative blues” from 1973, a signed and dated poem that was a gift to Runfola from Martin; “time off” written in 1978, a carbon signed and dated by Bukowski, a long poem (4 pages), with, suitably, a ring stain from a wine glass on the first page; and “Hawley’s leaving town” from 1975, again a signed and dated carbon typescript, 1½ pages, this time with a coffee stain, and, notably, nearly 20 ink manuscript corrections by Bukowski.
These rare manuscript poems by Bukowski are partnered with 35 or so original letters from Bukowski to various publishers, his agent and German translator Carl Weissner, assorted girlfriends and others, many offering rare insights into life and relationships.
Another high point of the auction is the superb selection of original art by Charles Bukowski, the finest private collection extant. Included are several self-portraits, abstract mixed media creations, expressionistic watercolors, still lifes, and more, 15 pieces in all. A number of these were used in a show curated in 2007 by Donald Friedman on the theme of “The Writer’s Brush,” about the paintings and drawings of famous writers.
But these manuscripts and paintings would not be the sought-after rarities they are if Bukowski’s raw poetry and short stories had not been published, and published they were after many years of rejection, and in large number. The printed books and broadsides are fittingly the core of the collection, and Ross Runfola has acquired the most difficult to obtain. Paramount among these is The Genius of the Crowd, perhaps the rarest of the “Top Twenty Bukowski Rarities” listed by Al Fogel. The 11-leaf poem in chapbook form, illustrated with prints by Paula Maria Savarino, was printed at the 7 Flowers Press in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966, in an edition of 103 copies, but all but 40 of these were confiscated and destroyed by the Cleveland police department, deeming it obscene. Charles Bukowski’s first book, Flower, Fist and Bestial Wail, 1960, limited to 200 copies is also on the block, a fine, fresh copy in the original wrappers, very rare thus, with only the slightest rusting to the staples, a seemingly inevitable occurrence. Another rarity on offer is the printed broadside True Story, 1966, one of 30 copies, signed by Bukowski, the first publication of John Martin’s Black Sparrow Press, which was to become Bukowski’s primary, almost exclusive, publisher. Also from the Black Sparrow Press is a copy of their first hardcover book, At Terror Street and Agony Way, 1968, one of 75 copies with an original signed painting by Bukowski, their first book issued with an original painting. Finally, there is Bukowski’s most popular book, Post Office, a novel based on his long tenure with the United States Postal Service. It is number 2 of 50 copies, from the collection of Black Sparrow Press publisher John Martin, hand-bound in boards by Earle Gray, with a cloth U.S. flag-motif spine, and an original painting by Bukowski. The book is in remarkably fine condition, with spine completely unfaded, rarely found thus.
For additional information on any item in the sale, call 415-989-2665 or tollfree 866-999-7224, or e-mail pba@pbagalleries.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
The Bukowski/Purdy Letters: 1964-1974, A Decade of Dialogue, with an original, signed pastel drawing by Charles Bukowski. Est. $7,000-$10,000. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com and PBA Galleries.Charles Bukowski, The Genius of the Crowd, illustrated book publ. 1966 with four linoleum cuts by Paula Marie Savarino. Est. $6,000-$9,000. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com and PBA Galleries.Charles Bukowski, The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills, No. 4 of 50 copies with an original, signed watercolor and ink painting by Bukowski, 1969. Est. $5,000-$8,000. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com and PBA Galleries.Charles Bukowski, original abstract watercolor on paper, 9 x 12 in., matted and framed, signed lower right, publ. circa 1970. Est. 5,000-$8,000. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com and PBA Galleries.
Rhinoceros horn libation cup, China, 18th century, 3 3/8 inches high, 6 3/8 inches long. Estimate: $5,000-$7,000. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc. BOSTON – Skinner Inc will host a major auction of Asian art at their Boston gallery, 63 Park Plaza, in three sessions Thursday, June 2, through Saturday, June 4. With 1586 lots, including paintings, jade, bronzes, and porcelain pieces, this sale is indicative of the strength of the Asian art market, said James Callahan, Skinner’s director of Asian Works of Art.
LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
Callahan calls the event a “must-attend,” noting that “the Asian art market shows no sign of cooling down. Skinner is outpacing the competition and continues to put together really expansive sales.”
The first session, June 2, includes lots 1 – 242. Of particular interest is lot 55, a bronze Buddhist stele of rare Burmese material collected in the 1960s or ’70s. The piece is pagan, dated to the 12th century, and features the seated figure of Bhaigrava Buddha with two attendant deities. The estimated value is $8,000-$12,000. Also to be auctioned is a large group of Buddhist images including lot 168A, a carved giltwood image of Buddha from Japan. This 19th century figure of Amida Nyorai stands about 16 inches tall and is valued between $300 and $500.
In the second session, on June 3, lots 243 – 975 will be auctioned. An impressive giltwood Buddha, lot 284, from the Ming Dynasty will be available. The estimated value is $800 -$1,200. For fine examples of scholar’s items, including a piece featured on the catalog cover, see lot 419 from a very old upstate New York collection. The gourd vase from China, dated to the early-mid 19th century, is dated a winter month in jiazi year. “Xing You Heng Tang” is marked on the base. The piece is valued at $800-$1,200. Several brush pots will also be offered including lot 450A, a bamboo brush pot from 18th century China. The pot is inscribed, signed, and dated guichou year and is estimated at $800-$1,200. Another unique bamboo piece is a Chinese carving, dated to the 18th or 19th century, of a seated old man. Lot 459 is valued at $2,500-$3,500.
Also in session II is lot 466, a lacquered box containing six archer’s rings. Made in China in the 19th century, enclosed are three gray-white jade archer’s rings. It bears a Qianlong mark, and is estimated at $500-$700. From a Massachusetts collection, Skinner will auction lot 480, a rare rhinoceros cup. Rhinoceros horns are becoming increasingly scarce, and this beautiful 18th century Chinese cup is valued at $5,000-$7,000. From an old New England collection comes another large 18th century ivory carving from China. In a size rarely seen, this standing figure of a goddess, lot 553, is estimated at $800-$1,200. Session II also features a large number of fine jades, including lot 945, a jade planter made in 19th century China, made from jade of a highly-translucent white color, and valued at $300-$500.
The third session of the auction, June 4, will include lots 976-1586. This session will feature many jades, vases, some textiles, fans, scrolls, paintings and snuff bottles. Lot 984 is a jadeite carving of Guanyin on an ivory stand from China. Made in the 18th century, this carved standing figure is an emerald green color and is estimated at $10,000-$15,000. A jade double-gourd vase and cover from China, lot 1024, was made in the 18th or 19th century, and is valued at $2,000-$3,000.
Lot 1115, a Kesi dragon robe, comes to Skinner with an interesting history. It was made in China in the 18th century and was given to Dr. Harvey J. Howard by Pu Yi, the last emperor of China. Howard was in China as the head of the Department of Ophthalmology at Union Medical College in Peking from 1917-1927 and served as the ophthalmologist to Pu Yi, from 1921 to 1925. The estimated value is $8,000-$12,000.
Session III also features paintings from the Pah-Yuen/Boyuan Wang collection, pieces from which previously achieved prices totaling $1.9 million in the last Skinner Asian Art sale. Lot 1157 is a fan painting by Wu Changshuo and has an estimated value of $800-$1,200. Another fan painting, from the same collection, is lot 1158 by Jin Cai and has an estimate of $600-$800.
Previews will be held for the entire auction Thursday, June 2, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. and for the third session only Friday, June 3, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
For details visit www.skinnerinc.com or call 508-970-3000.
Bronze Buddhist stele, Burma, pagan, 12th century, 9 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches. Estimate: $8,000-$12,000. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.Gourd vase, China, early to mid-19th century, ‘Xing You Heng Tang’ mark to the base, 12 1/4 inches high. Estimate: $800-$1,200. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.Fan painting, Jin Cai (1841-?), ink and color on paper, depiction of prunus branches, lingzhi fungus plants, and rockery, inscribed, signed ‘Xianiu Jin Cai,’ dated autumn in renyin year (1902), 20 1/4 x 6 3/4 inches. Estimate: $600-$800. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.
Alfred Jacob Miller (American, 1810-1874), The Indian Guide, painted circa 1840-1860, 16 x 18 inches (framed). Bank of America Collection. Exhibition opens June 4, 2011 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Photo credit: John Lamberton. Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
PHILADELPHIA – The American West was a source of great fascination for Easterners and visitors to this country alike during the 19th century. Novelists such as James Fenimore Cooper and Charles Bird King capitalized on this fascination with books such as King’s Young Omaha, War Eagle, Little Missouri, and Pawnees, featuring descriptions of wild mountain men and Native Americans that incited the public’s imagination about life on the frontier.
Alfred Jacob Miller (1810–1874) was one of the first American artists to paint the American West, producing beautiful watercolors of the remarkable landscape, exotic wildlife, and Native American peoples that he encountered during the trips he made through the Great Plains and into the Rocky Mountains during the late 1830s.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s June 4-Sept. 18, 2011 exhibition titled Romancing the West presents a selection of 30 rarely seen watercolors from Miller’s most important body of work: the images he created in1837 when traveling with the Scottish adventurer Captain William Drummond Stewart west from St. Louis to Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains, along what would become known as the Oregon Trail.
“As a greenhorn from the East, Miller captured life in the West with wide-eyed admiration, depicting the landscape in a captivating way,” said Kathleen A. Foster, the Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Senior Curator of American Art, and Director, Center for American Art. “He was also a vivacious and accomplished draftsman, and gave us a picture of roundups, fur trappers and hunting expeditions that blended visual journalism with the fanciful and made an important contribution to what would become a shared mythology of the West.”
Commissioned by Captain Stewart to document scenes from their travels to the annual fur-trading rendezvous in Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains, Miller spent six months creating hundreds of sketches that would serve as a mine of inspiration for the next three decades. The watercolors in Romancing the West are drawn from a group of more than 1,000 works created during and after his trip. Many feature horsemen riding at breakneck speeds, hunting expeditions, colorfully-dressed fur traders, beautiful Native American women, and all of the thrills of the trail.
Driven by his patron’s agenda, the works Miller created for Stewart depict a heroic and romantic way of life, frequently starring Miller’s enterprising patron as the protagonist. Stewart leads the hunt in Elk Taking the Water, while Chase of the Grizzly Bear, Black Hills suggests the Scotsman’s prowess and bravery in pursuit of the fierce grizzly. Large-game hunting was among Stewart’s favorite leisure activities, and the theme appears in more than one-quarter of the images Miller created for him. When they returned from the trip, Stewart commissioned several large paintings in oil and watercolor from Miller’s original sketches, which were bound into an album he kept back in his castle in Perthshire, Scotland, to illustrate his dramatic tales of his American adventures.
Of different sizes and on different papers, the watercolors in the exhibition suggest works done over time and in different locations. Historical details depicted in works like Departure of the Caravan at Sunrise provide a first-hand record of the contrasts seen between white and Native American travelers and provide important cultural and historical evidence of everyday life on the frontier during the 1830s. Others are based on accounts from other travelers or are drawn from Miller’s imagination, depicting views from vantage points that Miller would never have seen, including Watching the Caravan, depicting two Native Americans peering over the edge of a cliff at a wagon train below. He also embellished certain details, giving fur trappers an air of mystique by replacing ordinary trousers and jackets with elaborate, fringed buckskin ensembles (Old Bill Burrows, a Free Trapper). These romanticized characters and invented landscapes captivated viewers back East and in Europe, many of whom fantasized about the picaresque life of the fur trappers of the Wild West.
Miller’s formal art training, first with Thomas Sully in Baltimore, and later at the École de Beaux-Arts in Paris, presented an opportunity for him to study the Old Masters and to become known as a skilled copyist. He particularly admired the work of Eugène Delacroix and of French Romantic painter Horace Vernet, whose images of horses offered a possible model for On the Warpath – Running Fight, and War Path, both part of the Bank of America collection. Snake Female Reposing, a sensual portrayal of a young woman from the Snake tribe reposing under a tree, references the paintings of Middle Eastern odalisques Miller would have seen in the galleries of the Louvre while training abroad in 1833-34.
As a result, the works in Romancing the West mix fact with fantasy, reflecting frontier life both as it was, and as it was imagined to be. The exhibition offers a glimpse of a thrillingly unknown, frequently mythologized region of the country that was intoxicating to its mid-19th-century Eastern and European viewers.
“Bank of America is committed to strengthening artistic institutions and in turn, the communities we serve,” said Tom Woodward, Bank of America Pennsylvania president. “Sharing our collection with the public through partners such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art not only makes business sense for the bank, but also helps support one of Philadelphia’s finest local cultural anchors.”
Related Exhibitions:
A related exhibition in Gallery 120, Western Movement, will include approximately 20 works from the Museum’s collection of American Art from the 1800s to the present day, focusing on the theme of movement from East to West.
This exhibition is organized by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, from the Bank of America Collection. All of the images in the exhibition are discussed and reproduced in a full-color catalogue, Romancing the West Alfred Jacob Miller in the Bank of America Collection (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2010) available for sale in the Museum Store.
Bank of America and the Arts:
As one of the world’s largest financial institutions and a major supporter of arts and culture, Bank of America has a vested interest and plays a meaningful role in the international dialogue on cultural understanding. As a global company, Bank of America demonstrates its commitment to the arts by supporting such efforts as after-school arts programs, grants to help expand libraries, programs to conserve artistic heritage as well as a campaign to encourage museum attendance. Bank of America offers customers free access to more than 150 of the nation’s finest cultural institutions through its acclaimed Museums on Us® program, while Art in our Communities® shares exhibits from the company’s corporate collection with communities across the globe through local museum partners. The Bank of America Charitable Foundation also provides philanthropic support to museums, theaters and other arts-related nonprofits to expand their services and offerings to schools and communities. Bank of America partners with more than six thousand arts institutions worldwide.
About the Philadelphia Museum of Art:
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States, showcasing more than 2,000 years of exceptional human creativity in masterpieces of painting, sculpture, works on paper, decorative arts and architectural settings from Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. An exciting addition is the newly renovated and expanded Perelman Building, which opened its doors in September 2007 with five new exhibition spaces, a soaring skylit galleria, and a café overlooking a landscaped terrace. The Museum offers a wide variety of enriching activities, including programs for children and families, lectures, concerts and films.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 26th Street in Philadelphia. For general information, call 215-763-8100 or visit the Museum’s website at www.philamuseum.org.
The International UFO Museum and Research Center, located at 114 North Main in Roswell, N.M. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. ROSWELL, New Mexico (AP) – The world famous Roswell “incident” was no UFO but rather a Russian spacecraft with “grotesque, child-size aviators” developed in human experiments by Nazi doctor and war criminal Josef Mengele, according to a theory floated by investigative journalist Annie Jacobsen.
Her book, Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base, is about the secretive Nevada base called Area 51. One chapter offers the new Roswell theory, citing an anonymous source who says Joseph Stalin recruited Mengele and sent the craft into U.S. air space in 1947 to spark public hysteria.
Like past theories, Jacobsen writes that the U.S. government was involved in a cover-up of the UFO report, which has spawned space alien legend and turned this southern New Mexico town into a tourist attraction.
Bill Lyne, who self-published a book called Space Aliens from the Pentagon in 1993, agrees that the Roswell incident was faked, but he thinks the hoax was perpetrated by the U.S. government – not the Russians.
“They’re just saying what I’ve been saying all along, that it was a hoax,” he told the Santa Fe New Mexican. “But that Mengele stuff is a bunch of hogwash because Mengele was recruited by the CIA (rather than the Russians), and he was actually brought to Albuquerque.”
Clifford Clift of the Mutual UFO Network, or MUFON, in Greeley, Colo., said he has not seen Jacobsen’s book but has read other articles that suggest the Roswell incident involved German technology.
“After researching the claim, I found little truth in this theory,” he said. “It is a stretch. One of my concerns is if they wanted to create panic, why in New Mexico and not New York where there are more people to panic? I would suggest it is another conspiracy theory and, heavens, MUFON knows about conspiracy theories. They do sell books.”
Jacobsen, a contributing editor the Los Angeles Times magazine, told NPR that said she knows people will be skeptical.
“But I absolutely believe the veracity of my source, and I believe it was important that I put his information out there because it is the tip of a very big iceberg,” Jacobsen said.
Julie Schuster, executive director of the International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell, told the Albuquerque Journal she hasn’t read the book. But any new theories fuel public interest, and that’s terrific, she said.
“Every time something new comes out, it piques somebody’s curiosity somewhere, and the come to Roswell, and they come to the museum,” Schuster said.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-05-23-11 1637GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The International UFO Museum and Research Center, located at 114 North Main in Roswell, N.M. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Madonna at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival in New York. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. NEW YORK (AP) – Bale sales and raffles? So passé.
Now that it boasts Madonna as a parent, New York City’s LaGuardia High School was able to auction off a pair of Chanel boots worn by the Material Mom at its spring fundraiser.
LaGuardia, the so-called “Fame” school, is a public high school specializing in the visual and performing arts. Madonna’s daughter Lourdes enrolled there in September.
The Daily News reports that the LaGuardia auction also featured an item donated by novelist Jonathan Letham, who’s an alum. He auctioned off a chance to become a character in his next book.
There was no information on what either of the lots sold for.
High-profile parents at some New York City schools are able to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars at the schools’ annual auctions.
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Information from: Daily News, http://www.nydailynews.com
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
