Andy Warhol, Index, signed and numbered, edition of 355, est. $11,225-$14,025. Rare Posters image.
BROOKLYN, N.Y. â On June 28, Rare Posters will present a 3-part auction titled âWarhol â Objects from 1967-1992.â LiveAuctioneers.com will provide the Internet live bidding for the sale.
The main event features the collection of Roger L. and Nance Schlaifer, the original license holders of Andy Warholâs images during the years 1985-1992. Within the collection are more than 160 published items, including many of Warhols most successful and better-known images, such as the Endangered Species, the Reverse Marilyns, Superman, the First Man on the Moon and the 1983 Brooklyn Bridge in poster, portfolio and calendar format.
The posters presented represent âthe first serious effort to create a whole collection of Warhol’s work for the poster market,â said a release issued by Rare Posters.
Roger Schlaifer brought Andy Warhol’s most famous works to the poster market. Published by Nouvelles Images in the late 1980s, the series of posters was carefully designed by Schlaifer’s team, bringing out all the bright colors and vivid contrasts found in Warhol’s work.
The Schlaifer offering is accompanied by a number of prints and posters by other premier pop artists, such as Lichtenstein, Haring, Johns, Dine and Rauschenberg.
Part II showcases art and reference books, and catalogues raisonnes, several signed by such collectible artists as Friedlaender, Leonor Fini, Salvador Dali, Vasarely, and Boulanger.
Part III will focus exclusively on packs and varying lots of original rare posters from the collections of Leo Castelli, Pace Prints, Poster Originals, Galerie Maeght and Hokin Gallery, representing a wide array of artists from Chagall to Wesselmann. This selection presents an ideal opportunity for collectors, gallery owners and Internet sellers.
The auction contains more than 800 items, with opening bids as reasonable as $50.
About Roger and Nance Schlaifer and their collaboration with Andy Warhol:
In the early 1980s, Roger Schlaifer and his wife Nance Schlaifer, commissioned Andy Warhol to create a series of paintings for Cabbage Patch Dolls that their company was promoting. After that venture, the idea of licensing more of Warhol’s images was discussed and an agreement was reached.
Schlaifer found a publisher in France called Nouvelles Images. The publisher and Schlaiferâs team created a series of posters included in this collection. These posters were sold through a catalog to museums shops and art galleries worldwide. The licensing agreement lasted 10 years (1986-1996), and over 60 different images were produced, including the Endangered Species, The Marilyn series, the Myths series including Dracula, Famous Stars including James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra and Sarah Bernhardt. Large size 24 x 30-inch calendars were also produced.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Andy Warhol poster, Muhammad Ali, 1978, est. $2,025-$3,025. Rare Posters image.Andy Warhol poster, The Kiss, year unknown, est. $625-$925. Rare Posters image.Andy Warhol serigraph, Marilyn (Green), 1989, est. $625-$925. Rare Posters image.Andy Warhol poster, Moonwalk, year unknown, est. $625-$925. Rare Posters image.
Sally Kaufman (center) holding Donald Kaufmanâs first toy purchase, an Arcade International Harvester truck, which was presented to her as a gift from Bertoiaâs and members of the toy community. Left to right: Rich Bertoia, Jeanne Bertoia, Sally Kaufman, Lauren Bertoia-Costanza, Michael Bertoia. Bertoia Auctions image. VINELAND, N.J. â Itâs doubtful that even a crystal ball could have been more accurate than Bertoia Auctionsâ experts who predicted the Donald Kaufman auction series would finish at around $12 million. As the record now shows, with the hammering of the last lot in the fifth and final auction to disperse the fabled collection, held on April 15-16, the grand total came in at $12.1 million (inclusive of 15 percent buyerâs premium). This total represents the highest amount ever achieved by a single-owner antique toy collection at public auction.
As was the case with the four previous auction sessions devoted to Kaufman toys, a strong and supportive group turned out for the two-day event nicknamed âthe final lapâ to bid, buy and enjoy the Bertoia familyâs hospitality. Over the weekend, attendees were treated to a wine and cheese preview and buffet-style luncheon, not to mention a champagne toast to the late Donald Kaufman as the auction neared its end.
âThere were many who attended all five of the Kaufman auctions, but we believe collectors made an extra effort to attend the fifth sale even if they had missed some of the other sales. It was the final farewell to the collection,â said Bertoia Auctionsâ owner, Jeanne Bertoia. Many of those who could not attend opted to bid absentee or live via the Internet through LiveAuctioneers.com.
The April sessions achieved $873,000 against an overall high estimate of $505,000. âThe toys in the April sale didnât have the dollar value of the other auctions, but we had planned it so there would be a little bit of everything â a âsomething for everyoneâ sale,â said Bertoia.
Sure enough, the weekendâs top lots ended up being a nicely mixed assortment of cast iron, tin and pressed steel. Leading the lineup was an Arcade cast-iron âWhiteâ moving van marked âLammerts Furniture â Rugs â Draperiesâ on each side panel. Considered the finest known example of its type, the 13-inch Art Deco-style van with silver-trimmed grille applied its brakes at $29,900 against an estimate of $8,000-$10,000.
Made by Lionel and accompanied by its original paper-labeled box, a No. 84 set of two 8-inch electric-powered racers with composition drivers was accurately described as being in âpristineâ condition. Complete with metal track, the rare set estimated at $1,200-$1,500 whisked off to a $12,650 finish.
An American National fire pumper pedal car, in all-original condition with upright boiler, wooden side ladders, platform railing and a bell on its hood, measured 60 inches in length. It blazed past its $5,000-$7,500 estimate to settle at $10,350.
Another pressed-steel favorite was the Buddy âLâ pile driver on treads. Measuring 18 inches by 24 inches, the rare example of kid-size heavy machinery was bid to $8,625.
A welcome surprise at the start of the Saturday session was Michael Bertoiaâs appearance at the podium as guest auctioneer. The 26-year-old son of Bertoia Auctionsâ founders, Jeanne and the late Bill Bertoia, Michael joined the family business in January 2008. He had been quietly apprenticing under the stewardship of Bertoiaâs long-time auctioneer Tim Luke and had tested his skills with an uncataloged selection of box lots following Bertoiaâs November holiday session. Now ready for the challenge of multiple forms of bidding, Michael stepped up to call the first 100 lots of the day.
âHe did an amazing job,â said Jeanne. âThere were many telephone, absentee and Internet bidders, as well as book bids to manage. He didnât miss a single bid and was very well received by the crowd. I donât know who was smiling bigger, me or Sally Kaufman. I had asked Sally prior to the sale if she would be comfortable with Michael calling the first 100 lots. Not only did she approve, she also made sure she was there before the sale began. She said she didnât want to be late to watch him.â
When the auction reached its last 100 lots, Bertoiaâs broke out the champagne and invited everyone to take part in a toast to Donald Kaufman (1930-2009), who had lived long enough to attend the first two auction sessions and witness the happiness his toys brought to their new owners.
The last two lots of the sale held special significance, and the crowd recognized them as such. The penultimate item, a Hans Eberl tinplate clockwork delivery van, German-made and dating to the 1920s, advertised âKaufmannâs â The Big Store â Everything Under The Sun.â Coincidentally, Don Kaufmanâs father and uncle were retail merchants who traded as Kaufman Brothers â later shortened to K-B, as in K-B Toys, the family firm Don Kaufman subsequently co-founded. Although the toy delivery van advertising âKaufmannâsâ was from a Pittsburgh store with no connection whatsoever to Don Kaufmanâs family, it nonetheless embodied Donâs own family history perfectly. It was a natural choice for the auction seriesâ signature piece and appeared on the cover of each of the five auction catalogs. Estimated at $4,000-$5,000, it delivered the goods at $11,500.
The closing lot, an Arcade cast-iron International Harvester Red Baby truck, was the first toy Don Kaufman had ever bought â for $4 back in 1954. Thanks to a number of generous collectors in the audience, the truck ended up staying in the Kaufman family. Earlier in the day, a family group consisting of a grandfather, father and son had proposed the idea to their fellow collectors that the toy should be purchased as a gift for Sally Kaufman. It was well known that Don had not held back any toys when the auction goods were picked up, so there werenât any legacies to pass down to future generations of the family. The hat was passed, figuratively speaking, and a sizable sum was collected from those who chose to participate. When Jeanne Bertoia found out about the plan, she clinched the deal by issuing a guarantee that Bertoiaâs would cover any shortfall between the collected monies and the amount needed to win the truck at auction.
Michael Bertoia stepped up to the podium, called the symbolic last lot, and sold it for $2,588 to the paddle raised by the trio of family members. The toy was then presented to Sally â who had no idea it was going to happen â together with a card signed by all those who had chipped in for the gift.
âI never saw so many teary-eyed men in my life,â Jeanne said, recalling the moment of the toyâs presentation. âIt was an emotional but happy point at which to conclude the auction series.â
Jeanne summarized the series by describing it as âa window on relationships among collectors. At every sale we had crowds. People would tell us it brought back the old days of big toy auctions and how much they had missed them. Iâm a collector, as well, and I have a stake in the future of collecting. I have confidence that the market is strong and that it will remain consistently so.â
To contact Bertoia Auctions or to order any of the five catalogs from the Donald Kaufman auction series, including the fifth catalog that contains the index for the entire catalog set, call 856-692-1881 or e-mail Toys@BertoiaAuctions.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog for Bertoiaâs April 15-16 sale, complete with prices realized, at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
View looking up at the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedra, London. Photo accessed through Wikimedia Commons.
LONDON Â (AFP) – St. Paul’s Cathedral, one of Britain’s most spectacular buildings, has been fully restored to its original glory as a 15-year renovation finally came to an end on Thursday.
For the first time for years, Londoners were able to see the historic building without the hindrance of scaffolding.
The ÂŁ40 million ($65 million, 45.5 million euro) restoration project, one of the largest ever undertaken in Britain, has been completed in time to mark the giant cathedral’s 300th anniversary.
St. Paul’s, which sits atop Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London financial district, is the capital’s architectural centerpiece and dominated the skyline before the era of tower blocks.
Designed by Christopher Wren and built in grey Portland limestone, like many of London’s most significant buildings, the Renaissance-style cathedral took 36 years to complete.
It replaced the previous St. Paul’s, built by the Normans, which was gutted in the 1666 Great Fire of London.
“We are thrilled that in the year that we celebrate the 300th anniversary of Wren’s masterpiece, we can also mark the successful completion of this extraordinary restoration project,” said the Right Reverend Graeme Knowles, Dean of St Paul’s.
“The two million worshippers, pilgrims and visitors who come to St. Paul’s each year can now witness Wren’s original vision and see the cathedral as fresh as the day it was completed.”
The smoke and filth of three centuries of London pollution had left the exterior blackened and damaged, but this has now been completely cleaned. More than 150,000 blocks of Portland stone were restored.
The interior has been transformed by modern conservation techniques and the light that now floods into the cathedral once again highlights its mosaics, carvings and sculptures.
A service was held today to mark the 300 years since the cathedral was declared complete by Parliament.
Surveyor Martin Stancliffe, who oversaw the restoration, said: “It has been a privilege – and an extraordinary experience – to have led the team of professionals, craftsmen and conservators who have contributed so much to this transforming project.
“This great building is now in a sound state, and probably looks better than at any time since its completion in 1711.”
The area in front of the Anglican cathedral has also been rebuilt to make it more in keeping with Wren’s masterpiece.
St. Paul’s, the seat of the Bishop of London, has served as a focus for national events in its 300-year history. The funerals of wartime heroes the Duke of Wellington, Horatio Nelson and Winston Churchill took place there, as did the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.
It survived the German bombardments of World War II, with one of the most iconic photographs of London during the Blitz showing St Paul’s shrouded in smoke.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
View looking up at the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedra, London. Photo accessed through Wikimedia Commons.Interior of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, looking toward the east. Photo by Peter Morgan of Beijing, China.Aerial view of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Circa-1795 Eli Terry tall case clock, one of only three known whose movement and case were both crafted by Terry himself, est. $25,000-$60,000. Morphy Auctions image.
DENVER, Pa. â Just as there are comfort foods, there are also comfort objects â decorative antiques whose beauty and superior craftsmanship render them icons of stability in an era of plastic and impersonal mass production. Early American clocks, artist-decorated pottery and hand-filigreed antique jewelry are comfort objects, and all may be found in abundance at Morphyâs June 25 General Antiques auction, with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com.
The 500-lot auction includes more than 40 tall case and mantel clocks, with the star lot being a circa-1795 Eli Terry production. âEli Terry (Connecticut, 1772-1852) was the father of American clock making,â said Morphy Auctionsâ owner, Dan Morphy. âThe tall-case clock in our sale is extraordinary because it is the third of only three such clocks for which Eli Terry made both the movement and the case. The other two clocks are in museums.â In 2010, one of the other two Eli Terry clocks was appraised for a museum on PBS Televisionâs Antiques Roadshow and was valued at $25,000, minimum.
The 93-inch-tall Eli Terry clock in Morphyâs upcoming sale features a handsome mahogany case with excellent original finial and possibly original finish. It has a wooden movement with calendar, sweep-second hands and original tin can weights, and is in overall excellent condition. Accompanied by extensive written and photographic documentation, this recently discovered clock is expected to make $25,000-$60,000 at auction.
The clock section also includes a rare, primitive-style Flemish tall case clock, est. $4,000-$6,000; and an American Chippendale cherrywood tall case clock, est. $4,000-$8,000. A collection of desirable skeleton clocks joins the larger timekeepers, with highlights being a 2-train example with cable-driven fusee, est. $1,200-$1,800; a miniature âgreat wheel,â est. $600-$1,200; and a French miniature âpostâ clock, est. $900-$1,500.
The success of Morphyâs Feb. 26 Fine Jewelry sale led to the consignment of 100 luxe pieces from two separate collections. A chic 14K white gold ring with a 3-carat center diamond is estimated at $12,000-$18,000; while a filigreed 18K gold, diamond and sapphire ring weighs in with a $7,000-$12,000 estimate. Also featuring very fine filigree work, a ladiesâ hand-made 18K cast-gold coin holder could realize $3,000-$5,000.
More than 100 lots of pottery will be auctioned, including several Rookwood rarities. An exceptional 15-inch Iris-glaze Rookwood vase with a depiction of geese in flight is a masterwork that was hand painted in 1902 by Rookwoodâs renowned art director A.R. Valentien. The vase bears Valentienâs full signature and could finish in the $17,000-$23,000 range. Other notable Rookwood lots include a 13Âœ-inch Sara Sax avian and floral design executed in 1916, est. $6,000-$7,000; and an 11-inch scenic vellum vase by Ed Diers, $2,000-$2,500.
Several other premier potteries are represented in the sale. A Teco Arts & Crafts green matte glaze vase stands 12 inches tall and is estimated at $2,200-$2,500. An 11-inch Grueby bulbous vase could reach $1,500-$2,000; as could a 28-inch Roseville Bonita jardiniĂšre and pedestal. A coveted Newcomb College Pottery 11-inch bud vase in blue tones is stamped âAFSâ for student artist Anna Frances Simpson, and is assigned a presale estimate of $6,000-$8,000.
A stunning 10œ-inch art glass vase with silver overlay, possibly of Austrian origin, is entered in the sale with a $5,000-$8,000 estimate. Another glass highlight is the set of six signed Tiffany Studios gold-colored tumblers, $1,000-$1,500.
Other decorative-art standouts include a 37-inch-tall Ming Dynasty polychrome-painted Buddha, $2,000-$4,000; and a magnificently carved ivory Asian urn, 24 inches tall with teak base. The urn is from a long-held single-owner collection that also includes two 11-inch ivory tusks carved with images of men and women at work. The tusks â likely Chinese artworks â are offered as a single lot with a presale estimate of $4,000-$8,000.
From a British collector comes an array of more than 30 biscuit and sweets tins, including several sought-after forms. A 1915 Robertson Bros. (Canada) bas-relief golf bag tin that once held chocolates is decorated with images of a man and woman golfer in vintage attire. It is estimated at $1,200-$1,500. Biscuit tin highlights include a 1913 Huntley & Palmers âKing Wenceslas,â $1,000-$1,500; a Crawfordâs âFairy Treeâ with Mabel Lucie Attwell design, $600-$900; and Huntley & Palmerâs âPlatesâ and âShellâ tins, each estimated at $600-$800.
For additional information on any lot, call 717-335-3435 or email serena@morphyauctions.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Circa-1795 Eli Terry tall case clock, one of only three known whose movement and case were both crafted by Terry himself, est. $25,000-$60,000. Morphy Auctions image.
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AFP) – Russia’s embassy in Sofia has slammed as “outrageous” the brief transformation by unknown artists of a Soviet army monument into a tableau of superheroes and other pop culture figures.
“The Russian embassy is again compelled to highlight an outrageous act of vandalism against the Soviet army monument in Sofia,” the embassy said in a statement noting the “exceptional cynicism” of the deed.
The artists on Saturday painted as comic strip heroes the nine figures of a bronze relief sculpture that is part of the massive downtown monument honoring the Red Army’s advance on Nazi-allied Bulgaria during World War II.
The pop art creation with the caption “Abreast with the Times” drew crowds of people over the weekend, posing to have their picture taken with Superman, Santa Claus, McDonald’s clown mascot Ronald, Captain America, Batman’s sidekick Robin and his villainous arch-enemy the Joker.
The flamboyant coat of paint on the monument had been cleaned up by early Tuesday. But the incident fanned an ongoing debate over the monument’s future between Russophiles and anti-communists in Bulgaria, who have long pressed for its demolition.
Prosecutors are still looking for the unknown authors of the stunt.
Some 1,700 people rallied on the social network Facebook on Monday against the cleaning of the sculpture.
A U.S. Coast Guard photo shows the 1913 cast-iron Miah Maull Shoal Light off the coast of New Jersey. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) â The federal government is trying to give away some lighthouses.
Schools, museums and other public entities are invited to apply for ownership of three Delaware Bay lighthouses made available through the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.
The Coast Guard owns the structures.
The 11-year-old act enables the U.S. General Services Administration to offer the lighthouses â for free â for education, park, cultural or historic preservation purposes, according to New England region spokeswoman Paula Santangelo.
âThrough the transfer of these lighthouses to eligible entities, we’re ensuring that they’re enjoyed for many years to come,â she said.
If selected after a rigorous application process, the steward is required to make the lighthouse accessible to the public in some way and must follow the historic covenants associated with the stewardship, Santangelo said. The Coast Guard will continue to maintain the lights, she said.
âEven though there is GPS and other technological devices, these are still needed and still active navigational aides because, of course, (of) dangerous areas,â she said.
Miah Maull Shoal, Ship John Shoal and Brandywine Shoal are the three lighthouses available, all on the New Jersey side of the bay. All are accessible only by boat.
While the Coast Guard no longer houses anyone in the buildings, it still maintains automated lights on top, said Meta Cushing, who is overseeing the Miah Maul Shoal Light transfer for the GSA.
Miah Maull, built in 1913, is a cast iron, 45-foot tall red tower with a black lantern. Its three-story interior is lined with brick. It is one of a series of shoals along the Delaware Bay, sitting 12 miles east of Bowers Beach and southeast of the coast of Fortescue, N.J.
Ship John, about 3 miles east of Bombay Hook in Delaware and 3 miles south of the mouth of the Cohansey River in New Jersey, is the northernmost lighthouse in the Delaware Bay. It was built in 1877 as a marker of a hazardous underwater terrain feature known as Ship John Shoal. The light has a watch room and octagonal lantern.
Brandywine, built in 1914, is 12 miles east of Slaughter Beach in Delaware and 9 miles northwest of the southern tip of New Jersey. It is a cast-iron structure featuring a deck that supports a three-story dwelling.
All three of the lighthouses are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Since the first year of the Lighthouse Preservation Act, the GSA has overseen 60 transfers, Cushing said. Robbins Reef Lighthouse, off the coast of Bayonne, was the first in New Jersey lighthouse to be transferred after Noble Maritime Collection in Staten Island, N.Y., became its steward.
âIf it can’t find a steward, the lighthouse may be sold at auction,â Cushing said. A steward could make use of it for field trips, science projects or even create a shore-based museum, she said.
âThey’re tailor-made for education,â Cushing said. âIt just takes someone to commit themselves to it.â
In 2007, a California lawyer and businessman, Michael L. Gabriel, bought the Fourteen Foot Bank lighthouse on the Delaware side of the bay in an online auction for $200,000. The lighthouse is 10 miles off Bowers Beach.
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Information from: The News Journal of Wilmington, Del., http://www.delawareonline.com
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Spiral Jetty juts out 1,500 feet into the Great Salt Lake about 90 miles north of Salt Lake City. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) â Utah state lands officials say a New York City-based art foundation is seeking a new lease on the 10-acre parcel home to the iconic earth sculpture, the Spiral Jetty.
The Dia Art Foundation’s 20-year lease on the Jetty site expired in February.
The Jetty is a 1,500-foot basalt rock formation that juts out in a spiral into the Great Salt Lake about 90 miles north of Salt Lake City.
It was built by artist Robert Smithson in 1970 and donated to Dia for caretaking by the artist’s estate in 1999.
Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands spokesman Jason Curry says ownership of the Jetty reverted to the state upon the lease expiration.
It’s not clear when state officials may decide on a new lease.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-06-19-11 1302GMT
Â
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The Spiral Jetty juts out 1,500 feet into the Great Salt Lake about 90 miles north of Salt Lake City. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Historic D.H. Day Farm is part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore park near Glen Arbor, Mich. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license. TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) â When she signed on with the nonprofit group Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear, Patty Byrd couldn’t have imagined that she’d one day prune apple and pear trees in an antique orchard or patch the roof of a 19th-century summer hotel on North Manitou Island.
Yet Bryd has done all that and more as one of about 30 work-project volunteers with the group dedicated to preserving the historic structures and cultural landscapes of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
The group is gearing up for another summer of projects, from removing invasive black locust trees on old farmsteads to repairing the porch on the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Blossom Cottage on North Manitou. And it’s looking for more volunteers.
âPeople come and go with different interests and different time availability,â said David Watt, project committee chairman. âWe try to look at the park agenda, what we have time to work on, what they don’t have time to work on, what’s falling apart, and what interests our volunteers.â
Recruits range from summer residents to retired seniors to those, like Byrd, who carve out a few hours around their full-time work schedules. Others are contractors who lend a hand in their spare time. Together they work with park officials to stabilize, rehabilitate or restore some of the park’s 366 historic structures and cultural landscape features, including barns, farms, corncribs, schoolhouses, life-saving stations, meadows, inns and a lighthouse.
Byrd is a licensed builder who now works in the oil and gas industry. But volunteers don’t need professional experience to help, Watt said. A range of tasks almost always needs doing, from straightforward scraping and painting or hammering nails, to jacking up a building or replacing sills. All that’s required is a love of history and an interest in preserving structures with historic accuracy, using salvageable materials whenever possible.
This summer volunteers will continue work on the 1880 Treat farmhouse and outbuildings south of Empire and on the exhibit at the 1918 Charles and Hattie Olsen House, which serves as the Preserve group’s office and an interpretive center. They’ll also tackle a variety of smaller projects in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District.
The 3,400-acre district, representative of 19th-and early 20th-century farms in the Midwest, is one of the largest intact agricultural districts in the nationwide National Park system and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Volunteers also will continue work on the Katie Shepherd Hotel called The Beeches. Built in 1895 as part of North Manitou’s Cottage Row, the bluff-top building served as a dining hall and inn through the 1930s. Now the goal is to restore it to usefulness, perhaps even as alternative lodging for visitors to the uninhabited island.
This will be the third year the group has worked on North Manitou, which had been a âdreamâ of members for years, said Watt, a retired high school physics teacher with an interest in woodworking. Volunteers arrive on the island by public ferry or park boat and live in tents or the ranger house, complete with kitchen and running water. They spend their free time swimming, hiking, socializing and reveling in the island’s quiet and natural beauty.
âThere’s certain people, the thought of being away from searching the Internet, it’s too much,â Watt said. âThere’s another group that says, âThat’s cool,â especially when they’re standing looking over Lake Michigan and looking east over Leland.â
Byrd, of Traverse City, is among the latter. Working amid some of the park’s most idyllic landscapes âis a way for me to get away from the hustle and bustle of my life,â she said. âIt allows me to rest.â
Camaraderie and adventure is the draw for other volunteers, like Watt.
âWe’re opening up the buildings for the first time in years. We see things people never see, and it’s fun imagining history,â Watt said. âThere’s always a discovery. Sometimes it’s rotten wood, sometimes it’s something else, like the surprisingly ornamental hinges found on the hotel doors.
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Online:
http://www.phsb.org
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Information from: Traverse City Record-Eagle, http://www.record-eagle.com
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-06-20-11 1214GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Historic D.H. Day Farm is part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore park near Glen Arbor, Mich. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.Many structures in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District of the park, including the Barratt Pig Barn, are in dire need of restoration. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) â A Ramallah art museum has become the first in the West Bank to take delivery of an artwork by Picasso, which will go on view to the public for a month, beginning on Friday.
The 1943 canvas, Buste de Femme, was loaned by the Van Abbe museum in Eindhoven, Netherlands, as the centerpiece of the “Picasso in Palestine” project in which local artists will lecture on the late Spanish painter’s work.
Khaled Horani, director of the International Academy of Art in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, said delivering the masterpiece safely to the Israeli-occupied West Bank had posed a logistical challenge.
“A Dutch group visited the Palestinian territories more than once to make sure the security situation was OK and that the museum where the painting is to be kept has suitable temperature and humidity,” he told AFP.
The work had to pass through an Israeli military checkpoint on its journey.
“This is a historical moment for us,” he said. “Even though we will have it for one month only.
“It says we are worthy to be like other countries that exhibit paintings by a famous artist like Picasso.”
The academy quoted Charles Esche, director of the Van Abbe Museum, as saying it was a historic event not only for the Palestinians.
“Our Picasso will be changed by its journey to Ramallah, it will take on extra meaning and the story will remain a part of the history of the painting from this moment on,” it said.
“It feels like we are constructing new histories with such a project as well as preserving old ones,” it added.
Albert Einstein (German/American, 1879-1955) during a lecture in Vienna in 1921.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A great thinker like Albert Einstein comes along very rarely and almost as rare is the opportunity to own a handwritten letter penned by the master mind. A collection of six Einstein letters, including two handwritten examples, headline the sale scheduled for June 27 in West Palm Beach, Fla., at Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide the Internet live bidding.
Auction house president Brian Kogan said, âEinsteinâs autograph is desirable enough but having two letters written completely in the hand of this genius is incredible.â The collection of letters descended in the family of Dr. Hans Maurice Cassel, an assistant professor of physical chemistry at the Berlin Institute of Technology in the 1920s. Cassel worked with Einstein on a number of scientific theories and formulae.
The letters were found by the granddaughter of Cassel in a file box left to her by her mother. The letters were written between 1936 and 1937, when Einstein was at Princeton University. Casselâs correspondence with Einstein is documented in the Einstein Archives at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The handwritten letters, written to Cassel in German, discuss theories they were working on.
The auction will feature more than 325 lots from several estates. The inventory includes antiques, carpets and fine art from a prestigious property at St. Andrews in Boca Raton, Florida. Also, the session will include antique furniture, chandeliers, 19th-century giltwood mirrors, antiques and lamps from a Wellington equestrian estate, part III of the continuing Asian Collection sale from a Boca Raton collector featuring jade objects dâart and snuff bottles and fine art from the estate of a Palm Beach gentleman as well as additional consignments from around South Florida and the Palm Beaches.
Items of special note in the sale include a pair of 19th-century French ormolu mounted Old Paris porcelain vases with double-scroll handles ending in female mask terminals, painted with flowers on a green ground, raised on a fluted base with bead and wreath collar; and a spectacular 19th-century Italian carved giltwood mirror within pierced shell, scroll and flower border carved with swans, putti heads, masks and dragons. A magnificent Chinese celadon jade bangle has a solid inner ring and pierced outer ring with foliate and bat designs.
For additional information on any lot in the auction, call 561-805-7115 and ask for Leslie Baker or Brian Kogan.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
1936 handwritten letter from Albert Einstein to Dr. Hans Cassel. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches.1937 handwritten letter from Albert Einstein to Dr. Hans Cassel. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches. Picasso â Pablo Picasso (Spanish. 1881-1973), ‘Tete de Chevre de Profil, (A.R. 145), terre de faience platter, 1952, from an edition of 250. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches.Pablo Picasso (Spanish. 1881-1973), ‘Tete de Chevre de Profil, (A.R. 145), terre de faience platter, 1952, from an edition of 250. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches.19th-century Italian carved giltwood mirror. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches.Superb pale celadon jade bangle, Chinese, solid inner ring, pierced outer ring with foliate and bat design. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches.
_101799.jpg "Andy Warhol serigraph, Marilyn (Green), 1989, est. $625-$925. Rare Posters image.")
