PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Palm Beach Show Group has announced the acquisition of the Los Angeles Art Show from the Fine Art Dealers Association (FADA). The purchase includes the Los Angeles Fine Art Show: Modern & Contemporary and the Los Angeles Fine Art Show: Historic and Traditional. A specialized section within these shows, The Los Angeles IFPDA Fine Print Fair, will continue to function under the auspices of the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) but will be produced and managed by the existing Los Angeles Art Show production team.
The annual Los Angeles Art Show, created by FADA more than 17 years ago, is one of the longest running venues for contemporary, modern, and traditional art in the country. The 2012 show hosted more than 100 prominent galleries and drew more than 50,000 visitors with its two-show concept that distinctly separates modern and contemporary works from historical and traditional exhibits. The progressive show style provides two individual concepts under one roof and garners the appeal of an expansive international audience.
âThe Los Angeles Art Show is uniquely diverse and is certainly one of the most interesting shows in the world,â stated Scott Diament, CEO of the Palm Beach Show Group. âWe would like to thank FADA for developing a world class event with such a magnetic and international draw. We are confident that under our direction this show will be taken to the next level.â
The Palm Beach Show Group, headquartered in Palm Beach County, FL, currently owns and produces four nationally acclaimed shows including itsâ signature Palm Beach Jewelry, Art & Antique Show, now in its tenth year.
In conjunction with Kim Martindale, the 17 year General Manager of the Los Angeles Art Show, the LA Art Show, Inc. will combine the large organizational strength of the Palm Beach Show Group with the managerial and local expertise of the KR Martindale team, to continue to produce high quality fairs.
Betina Tasende, President of the Fine Art Dealers Association stated, âAs a well-respected organization of art galleries, FADA continues to fully support the Los Angeles Art Show. It has been a part of our association for the past 17 years and we are confident the Palm Beach Show Group has the necessary enthusiasm and infrastructure to grow this event appropriately.â
With historic ties to Far Eastern exhibitors and collectors, the Los Angeles Art Show merges the West Coast arts community with premiere Asian art presented by galleries from China, Korea and the United States. These galleries offer a rare glimpse into classical and modern Asian Arts. International highlights of the show also include prestigious European galleries and extraordinary South American exhibitors.
âThe city of Los Angeles has established itself over the last 20 years as one of the most important art centers in the United States and the Los Angeles Art Show has been an important factor in making this happen,â stated Martindale, âWe believe that the show will flourish under the direction of the Palm Beach Show Group. This transition will surely be smooth, and one that we have been looking forward to for quite some time.â
Plans for the show include the expansion of Modern and Contemporary components, an area in which the Palm Beach Show Group projects a massive potential.
âOur extensive marketing efforts will make an immense impact on the reach and participation associated with this show,â stated Diament. âWe believe we possess all of the elements to take something as great as the Los Angeles Art Show and make it exceptional.â
Pair Chinese carved marble foo dogs. William Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers image. CHESTER, N.Y. â William Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers will conduct a fine art and antique auction highlighted by American and European works of art, a collection of Chinese art and ceramics, Waterford crystal, jewelry and accessories on Sunday, July 8. The sale will be held at the Jenack gallery, with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com. The sale will commence at 11 a.m. EDT.
Artwork will perhaps be the strongest section of the sale with works by James Hamilton, Douglas Arthur Teed, David Burliuk and Maud Humphrey.
The work by James Hamilton is titled Egyptian Temple and has a striking evening sky. The canvas by Teed is stark by contrast and is a monochromatic desert landscape with a snake. Maud Humphreyâs watercolor is of a toddler seated in her Sunday best. Humphrey (1868-1940) was well-known illustrator and mother of actor Humphrey Bogart.
Accessories will include a Eli and Samuel Terry mahogany pillar and scroll shelf clock in complete and working condition with the original glass reworked by Lee Davis of York, Pa., an elaborate bronze fountain of a nude seated upon a shell surrounded by dolphins, a Vespa scooter and a classical revival chandelier featuring phoenix birds and pulled feather art glass shades.
Several vintage timepieces will be offered including a Tempor Watch Co. Masonic pocket watch, 14K Tiffany & Co. presentation pocket watch, Rolex 14K dress wristwatch and a Berthoud & Brothers 19th century pocket watch, among several others.
Additionally, there will be many furnishings, bronzes, chandeliers, carpets and rugs available to the highest bidder.
One of the antique Scottish stained glass artworks to be auctioned on June 21 to benefit PROJECT C.U.R.E.
CENTENNIAL, Colo. â The prized personal collection of antique stained glass windows owned by Scottish Stained Glass president Martin Faith, will be auctioned Thursday, June 21 as a fundraising effort for Project C.U.R.E.
The âBuy a Window, Save a Lifeâ cocktail event will take place on the evening of the Summer Solstice at the Scottish Stained Glass showroom in Centennial, Colorado. From 5:30 pm to sunset, these one of a kind, masterpiece windows will be on display with experts explaining their design and construction. Sparkling in the sun of the longest day of the year, the windows will be sold, with a select grouping available via a live silent auction, to raise the funds needed to help Project C.U.R.E. ship containers holding approximately $1,000,000 of medical supplies to the new pediatric intensive care unit of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize City.
âI had the privilege of meeting Project C.U.R.E.âs president, Dr. Doug Jackson, several years ago and have wondered repeatedly ever since what we could do to become a part of the mission of this highly respected organization,â said Martin Faith, founder of Scottish Stained Glass and Scottish Home Improvements. âDespite their tremendous personal value to our family, we realize that selling and auctioning the collection of antique stained glass we brought with us from Scotland over 20 years ago could potentially save hundreds, if not thousands of lives, and we are honored to make them available for the public to see and buy to help this incredible cause.â
Each of the 150 leaded glass windows that will be available at the event were hand made between 1870 and 1914. Every window is in exceptional condition and requested donation prices begin at $400 and range up to $20,000.
Organizers invite one and all to party like a Scotsman at the festive June 21 event, which will feature a Scottish band, bagpipes, excellent food and wine. Kilts are encouraged.
The address is 14250 E. Easter Place, Centennial, CO 80112.
Enamel silver bat brooch, enamel wings accented with four white sapphires. Estimate: $800-$1,000. Michaanâs Auctions image. ALAMEDA, Calif. â Michaanâs will hold its monthly estate auction on Sunday, July 1, at 10 a.m. in its Main Gallery located at 2751 Todd Street. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
The Fine Art Departmentâs European offerings will open the auction, including lots from artists Marc Chagall, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Ludwig Bang, Achille Lauge and Roger Bezombes. American art will close the sale with Wayne Thiebaud, Paul Landacre, Robert Wyland, Luke E. Gibney, Jack Zajac and Peter Max represented.
Dutch painter Alexander Gerhard Anton van Rappardâs oil Cavaliers highlights the July offerings, to be sold as lot 005 ($8,000-$12,000). The painting depicts a rural maiden and three admirers in a rustic dining area. Van Rappardâs paintings are rare due in part to his short life of only 33 years. During his brief career van Rappard studied under Lawrence Alma-Tadema and befriended Vincent van Gogh. The scarcity and quality of his works have lead them to be highly prized in the contemporary market.
The Jewelry Department features a one-of-a-kind Art Nouveau plique-Ă -jour, silver bat brooch among its lots of fine, period and vintage costume jewelry (lot 183, $800-$1,200). The piece was made in Europe for export and is fashioned with enamel wings accented by four white sapphires. The brooch measures 4 1/2 inches in length by 1 inch in height and is sure to delight collectors and buyers alike.
A lovely selection of high-end timepieces and handbags will also be up for auction. Watch makers include names such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, Piaget and Breitling. Vintage and fashion handbag lots feature designs from the likes of Judith Leiber, Salvatore Ferragamo, Longchamp and Louis Vuitton.
Among the Asian Departmentâs offerings of ceramics, porcelains, jades, bronzes, furniture and Japanese lots is a lovely Chinese zither, offered as lot 451 ($600-$800). The wooden musical instrument measures approximately 47 inches by 7 inches and is accented by seven dark brown tassels. An inscription on the reverse bears a collectors seal, beautifully fashioned in gold colored paint. The Chinese zither originated over 2,300 years ago, making it one of the oldest Chinese musical instruments known. To this day, the Chinese zither is understood to be a type of Chinese harp or piano.
Furniture and decorative items consist of over 200 lots including European and American period furniture, Tiffany & Co. silver and a wide selection of collectible perfume bottles and decanters. Notable is an interesting group of patent models and advertising signs from a private Bay Area collector. Two of the most charming pieces from the collection are patent model furniture lots. The first is a walnut drop-leaf table, circa 1875, (lot 774, $700-$900) and the other a mahogany convertible chair marked âH. Braunfeldâ (lot 776, $600-$800). Other miscellaneous patent model items are available from the estate including a mechanical steam pressure regulator circa 1863 (lot 775, $600-$800), a red and black metal furnace from Philadelphia (lot 772, $500-$700) and a mahogany lard cooler circa 1880 (lot 773, $400-$600).
An illustrated auction catalog will also be online for review at www.michaans.com. Previews open at Michaanâs Auctions on June 29 until the day of sale. For details visit Michaanâs website or call the front desk at 510-740-0220.
Oil on board painting of a woman in a yellow dress, one of seven works in the auction by Joseph Delaney (Tennessee/New York, 1904-1991). It is estimated at $3,000-$4,000. Case Antiques image.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. â Itâs not the Olympics, but bronze, silver and gold are expected to be among the key prizes at the Summer Case Antiques Auction. The sale will be held June 30 at the companyâs gallery in Knoxville and features outstanding bronze sculpture, collections of Tiffany silver and Chinese and Russian silver, and several gold objects. A stellar lineup of Southern antiques and European and American paintings will also cross the block, along with important Civil War material, rare prints, maps, books, clocks and Asian antiques.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding for the 750-lot auction, which starts at 9:30 a.m. EDT.
Two bronze figural groups of men and horses by Russian sculptor Evgeni Alexandrovich Lanceray (1848-1886) lead the fine art category. There are also two Art Deco-style bronze sculptures of women by Romain Erte (Russian, 1892-1990), a bronze of a worker by Aime-Jules Dalou (French, 1838-1902), and a rare 12-inch Statue of Liberty American Committee model after Frederic Auguste Bartholdi (French, 1834-1904), produced in limited numbers in the 1870s to raise money for the statueâs pedestal.
Several artworks from the estate of Hollywood screenwriter Francis Faragoh are featured, including silver gelatin prints by American photographers Margaret Bourke White (1904-1971) and Samuel Gottscho (1875-1971), an etching of a nude woman titled The Weeper by Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1054), a charcoal and pastel nude by Abraham Baylinson (American, 1882-1950), and a lithograph by George Bellows (American, 1882-1924) titled Bathing Beach. An archive related to Faragohâs Hollywood career, including a first revision script of Little Caesar, which earned him an Oscar nomination, will also be sold.
Expected to draw international interest are paintings by Angel Bottello (Puerto Rico, 1913-1986), Roberto Burl Marx (Brazil, 1909-1982), Josef Van Schlogl (Austria, 1851-1918), David Burliuk (Russian-American, 1882-1967), Edigus Linnig (Belgium, 1821-1860), Athanas Ivanovich Scheloumoff (Russian, 1892-1983), and Pang Tseng Ying (Chinese, 1916-1997). There is also a collection of early Old Master-style paintings and drawings from the estate of Tennessee judge W. Dale Young. American regional artists in the auction include Claude Curry Bohm (1984-1971), William Posey Silva (1859-1948), Louis Jones (1878-1958), Thomas Campbell (1834-1914), Charles Vickery (1913-1998) and Richard Clarke (1923-1997). Also featured is a collection of paintings by Knoxville born Joseph Delaney (1904-1991), an Island Hay lithograph by Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), and a painting of the discovery of two dead Union soldiers by noted Civil War veteran/artist William Shelton (1840-1932), used as an illustration for the classic Warren Lee Gross book Recollections of a Private.
There are nearly 200 lots of precious metals in the sale, including several lots of 19th and 20th century Chinese Export silver, prerevolution Russian hollowware, and Persian silver including an elaborate punchbowl and base weighing nearly 100 troy ounces. Also featured is a collection of Tiffany sterling consisting of an early 1900s tea service in the Persian taste with Edward Moore mark; flatware in the Wave Edge and Marquis patterns; a set of goblets; and a 19th century cake basket by Grosjean and Woodward, early suppliers to Tiffany. Coin silver includes a julep cup by William Calhoun of Nashville and a tobacco prize julep cup with marks for John Kitts and Peter Krider, awarded to a Kentucky plantation owner. There are also more than 70 pieces of American coin silver from estate of the late dealer Salli LaGrone of Franklin, Tenn. (The first part of LaGroneâs estate was sold in Caseâs Winter auction; this auction will feature the remainder.)
A Tiffany 18K gold Maria Moors Cabot Journalism Prize Medal, awarded by Columbia University to radio commentator Edward Tomlinson in 1943 will be sold, along with several lots of fine jewelry including two Shah of Iran gold coins mounted as earrings, a platinum-set 2.99-carat yellow diamond ring, an Art Deco diamond and platinum watch, Navajo silver and turquoise jewelry, and a sterling silver and amethyst quartz frog bracelet by William Spratling.
Southern Pottery is a staple at Case; featured this time is a rare Charles Decker stoneware rundlet, a Cain pottery redware jar, a Pisgah Forest cameo pitcher, four graduated canisters by Arie Meaders of Georgia, a North Carolina stoneware jug stamped W.W. Ballard, a Sand Mountain Alabama jar and a collection of Jugtown, N.C. pottery.
This auction also includes a good selection of American Art Pottery such as a large rare Louis Comfort Tiffany Favrile pottery vase with textured blue, green and gold glaze; a Newcomb College mug by Sara Bloom Levy and a Sadie Irvine vase; and several pieces of Rookwood including mugs, a tile, and an Edward Diers-decorated scenic vase.
Asian material comprises a significant portion of the saleânearly 100 lotsâand encompasses Qing and early Republic period porcelain, snuff bottles, ivories and jades, including an outstanding carved russet jade dragon.
A dramatic 125-letter Civil War period archive from Capt. Oliver Pinkney McCammon of the 3rd Tennessee Federal Cavalry, along with his tintype and some personal effects, leads a strong selection of historical ephemera. There is also the personal diary of Confederate Pvt. Adam Kersh of Company F 52nd Virginia Infantry and an archive of letters and personal effects related to Fort Donelson.
Several scarce Civil War related books are featured, as well as a complete set of Laura Ingalls Wilder books all signed by the author, and an 1837-38 edition of John Gouldâs Synopsis of the Birds of Australia with 73 color plates. A collection of 1930s Hollywood autographs including an Ingrid Bergman letter is also a highlight, along with four framed theater programs from plays performed at Windsor Castle in 1849.
An outstanding collection of rare engravings from the LaGrone estate includes ornithology prints by Eleazer Albin, zoology prints after A.L. Wirsing, and a set of Matthias Merian prints illustrating 17th century garden designs. Heraldry, seashells, insects, astronomy are other subjects in the category, and there are several maps including a 1795 map of Tennessee showing Native American landmarks.
By far the largest object in the auction is a massive and ornately carved sideboard brought from a European castle to Tennessee by the late country music star Johnny Cash and used at his House of Cash museum. Other furniture standouts are a Philadelphia desk and bookcase, a high chest in old surface, and a rare Tennessee cherry pie safe sideboard.
An assortment of clocks is highlighted by a circa 1820 French ormolu Jason and the Golden Fleece clock, numerous other gilt-bronze figural clocks, and a French porcelain clock, possibly Sevres, with gilt bronze mounts and horizontal dial. There are also single owner collections of early lighting and British creamware. Other items of note include a scarce Tennessee needlework sampler with house design; Southern quilts; a 20th century âAlabama Indestructibleâ black doll made by Ella G. Smith, the first doll maker in the South to manufacture black dolls; several mechanical music items including a Swiss cylinder music box on stand with four brass cylinders; and several World War related lots including an outstanding decorated European theater bomber jacket, and an archive and jacket from the first U.S. pilot shot down during World War II.
The auction takes place at Caseâs gallery in the historic Cherokee Mills Building, 2240 Sutherland Ave. in Knoxville, on Saturday, June 30. Online, absentee and phone bids will also be accepted. A preview will take place on Friday, June 29, from noon to 6 p.m. or by appointment. The company is also accepting quality art and antique consignments for its October auction. For more information, call the gallery in Knoxville at 865-558-3033 or the Nashville office at 615-812-6096 or email info@caseantiques.com.
Oil on board painting of a woman in a yellow dress, one of seven works in the auction by Joseph Delaney (Tennessee/New York, 1904-1991). It is estimated at $3,000-$4,000. Case Antiques image.
Evgeni Alexandrovich Lanceray (Russian, 1848-1886) large bronze âCapture of a Wild Kirghiz Horse,â inscribed E. Lanceray in Cyrillic, with foundry mark for F. Chopin in Cyrillic. It is estimated at $10,000-$15,000. Case Antiques image.
This elaborate 19th century Continental carved oak sideboard, from the estate of late country music legend Johnny Cash and formerly used in his museum, is estimated at $6,000-$8,000. Case Antiques image.
A five-piece sterling tea and coffee service in the Persian taste, with M mark, is part of a single-owner collection of Tiffany & Co. silver featured in the sale. It is estimated at $4,000-$6,000. Case Antiques image.
The rare books category includes a complete set of eight âLittle House on the Prairieâ books, each bearing the signature of author Laura Ingalls Wilder. The books will be sold in pairs with estimates of $2,500-$3,500 per pair. Case Antiques image.
Southern pottery featured in this sale are (clockwise from top) a rare Charles Decker signed and dated rundlet (est. $4,000-$4,500), a redware jar attributed to the Cain pottery (est. $1,000-$1,500), and a Greene County, Tenn., stoneware cream pot (est. $400-$500). Case Antiques image.
There are nearly 100 lots of Asian material in the auction including this box with marks for Luen Wo of Shanghai, one of five pieces of Chinese silver in the sale. Estimate: $600-$900. Case Antiques image.
Circa-1947 photograph of artist William Baziotes (American, 1912-1963), Francis Lee, photographer. William and Ethel Baziotes papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Fair use of possibly copyrighted image to illustrate the subject of the article for educational, nonprofit purposes.
READING, Pa. – The Reading Public Museum is pleased to announce a centennial celebration of renowned artist William Baziotes in the Cohen Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art. Baziotes, who spent his formative years in Reading, would have been 100 years old this month.
On view through mid-July are three of Baziotesâ oil paintings from the early 1940s through the 1950s: Untitled, (Sailboat), from the 1950s, a recent gift (2008) from Marguerite and H. F. (Gerry) Lenfest; Moon Forms, 1947, a promised gift to the museum from Irv and Lois Cohen; and Untitled, (Girl on Beach),1941, a 1965 gift from Mr. and Mrs. James Mantis. Also included in the display are several recent gifts (2012) to The Museum from Mrs. Ethel Baziotes, widow of the artist, consisting of the artistâs original painting easel, a group of paint brushes, his âlucky painting shoesâ and his horn-rimmed eyeglasses with case.
Scott Schweigert, the museumâs curator of art and civilization commented that âThese personal items, along with fine representative paintings from Baziotesâ career, will provide visitors with unique insight into his life as an artist and his enduring legacy here in Reading, Pennsylvania.â
Born in Pittsburgh in 1912, William Baziotes moved with his family to Reading in 1913 when he was a year old. His parents were Greek immigrants who came there for business opportunities. The family ran a successful restaurant and bakery in the city. For a time, his father was a partner in the Crystal Restaurant on the 500 block of Penn Street in Reading. Baziotes also worked at J. M. Kase & Company, a stained glass manufacturer in the city from 1931 to 1933.
The artist moved to New York in 1933 on the recommendation of friend and Reading poet Byron Vazakas. He enrolled in classes at the National Academy of Design and absorbed influences of European modernism including Surrealism before adopting his mature abstract style.
His major breakthrough came in the mid 1940s, when he gained a reputation among fellow Abstract Expressionists in New York such as Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, Franz Kline, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning. Beginning in the late 1940s, The Museum of Modern Art and The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, The Art Institute in Chicago, and other major institutions acquired works by the artist. Baziotes taught at New York University, The Brooklyn Museum of Art School, and Hunter College in New York. The artist died in June, 1963.
Online: www.readingpublicmuseum.org
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Circa-1947 photograph of artist William Baziotes (American, 1912-1963), Francis Lee, photographer. William and Ethel Baziotes papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Fair use of possibly copyrighted image to illustrate the subject of the article for educational, nonprofit purposes.
Memorial on the Gettysburg Battlefield to the 111th New York Infantry. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) â A twig snaps and brush rustles in woods on the Gettysburg battlefield. My horse does not flinch. It’s nothing more than a small animal scurrying away. But on a hot summer day nearly 150 years earlier, it could have been the enemy.
The rolling farmland that is Gettysburg can be toured in a number of ways, but on horseback you can transport yourself to the vantage and vulnerability of a Civil War officer on horseback directing his troops in the three-day battle. On a recent family trip, my husband, our daughters, ages 9 and 14, and I toured the battlefields on horseback with a Gettysburg licensed battlefield guide. The tour allowed us to go into sections of the battlefield that were not part of auto or bus tours and provided intricate details of the July 1-3, 1863 battle that was a turning point in the Civil War.
Horse tours have been offered for decades by farms in the area. But with the 150th anniversary of the Civil War under way and the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg battle approaching in the summer of 2013, this is an ideal time to visit.
Pamela Grimes, owner of Hickory Hollow Farm, has up to 15 horses available for battlefield tours, and says visitors need not have any experience riding. The horses fall into step while walking along the wooded dirt trails, kicking up clouds of dust along the way, and need just a little direction from riders to keep them in line, but all four of us novices were fine. Grimes, with a helper and a licensed battlefield guide, Les Fowler, also accompanied our tour.
As we mounted our horses, Grimes’ team told us our horses’ names and a little about their personalities. My 9-year-old daughter Madigan’s horse, Spirit, was quick and likely would have been used as a messenger or scout horse in 1863. My husband Rob’s horse, Pebbles, was a calm leader and took the front of the line. My horse, Raggity Ann, liked to snack on brush or grass along the trails. Our daughter Nicole’s horse, Rock, was a bit slower and brought up the rear for our family.
Much of the battlefield now appears as it did in 1863, when Confederate troops moved into Pennsylvania that hot summer, so it is easy for young and old alike to grasp the vulnerability of troops marching across an open field or having the advantage of being on the high ground. The battlefield has undergone a landscape rehabilitation since 2000, including cutting non-historic trees, replanting orchards and rebuilding missing fences, to make it appear much as it did 150 years ago, said spokeswoman Katie Lawhon at Gettysburg National Military Park, which averages about 1.2 million visitors a year.
âNow, you can get a wonderful feel for what the soldiers actually saw. This field has changed dramatically in just the seven years that I have lived here,â said Fowler, the battlefield guide.
Most of the buildings on the battlefield in 1863 are still standing and are well-maintained. In addition, there are more than 1,300 monuments and 400 cannons. Rocks and other markers seen in iconic Civil War photographs make it easy to pinpoint exactly where the picture was taken.
Our ride lasted two and a half hours and covered about four miles roundtrip, starting near McMillan Woods and across to the Henry Spangler Farm, which served as a field hospital for soldiers during and after the battle.
The tour was point-to-point, with riders gathering around Fowler at key spots between riding to hear the story of what we were seeing.
Our group then headed to the site of Pickett’s Charge, where thousands of troops of the Army of Northern Virginia marched toward Union lines on July 3, their own line nearly a mile wide. The famous, futile charge was named for one of the Confederate generals, Maj. Gen. George Pickett. After being slowed by climbing fences along the nearby road, they came into range of the Union infantry on Cemetery Ridge, which we could see less than a mile away.
Fowler described how the Confederate line shrunk to nearly half its size as it closed in to cover the gaps left by wounded and killed men. It was easy to imagine as we could see the tree lines, fences and fields in front of us.
A statue in the area where Gen. Robert E. Lee observed the carnage of the failed charge from his horse, is one of the most realistic monuments because the face was made from a life mask of Lee and the bones of his horse, Traveller, were measured for accuracy, Fowler said.
Gettysburg is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War through 2015. Interest is expected to increase as the actual date of the 150th anniversary of the battle approaches in summer 2013. Living history encampments and other events are planned.
As attendance and interest in the site grows, tours are increasingly in demand, so reservations are a must, whether you’re looking for a horseback tour or a tour by one of Gettysburg’s 160 licensed battlefield guides, or both, as we did.
âFor many people, Gettysburg is such a significant event in our nation’s history, and it actually in some ways defines who we are as Americans today because of the tremendous crisis of that battle,â she said. âIt can be a tremendously moving place.â
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If You Go…
GETTYSBURG NATIONAL MILITARY PARK MUSEUM AND VISITOR CENTER: 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, Pa., http://www.nps.gov/gett/ or 717-334-1124.
HICKORY HOLLOW FARM: Horseback tours of Gettysburg; http://www.hickoryhollowfarm.com/ or 717-334-0349. Horseback tours accompanied by licensed battlefield guide are $50 per person per hour, two-hour minimum. Trail rides without the guide are $40 per person per hour. Riders must be at least 8 years old and no more than 250 pounds.
CAR AND BUS TOURS: Bus tours are offered several times daily and can be booked in advance through http://www.gettysburgfoundation.org or 877-874-2478, or buy tickets same day at the visitor center, $30 for adults, $18 for children 6-12. Private car tours are $65 per car for up to six visitors in one vehicle, last about an hour and must be reserved at least four days in advance.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Memorial on the Gettysburg Battlefield to the 111th New York Infantry. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The Menil Collection in Houston. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
HOUSTON (AP) â Police have video recordings to help them search for a man who spray-painted Pablo Picasso’s Woman in a Red Armchair at a Houston art museum.
Officials say the vandalism happened June 13 at the Menil Collection, where the 1929 painting is one of nine Picassos. Menil spokesman Vance Muse tells the Houston Chronicle that museum security officers detected the vandalism almost immediately, when the paint was barely dry. Chief conservator Brad Epley began repair work immediately, and Muse says the painting has âan excellent prognosis.â
The vandal fled and hasn’t been arrested. However, police have security videoâalong with a cellphone video taken by a witness and posted on YouTube.
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Information from: Houston Chronicle, http://www.houstonchronicle.com
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The Menil Collection in Houston. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The Maryland Statehouse in Annapolis. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) â The Maryland State Archives collection is among the largest in the country with nearly 400 years of history, including Colonial-era paintings, keepsakes of the state’s governors, and thousands of land, court and genealogy records.
With all that history, the Archives has run out of space.
The agency first filled its Annapolis headquarters to capacity in 2000, then leased and filled a warehouse. It leased a second warehouse and a third before brokering a deal to store some of its property at the Baltimore City Archives.
All of the facilities are now full, and state archivists have been pushing for more space since 2005.
Agency officials say that the lack of space and âsubstandardâ conditions at the warehouses have damaged some of the older items, and that employees are trying to avoid losing their grip on history.
âI hope that as the economy turns around we’re going to be able to request some more conservation money,â said Deputy State Archivist Tim Baker. âWe really need to finally own up to our responsibility to take care of these treasures and store them adequately.â
Baker said well-maintained archives serve a valuable purpose in a democracy.
âI don’t think we have as much appreciation as we should for the fact that it wasn’t that long ago that kings and military people ruled and decreed,â he said. âWe decided a different course and said that we’re going to write it down and document the rights and responsibilities of people.â
The Maryland State Archives was formed in 1934, but has grown exponentially in the past 20 years because it has taken on greater numbers of documents from increasingly records-conscious county and local governments.
Unlike many other states, the Maryland State Archives stores not just state and privately owned materials, but also those from local governments. Archivists say that policy has helped preserve many records and other items that otherwise might have been thrown away or left to rot in a town hall.
State archivists rarely have shied away from accepting outside contributions.
In 1988, they took on the cash-strapped Peabody Institution’s art collection. Years later, they added a collection of local newspapers dating as far back as the 1700s from the Library of Congress.
While the mention of archives may conjure up visions of antique art and valuable relics, the majority of Maryland’s more than 340,000 cubic feet of holdings is composed of paper records.
Most are kept for a set period of time until legal disposal is permitted, but about 5 percent to 10 percent are deemed to have permanent value and are kept in the collection.
These often include court documents, property deeds, birth and marriage records and other materials that have historical worth or might be referenced in the future.
Taking care of all those documents can be tough. About half of them are stored in warehouses that archivists say are plagued by bugs, mold, bad lighting and inadequate temperature controls that make them unbearably hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter.
One such warehouse in Anne Arundel County includes paintings and land records from the 1800s and items owned by William Donald Schaefer, who served a total of 32 years as mayor of Baltimore and as the state’s governor and then comptroller.
âIt’s not as much about temperature as it is consistency,â said Kevin Swanson, director of the agency’s constituent and interagency services. He added that ideal conditions are about 65 degrees and 55 percent humidity.
âWhen you don’t have that, you’re going to have problems,â he said.
Archivists have had to stop accepting items because of the space crunch and instead encourage local governments to move toward keeping electronic records.
The policy backfired last year when heavy rains in Prince George’s County led to flooding that destroyed about 2,400 cubic feet of county records in Upper Marlboro. The State Archives would have accepted the records if it had the space, Mr. Baker said.
âI don’t really have an option,â he said. âEven if I could just magically snap my fingers and go out and rent another building, we don’t have the money to do that.â
Desperate for more space, archives officials have testified before Senate and House budget committees. They originally hoped for a new buildingâwhich Mr. Baker said could have cost as much as $25 millionâbut have moved to the less-expensive option of buying a used, âsemidistressedâ building.
The agency’s troubles are not limited to storage. State budget cuts have reduced the Archives’ finances and nearly eliminated its art conservation budget.
One of the ways archivists have cut costs is by asking the state facilities and art galleries that host much of the state’s artistic property to pay for upkeep.
Swanson said the Maryland State Archives gets 15 percent to 20 percent of its funding from the state. The rest comes from fundraising, grants and money the agency earns as a printing service for businesses.
It also charges fees for the thousands of files it retrieves for residents each year.
State funding for the Archives has been left mostly to subcommittees on the Senate Budget and Taxation and House Appropriations committees.
Lawmakers are quick to say that the archives have tremendous value, but many say the state simply doesn’t have the money at a time when it has many infrastructure needs.
âYou’ve got to handle the things that you’ve got to handle now and just wait and see what happens,â said Delegate Gail H. Bates, Howard Republican, who serves on the Appropriations public safety and administration subcommittee, which hears the Archives’ testimony each year. âAs much as I think that it’s important to do something with the archives, it’s not really what I would call a basic need right now.â
Delegate John F. Wood Jr., who is vice chairman of the subcommittee, said the Archives had a near-miss a couple of years ago when it was in the running to receive an Annapolis building vacated by Maryland State Police barracks. The space went to another agency.
He said lawmakers should look more closely at funding a new facility and doesn’t expect the Archives to give up its fight.
âIt’s something I think that we should be looking atâand not keep putting it off and putting it off,â said Mr. Wood, St. Mary’s Democrat. âI’m sure they’re going to be back every year until they get it.â
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Information from: The Washington Times, http://www.washtimes.com
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-06-18-12 1434GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The Maryland Statehouse in Annapolis. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
