TORONTO – Image courtesy of A.H. Wilkens. A.H. Wilkens is hosting a three-session auction April 17-18 that is filled with a wide array of rare and unusual objects. Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.
Session I features a pair of Paul Storr sterling silver baskets dating back to the reign of George IV, from London, 1823. Paul Storr is considered one of the most significant silversmiths of his time, regularly commissioned by English royalty and the highest classes. The pair of baskets was possibly part of a larger table setting or garniture to adorn the table, and held sweets or sweetmeat. The baskets have an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000.
The first session auction includes nearly 100 lots of sterling silver including English, Continental, several lots of Chinese silver and a small collection of Judaica. The silver is followed by a wide array of Asian arts featuring Chinese ivory, jade, porcelain and stone.
The second session of this three-session auction offers close to 150 lots of canes and walking sticks, all from a single-owner collection. This lifetime collection has brought together rare and unusual canes from around the world; you’ll find examples from China, Japan, Europe, England, Africa and North America. It also includes a wide variety of system canes. These canes, most notably used in the 19th century, serve an additional function such as a telescope, horse measurer, flask holder, candle holder or compass. The collection also has a number of folk art pieces such as canes carved by soldiers in the World Wars, puzzle canes, and one carved by the gardener of Sandringham as a 21st birthday gift to Prince Albert Victor in 1885. Other lots include a cane from Gettysburg signed by Captain Daniel W. Flagler (1835-1899) (Lot 2020) as well as other examples of Trench Art from World War I and II.
Session III is highlighted with a Tiffany Studios bronze and favrile glass Twelve-Light Lily Lamp as well as two Pairpoint lamps and several lots of LC Tiffany and Handel glass. Lot 3041 is a collection of Civil War diaries and hat from Murdock Mcregor, covering the years 1861 to 1865. Fine quality art by William Hemsley, Georges Croegaert, Marcel Dyf and Enrico Tarenghi are also featured in the auction along with several lots of Moorcroft pottery and decorative accessories.
This sale has something for everyone; the auction will be rounded out with a large collection of silver, Asian arts, glass, porcelain, furniture and fine art.
For additional information, call 416-360-7600 or e-mail info@ahwilkens.com.
Chinese rhinoceros horn Chilong libation cup. Image courtesy Leland Little Auction and Estate Sales Ltd.
HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. – The U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Middle District of North Carolina has ordered that the personal property assets of Chinqua Penn Plantation be sold at absolute public auction April 25-26. The auction has been ordered in the matter of Renegade Holdings, Inc.
Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd. and Iron Horse Auction Co. Inc. have been ordered to conduct this auction, to be held at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex Special Events Center, West Wing.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
Previews will be held April 22-24 at the Chinqua Penn Plantation in Reidsville, N.C.
Those wishing to attend the previews or auction are required to purchase a color catalog, which grants admittance to two individuals. Catalogs are available for purchase now and will also be available for purchase on-site at the previews and the auction.
The auction will be conducted by live public auction, with the options of bidding in-person, by telephone, or by absentee bid form, and by bidding online with a live video and audio feed, using www.liveauctioneers.com.
“This collection speaks to a national and international audience, offering over 1,000 lots with a broad spectrum of history and culture that represents the Penns’ love of the rare and exotic. Come and enjoy one of the few original collections that revisits the era of the Great Gatsby and harkens back to a time when men of substance traveled the world in search of rarities,” said Leland Little of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.
“This auction represents a collection of one of America’s premier industrial families.Never again in this century will such an offering be available in North Carolina. We are truly honored to be able to bring these rare and unique items to the marketplace,” said Thomas McInnis of Iron Horse Auction Co.
For details visit www.llauctions.com or www.ironhorseauction.com.
Ibeji twins with beaded dresses, Yoruba (Nigeria). Wood, fabric, glass beads, 25 cm high, est. $ 2,600-$3,300. Courtesy Cambi Casa d’Aste.
MILAN, Italy – Collectors who want to enter the Italian art market have plenty of opportunities on the calendar in the upcoming weeks. The activity actually began today, April 12, as as the contemporary art fair in Milan — MiArt — opened its doors. At the same time, Genoa-based Cambi Auction House opened a new base in the heart of Milan and the international auction house Sotheby’s held—again in Milan—a special sale dedicated to photography. “Special” because it represents a chance to support a Milanese foundation completely devoted to photography, Fondazione Forma, which, since its beginnings in 2005, has been organizing exhibitions, lectures and courses exclusively reliant on private support.
The photographs in the auction were donated by artists and collectors, and the revenue from the auction will benefit the foundation and finance its future activities. Among the photographs in the sale are works by important Italian photographers such as Mimmo Jodice, Gabriele Basilico, and Massimo Vitali, as well as international names like Henri Cartier Bresson, Robert Capa, and Martin Parr.
Cambi Auction House, on the other hand, is using the occasion of the opening of its new venue to present highlights of its future sales, which will be African Art, and Modern & Contemporary Art, on April 24 in Genoa. The African Art sale will feature artifacts made by the Yoruba People (population approx. 20 million). They are based primarily in the southwest region of Nigeria and hold art and artists in highest regard. Their religion, which is extremely complex and based on an extraordinary number of divinities, could be considered the base of the voodoo religion.
The auction contains several statues of twins representing “ibéjì,” a term that refers to the Yorubas’ veneration of twins. Upon the death of a twin, a statue is made in the deceased person’s likeness and given to the surviving twin. These effigies are then carefully fed, washed and assisted by the entire family. Estimates range between $850-$3,300.
The Modern & Contemporary Art session on the same day will feature artwork by Italian and international artists, with estimates starting from $200 for a collage by Giosetta Fioroni—the only woman artist in the Roman art movement “Piazza del Popolo School”—to $65,000 for a bronze head by sculptor Arturo Martini.
The cover lot is a shaped canvas titled “Blu” by Agostino Bonalumi, who is at the present time one of the most sought-after Italian artists on the international market (estimate: $26,000–$33,000). Since March, Bonalumi has been represented in the US by Barbara Mathes Gallery in New York.
In addition, before these two events in Genoa, Cambi Auction House will hold on April 16 its fourth online auction since the beginning of the year, which attests to the great success online auctions are enjoying at the moment. Also Turin-based auction house Sant’Agostino Aste is entering the online-auction market on April 18 with its first online-only sale of 19th and 20th century paintings.
Exciting news come from Rome, as well. On April 19, art buyers can get an insight into a Roman collection when auction house Bloomsbury presents Luciano Chesini’s art collection. Chesini is a Roman architect, hotelier and president of RomeContemporary, an association that organizes Rome’s contemporary art fair. Very contemporary is his collection, as well, which focuses on figurative paintings dating from the 1980s to today. Among the highlights are works by Carlo Bertocci (estimates between $2,000-$3,300) and by other representatives of “Pittura Colta” (cultivated painting), an art movement born in Italy in the 1980s in opposition to the Transavanguardia movement, striving for rigorous form and intellectual contents full of quotations from literature and history.
Other works on sale reflect Luciano Chesini’s interest in theatre, another field in which he is active, or show people he admires. Examples include Glauco Cortini’s photograph of Pierpaolo Pasolini (estimate $900-$1,000), Guglielmo Coluzzi’s photograph of Curzio Malaparte (estimate $ 400–$650), and the portrait of Maria Callas and Anna Magnani by Mario Schifano, an important artist of the Italian pop art movement (estimates between $2,600 and $5,200).
Further events are dedicated to other market segments and collectibles: on April 20–21, for instance, Farsetti will offer in Prato (Tuscany), paintings and furniture from the 17th to the 19th century, including a masterpiece by Tranquillo Cremona estimated between $314,000-$366,000. Ancient furniture and paintings will hit the block also at Meeting Art in Vercelli (Piedmont) from April 14 to 29. International ArtSale in Milan will offer on April 18 jewels and watches, while Gonnelli Casa d’Aste in Florence will offer, at the end of the month, ancient manuscripts including the collection of the son of the auction house’s founder (April 27–28).
Let the Grand Tour of Italian art market begin!
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About Silvia Anna Barrilà:
Silvia Anna Barrilà is an Italian fine arts journalist and regular contributor to the Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 ORE (ArtEconomy24). She also writes about art, design, lifestyle and society for a number of Italian and international magazines, including DAMn Magazine and ICON (Mondadori). She is based in Milan and Berlin.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Ibeji twins with beaded dresses, Yoruba (Nigeria). Wood, fabric, glass beads, 25 cm high, est. $ 2,600-$3,300. Courtesy Cambi Casa d’Aste.Agostino Bonalumi, ‘Blu,’ 1997. Shaped canvas and vinyl gouache, 80 cm square. Certified by the Bonalumi Archive, photo No. 97-008, est. $26,000-$33,000. Courtesy Cambi Casa d’Aste.Tranquillo Cremona, ‘Lo studio,’ 1870/1872. Oil on canvas, 120 x 105 cm, est. $314,000-$366,000. Courtesy Farsetti.Rare yellow-orange melo pearl, estimate $92,000-$118,000. Courtesy International Art Sale, Milan.Gabriele Basilico, ‘Fort Mahon,’ 1985. Vintage gelatin silver print, 30 x 40 cm. Signed, titled and dated on verso. Embossed stamp Gabriele Basilico on margin. Courtesy Fondazione Forma.
Antique Chinese rosewood table. Image courtesy Manatee Galleries Inc.
PALMETTO, Fla. – Manatee Galleries Inc. will conduct their premiere Fine Antiques and Chinese Works of Art on Saturday, April 28, at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
The auction will be held at their brand new gallery, which is located at 1007 10th Ave. West. Auction preview runs April 20-28, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., or by appointment.
This is an exciting event that culminates many years of a family antiques business that began in New York in the 1950s and resumes in Florida. Manatee Galleries’ premier auction will disperse a longtime collection from a West Coast Florida estate as well as a collection from a well-known American dealer from the 1960s and ’70s.
The sale will feature an antique Chinese Chippendale-style rosewood table from this estate that displays beautiful form and patina. The table is from a collection that was originally acquired during the mid-century period. The collector had exquisite taste, with the table being just one of the many splendid antiques from this collection.
Over 250 lots will be available for bidding including an important collection of Chinese porcelain dating back from the Tang/Han Dynasty and Kangxi period. The condition of many of these items is impeccable and the workmanship, artistry and color are amazing.
There are many fine pieces of antique jewelry including Asian pieces of jade, coral and ivory. One of the key pieces is a stunning Art Deco early 20th century Chinese coral and 14K gold necklace with amazing carving and vibrant color. It is a double-stranded beaded necklace that measures 22 inches, with lovely beads. The piece has weight to it but appears delicate when worn. The pendant is floral and intricately carved as well. Each piece of jewelry has uniqueness to it, but outstanding is a platinum and diamond brooch from the Art Deco period. Another star of the jewelry collection is a jade beaded necklace with an amazing white phoenix in the center as the pendant.
One of the highlighted pieces in the auction is a fabulous Chinese late 17th century charger made in the reign of the Emperor Kangxi. The Famille Verte pattern is very sought after from this period. It features a songbird on a branch among blossoms, together with a poem. All are displayed within a patterned rim border. A Buddhist symbol is also present and the item is fully marked on the base. The charger, in very good condition, is authentic Kangxi of the period, 1662-1772. In addition, there is another magnificent Chinese 17th century Famille Verte charger of the Kangxi period decorated with a great center medallion along with numerous foliate panels. The rim displays alternating geometric and flowering peony branches. The base has an underglazed artemsia leaf within a double lined circle.
There are many blue and white Chinese taste pieces dating back to the 17th century, along with a lovely selection of 18th and 19th century Chinese Export.
The collection is vast but most importantly all of the pieces show exquisite workmanship and authenticity to period. One of the highlights of the sale is an important 17th century Kangxi period (1662-1722) blue and white Gu-shaped Chi-long dragon beaker vase. The vase has a tall, slightly knopped, cylindrical body rising from a spreading flat base to a flaring neck. The upper body is painted with a fabulous dragon with the center band that separates the top and bottom painted with leaves and fruit, then the lower body retains stiff leaves. In addition, there is a Chinese blue and white dragon lobed bowl, Kangxi period (1662-1722), painted with reserves of confronting dragons grasping a pearl and Shou characters. The vase measures 7 1/2 inches.
Finally, Manatee Galleries will present a large Chinese cinnabar lacquer box and cover, Qianlong (1736-1795). This was purchased at Sotheby’s Park Bernet Auction House in 1971. It is carved in relief with figures in a garden of overhanging trees and before distant mountains. The sides have borders of hexagonal foliate key-fret motifs. This large box measures 9 inches.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Life-size figures of Homer, Marge, Maggie, Bart and Lisa were promos for ‘The Simpsons Movie.’ Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Kimballs Auction and Estate Services.
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (AP) – The Springfield that exists in the mind of Matt Groening is a kind of American everything—a backward speck on the map, rosy-cheeked idealized font of family values, cesspool of corruption, ethnic melting pot, boomtown gone to rust.
It’s what the creator of The Simpsons, the longest-running U.S. sitcom, used as a backdrop for 22-minute allegories about the American experience, beginning as earnest tales about a lower-middle class nuclear family and expanding to encompass spoofs of presidential elections, the obesity epidemic and Citizen Kane.
It’s also, according to an interview posted online Tuesday, a real place. “Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon,” Groening told Smithsonian magazine.
The inspiration, Groening explained, came when he was a child watching the TV show Father Knows Best, set in a town called Springfield. Groening said he was thrilled to imagine the show was based in Oregon’s Springfield, south of his hometown of Portland.
“When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name,” Groening said. “I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S.
“In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, ‘This will be cool; everyone will think it’s their Springfield,’” he said. “And they do.”
The acknowledgement ends one of the longest-running mysteries in popular culture. But people in town on Tuesday weren’t quite sure what to do with the information.
“He did?” asked convenience store manager Denise Pohrman. “I think that’s a good thing. I think.”
But how should the town react? On the surface, it’s not a flattering portrait. Groening’s Springfield is polluted and sad, run by corrupt officials and beset by the simpleminded populace that keeps voting for them.
Embrace it, Pohrman said.
“There’s the stuffy part of history, and then there’s the trivia,” Pohrman said. “Everybody needs some fun.”
The series has been on the air for 22 years, becoming the longest-running American sitcom, the longest-running American animated program and a cultural phenomenon with universities devoting courses to studying it.
The real Springfield is a western Oregon town of about 60,000 people. Its quiet Main Street is struggling in the face of a recession. Its median income is just under $40,000 and nearly 20 percent of people of all ages live under the poverty line.
“It took a lot of tenacious people to found Springfield,” Springfield Museum executive director Debra Gruell said. “When the railroad went away, they persevered. The town wouldn’t be here without that.”
Some comparisons do hold true. Just as the fictional Springfield endures the hate hoots of rival Shelbyville, the real Springfield must contend with the larger—and wealthier—Eugene, home to the University of Oregon and the recipient of much of Nike founder Phil Knight’s largesse.
Maybe we should have known all along, said Wayne Jones, a 28-year-old clerk at the Bright Oak Meats in downtown Springfield. Jones has long argued that Oregon’s Springfield is the true inspiration for Groening’s invention.
For one, there’s the statue of an unnamed man astride a horse in downtown, just as the fictional Springfield features a memorial to founder Jebediah Springfield (nee Hans Sprungfeld) in its town square.
And people living near the now-shuttered Trojan Nuclear Power Plant near Prescott, Oregon., have always considered the site to be the real counterpart to the fictional Springfield power plant.
The fictional town’s true location has been a secret for so long, even the jokes about its secrecy are old. In one, the showrunners had a narrator give one location in a voiceover for the first broadcast, then change it in reruns. In The Simpsons Movie, one character says the fictional state borders Ohio, Nevada, Maine and Kentucky, states all across the country.
Groening said he has long given fake answers when asked about the Simpsons’ hometown, leaving open the possibility that his latest one is itself another fake.
Until Tuesday, Portland, Ore., provided the most likely inspiration for the Simpsons’ hometown. Many of the names of characters on the show—Flanders, Quimby, Kearney—are names of streets in Portland.
Groening visited during a tour before the 2007 film The Simpsons Movie. Back then, tiny Springfield, Vt., beat out 13 other Springfields, including the one in Oregon, to host the movie premiere. The cities submitted videos meant to connect themselves to the fictional Springfield.
Maybe the town can use this—real leverage—to its advantage, said frozen-yogurt store co-owner Jack Kohler.
“A few years ago, the downtown had a reputation as a scary place,” Kohler said. “Now, the strip joints are gone, the place is coming back. If they’re smart, they’ll have a ‘Simpsons’ month, they’ll build statues so them kids can sit in, they’ll have characters during the Art Walk.
“This is an opportunity to really make this place explode. If they don’t do that, they blew it.”
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Contact Nigel Duara at http://www.twitter.com/nigelduara
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-04-11-12 1521GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Life-size figures of Homer, Marge, Maggie, Bart and Lisa were promos for ‘The Simpsons Movie.’ Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Kimballs Auction and Estate Services.
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark., opened in November. Image by Charvex. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
WASHINGTON (AP) – A national study on the arts industry’s health shows arts businesses are beginning to recover from the declines of the Great Recession.
The National Arts Index released Tuesday by Americans for the Arts is based on government and private data collected between 1998 and 2010.
The new numbers show attendance at art events began rebounding in 2010 for the first time since 2003. About a third of U.S. adults attended a performing arts event, and 13 percent visited an art museum. In places like San Francisco and New York and Arlington, Va., more than 45 percent of adults attended a museum.
Still, arts organizations face financial troubles. The latest numbers show 43 percent of nonprofit arts groups had an operating deficit.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-04-10-12 1653GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark., opened in November. Image by Charvex. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
‘The Barnes Totem,’ depicted in an artist rendition, has been installed outside the new gallery of the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. The 40-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture is by Ellsworth Kelly. Image courtesy the Barnes Foundation.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A sculpture by acclaimed artist Ellsworth Kelly is now in place outside the soon-to-open new gallery of the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Inquirer says gusty winds Monday that delayed the installation by a day had slackened, allowing the 40-foot stainless steel sculpture called The Barnes Totem to be set in place at the head of a reflecting pool on the north side of the building.
The Barnes Foundation opens May 19 in its new location near the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The world-renowned collection of Impressionist and Modernist art is relocating from its longtime home in suburban Merion after a long legal battle.
The sculpture was commissioned and donated to the Barnes by the Neubauer Family Foundation.
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Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.philly.com
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-04-10-12 2308GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
‘The Barnes Totem,’ depicted in an artist rendition, has been installed outside the new gallery of the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. The 40-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture is by Ellsworth Kelly. Image courtesy the Barnes Foundation.
The Sylacauga Municipal Complex in Sylacauga, Ala. Sylacauga is also the hometown of actor and singer Jim Nabors. Image by Rivers Langley. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
SYLACAUGA, Ala. (AP) – At 7-foot-6-inches and about 11,000 pounds, it’s hard not to notice the new man in town.
The city’s latest marble sculpture, called Sylacauga Emerging, was placed at City Hall on Tuesday. The sculpture depicts a quarry worker carving himself out of marble, an image sculptor Craigger Browne said represents where Sylacauga is as a city.
“It shows how Sylacauga is now starting to market its marble again like it did hundreds of years ago,” he said. “The city is world renowned for its white marble, and this basically portrays its rediscovery in stone.”
The central Alabama city—where the fourth annual “marble festival” begins this week—is known for producing what it bills as the world’s whitest marble. The rock has been used in buildings including the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The idea for the sculpture was developed by Browne with the help of Dr. Ted Spears, Arts Council member and director of the Magic of Marble Festival, and a private benefactor who funded the project.
Spears said he and the Arts Council are thrilled about the sculpture.
“We felt like we needed to have marble in prominent places around the city to revive the culture and artistic value of marble, rather than just the industrial and business purposes,” Spears said.
Browne has been working on the sculpture for nearly eight months. During that time, Browne said he spent countless hours planning and sculpting the piece.
“I couldn’t even guess how much time I’ve put into it, between drawing the plans, which requires a lot of mathematical formulation, to planning the sculpting process to carrying it out,” he said. “It’s been constantly on my mind. I can’t even escape it when I’m sleeping.”
Browne, who has worked in five of the world’s seven continents, said he was honored to create a piece for the city after visiting last year’s Marble Festival.
“To have a public work like this is a great honor and a wonderful opportunity,” he said. “I’m really pleased with how it is turning out, but I have a lot of detail work left.”
Browne said he has about two weeks of work remaining to fine tune the fingers, tools and other details on the sculpture.
“I look forward to its completion,” he said.
Browne has a history of marble sculpting that began when he visited Lacoste, France, while attending the Cleveland Institute of Art.
“There I started working with limestone, and then I got a Guggenheim Scholarship to go to Venice, Italy,” he said. “What was supposed to be a month trip turned in to more than two years.”
Browne was invited to teach in Venice, and it was during that time Browne said he fell in love with marble.
“Peter Rockwell, who is Norman Rockwell’s son, directed me to Carrara, which is the location of famous marble that Michelangelo worked on,” he said. “I started working with it, and I ended up staying and selling pieces out of a studio there.”
Browne later returned to his hometown of Birmingham, but periodically visits Italy to purchase marble.
His work is currently sold out of Little House art studio in Homewood and Lahaina Galleries, which has several branches on the West coast.
During this year’s Marble Festival, which continues through April 21, Browne is working on a Madonna and Child sculpture for a nearby Catholic church.
Seventeen other visiting sculptors are working on pieces of Sylacauga marble in Blue Bell Park. The festival’s events include tours of a quarry operated by Omya Alabama Inc. in Sylacauga.
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Information from: The Daily Home – Talladega, http://www.dailyhome.com
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-04-11-12 1407GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The Sylacauga Municipal Complex in Sylacauga, Ala. Sylacauga is also the hometown of actor and singer Jim Nabors. Image by Rivers Langley. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
This 6-gallon churn in Bristol glaze was made in the late 1800s in Lanier County, Ga., probably by Shimuel Timmerman. Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C., sold it for $2,900 in May 2009. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Brunk Auctions.
WATKINSVILLE, Ga. (AP) – Greg Whitaker collected things all his life, from baseball cards to old coins, but it was his dream to take two pieces of his grandmother’s pottery to Antiques Roadshow when the PBS show visited Atlanta last summer.
So, when the 46-year-old police officer died unexpectedly in March 2011, taking those pieces of pottery to the show became a mission for his mother, Ellen Whitaker of Watkinsville.
Greg Whitaker grew up in Oconee, went into law enforcement and became a sergeant with the Johns Creek Police Department in Fulton County.
When he learned Antiques Roadshow was coming to Atlanta, he called his mother asking to take two pieces of pottery his late grandmother originally acquired and that his mother now owns. The pottery was produced by Shimuel Timmerman in Lanier County during the late 1800s.
Ellen Whitaker remembers the enthusiasm her son had for the show, which will air the Atlanta episodes at 8 p.m. the next three Mondays on Georgia Public Broadcasting.
“He got everybody he knew to sign up for tickets—family and friends—just in case he didn’t get tickets. It turned out that nobody he knew received tickets,” she said.
More than 26,000 people applied for tickets, but station WGBH in Boston only gave out 3,000, according to Mandy Wilson, communications manager for GPB.
But in February 2011, her son had surgery to remove a tumor on his spine. The surgery left him paralyzed, though his surgeon assured him he would be able to walk and return to work by September.
He had a pulmonary embolism while recovering and died.
Knowing how much Greg had wanted to attend the show, Ellen Whitaker wrote a letter requesting tickets so she could go in his memory.
Two friends from her church had tickets and offered them, but she declined. Soon the mailman delivered two tickets, yet there was no explanation accompanying the tickets.
Whitaker, her daughter, Paige Spearing, and a granddaughter, Kate Spearing, attended the taping and took the two pieces of pottery. Although she was not selected for the on-air appraisals, they had “a wonderful time,” she said.
“The time passed so quickly, because you’re looking around to see what others have. The line wound around like a snake in this huge room,” said Whitaker, who had a chance to meet Wilson, who also grew up in Oconee County.
Wilson also brought them together with the woman who sent them tickets.
Amy Santamaria, the event producer from Boston, was attending the show, so Wilson introduced them.
“We got a chance to thank her personally, and she told us how the note touched her. She felt like we deserved tickets,” she said.
While she didn’t get an appraisal on the jugs at the taping, years ago at a pottery show in Morgan County, an appraiser valued them at $2,000 and $1,500.
Whitaker is glad she was able to attend the show in memory of her son.
“I think I would have regrets about not being able to go and do this for him,” she said.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-04-10-12 1731GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
This 6-gallon churn in Bristol glaze was made in the late 1800s in Lanier County, Ga., probably by Shimuel Timmerman. Brunk Auctions in Asheville, N.C., sold it for $2,900 in May 2009. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Brunk Auctions.
Paul Cezanne (French, 1839-1906), The Boy in the Red Vest, E.G. Buhrle Collection, Zurich.
BELGRADE (AFP) – Serbian police have uncovered a painting by French Post-Impressionist Paul Cezanne stolen from Switzerland in 2008 and arrested three suspects, local media said Thursday.
According to private broadcaster B92 the police found the painting “The Boy in the Red Vest” (1894-95) late Wednesday in Belgrade. Estimated to be worth tens of millions of euros (dollars), it was stolen from the E.G. Buehrle collection in Zurich together with paintings by Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, B92 added.
The arrests were made in Belgrade and Cacak, a town 140 kilometres (90 miles) south-west of the Serbian capital, with the cooperation of several foreign police forces with the Serbian authorities, media said here.
The Serbian interior ministry would not comment on the reports other than to announce a press conference to be held later Thursday.
State television RTS reported that Swiss experts were on their way to Belgrade to authenticate the painting.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Paul Cezanne (French, 1839-1906), The Boy in the Red Vest, E.G. Buhrle Collection, Zurich.
