Mariano Fortuny silk pleated Delphos gown with Murano glass beadwork, c. 1910, Venice, Italy. Estimate: $4,000-$5,000. Skinner Inc. image. MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – Skinner Inc. will host a Discovery auction on Sept. 12 and 13 in its Marlborough gallery. The sale of almost 1,600 lots presents an excellent assortment of jewelry and silver, couture and textiles, paintings, books, musical instruments, furniture and decorative objects. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding both days.
A vast selection of estate silver will be featured including a J.E. Caldwell & Co. footed sterling silver serving bowl (lot 63, estimated between $600 and $800) and a pair of Randahl Art Nouveau weighted sterling silver three-light candelabra (lot 49, $250 to $350). Also on offer are two small English reticulated silver cobalt glass-lined table articles (lot 97, $300 to $500) including a sugar basket by P. Freeman and a lidded mustard pot by Chas. Aldridge & Henry Green.
Notable jewelry lots offered include a 14kt gold, moonstone and red gemstone necklace (lot 370, $600 to $800), a contemporary 14kt gold, opal, onyx and diamond cocktail ring (lot 340, $600 to $800), and a Victorian 14kt gold and enamel portrait locket (lot 284, $300 to $500). The portrait on the locket depicts a masked woman with diamond and seed pearl accents.
The September Discovery auction includes a variety of couture clothing and accessories ranging from Victorian clothing to men’s hats and designer gowns, and features a Mariano Fortuny silk pleated Delphos gown in champagne with Murano glass beadwork (lot 642, $4,000 to $5,000). The interior back seam of the gown is signed “Made in Italy Fabrique en Italie Fortuny Depose.” An early Louis Vuitton Damier canvas steamer trunk will also be offered (lot 611, $3,000 to $5,000).
Textiles from around the world will be up for bid at the sale including a box of Japanese Okinawa Ikat kimonos (lot 649, $400 to $600), a 69-inch, multicolored Kashmir shawl (lot 646, $300 to $500), and a 19th century floral “Broderie Perse” applique bedspread (lot 617, $300 to $500).
Highlights from a diverse selection of artwork include American artist Fannie Hillsmith’s The Villa (lot 1120, $1,000 to $1,500) and an oil painting attributed to Joseph Eliot Enneking titled Houses on a Hill (lot 1300, $1,200 to $1,800). Louis L. Novak’s color woodblock Peter Faneuil’s Day (lot 1149, $200 to $300) is also on offer at the Discovery auction.
The upcoming Discovery auction at Skinner features a wide selection of books from rare to contemporary including a rare English-Latin edition of Aesop’s Fables translated by Charles Hoole (lot 901, $200 to $300) and The Psalms of David by Isaac Watts (lot 1060, $150 to $250). A collection of works by Edward Gorey (lot 951, $175 to $225) will also be featured.
Furniture highlights include a late Victorian European-style parquetry and carved oak flat-top partners’ desk (lot 1247, $700 to $900) and an Irving & Casson carved mahogany oxbow serpentine slant-lid desk with ball-and-claw feet (lot 1163, $600 to $800).
Unique decorative objects available at the sale include a pair of 19th century Chinese polychrome-painted and partial-gilt carved wood figural ornaments (lot 1181, $600 to $800) and 87 pieces of Herend hand-painted Rothschild bird pattern porcelain (lot 1345, $800 to $1,200).
There are 100 lots dedicated to musical instruments in the sale, including over 30 violins both antique and modern. Group lots will be presented of violins, violas, cello bows, and over 20 modern and antique cellos in new and restorable condition.
18th-century majolica triptych reliquary, 20 inches wide by 16¾ inches high. Sterling Associates image. CLOSTER, N.J. – Those who have had a long involvement with antiques and art may very well experience a touch of déjà vu at Sterling Associates’ Fall Fine Art & Furniture Auction preview. Each category in the Sept. 15 sale abounds with high-quality estate pieces from the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut tri-state area.
“When you walk into the showroom, it looks like a very complete, well-stocked antique store of the 1960s or ’70s, where there would be a large selection of goods from literally every category, not just a few examples of this and that,” said Sterling Associates’ owner Stephen D’Atri. “There isn’t a category in our September auction that could be described as sparse. It’s a true, complete antique, art and furniture sale.”
The 500-lot event, with absentee and Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com, features an excellent array of fine and decorative art; Asian antiques, furniture and jewelry. Paintings and other artworks comprise a sizable portion of the sale, and bidders will have their choice of periods, genres and artists spanning a timeline of approximately 250 years. There are American, English, Continental and Russian artworks dating from the 17th- through the mid-20th century, with even a few Old Masters included.
Many of the paintings are from listed artists and are “the type that would be sought after by those who like to decorate their homes tastefully with art,” D’Atri said. Among the artists represented are Friedrich Schaper (German, 1869-1956), William Robert Shulgold, Christian Wilhelm, Rodolfo Mishaan, Bob Evans and Eugenie Marron. Additionally, there is an oil painting attributed to Hermann Ottomar Herzog (German/American, 1832-1932).
“This will be our fifth sale since establishing Sterling Associates. In our first four auctions we sold a tremendous amount of art to overseas bidders who weren’t able to attend the preview but were still very happy with their purchases. In particular, we’ve found that Europeans will buy 16th- to 18th-century art if they can attribute it, whether they preview it in person or not,” D’Atri noted.
A circa-1975 color lithograph by renowned Harlem Renaissance painter Romare Bearden (African-American, 1911-1988) is expected to attract its fair share of attention. Titled “Pepper Jelly Lady,” it depicts a black woman and a chicken, with a house in the background. Hand-signed and numbered, the “folky” 28 x 24-inch (sight) artwork is estimated at $4,000-$6,000.
Sixty lots of desirable Asian porcelain, ivory and jade antiques will be auctioned on Sept. 15, with 40 of the lots coming from a single residence. Most of the items remained in the same collection for 60 to 75 years. The star lot is expected to be the set of 12 very finely carved ivory lohan figures symbolizing the Chinese zodiac years. They are in exceptionally fine condition and date to the 18th century, possibly earlier. Each of the 5-inch figures is hollow, reflecting an old technique that was employed to prevent ivory from absorbing humidity and cracking. The set’s pristine condition, superior carving and completeness have earned it a presale estimate of $10,000-$15,000.
Another interesting Chinese piece is a small Qianlong celadon vase. It is signed, but cannot be positively identified. “It has that feel of something that could turn out to be very special,” D’Atri said.
A wonderful selection of furniture will be offered, including many 18th- and 19th-century chairs, dining sets and modern designs. Unquestionably, the premier furniture lot is a French, 19th-century marble-top commode with marquetry and parquetry, and dore bronze mountings. After the model of the commode “de Fontainebleau” by Riesener, it is an even finer example than one that sold recently in a major West Coast auction for more than $45,000. Measuring 72¾ inches wide by 37 inches high, it is entered in Sterling Associates’ sale with a conservative $14,000-$16,000 estimate. “We are letting the marketplace determine its true value,” said D’Atri.
Decorative-art highlights are plentiful. A circa-1820 Continental bas-relief carved-ivory procession measures 9¼ inches wide by 3½ inches high. It is not a flat piece, D’Atri pointed out. “It was carved directly onto a rounded tusk, which makes it unusual,” he said.
Two beautiful European triptych reliquaries are to be sold. One is 18th-century Italian majolica, while the other, a German wood and carved-bone shrine, has an attribution label that identifies it as a 16th-century work.
Highlights among the bronzes include a 27-inch-high Isis on Sphinx by Louis Jules Franceschi (French, 1825-1893) and a superb 19th century dore, silvered and patinated bronze bust of “Raphaella” by Vincent Desire Faure de Brousse, a French artist who exhibited at the 1876 Paris Salon. Attractively adorned with lapis lazuli and ivory accents, the 26-inch bronze of Raphaella is of Victorian style with some Art Nouveau influence.
Among the hand-painted porcelain plaques in the sale are examples by Sevres, Royal Vienna and KPM. A standout in the group is a 12-inch-high KPM framed porcelain plaque of a young woman peering through the reeds at baby Moses in his cradle. Other top decorative-art lots include a pair of stamped Tiffany & Co. repousse sterling silver compotes with gilt tops, and a circa-1860s Black Forest wall clock.
The plentiful selection of estate and other fine jewelry includes Tiffany gold money clips and other quality accessories in addition to diamond and gemstone jewelry. In all, 60 jewelry lots will be offered.
Sterling Associates utilizes an innovative hybrid auction method. “The way our auctions work, all bidding is conducted remotely, but we’re very much a permanent brick-and-mortar company where anyone can come in to inspect the goods,” said D’Atri. “It will be run exactly like a live auction, but without a live audience.”
Sterling Associates’ Fall Fine Art & Furniture Auction will be held on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012, starting at 12 noon Eastern Time. Bid absentee or live via the Internet through LiveAuctioneers.com. No in-house bidding.
The live gallery preview is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sept. 8 and Sept. 11-14 inclusive, and on auction day from 10-11 a.m. The gallery is located at 70 Herbert Ave., Closter, NJ 07624.
For additional information on any item in the auction, call 201-768-1140 or e-mail info@antiquenj.com. Visit Sterling Associates online at www.antiquenj.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
16th-century German wood and carved-bone triptych reliquary, 15¼ inches wide by 19 inches high. Sterling Associates image.
Set of 12 Chinese carved-ivory lohan figures representing zodiac years, 18th century or earlier. Sterling Associates image.
Circa-1820 Continental depiction of a procession carved onto a curved ivory tusk, 9¼ inches wide by 3½ inches high. Sterling Associates image.
Vincent Desire Faure de Brousse (French, 19th century) bust of ‘Raphaella.’ Dore, silvered and patinated bronze with lapis lazuli and ivory decoration, 26 inches high. Sterling Associates image.
Pair of Tiffany & Co. repousse sterling silver with gilt compotes, stamped on bottom. Sterling Associates image.
Circa-1860s Black Forest hanging wall clock. Sterling Associates image.
Framed KPM hand-painted porcelain plaque of baby Moses and woman in the reeds, 12 x 8 inches. Sterling Associates image.
Louis Jules Franceschi (French, 1825-1893), patinated bronze Isis on Sphinx, 27 inches high. Sterling Associates image.
19th-century French marble-top commode with marquetry, parquetry and dore bronze mountings; after the model of the commode “de Fontainebleau” by Riesner. Sterling Associates image.
Over 3 feet high, an impressive moon pot with splashes of cobalt soared to $19,250 (est. $4,000-$6,000) at a Leslie Hindman sale in Chicago this May. Courtesy Leslie Hindman.
Artist Toshiko Takaezu (1922-2011) had a career that spanned six decades. Now best known as a studio potter, she also worked in fiber, paint and bronze. Her porcelain and stoneware creations, offered through galleries during her lifetime, are now achieving extraordinary success in the secondary auction market.
In a recent interview, Garth Clark of the Cowan’s+Clark+Del Vecchio ceramics sales in Cincinnati, said: “She was a force during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s – right up until she passed away. Her work – once she established a look – remained very consistent: bulbous forms with tiny mouths at the top. In a way, the real individuality was in her glazes and glaze painting. She’s Hawaiian, so she grew up in a melting pot of cultures. She was very much influenced by Japanese culture in general.”
Takaezu’s parents had moved from Okinawa to Hawaii. A member of a large family, she grew up in a rural setting on the island of Maui. At one point, she accompanied her mother and a sister to Japan, where she spent some time in a Buddhist monastery. After art school at the University of Hawaii, she studied at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. (1951-1954), with Finnish ceramist Maija Grotell. She went on to teach at the Cleveland Institute of Art (1955-1964) and Princeton University (1967-1992).
In her studio in Quakertown, N.J., she created some of her best mature work. The nearby Hunterdon Museum in Clinton presented a comprehensive exhibition “Toshiko Takaezu: At Home” in 1998. Travelers can find examples of her ceramics in many permanent collections from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Renwick Gallery in Washington to the Honolulu Museum of Art and the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, Japan.
Clark continued: “In terms of the market, she has been extraordinarily resilient. The collecting of her work has been very active. Most people thought, because she was so productive, that – after a bit – the market would go down, without her very big personality there to keep things going. But she has turned out to be one of the most sought-after potters of her era.”
“She did some enormous works, particularly toward the end of her career. She had a couple of shows at the Charles Cowles Gallery in New York at the end of the 1990s, where she produced forests of giant pots. Her most collectible work tends to still be in a medium range of anything from 5 to 25 inches – that’s the work that is most popular. An electric cobalt blue is one of her distinctive glazes. She has a very wide palette of glaze color and texture, but the cobalt blue gets collectors going and is most desirable.”
Takaezu was surrounded by an enthusiastic circle of friends and supporters during her lifetime. In addition to exhibition catalogs, there are several well-illustrated books, which allow collectors to see the range of her creativity. Toshiko Takaezu: The Earth in Bloom by J. Stanley Yake, presents beautiful images of the artist and her work. He became acquainted with her at Skidmore College where she made many of her larger sculptures.
Yake quotes her as saying, “In my life I see no difference between making pots, cooking and growing vegetables. They are all so related. However, there is a need for me to work in clay. It is so gratifying and I get so much joy from it, and it gives me many answers in my life.”
Another volume, The Art of Toshiko Takaezu: In the Language of Silence (2011), edited by Peter Held, offers a scholarly analysis of Takaezu’s life work and includes essays by Paul Smith, director emeritus of the American Craft Museum, and Janet Koplos, former senior editor of Art in America. Jack Lenor Larsen, an internationally known textile designer, author and collector, provides a foreword.
Held is Curator of Ceramics at the Ceramics Research Center, Arizona State University Art Museum at Tempe. He noted in his introduction, “She never deviated from her overriding vision: using monolithic shapes and a simplicity of form and surface treatment to make tangible connections with a broad audience at a primal level. Their authority reveals her clarity of purpose and a humanness evoking a range of emotion.”
“Some interpret them as koans, objects that defy rational thinking or materiality, that hold the power to influence how one perceives the world, and that can spark enlightenment and personal fulfillment. Living in a culture that embraces rapid technology and change, Takaezu highlights the ordinary with her art, by meditation on the nuances of the everyday in fine detail.”
A sign of the potter’s current market strength was an extraordinarily tall moon pot (43 inches high), marked “TT” that sold at Leslie Hindman in Chicago on May 2 for $19,250, well beyond its $4,000-$6,000 estimate. The sculpture featured a shaded black glaze streaked with cobalt. The good news, however, is that many other moon pots in subtly varying shapes and colors sell at auction for less than $5,000. Small utilitarian pieces, such as tea bowls and plates, can be purchased for several thousand dollars.
Speaking to collectors, Garth Clark adds a special note in conclusion: “The reason why her work does so well is that, if you buy 20 pots of more or less the same form but different sizes and put them together on a table, it is just ravishing. With her pieces – because the form is very similar but the scale or color varies – you can create these thrilling tableaux.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Over 3 feet high, an impressive moon pot with splashes of cobalt soared to $19,250 (est. $4,000-$6,000) at a Leslie Hindman sale in Chicago this May. Courtesy Leslie Hindman.In an evocative photo taken over a decade ago, potter Toshiko Takaezu walks among a group of her larger works, which seem to have sprung from the earth. Photo by Tom Grotta.Collectors instinctively connect with Takaezu’s moon pots. This 1993 example in soft shades of rose and lavender, 71/2 inches high, sold at a Cowan’s+Clark+Del Vecchio auction last November for $5,100. Courtesy Cowan’s+Clark+Del Vecchio Auctions.Takaezu experimented with unusual forms; a double-spouted teapot, circa 1956, sold for $1,762.50 at Cowan’s in June. Courtesy Cowan’s+Clark+Del Vecchio Auctions.Perfect for an outdoor setting, this rare glazed porcelain garden stool with rattle, 1965-1970, brought $8,540 at Rago’s in February 2011. Courtesy Rago Auctions.With its sought-after shape and glaze colors, this 24-inch-tall moon pot with rattle surpassed its $4,000-$6,000 estimate to bring $16,120 last year in a Rago ceramics sale. Courtesy Rago Auctions.Beginning collectors can find entry points among Takaezu’s smaller works. This matching bowl and plate, circa 1975, sold for $330 this June. Courtesy Cowan’s+Clark+Del Vecchio Auctions.A small moon pot from 1968 brought $3,231.25 at Cowan’s last November. Courtesy Cowan’s+Clark+Del Vecchio Auctions.
Included in the Bactrian Treasure are earrings from the royal burial Tillia tepe, first century B.C. in Bactria. Image by Musee Guimet. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Right down to the power cuts that frequently plunge its artifacts into shadow, the National Museum of Afghanistan is a symbol of the country’s decades of hardships. Its building was shelled, looted and caught fire during the 1990s civil war. Taliban extremists later smashed many centuries-old statues.
Now, the museum is slowly rebuilding, thanks to international efforts to return thousands of looted treasures – and to heroic Afghan staff members who hid its most priceless works during the war years and kept the secret for more than a decade.
The museum welcomed home nearly 850 Afghan artifacts in early August – including a 3,000-year-old Bronze Age ax, a first century ivory elephant carving and a life-size Buddha statue – that were either stolen from the museum or illegally excavated during decades of insecurity. The British Museum cataloged and helped return the pieces in cooperation with British authorities, who seized many from smugglers. It was the second major handover of Afghan historical pieces by the British Museum. In 2009, about 1,500 historical pieces were returned.
The aim is to restore the facility to its prewar reputation as one of the finest in the region, with displays ranging from the Bronze Age to more contemporary Islamic art.
With its gates topped with barbed wire and rifle-toting guards directing visitors to undergo body searches, the museum on Kabul’s outskirts carries the air of a culture still under siege.
Chief curator Mohammad Fahim Rahimi apologizes for the darkened halls during a recent visit to view one of the newly returned pieces. Like much of Afghanistan, the museum puts up with frequent power outages as the government struggles to provide basic services.
Minutes later, the power shudders back on and the museum lighting reveals its latest acquisition: a Buddha statue estimated at about 1,700 years old.
Looted from the museum during the civil war that followed the Soviet occupation, the statue turned up in Japan in a private collection before it was bought by an anonymous donor who arranged for the British Museum return to its Afghan home, Rahimi says. The statue is an example of art from Afghanistan’s long Buddhist history, before the arrival of Islam.
“This is simply our heritage,” Rahimi says. “If we have our heritage back, it’s everything for us.”
That’s a heritage that not all appreciate. In 2001, the Taliban dynamited a pair of giant Buddhas carved into a mountain in Bamiyan province. Around the same time, the Taliban also rampaged through the national museum, smashing any art depicting the human form, considered idolatrous under their hard-line interpretation of Islam. In all, they destroyed about 2,500 statues.
The recently returned Buddha statue’s long exile abroad at least protected it from that fate, Rahimi says.
“You can see here, the hand is complete and the head is complete. It’s not broken,” he says.
He points out the finer points of the fourth century piece: the painstakingly carved folds of the robe; the chakra on the Buddha’s right hand, the streams depicting water flow from his feet and the images of flames rise from his shoulders – a representation of one of the Buddha’s first miracles, in which he levitated and produced fire and water to silence skeptics.
The “miracle” Buddha is the only the recently returned pieces from Britain that is on display so far.
Museum director Omara Khan Massoudi says the rest are still in boxes, waiting to be examined and eventually displayed. Cooperation with other museums and with UNESCO has been key to rebuilding the museum, which by 2001 had lost 70 percent of its artifacts to the years of war.
“Within these last 10 years, we’ve gotten more than 16,000 pieces, among them 9,000 returned from outside of Afghanistan,” Massoudi says.
Some of the pieces recently returned were stolen from the museum itself, but many others were illegally excavated and smuggled out of the country in past decades while war otherwise occupied Afghan authorities. It’s a practice that continues to this day, according to Massoudi.
“Unfortunately, some places, there is no security, sometimes it happens that people have illegal excavations,” he says.
Massoudi has devoted most of his life’s work to the National Museum, which he says was once renowned for having one of the region’s finest collections, with some 100,000 artifacts including millennia-old tools from some of the earliest human settlements. Established in the 1920s by Afghan King Amrullah Khan, the museum was still thriving when Massoudi joined it more than three decades ago.
But after Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, museum workers became increasingly concerned as the country deteriorated into civil war.
So, in 1989, Massoudi and several other staff members packed up some of the most museum’s most treasured pieces – including the legendary “Bactrian gold,” an intricate collection of tens of thousands of gold and silver coins, crowns and jewelry more than 2,000 years old – and hid them in two locations in central Kabul, one of them a secret vault under Kabul’s central bank.
“Luckily, this decision gave us a good result when the civil war started in Kabul city,” Massoudi said. “The national museum artifacts were looted … but the artifacts we shifted to the two places in the center of the city.”
The pieces remained hidden until 2003, when the hidden treasures’ existence was revealed. Now the Bactrian gold and some of the other rescued artifacts are on a tour of museums around the world, having already been displayed in New York, Paris and London. The traveling exhibition is now in Norway and goes next to Australia.
Eventually, those treasures, too, will be returned to Afghanistan’s National Museum. Massoudi laments the facility still lacks such modern museum staples as humidity control and high-tech security – they’re still working on the electricity, after all. But he says the museum is seeking funds to build a new, modern home near the current building.
“We all together tried the best to rebuild … from zero,” he says.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-09-05-12 1452GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Included in the Bactrian Treasure are earrings from the royal burial Tillia tepe, first century B.C. in Bactria. Image by Musee Guimet. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Jex, Garnet W., (American, 1895-1979): ‘View of the Potomac from Terrapin Neck, Shepardstown, West Virginia,’ O/C. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Burchard Galleries Inc.
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) – The late Garnet W. Jex, artist and illustrator, was a man of impeccable detail.
Of his 50 watercolors in possession by the Sharpsburg Historical Society, Jex’s detail goes beyond his brushstrokes.
Vernell Doyle, society president, points out the notes in the margins of each of his paintings including such information as where the location was when he painted the works depicting the Civil War or from which references he used when recreating each scene. There are even notes stating the number given to the painting in his slideshow presentation.
During an opening of the show, “The Upper Potomac of the Civil War,” which opens Friday, Sept. 7, at the Washington County Arts Council in downtown Hagerstown, visitors will be able to see the details that Doyle discussed.
So with an artist who put thought into every line or stroke one can only imagine what Jex would have thought about one detail being overlooked for more than 20 years – one of his paintings is missing.
The painting is called Panic Below Ball’s Bluff. Doyle said it was part of his collection of watercolors on the Civil War that focused on Washington County as well as neighboring Harpers Ferry, W.Va.
The only proof is a black-and-white booklet to show that it did exist.
“We know it was part of the original collection because in the original booklet that was published in 1965 as part of the Washington, D.C. Centennial Commemoration of the Civil War,” she said.
“We see this dramatic painting and we see the black and white of it, not the whole thing. That is not in this collection,” she said.
They know that Jex still had it in his possession in 1971, when he used the painting as part of a slideshow at the Washington County Historical Society.
“Somewhere between then and 1990, it got someplace else, we know not where,” she said.
Doyle said the painting was last seen in November 1990.
And as she is gearing up for the Jex exhibit, she would love to one day have the painting back where it belongs.
“We would love to have it recovered and put it back into the collection,” she said.
But now, visitors to the arts council exhibit will have a chance to see some of the collection of watercolors. Doyle said about 40 will be on display of the 50 they have. Most depict Civil War battles or scenes but there are also four illustrated maps. One of the maps will be part of the 40 on display.
But Doyle said what it also shows is not only Jex’s passion for the Civil War, but his affection for Harpers Ferry and Sharpsburg areas.
“Garnet Jex loved this particular area,” Doyle said.
Who is Jex?
Garnet W. Jex was born in Kent, Ohio, in 1895. As a young boy he moved to Washington, D.C., with his mother following the death of his father. The city would remain his home until his death in 1979.
Debbie Piscitelli, executive director of the Harpers Ferry Historical Association, has become a local Jex expert.
Her interest dates to 1994 when the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park celebrated its 50th anniversary. The town had Jex paintings at the Camp Hill Methodist Church Hall that depicted the area in the 1920s to 1960s.
“It was a nice record of Harpers Ferry – how it looked at that time,” she said. “Nobody got to see them except people who went to the church.”
They had a reception and had Smithsonian photographer Eric Long photograph the paintings and the town had postcard packs made up of the images, so at least people could see them.
“Then I got really, really interested in his work and finding out more about him,” she said.
Piscitelli traveled to a gallery in Charleston, S.C., where a man had several Jex paintings, mostly depicting the C&O Canal.
She told him that she loved Jex’s work, but asked the gentleman what made it so important?
“He said, ‘It records a time that people would never see again,’” Piscitelli said. “I think that’s what makes this important, at least important to this region.”
Piscitelli said the watercolors that Sharpsburg Historical Society has were works he did for Washington, D.C., Centennial Commission to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. That is why all 51 paintings are seen in the booklet published by the commission.
After earning his undergraduate and master’s degree at George Washington University, Jex became a paid artist for the rest of his adult life. He was a staff artist for the Army Medical Museum from 1923 to 1927. Following that he was a staff artist for Nature magazine until 1931.
He painted murals at the reptile house at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. And from 1936 until his retirement in 1962, he was employed at the U.S. Public Health Services. He ended his career as chief of graphics, Bureau of State Services.
Piscitelli said he also painted for his own enjoyment, and one of his favorite places, it seems was the Harpers Ferry and Sharpsburg areas. Since 1918, Jex had been coming to the area.
And for the next 50 years, Jex would make trips outside of the District to the area as part of the Landscape Club of Washington, D.C.
Piscitelli said Jex painted about 500 paintings, most of which were oils and of landscapes.
But Jex also had an interest in the Civil War. In the mid-1930s, Jex visited Civil War sites close to his D.C.-home. Eventually in 1951 he formed the Civil War Round Table of Washington, D.C., with fellow like-minded history buffs.
In 1962, Jex was honored for his achievements in Civil War art and presented the Round Table’s Gold Medal Award by Civil War historian Virgil Carrington Jones.
Although some can argue that there are slight historical inaccuracies in his paintings, Piscitelli said he did have a true love of history.
“He was really interested in history, and he wanted to get the history right,” she said.
Piscitelli is republishing The Upper Potomac in the Civil War, using high-resolution color scans of all the 50 paintings that Sharpsburg Historical Society has.
And of all things, Piscitelli said his work needed to be reproduced in color.
“I was amazed that the colors are so bright,” she said.
Oftentimes, she said, watercolors can look muted, especially for paintings that are 50 years old.
She was also amazed at the detail that Jex was able to achieve.
Included with each painting in the booklet will be original texts from Jex about the paintings, as well as any additional margin notes made by the artists.
But Piscitelli said some of the notes might have been for Jex’s eyes only. For instance, on one painting were the letters “DWF.” She suspected that it was a reference note from where he got his historical information before sketching, but couldn’t figure out which reference book. She realized it was from the book Divided We Fought.
Piscitelli said one of her regrets is not knowing about Jex sooner, or being able to meet him before his 1979 death.
John Frye, director of the Western Maryland Room at the Washington County Free Library, had the chance to meet Jex, and was involved in an exhibit at the library in the late 1970s. Frye said “he did a very good job” when it came to his paintings.
But for Piscitelli, Jex will be part of her life for a few more years. She has plans of cataloging all of his 500 paintings as well as writing a book based on her extensive research.
“He had a remarkable appreciation of the beauty and the history of our area,” she said, “that makes him very special, that he was able to translate that to artwork.”
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Jex’s legacy
Doyle said she will continue to look for the last missing Jex painting of the series, and hopes to one day be able to have the completed collection.
In the meantime, she continues to write letters and do research to see if she can locate it.
But in the meantime, Doyle said she’s excited to display Jex’s work, as well as fulfilling Jex’s wish: that his paintings be shared with the public. In order to show the exhibit, the Sharpsburg Historical Society was awarded a Heart of the Civil War grant, which stipulates that the exhibit must be in a ceritified heritage area. Sharpsburg is not certified yet, but Hagerstown is, Doyle explained. They also received a grant from the Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Center.
“These paintings are 50 years old and they are in excellent condition so we will have this opportunity to share them as Jex would have liked and to preserve them, and to share them in another way through the prints,” she said.
However, because these particular paintings are watercolors, Doyle said exposing them to sunlight and the elements actually slowly destroys the paintings. That is why this Jex exhibit is so important.
First, she said, to give Jex more exposure than the other pieces of work he has done. And, she said, to see how Jex portrayed a more “human dimension” to the Civil War.
“People interested in art will see something maybe they didn’t know about, and people interested in the Civil War might see another interruption through a person’s imagination,” she said.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-09-04-12 2317GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Jex, Garnet W., (American, 1895-1979): ‘View of the Potomac from Terrapin Neck, Shepardstown, West Virginia,’ O/C. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Burchard Galleries Inc.
Elvis Presley’s personally owned and used Holy Bible, 1957-1977, with Elvis’ handwriting and underlining throughout. Accompanied by a letter of authenticity hand signed from Vester Presley, Elvis’ uncle. Estimate: 20,000-25,000. Omega Auctions image.
STOCKPORT, England – Dozens of items in Omega Auctions’ Music and Film sale Saturday, Sept. 8, are immediately related to Elvis Presley – from a pair of underwear worn under The King’s jumpsuits in 1977 to his personal Bible with many handwritten notations in the margins.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding for the 560-lot auction, which will commence at 11 a.m. GMT.
The well-worn Bible was a Christmas gift to Elvis from his uncle and aunt, Vester and Clettes Pressley, in 1957. Elvis kept and used the Bible the rest of his life. The Bible is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from the Elvis Presley Museum that Elvis’ friend Jimmy Velvet operated in Memphis, Tenn., for many years. The Bible has an estimate of 20,000-30,000 pounds.
As for the underwear, Elvis wore the light blue dance briefs under his array of dazzling jumpsuits during performances in 1977. The undergarment was obtained from the estate of Vernon Presley, Elvis’ father and had been on display for many years at the recently closed Elvis-A-Rama Museum in Las Vegas. Displayed in a wooden and glass case, Elvis’ (unwashed) underwear has an estimate of 7,000-9,000 pounds.
Known for his fondness to jewelry, Elvis designed a 14-karat gold “TCB” pendant chain necklace, which he gave to his close friends. The necklace in the auction was also displayed at the Elvis-A-Rama Museum and has an estimate of 4,000-6,000 pounds.
Additional items include china and glassware used by Elvis as well as documents, 8mm film footage, photographs and record albums.
The auction features over 500 lots starting off with over 300 lots of rare and collectable vinyl records, then on to a fabulous collection of Elvis memorabilia, followed by a further 150 lots of interesting music ans film memorabilia.
There is also a piece of historic music equipment, a Neumann U67 microphone used at famous Trident Studios, Soho, UK between 1967 and 1982. The microphone was used primarily for vocal recording and would have been used by the likes of the Beatles, Bowie, Elton John, Freddie Mercury, the Rolling Stones, Bolan, Black Sabbath, Queen and many more.
For Beatles collectors there are some great signed items and also a tailored double breasted black dinner jacket owned and worn by John Lennon during 1975. John donated this jacket along with many other items to the WFIL charity auction, which was held May 16-17, 1975, in Philadelphia.
Last but by no means least, lots 400 through to 453 are all related to Elizabeth Taylor and the classic film Cleopatra. This collection includes a vast array of memorabilia to include signed items, photographs, original posters, tickets to premieres, magazines, film scripts and scrap books.
For details, phone Omega Auctions at +44 (0) 161 865 0838.
Elvis Presley’s personally owned and used Holy Bible, 1957-1977, with Elvis’ handwriting and underlining throughout. Accompanied by a letter of authenticity hand signed from Vester Presley, Elvis’ uncle. Estimate: 20,000-25,000. Omega Auctions image.
Elvis Presley 14-karat gold TCB pendant chain/necklace designed by Elvis and Beverly Hills jeweler Lee Abeleser of Schwartz and Abeleser’s Fine Jewelry. Estimate: 4,000-66,000 pounds. Omega Auctions image.
Elvis Presley’s personal St. Brendan’s Irish Cream liqueur glass, owned and used by him in his Monovale Drive home. Obtained directly from Linda Thompson, Elvis’ longtime girlfriend, by Jimmy Velvet of the Elvis Presley Museum. Estimate: 400-450 pounds. Omega Auctions image.
Pair of Italian-made casual burgundy shoes owned and worn by Elvis in the 1970s. These shoes were on display in Elvis-A-Rama Museum in Las Vegas for many years. Estimate: $2,500-3,000 pounds. Omega Auctions image.
Flagg Brothers shoes owned and worn by Elvis and displayed at the Elvis-A-Rama Museum from 1999-2006. Estimate: 2,500-3,000 pounds. Omega Auctions image.
One of two Murano art glass bookends with cooli figures. M.G. Neely Auction Gallery image.
LANTANA, Fla. – M.G. Neely Auction Gallery will conduct an auction of antiques, fine art and collectibles on Sunday, Sept. 23. The auction will commence at noon EDT. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
M.G. Neely is offering 400 years of furnishings, with the oldest piece being a Queen Mary writing desk ranging to a sideboard from the Colonial Williamsburg Restoration Collection by Kittinger.
The auction company also has a wide selection of modern furniture including mid-century modern lounge chairs and accompanying accessories.
Artwork includes a wide selection of 18th century engravings and a map from the Queen Anne Period, oil paintings, along with a large selection of modern sculptures and pop art.
As always this sale is loaded with unique items from South Florida estates.
Frank Lloyd Wright in a 1954 photo. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.
NEW YORK (AP) – More than 23,000 of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural drawings, 44,000 photos, large-scale models, manuscripts and other documents are being moved permanently from Wisconsin and Arizona to New York City.
The collection has been acquired by the Museum of Modern Art and Columbia University’s Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, according to a joint announcement made Tuesday.
The institutions will share equally in the management of the collection. MoMA will house the models; the papers will be held at Avery.
The transfer will take place over the course of the upcoming year, and materials will become available for research incrementally, beginning at the end of 2013.
“The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation takes seriously its responsibility to serve the public good by ensuring the best possible conservation, accessibility, and impact of one of the most important and meaningful archives in the world,” said Sean Malone, its CEO.
“Given the individual strengths, resources and abilities of the foundation, MoMA and Columbia, it became clear that this collaborative stewardship is far and away the best way to guarantee the deepest impact, the highest level of conservation and the best public access,” Malone said in a statement.
The foundation said it will help guide development of the archives and provide interpretive insights on Wright’s work and life.
It will continue to preserve and share Wright’s National Historic Landmarks at Taliesin in Spring Green, Wis., and Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Ariz., including historic furnishings, memorabilia and artifacts.
Wright, who died in 1959, designed 1,141 architectural works, including houses, offices, churches, schools, libraries, bridges and museums. Of that total, 532 resulted in completed structures, and 409 of them still stand.
More than one-third of his buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places or are in a National Historic District.
He also wrote 20 books, and designed furniture, fabrics, art glass, lamps, dinnerware, silver, linens and graphic arts.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-09-04-12 1623GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Frank Lloyd Wright in a 1954 photo. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.
‘Amazone,’ Eckhard Kremers, 2011. Mixed media: paper, wood, leather, tape and acrylic; 56 x 23 inches. Photo courtesy of the artist.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Coinciding with the fourth annual ArtPrize competition, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park will host 26 U.S. and international artists in the group exhibition “Body Double: The Figure in Contemporary Sculpture.” This exhibition focuses on the human figure as both an object and a metaphor.
The exhibition officially begins with ArtPrize on Sept. 19 and will remain on display in Meijer Gardens’ sculpture galleries until Jan. 6.
“We wanted to build on the strength and variety of the figurative tradition of Meijer Gardens’ acclaimed permanent collection,” said Joseph Becherer, vice president and chief curator of sculpture. “This exhibition explores a renewal of interest in the subject, from objects to installations while surveying a broad spectrum of concepts, forms and materials.”
“Body Double: The Figure in Contemporary Sculpture” illustrates the diversity and depth of the figure in Contemporary Art, from more literal terms to those implied or symbolically stated.
“Looking at both established and emerging sculptors from across the globe, I believe we have assembled a strong visual statement about the strength and viability of the figure in contemporary sculpture,” said Becherer.
As an ArtPrize Exhibition Center, the exhibition will be free of charge during ArtPrize (Sept. 19-Oct. 7). Exhibition areas will be open to the public during Meijer Gardens’ regular business hours, as well as official ArtPrize hours (Sundays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mondays-Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fridays-Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.). On Opening Day, exhibition areas will be on display beginning at 9 a.m. through 10 p.m. All other areas of Meijer Gardens observe regular hours and standard admission fees.
Visitors can register to vote, purchase official ArtPrize merchandise and utilize the ArtPrize shuttle to explore the downtown venues. Shuttle information will be available at ArtPrize.org closer to the event.
Exhibition and ArtPrize Programming:
Curator’s Choice, Sept. 21, noon, free. Join Director of Sculpture, Exhibitions and Installations, Laurene Grunwald, and Curator of Arts Education, Heidi Holst, as they discuss their thoughts on the works in the exhibition. Share your thoughts and questions about the sculptures.
Gallery Walks with ArtPrize Artists, Sept.22, 11 a.m., free. Tour the gallery with nine ArtPrize artists who will discuss the concepts and process of their work.
The exhibition “Body Double: The Figure in Contemporary Sculpture” is made possible by the Meijer Foundation, William Padnos, Louis and Helen Padnos Foundation, Daniel and Pamella DeVos Foundation, International Sculpture Center, Botanic and Sculpture Societies of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park and Grand Rapids Sister Cities International—Perugia Committee.
About the artists and their sculptures:
Diana Al-Hadid (American) – Untitled (Blind Bust), 2012. Bronze, 74 x 24 x 20 inches.
John Buck (American) – Once in a Blue Moon, 2011. Wood, acrylic paint, and motor, 119 x 94 x 40 inches.
Khalil Chishtee (Pakistani) – Toe to Toe, 2012. White trash bags, 84 x 32 x 20 inches.
Zhang Dali (Chinese) – N. 211, 2010/2011. Resin, 67 x 19.5 x 11.8 inches.
Isabel De Obaldia (American) – Torso Iguana, 2011. Glass, 70x16x16 inches (31 x 20 x 6 1/2 inches with metal base).
Lawrence Epps (British) – Human Resources, 2011. Ceramic, 82.7 x 59 x 23.6 inches.
Carole Feuerman (American) – Quan, 2012. Painted bronze and stainless steel, 66.5 x 60 x 43 inches.
Anne Harrington Hughes (American) – The Dying We Lived Through, 2012. Mixed media/ready-made object installation, 96 x 96 x 96 inches.
Rolf Jacobsen (Danish) – Phaethon, 2011. Wood and gesso, 7.9 x5.1 x 6.3 inches
Kurt Kaiser (American) – Dance of Castoffs, 2012. Found objects with poppy stalks, 8 x 8 x 8 feet
Eckhard Kremers (German) – Amazone, 2011. Mixed media: paper, wood, leather, tape and acrylic, 56 inches x 23 inches, ground plate 20 x 20 x 2 inches.
June Lee (Korean) – Bystander, 2011. Fiber, 2011 approximately 6 x 72 x 72 inches.
Shawn Lefevre (American) – The Others Will Follow, 2012. Plaster, steel and wood, 90 x 37 x 21 inches.
Jennifer McCandless (American) – Baby Boomer Pile Up, 2012. Ceramic stoneware, 30 x 20 x 20 inches.
Deanna Morse (American) – Skin, 2012. Film/video.
Dora Natella (American) – Overseer, 2012. Bronze and Aluminum, 157 x 13 x 18 inches.
Nan Nickson (American) – This Mortal Coil: Joy, 2012. Cotton, twine and beeswax, 72 x 36 x 36 inches.
Roger Reutimann (Swiss) – Some Assembly Required, 2012. Stainless steel, polished/sandblasted, 88 x 40 x 24 inches.
Alison Saar (American) – Foison and Fallow, 2011/2012. Wood, copper, bronze and acrylic paint, 72 x 22 x 16 inches and 75 x 20 x 19 inches.
Cort Savage (American) – Canons, 2010-2011. Archival rubber bands, bronze human skulls, tanakh, Bible, Quran, x-rays, light boxes and hardware, 70 x 90 x 36 inches.
Carol Schwartz (American) – Harriet and Louis, 2009. Wood and paint, 52 x 14 x 13 inches.
Lim Seung-Chun (Korean) – A Cast Away, 2009. Reinforced polymer fiberglass, 36 x 10 x 8 inches
Christy Singleton (American) – Sally, 2011/2012. Reinforced cardboard, silicone, house paint and metal pipes, 144 x 144 x 26 inches
Meri Tancredi (Italian) – Templum, 2011. LED-illuminated carved plexiglass and white marble on black cloth, 63 x 118 inches
Angel Vapor (Cuban) – Labor, 2010/2011. Bronze, wood and iron, 48 x 120 x 24 inches
Paloma Varga-Weisz (German) – Untitled, 2009. Glazed ceramic, 20 1/8 x 17 3/4 x 11 7/8 inches, pedestal 45 1/2 x 19 x 14 3/4 inches
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
‘Amazone,’ Eckhard Kremers, 2011. Mixed media: paper, wood, leather, tape and acrylic; 56 x 23 inches. Photo courtesy of the artist.‘Once in a Blue Moon,’ John Buck, 2011. Wood, acrylic paint and motor; 119 x 94 x 40 inches. Photo courtesy of the artist.
A statue of Ethan Allen, sculpted by Larkin Goldsmith Mead. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) – Colonial music and demonstrations of historic crafts will be part of the Ethan Allen Heritage Celebration this weekend in Burlington.
The event takes place Saturday, Sept. 8, at the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum in Burlington from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Two fife and drum corps, the 40th Army Band’s woodwind quintet and a choir will perform.
There will also be demonstrations in historical arts and crafts such as rope making and making fire from flint and steel.
The museum includes the historical home of Ethan Allen, the leader of the Green Mountain Boys, who made a name for himself by helping to take Fort Ticonderoga from the British in the early days of the Revolutionary War.
Admission to the Heritage Celebration is free.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
![Watts, Isaac (1674-1748) ‘The Psalms of David, [bound with] Hymns and Spiritual Songs.’ Estimate: $150-$250. Skinner Inc. image.](https://www.liveauctioneers.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/2012_0906_Skinner1060.jpg "Watts, Isaac (1674-1748) ‘The Psalms of David, [bound with] Hymns and Spiritual Songs.’ Estimate: $150-$250. Skinner Inc. image.")
