June 2013 - Page 17 of 17 - Auction Central News

Modern home classics: Noguchi’s light sculptures

Pair of Isamu Noguchi table lamps Model 9, Knoll Associates, USA, 1947; cherry, fiberglass-reinforced polyvinyl, 7.25 dia x 16 h inches. Literature: Knoll: A Modernist Universe, Lutz, pg. 111. Entered in Wright's June 6, 2013 auction with a presale estimate of $5,000-$7,000. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Wright.

NEW YORK (AP) – The round, white, paper light shades sold at Ikea for $5 are a familiar item in contemporary interior design. But these inexpensive lanterns are knockoffs of light sculptures created by the renowned artist Isamu Noguchi in the early 1950s.

The Noguchi lamps — called akari, the Japanese word for light — were inspired by traditional Japanese lanterns used in ancestor worship. Over the decades, the akari became classics of mid-20th century modern home decor.

Noguchi’s original designs are still handmade in Japan; they come in a variety of colors and dozens of geometric designs — including the widely imitated white sphere — and range in price from $100 to $1,000. And they pop up in some pretty cool places, from painter Georgia O’Keeffe’s home in New Mexico to Tony Stark’s bedroom in “Iron Man 3.”

The story of how the late Noguchi came to create akari is rooted in the recovery of Japan’s post-World War II economy and the cross-cultural currents that influenced his spare, bold, modernist aesthetics.

Noguchi’s mother was American; his father Japanese. They never married. Born in 1904, Noguchi spent years in both countries during his youth. After World War II, he was greatly admired by the art and design community in Japan, and at some point met the mayor of the town of Gifu, where local industry centered around making lanterns for ancestry worship, using paper from mulberry trees.

“The mayor asked Noguchi, ‘Can you help us resurrect our lantern business?'” said Jenny Dixon, director of the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, N.Y. “That’s how the akari were first produced. They were exported as an economic product and were well-received by the design community.”

She added that Noguchi “papered them sculpturally. He didn’t call them lanterns or lamps; he called them light sculptures.”

Noguchi’s concept “stood in sharp contrast to 1950s contemporary, modern, efficient lighting trends,” said Peter Barna, provost of Pratt Institute, the art and design college in Brooklyn, N.Y. Popular lighting options of the day included track lights, adjustable desk lamps and “pole lamps with conical shades,” added Barna, a former president of an international lighting design firm.

Noguchi’s designs were radically different, “a sculptor’s memory of the soft magic of material and light,” said Barna.

Eventually, Noguchi developed a relationship with one family of lantern makers. The same family still produces his designs today. “They’re all handmade, each one, individually, from molds. They’re not mass-produced,” Dixon said. “We’re now working with the third generation there, filling our orders. … Our biggest challenge is meeting the demand.”

Depending on which lamp is ordered, “you might hit the jackpot and get a lamp right away or you can wait three to six months.” She added: “We lose a lot of business” from customers who don’t want to wait.

Each lamp has bamboo ribbing and standard wiring, and can accommodate incandescent or compact fluorescent bulbs (45 watts for small lamps, 75 watts for large). Designs range from spheres, discs and cylinders to triangles, boxes, trapezoids, and other geometric shapes and combinations. Most shades are white, but some are decorated in orange, green or black; a few bear abstract designs.

There are hanging lamps, as well as table lamps and floor lamps with metal legs or small black circular bases. Many appear breathtakingly elegant; others have a whimsical, futuristic look.

A large selection of akari can be seen at the Noguchi Museum, located in the studio where he worked for decades in Long Island City, an industrial neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. A few lamps are displayed amid Noguchi’s sculptures, but the best place to see them is in the cafe and gift shop, where they line bookshelves, hang over the cash register, and decorate a small area where visitors can relax, using a Noguchi coffee table to put their snacks on.

Danielle Berman, the production designer for “Iron Man 3,” chose a tall Noguchi lamp in a stacked box design to illuminate Tony Stark’s bedroom. “It was such a modernist home,” she explained. “It had a lot of very round, organic lines. I immediately thought of that lamp because it was such a geometric contrast.”

Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., is a superhero billionaire. Berman said she imagined his girlfriend, “the Gwyneth Paltrow character, putting the lights around Tony’s house when she redecorated. She’s a lover of design and art.” Berman has also used Noguchi lamps on many other sets, from the TV show “House” to the first film in the “Hangover” series.

Noguchi’s “understanding of space,” she said, is “very organic. He uses all these natural materials. It’s the simplicity, yet it’s very complex. You light it and the paper gives this beautiful glow. It’s a beautiful element to have on any set. I try to use them whenever I can.”

Fans of the 20th century modernist painter Georgia O’Keeffe will find Noguchi’s classic white sphere lantern on a tour of her home and studio in Abiquiu, N.M. Noguchi “sent Miss O’Keeffe several lanterns as gifts with his sister,” explained Judy Lopez, director of Abiquiu Historic Properties for the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. “She decided to place this large one in her dining room.”

The lamp hangs from a wooden ceiling in the inviting, white-walled space, over a simple table and chairs.

Cheap imitations of Noguchi lamps — especially the white sphere — have become so ubiquitous that they’re almost a cliche of outdoor party decor and a somewhat bohemian style.

But why spend hundreds on an original when you can get a knockoff for a fraction of the price? Aside from the difference in workmanship and materials, Berman points out that “the knockoffs aren’t quite his designs.” Dixon also notes, “Noguchi made these lamps so that people could buy them and live with his sculpture. It was the idea that you, too, the every man, for $100, a modest amount of money, could own an artwork by a prominent person.”

One downside: The paper is vulnerable to damp climates, though it does well in dry locations like O’Keeffe’s.

And what if you don’t live in a home defined by modernist aesthetics? Would a Noguchi lamp work with flowered curtains, an overstuffed sofa and patterned wallpaper?

Berman thinks “antiques and modernist pieces can work well together.” But whether you mix the lamp in with a jumble of interesting objects or set it off as a special piece, she said, consider its shape. In a room with lots of square and rectangular lines, go for a rounded lamp; in a room with curves in furniture and decor, go for a linear lamp.

Barna agreed that the lamps can work with any style, but noted they “were conceived as sculptures that delicately stand as warm friends in an interior space. They glow, so will probably be the dominant focus in any space they are in.”

# # #

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOT OF NOTE

Help for Holy Land archaeological treasure hurt by politics

The Nabi Yahya Mosque in Sebastia, shown in a 1920s photo, stands on the site identified since Byzantine times as the place where John the Baptist's head was buried. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

SEBASTIA, West Bank (AP) – The ancient town of Sebastia is one of the major archaeological sites of the Holy Land, with its overlapping layers of history dating back nearly 3,000 years. But today the hilltop capital of biblical kings, later ruled by Roman conquerors, Crusaders and Ottomans, is marred with weeds, graffiti and garbage.

Caught between conflicting Israeli and Palestinian jurisdictions, the site has been largely neglected by both sides for the past two decades. Beyond the decay, unauthorized diggers and thieves have taken advantage of the lack of oversight to make off with priceless artifacts.

“You can learn the history of the whole region (by) staying here because all the powers that crossed the region since the time of the Egyptians were passing through,” said Carla Benelli, an art historian who has been working on restoration projects in parts of the site, financed in part by the Italian government. “From this point of view, it’s really very important.”

But the site needs basic maintenance, protection and cleaning, she said. “There is no one who is doing this here in Sebastia. It will not last forever in this way.”

The ancient greatness of Sebastia—located in the northern West Bank just outside the city of Nablus—remains visible. It served as the capital of the biblical Kingdom of Israel under the name of Samaria in the eighth and ninth centuries B.C. Alexander the great, King Herod and Medieval Islamic rulers have all left their marks. According to tradition, the town is also the burial place of John the Baptist, revered by both Christians and Muslims.

The remains extend from the present-day Palestinian village of Sebastia and up a nearby hill to the site of the ancient capital of Samaria at the top—around a square kilometer that includes a Crusader cathedral, an ancient Roman city boasting a forum, a colonnaded street and a temple to Augustus, and the remains of the palace of Omri, the ninth century ruler of the Kingdom of Israel.

Therein lies the problem: Most of the ruins lie in areas under full Israeli control, with some in areas under Palestinian civilian control, but shared security responsibilities under the 1990s peace deals that divvied up the West Bank into zones of authority. The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank, captured by Israel from Jordan in 1967, as part of a future state.

The situation deteriorated greatly with the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in late 2000. Although the fighting has ended, care for the site has since dropped away because of security fears. Visits by Israeli citizens need to be coordinated with the Israeli military.

Israel’s Civil Administration—the military body that oversees civilian affairs in areas of Israeli control in the West Bank—said that conservation and development works were carried out by Israeli authorities at the site in the 1990s. But they were halted “due to the change in the security situation,” it said in an email to The Associated Press.

Technically, the Israeli-controlled part of the archaeological zone, centered on the hill, is under the authority of Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority. But there’s little sign of a park, with no staff visible, and there’s no fence around the site, leaving it open for people to enter. The parts under Palestinian control, centered on the village and up to the foot of the hill, have also had little supervision or care.

“Sebastia, the archaeological site, is abandoned without any control from 2000. It’s 13 years,” said Osama Hamdan, a Palestinian architect who has coordinated the restoration works of Crusader-era buildings with Benelli.

“In this period really Sebastia is suffering a lot because a lot of illegal excavations have happened in this area. A lot of destruction of cultural heritage in this area has happened,” he said. Statues, vases, coins and glasses have all been taken by looters, he said.

Weeds grow freely among the archaeological ruins, sticking out from the ancient stones. Plastic bottles and food bags are littered at the bottom of the staircase that leads to a Crusader cathedral—also site of a mosque—where the tomb of John the Baptist is said to be located in the village of Sebastia. Finely decorated stone Roman tombs in the center of the village are smashed and abandoned.

At a Byzantine church dedicated to John the Baptist, located in the Israeli-controlled part, graffiti hailing the Hamas militant group is spray-painted on a column. The Islamic expression of faith—“There is no god but God” —is written in Arabic over the entrance.

Hamadan Taha, assistant deputy minister in charge of antiquities in the Palestinian Authority, acknowledged that looting is “a major problem” and said the Palestinians are making efforts to combat it by working with local officials to raise awareness.

Sebastia “has a great potential to be developed as tourist attraction,” he said.

With the help of international donors, the Palestinian Tourism and Antiquities Ministry has built an “interpretation center” near the Roman forum at the foot of the hill which Taha said will provide services to visitors. It is expected to open in the coming months.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is trying to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, has identified tourism as a key area for Palestinian economic development.

Israel’s Civil Authority said it has been trying to coordinate efforts at the site with the Palestinians, a claim that Taha said was untrue.

Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority, which calls Sebastia the “Shomron National Park” on its website, declined comment.

Two major archaeological digs were conducted in Sebastia in the early 20th century, when the site was controlled by the Ottomans and later British authorities. In addition, smaller excavations were conducted in the 1960s by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, when the site was under Jordanian rule.

“It’s beautiful, it’s a fantastic place. And the landscape is marvelous” said Axel Wernhoff, a Swedish diplomat visiting the site for the fifth time in a recent tour by a group of foreign visitors accompanied by Benelli. The group touted the archaeological remains, stopping occasionally to admire the views of the valleys below with their olive and fruit groves.

Hafez Kaye, a local shop and restaurant owner, said that after a difficult decade, business has begun to pick up over the past three years.

“Slowly, slowly it’s coming back. From the year 2010 until now we are receiving groups again and we hope to come as before.”

AP-WF-06-02-13 1804GMT

Paintings by Leroy Neiman fuel Clars’ $1.7M auction

‘Longchamp,’ by Leroy Neiman (American, 1921-2012) galloped at full tilt past its high estimate of $50,000 selling for $77,530. Clars Auction Gallery image.

OAKLAND, Calif. – Clars Auction Gallery realized over $1.7 million on the exceptional fine art, furnishings, decorative art, jewelry and Asian antiques that were offered May 18-19. The sale is the fourth largest in the firm’s history. Fueled in great part by the fine art category which featured a spectacular array of works by American artists as well as European, exceptional prices were also achieved in the Asian, ethnographic and fine jewelry categories.

LiveAuctioneers.com provided Internet live bidding.

Turning first to the exciting fine art results, the three pivotal paintings by legendary artist LeRoy Neiman (American, 1921-2012) “stole the show,” said Rick Unruh, vice president and director of fine art at Clars. Finish at Indy, Neiman’s brightly colored 1982 painting depicting the closest finish in Indy 500 history, was expected to achieve $50,000 on the high side but collectors would compete furiously for this work driving the final sale price to an astounding $94,300. And they weren’t finished battling yet when the next lot, Neiman’s Longchamp, came on the block. Depicting jockeys atop their horses at the world famous Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, this work galloped at full tilt past its high estimate of $50,000 selling for $77,530. And finally, Neiman’s Himalayan Ascent, went solidly within estimate selling for $41,650.

Several other works by American artists also exceeded expectations. From Alaskan artist Sydney Mortimer Laurence (1865-1940), his oil on canvas Northern Lights sold for $24,990 and Southwestern artist Anna Katherine Skeele’s (1896-1963) oil on canvas Taos Chapel close to doubled its high estimate, achieving $23,800. And a rare bronze sculpture titled Horses Playing by Wilhelm Hunt Diederich (American, 1884-1953) sold for $20,230.

“California artists also fared well,” said Unruh, with Water, Sand and Patterns by August Gay (1890-1949) earning $59,500 followed by Clayton Sumner Price (1874-1950) whose Horses at Watering Hole sold for $47,600 and Eucalyptus by Maurice Braun (1877-1941) which fetched $20,230.

Several European pieces did quite well. A lovely painting titled La Jeune Maman by Spanish artist Antoni Clavé, sold for $13,090, and Italian artist Michele Cascella’s oil on canvas, Portofino, sold well above its $5,000-7,000 fetching $13,090.

Twentieth century prints added to the stellar day with a Friedensreich Hundertwasser (Austrian, 1928-2000) portfolio selling for for $26,180 followed by Roy Lichtenstein’s (American, 1923-1997) Shipboard Girl reaching $23,800.

Turning to the other outstanding sales of the day was a significant 19th century Maori people, New Zealand, architectural sculpture from inside a ceremonial house.

From the de Young Museum of San Francisco this important ethnographic offering was expected to achieve $22,000 but sold impressively for almost double at $41,650.

The exquisite jewelry offered drew collectors and the solid prices to go with them. Topping this category was an Art Deco platinum and diamond ring highlighting two old European cut diamonds, their weights approximately 2.27 carats and 2.50 carats. It was accompanied by a 14K yellow gold twisted wire ring jacket. This stunning piece surpassed its high estimate selling for $22,610.

In decorative arts, sterling and art glass held the spotlight. From renowned glass artist Dante Marioni (American b. 1964) his stunning circa 1995 work titled Yellow Pair With Red Wrap, which measured 29 inches high, easily soared to its final sale price of $13,035. A Georg Jensen Danish centerpiece topped the sterling silver offerings, commanding the same impressive price, $13,035.

And finally, Clars’ always exciting Asian offerings had its surprises as well. Topping this category was a lot of five 19th century Chinese cloisonné enameled garniture set from the Tibet House, New York, which sold for double its high estimate, earning $23,800.

For complete information visit www.clars.com, call 510-428-0100 or email info@clars.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog of the Clars Auction Gallery sale held May 18-19, complete with prices realized, at LiveAuctioneers.com.

Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

‘Finish at Indy,’ LeRoy Neiman’s (American, 1921-2012) brightly colored 1982 painting depicting the closest finish in Indy 500 history, achieved the astounding final sale price of $94,300. Clars Auction Gallery image.

Southwestern artist Anna Katherine Skeele’s (1896-1963) oil on canvas ‘Taos Chapel’ nearly doubled its high estimate achieving $23,800. Clars Auction Gallery image.

‘Water, Sand and Patterns,’ by August Gay (1890-1949) fetched an impressive $59,500. Clars Auction Gallery image.

Twentieth century prints added to the stellar day with this Friedensreich Hundertwasser (Austrian, 1928-2000) portfolio selling for $26,180.

This significant 19th century Maori people, New Zealand, was expected to achieve $22,000 but sold impressively for almost double at $41,650. Clars Auction Gallery image.

This Art Deco platinum and diamond ring, highlighting by two old European cut diamonds and accompanied by a 14K yellow gold twisted wire ring jacket, surpassed its high estimate selling for $22,610. Clars Auction Gallery image.

‘Yellow Pair With Red Wrap’ by glass artist Dante Marioni (American b. 1964) soared to $13,035. Clars Auction Gallery image.

Topping the Asian category was this 19th century Chinese cloisonné enameled garniture set that sold for double its high estimate, $23,800. Clars Auction Gallery image.

Hale painting, Willard clock share limelight at Case auction

The most visited lot in the online catalog was this painting of a young woman behind black lace curtains by Boston Impressionist Philip Leslie Hale. It ultimately sold for $42,120 (est. $25,000-35,000). Case Antiques image.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A Boston School painting by Philip Leslie Hale and a Simon Willard labeled tall-case clock tied for top lot status at the Spring Case Antiques Auction, held May 18. The painting and clock came from the estate of Margaret Wemyss Connor of Nashville, whose collection of primarily American art and antiques accounted for 178 lots in the sale. The other 550 lots in the auction hailed from other estates and collections, including an institutional collection of Native American objects.

LiveAuctioneers.com provided Internet live bidding.

More than 1800 bidders participated by phone, written absentee bid, by Internet and in person, including 150 floor bidders.

The painting, titled La Donna/Mi Velata, depicted a brunette beauty smiling enigmatically from behind sheer black curtains. The artist was Philip Leslie Hale, a Boston impressionist painter whose writings and teachings about art somewhat overshadowed his actual works of art during his lifetime (1865-1931) but whose work has become more sought after in recent years. The painting attracted multiple phone and Internet bidders, but a floor bidder took it home for $42,120.

The Simon Willard clock with Roxbury case, which also hammered down for $42,120, retained its original Isaiah Thomas engraved and printed label and French style feet, and sold to a phone bidder. Running a close third to the painting and clock was a 3.04 carat diamond solitaire ring (H color, VS2 clarity) in a 14K white gold setting, which sparkled at $37,440 (est. $25,000-30,000). All prices in this report include the buyer’s premium.

An oil on canvas of a dog in a landscape titled Champion Jojo by Frank Stick (American, 1884-1966) attracted seven phone bidders and online action before hammering down at $12,400 (est. $5,000-8,000). Other fine art highlights included a small (7 x 10 inches) oil of Paris in the rain by Edouard Cortes (French, 1882-1969), $5,382; an oil on canvas seascape by Prosper Louis Senat (American, 1852-1925), $4,212; a Leroy Nieman signed serigraph, F.X. McRory’s Whiskey Bar, $3,720; and an oil on canvas of the Grand Canal in Venice by Warren Sheppard (American 1858-1937), $2106.

There were four Erte bronze Art Deco style sculptures; each sold in the $2,500 range. A Smoky Mountain landscape by Louis E. Jones (1878-1958) led the Southern paintings at $4,914, while a pair of Jones etchings tripled their estimates at $1,112. Other regional art included an oil on canvas depiction of the Old Absinthe House in New Orleans by Cornelius Hankins (Mississippi/Tennessee, 1863-1946), $1,755; a surreal watercolor by Werner Wildner (Nashville, 1925-2004) of owl and gnome, $1,287; and a watercolor mountain scene by Mayna Avent (Tennessee, 1868-1959), also $1,287. A charcoal profile portrait of a man in a “fancy” painted chair, possibly an early image of James K. Polk, attributed to itinerant artist Charles Burton, who painted several prominent Southern subjects in the early 1800s, hammered down for $1,404.

“Brown” furniture, a tough sell in recent years, showed some bright spots. A Federal inlaid cherry sideboard attributed to Eastern Kentucky or Western Virginia, from the Connor estate, served up $10,530, and a rare Tennessee hunt table, the same height as a hunt board but with a top only 28” wide, brought a full huntboard-size price at $6,786 (est. $2,000-$2,500). It had descended in the family of a Tennessee politician. A cherry chest of drawers from the Connor estate with top center prospect door, bearing a documentation label from the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, competed to $5,382 against a $2,500-$3,500 estimate, even with replaced feet.

“It was a curious piece,” noted company president John Case. “While the form is associated with Mecklenburg County, Virginia, this piece was documented in the Art and Mystery of Tennessee Furniture, has been in Middle Tennessee since at least 1920, and had secondary woods consistent with Middle Tennessee versus Mecklenburg County. MESDA told us there is a possibility it was made by a cabinetmaker who moved to the Nashville area from Virginia.”

Other furniture included an East Tennessee corner cupboard with glazed doors and vine inlaid stiles which sold for $6,552; a pair of tiger maple canopy beds, $3,744; a Sheraton period wing chair, tentatively attributed to Boston, $2,108; and a set of five contemporary Stickley brand Harvey Ellis/Arts and Crafts style inlaid oak dining chairs, $2,223.

Two Chinese watercolor on silk scroll paintings shattered their estimates. Both were believed to date from the early Qing period and were estimated in the hundreds range due to condition issues, but drew heavy attention from Chinese bidders. One, depicting figures on a terrace, competed to $13,455; the other, with a mountain landscape design, hit $11,700. Also attracting international interest was an ancient Near Eastern silver vase with heavy repousse design, which shot to $3,042 against a $250-350 estimate. A pair of large Japanese Imari floor vases with crane designs sold for $1,736, while a Famille Rose vase with celadon background and applied lizard handles brought $1,053. A small blue and white sweetmeat dish with Chinese-style decoration, made by Worcester during its Dr. Wall period, doubled its estimate at $744, and a pair of English blue and white pierced porcelain baskets attributed to Bow earned $682. A Continental creamware dish with pierced cover and underplate and figural finial brought $702, and two lots of Herend “Queen Victoria” pattern dinnerware, one containing 76 pieces, the other 33, realized $3,276 and $2,808 respectively.

In the Southern ceramics category, an East Tennessee Decker pottery stoneware jug, inscribed C.D. Decker, hammered down for $2,223 (est. $700-900). And there was reaction from the crowd when a single owner collection of miniature whiskey jugs began crossing the block and commanding full-sized price. Two flat-sided jugs from Owensboro Ky., brought $1,112 (est. 200-250), a pair from L.T. Doores of Bowling Green, Ky., brought $819 (est. 250-350), and two from Louisville (including one believed to be from a brothel) brought $761. Three miniature jugs from Nashville earned $527, the same price as a single one inscribed from the Star Saloon in Frankfort Kentucky.

The sale also included a collection of Native American pottery and artifacts, much of it deaccessioned by an East Tennessee institution. An 8-inch-long Native American three-quarter groove ax recovered alongside the Mississippi in Illinois brought $1,638, while a Mississippian grayware stirrup bottle served up $556 and a Caddo bowl with incised “friendship” designs around the rims brought $527. A 1930s Navajo Ye’ii pictorial rug depicting three figures amid cornstalks realized $682.

Metalware highlights included a 120-piece set of Reed and Barton Francis I sterling flatware, $4,329, and a George III tankard with engraved armorial crest, $2,728. A cigarette case with AH monogram by Bruckmann and Sohne, said to have been confiscated from Eva Braun’s apartment during an attempted capture of Adolph Hitler, sold for $819, while a German Art Nouveau style silverplated centerpiece by Orivit with glass bowl tripled its estimate at $1,736. A William Spratling silver and tortoiseshell necklace in the form of joined hands captured $1,989 and a circa 1940 Fred Davis Mexican silver necklace made $1,521. Early brass candlesticks from the Connor collection saw healthy demand. A lot of four Queen Anne-style candlesticks with petal bases lit up at $1,178, and a lot containing two pairs of 18th century brass candlesticks with octagonal sockets and bases brought $1,287.

The signature of Sam Houston, the only person to have been elected governor of two states, Tennessee and Texas, helped propel a Tennessee land grant to $2,106 (est. $1,000-1,200), while an 1805 judicial certification signed by Tennessee’s first governor, John Sevier, earned $1,989 (est. $400-600). An archive of letters from a Pennsylvania Civil War soldier that included a graphic account of the battle of Antietam rallied to $1,736, while an archive of letters from soldiers of the Minnesota 3rd Regiment brought $995. Other items of note in the historical category included a tintype of a Union soldier holding his sword, $744, and a group of four Abraham Lincoln/John Bell campaign lapel pins and tokens, $1,178.

Case is currently accepting consignments for its upcoming auctions. Requests for auction estimates can be emailed along with jpeg photos to photos@caseantiques.com.

For more information or to be added to the mailing list, visit the company’s website at www.caseantiques.com, call the gallery in Knoxville at 865-558-3033 or the company’s Nashville office at 615-812-6096, or email info@caseantiques.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog of the Spring Case Antiques Auction held May 18, complete with prices realized, at LiveAuctioneers.com.

Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

A Simon Willard tall-case clock with original Isaiah Thomas paper label inside the waist door brought $42,120. Case Antiques image.

A 3.04-carat brilliant diamond ring with 14K white gold setting and GIA certification earned $37,440. Case Antiques image.

Sporting art was in demand. This Frank Stick (American, 1884-1966) oil on canvas of a hunting dog titled ‘Champion Jojo’ sniffed out a top bid of $12,400. Case Antiques image.

Related to the storied Southern huntboard, but smaller and less commonly found, are hunt tables. This one wore a nice old surface and served up $6,786 (est. $2,000-$2,500). Case Antiques image.

More bidders participated from China than from any other countries except the U.S. and Canada, and many of them wanted this early watercolor on silk scroll, which sold for $13,455. Case Antiques image.

Il mercato dell’arte in Italia: I risultati dell’asta di Arte Moderna

MILANO – L’asta di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Sotheby’s a Milano che si è tenuta il 22-23 maggio non ha soddisfatto le aspettative. Il risultato totale di 6,37 milioni di euro (diritti d’asta inclusi) è rimasto al di sotto delle stime pre-asta di 6,8 milioni di euro (diritti d’asta esclusi). L’asta di Christie’s a Milano che si era tenuta ad aprile aveva, invece, avuto un grande successo, raggiungendo un risultato ben al di sopra delle stime: 8,6 milioni di euro contro 6 milioni di stima, con percentuali di vendita molto alte, pari al 91% per lotto e 96% per valore. Le percentuali di vendita di Sotheby’s sono state molto basse: poco più della metà dei lotti sono stati venduti, solo il 57,6%, mentre la percentuale di vendita per valore è arrivata al 69,6%.

“Oggi i collezionisti sono sempre più selettivi ed attenti alla qualità, la provenienza, le referenze, le condizioni ed il prezzo delle opere offerte in asta”, commenta Raphaelle Blanga, responsabile dipartimento di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Sotheby’s Italia. “Il risultato di questa vendita ne è la prova concreta. Opere quali quelle che abbiamo venduto di Fontana, Boetti, Manzoni e Castellani avevano tutti questi requisiti: illustre provenienze, riferimenti di mostre e cataloghi ragionati, ottime condizioni, rarità e freschezza sul mercato. Hanno tutte ottenuto un risultato di vendita oltre le stime”.

E allora a che cosa si deve l’invenduto? “L’invenduto è dovuto in parte ad un cambiamento di gusto per quando riguarda il moderno, nonostante vi sia ancora un buon interesse per il secondo futurismo.

Per il contemporaneo, dove l’offerta è maggiore, l’invenduto si attribuisce alle opere che non rispecchiano la qualità e che sono meno significative all’interno del percorso creativo del singolo artista. Oppure, perché presentate con una valutazione un po’ “spinta” (dal venditore) rispetto ai valori di mercato attuali o da una percezione di mercato distorta non aggiornata.”

Gli artisti che sono andati meglio, quindi, sono i contemporanei storicizzati come Lucio Fontana, Enrico Castellani, Alighiero Boetti e Piero Manzoni. Quest’ultimo è oggetto di grandi attenzioni in questo momento perché nel 2013 ricorre l’ottantesimo anniversario dalla sua nascita (il 13 luglio). Il museo Städel di Francoforte gli rende omaggio con una mostra (dal 26 giugno al 22 settembre) che rappresenta la sua prima retrospettiva in ambito tedesco e la prima presentazione museale al di fuori dell’Italia da più di 20 anni. Il 2013 è anche il cinquantenario dalla sua scomparsa. All’asta di Sotheby’s un “Achrome” eseguito nel 1958-59 di 24 x 18 cm è stato venduto per 349.500 euro da una stima di 280mila-350mila euro (lotto 39), mentre una “Merda d’Artista” (la numero 51 su 90 in totale) è passata di mano per 109.500 euro.

Il top lot dell’asta è stato il lotto 54, “Concetto Spaziale, Attesa” di Lucio Fontana del 1968 (55 x 46 cm), che è passato di mano per 625.500 euro contro una stima pre-asta di 450.000-550.000 euro. Un’altra opera di Fontana, il “Concetto spaziale” d’oro della serie “I Quanta”, ha realizzato il record mondiale per questa serie con un prezzo di 475.500 euro contro una stima pre-asta di 250mila-350mila euro (lotto 18, 36 x 48 cm). Inoltre, un bracciale in oro ha confermato il grande fascino di questi oggetti sui collezionisti: da una stima di 40mila-60mila euro è stato acquistato al telefono per 193.500 euro stabilendo il nuovo record (lotto 60). Un bracciale simile (con buchi, non tagli) venduto all’asta di Sotheby’s dell’anno scorso aveva già stabilito il record di 126.750 euro. In quel caso la stima era di 30.000-40.000 euro. Fino al 2008 il record per un gioiello unico di Fontana era di 60mila euro.

Anche Enrico Castellani ha stabilito un record, e cioè quello per un’opera realizzata nel XXI secolo. La “Superficie corallo” del 2008 è stata venduta per 217.550 euro contro una stima di 100mila-150mila euro (lotto 36), mentre la “Superficie blu” del 1995 ha raggiunto 151.500 euro (lotto 25). Altre due opere sperimentali del 1958, non estroflesse, sono rimaste invendute.

Alta la richiesta anche per Boetti che ha segnato il secondo risultato più alto dell’asta con un arazzo intitolato “Tutto” del 1988-89. Partito da una stima di 350mila-450mila euro, l’opera è arrivata a 517.500 euro (lotto 46). Da segnalare anche una piccola tela di Osvaldo Licini intitolata “Amalassunta su sfondo blu” del 1958 e caratterizzata da un particolare blu pre-Klein. L’opera è passata di mano per 151.500 euro (lotto 9).

Sono andati meno bene altri i due grandi maestri moderni che riscuotono sempre grande successo alle aste di arte italiana: Giorgio Morandi e Giorgio De Chirico. Una “Natura morta” del 1943 di Morandi con la stima più alta del catalogo, cioè 400mila-600mila euro è rimasto invenduto, probabilmente perché non venne incluso nel catalogo ragionato redatto da Lamberto Vitali, anche se possiede un’autentica rilasciata nel 1994 dal Comitato per il Catalogo Giorgio Morandi e venne aggiunta al catalogo da Marilena Pasquali, presidente del Centro studi Giorgio Morandi di Bologna nel 2000.

Un’opera di De Chirico rappresentante dei “Cavalli antichi” (1950) è rimasta invenduta con una stima di 200mila-300mila euro.

ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE

Ancient ‘Boxer’ making first appearance at Met museum

Boxer at Rest,' Greek, Hellenistic period, late fourth-seond century B.C. Bronze with copper inlays. Museo Nazionale Romano – Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome, inv. 1055. Lent by the Republic of Italy. Image courtesy Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma – Museo Nazionale Romano – Palazzo Massimo alle Terme.

NEW YORK – The monumental bronze statue Boxer at Rest, an exceptionally realistic ancient Greek sculpture created between the late fourth and the second century B.C., is on display outside Europe for the first time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On loan from the Museo Nazionale Romano – Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, this extraordinary work is on view through July 15.

The exhibition, “The Boxer: An Ancient Masterpiece,” is part of 2013 – Year of Italian Culture in the United States, an initiative held under the auspices of the president of the Italian Republic, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Italy in Washington, D.C.

The statue was excavated in Rome in 1885 on the south slope of the Quirinal Hill near the ancient Baths of Constantine, where it is thought to have been displayed. The sculpture was buried intentionally in late antiquity, possibly to preserve it against the barbarian invasions that ravaged Rome in the fifth century. The broad-shouldered, lanky pugilist is shown seated, resting after a match. His gloves—which are highly detailed—identify him as a boxer.

The athlete’s head wounds are consistent with ancient boxing techniques, in which the head was the main target. The copper inlays, indicating blood, heighten the effect. The boxer’s right eye is swollen, his nose is broken, and he breathes through his mouth, probably because his nostrils are blocked by blood. His scarred lips are sunken, suggesting missing teeth. The ears, swollen from blows, indicate possible hearing loss. Drops of blood from the wounds on his head have trickled down his right arm and leg. Wear on the foot and hands suggests that they were touched frequently in antiquity, possibly in veneration.

Because the iconography is related to statues of Herakles sculpted by Lysippos in the fourth century B.C., the Boxer at Rest may have been meant to celebrate a mythical, or real, boxer, who was glorified for his endurance and courage. Scholars have long debated the date of the statue, placing it anywhere from the middle of the fourth century B.C. to the middle of the first century B.C. The sculpture is an exceptional work in bronze from the Hellenistic period (323–31 B.C.) and is of outstanding artistry.

The exhibition is featured on the Metropolitan Museum’s website (www.metmuseum.org).

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Swiss museum to house work of photo great Rene Burri

Rene Burri in 2010. Image by Erling mandelmann. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

GENEVA (AFP) – A huge trove of photographs taken over half a century by Switzerland’s Rene Burri, known for his iconic portrait of cigar-smoking revolutionary Che Guevara, is to be donated to a museum in his homeland, officials said Monday.

The Lausanne-based Elysee Museum, a temple for photography buffs from around the globe, said it would become the long-term home for an estimated 30,000 of Burri’s works.

“Rene Burri has been present wherever history plays out, and, with acumen, has borne witness to the defining moments of his time,” the museum said in a statement.

Burri, now 80, has been a member of the renowned Paris-based photography agency Magnum since 1959.

His famous works include his 1963 portrait of Che Guevara, which among iconic photos comes just a hair’s breath behind Cuban Alberto Korda’s 1960 picture of the revolutionary.

Burri is also known for his photographs of artist Pablo Picasso, architect Le Corbusier, and his reportages on Brazilian megacities, as well as coverage of conflicts in the Middle East and Vietnam.

“We won’t necessarily have all of Rene Burri’s photographs, but we will have the major part,” Swiss news agency ATS quoted the museum’s director Sam Stourdze as saying.

Burri, meanwhile, said creating an archive at the Elysee Museum would finally help bring some order to his huge collection and preserve his work.

“What can I do with thousands upon thousands of photographs that have built up since the 1950s? I find them in every nook and cranny. Today, I’m going to spend some time identifying what I’ve amassed over 50 years,” ATS quoted his as saying.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Kovels Antiques & Collecting: Week of June 3, 2013

Clothing stores in the 19th century often displayed a sign that looked like a boot. It was a simple shape to make and easy to understand. This 47-inch-high wooden sign with its old paint sold for $911 at a Garth's auction in Ohio.

BEACHWOOD, Ohio – A Collectors like advertising signs and packages. In the 1950s when restaurants began decorating with old signs, they wanted material from the 19th century with graphics that featured husky women in period gowns and large hats or scenes with horse and buggies, high-wheel bicycles or old cars and buildings. But collectors and their collections got older, and by the 1980s, a younger group was buying advertising from the 1930s to ’50s, with scenes of happy housewives wearing aprons while making cookies with their children or landscapes with new cars, airplanes or trains.

While old advertising was expensive and hard to find, 1950s pieces turned up at garage sales and flea markets for very low prices. Today there are collectors who hunt for recent rock posters, advertisements and packaging by artists like Andy Warhol or Peter Max. It is the design that catches the eye and attracts collectors. Some wonder if ads, packages and shop signs are going to be valuable in the future. Go back to the mid-1800s, when store signs often were simply pictures because many people could not read. A cigar-store figure represented a shop that sold tobacco, and a cutout wooden board shaped like a shoe or a red and white barber pole were instantly recognized by customers. These signs are now classed as folk art, and many sell for thousands of dollars. Great graphics that tell a story, products that represent the past, and nostalgia keep advertising collectibles selling well, even though the ads are getting younger.

Q: I am a retired U.S. Air Force sergeant. Sometime during my 20 years of service, I received a chrome-plated “Camp David” Zippo pocket lighter. The front has a black engraving of the camp’s entryway, with a rope-like circle around the image. I understand it has some value. True?

A: Zippo lighters were first made in Bradford, Pa., in 1932. When smoking was more socially acceptable than it is now, lighters were popular souvenirs. The military, as well as U.S. presidents, purchased them to give as souvenirs to servicemen and visiting dignitaries. Camp David was built in the 1930s and was used as a presidential retreat starting in 1942. But it wasn’t called “Camp David” until 1953, when President Dwight David Eisenhower renamed the retreat after his grandson, David Eisenhower. Other marks on your lighter may help you date it. A lighter matching yours, made in 1972, is for sale online with its original box and insert. The asking price is $45.

Q: My mother-in-law gave my daughter a vintage dress that has a label inside that says “Harvey Berin, designed by Karen Stark.” My mother-in-law was a music instructor at the local high school and put on musicals every year. This dress was donated to her to use in the musicals. When she retired, she gave the dress to my daughter to wear to the prom. Can you tell us anything about the designer and maker of this dress?

A: Harvey Berin started his clothing business in 1921. He is known for his cocktail and evening dresses made from the 1940s until 1970. Berin bought dresses in Paris and had the designs adapted by designer Karen Stark, his sister-in-law. He approved the designs before the dresses were made. First Lady Patricia Nixon wore a gown designed by “Karen Stark for Berin” to the 1969 inaugural balls. The dress is now in the Smithsonian. Berin closed his business in 1970.

Q: I have a blue-and-white ironstone platter with a floral border and a center scene of a horse-drawn stagecoach with several men riding on top. It’s marked “Coaching Scenes, Made in England by Johnson Bros., a genuine hand engraving, all decoration under the glaze detergent & acid resisting colour, ironstone, Passing Through.” I would like to know what it could be worth.

A: Johnson Brothers was founded in 1883 in Hanley, England, and is still in business. In 1968 it became part of the Wedgwood Group, which became part of WWRD in 2009. The word “detergent” is a clue to age. Although the first detergents were made in the 1930s, they didn’t become popular until the 1940s. Johnson Brothers introduced its “Coaching Scenes” series in 1963 and continued producing it until 1999. Dishes were made in blue and white, pink and white and green and white with different center scenes. “Passing Through” is the name of the scene on your plate. Value of your plate: about $35.

Tip: When putting on earrings in front of the bathroom mirror, be sure the sink stopper is closed. Don’t risk dropping the jewelry down the drain.

Need prices for collectibles? Find them at Kovels.com, our website for collectors. More than 84,000 prices and 5,000 color pictures have just been added. Now you can find more than 856,000 prices that can help you determine the value of your collectible. Access to the prices is free at Kovels.com/priceguide.

Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or email addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, Auction Central News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

CURRENT PRICES

Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.

Shelley porcelain creamer, bridal rose, fluted, 2 1/2 inches, $30.
Pewabic Pottery vase, blue, flared rim, 1995, 5 3/4 inches, $40.
Red and White Coffee tin, white letters, red ground, key, 3 1/2 x 5 inches, $40.
Vinyl “wicker” purse, double-horseshoe leather handles, gold-tone turn clasp & pegged feet, circa 1950, 11 x 6 x 4 inches, $45.
Nippon hatpin holder, fluted flared ribbing, berries, leaves, ribbon, 1930s, 4 1/4 inches, $60.
Pressed glass sugar and creamer, Heart and Thumbprint, scalloped rim, Tarentum Glass Co., circa 1890, $65.
Occupational shaving mug, bicyclist, A.R. Deming, gilt, stamped CFH, 3 1/2 inches, $300.
Boneshaker bicycle, wire, miniature, circa 1920, 6 inches, $560.
Gothic Revival chair, oak, folding, carved, X-curved legs, upholstered seat, pair, $1,340.
Sculling team toy, eight figures, coxswain at helm, cast iron, painted, U.S. Hardware, circa 1910, 14 1/4 inches, $1,900.

Available now: The best book to own if you want to buy, sell or collect—and if you order now, you’ll receive a copy with the author’s autograph. The new Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, 2013, 45th edition, is your most accurate source for current prices. This large-size paperback has more than 2,500 color photographs and 40,000 up-to-date prices for more than 775 categories of antiques and collectibles. You’ll also find hundreds of factory histories and marks, a report on the record prices of the year, plus helpful sidebars and tips about buying, selling, collecting and preserving your treasures. Available online at Kovelsonlinestore.com; by phone at 800-303-1996; at your bookstore; or send $27.95 plus $4.95 postage to Price Book, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Prominent pavilions at the 55th Venice Biennale

Venice travel poster by Vittorio Grassi (1878-1958) circa 1920. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

VENICE, Italy (AP) – The 55th Venice Biennale, the world’s most prestigious art fair, features national pavilions from 88 countries, 10 presenting work for the first time—including the Vatican. No official theme ties together the pavilions, but several ideas are emerging as favorites, including greed, collective actions and the boundaries of the physical world.

The jury awarded the Golden Lion prize for “best national participation” to Angola, for an exhibition that focus on the African nation’s capital city, Luanda.

Here are some other prominent pavilions in this year’s edition.

UNITED STATES

Step back and Sarah Sze’s “Triple Point” series of installations at the U.S. Pavilion is a vision of symmetry and scale, ambition and grandeur. Move in and there’s another way to see it, through countless tiny and more intimate scenes, much like a painting by the Dutch master Pieter Bruegel.

Sze has gathered myriad objects—it’s no exaggeration to say from around the world—to create her Biennale commission, and she spent 2 1/2 months composing it on site, slogging through Venice’s rainiest winter in more than a century.

Her sculptures are collections of everyday objects, from fans to screwdrivers to packs of sugar, connected by sticks and twigs and suspended by string and yarn, to suggest a larger system—a planetarium, observatory or pendulum.

“In each of the rooms, I was really thinking about how we model that amount of information,” Sze said. “How do we make sense of it? The idea for each of the sculptures is based around a system of modeling information that is often beyond our ability to understand, like the cosmos or the weather.”

BRITAIN

There is little subtle about Jeremy Deller, neither the fluorescent pink pants he wore to previews nor his Biennale art for the British Council—work that takes bold aim at the whims of the rich and the powerful.

The central piece is a painting of an oversized bird of prey called the hen harrier that has a Range Rover in its talons. The work references the 2007 shooting of a pair of hen harriers on the Sandringham Estate on a day when Prince Harry and a friend went shooting. As for the Range Rover, it is the object of the bird’s revenge, and Deller’s swipe at the haughty who ride them, particularly on London roads where he cycles.

“It’s an opportunity to get something off your chest,” Deller said this week. “You know you are going to have an audience.”

In the next room, a painting depicts the late Victorian designer and socialist William Morris, who appears as a giant throwing Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich’s 377-foot yacht into the Venetian lagoon. It’s Deller’s jab at Abramavoich for mooring the vessel on Venice’s Giardini quay, blocking the view.

VATICAN

Australian artist Lawrence Carroll was one of three artists invited to create work for the Vatican’s debut pavilion. While being tapped was an honor, he said, it’s all a far cry from the Vatican commissions given to masters such as Raphael and Michelangelo.

“Commission is a funny word. Commission implies they are buying the paintings, and that is not the case. I am not sure what will happen to them after,” Carroll said. “This wasn’t commissioned for the Sistine Chapel. This is temporary.”

Carroll’s work concludes the trilogy of themes decided by the Vatican: Creation, Un-Creation and Re-Creation. The artist, who until recently lived in Venice, said he could connect with the theme, as much of his work has dealt with giving new life to objects—a passion that goes back to his childhood when his thrifty immigrant parents would find ways to extend the use of everyday things.

Four paintings hang in one room—all large monochromatic canvases in white. One he calls “generically a sleeping painting”; it has a square space cut in the canvas where a folded canvas has been stashed, like a blanket, to be brought out at some point when needed. Another painting is embedded in a block of ice, which melts and refreezes cyclically, a process that continually modifies it.

RUSSIA

For Russian artist Vadim Zakharov, only women can save the world from corruption.

Zakharov’s installation embraces the entire pavilion and is itself a metaphor for the Greek myth of Danae, who was locked in a room by her father the king, yet impregnated by Zeus in the form of a shower of gold.

The main floor is man’s domain, where greed and corruption rule and where the masses can be dismissed as “peanuts,” a notion the artist conveys with irony and humor through a man dressed in a business suit who sits on cowboy saddle shucking peanuts and casting the shells into a pile.

On the lower flower, Zakharov created a cave as a refuge for women only and which communicate with the level above through two holes Zakharov cut in the floor. Through one, gold coins are showered down. Through another, a man in a business suit hauls them up in a bucket and dumps them into a conveyor belt to feed the shower.

In the cave, women visitors carry umbrellas as protection against the showers of gold coins, and are asked to deposit some back into the bucket.

“It’s about how you can corrupt with money,” said Berlin curator Udo Kittelmann. “The hope for the future is women.”

ISRAEL

Israeli Gilad Ratman’s multimedia installation follows the fictional journey of a group of people who tunnel from Israel to Venice—creating a hole in the floor as they dig their way in.

A video shows them departing from a hillside, digging the tunnel and arriving at the pavilion, where they set to work sculpting busts from clay they have brought from Israel.

“The journey is about nothing. It’s to create a narrative that does not have any purpose or causality. It’s the process of creating a work of art,” said Sergio Edelsztein who curated the pavilion.

The pavilion reverberates with a guttural sound, a recording of all the sculpting, crawling and walking that have taken place along the journey.

JAPAN

Communal action is central to Koki Tanaka’s work in the Japan Pavilion, titled “Abstract Speaking: Sharing Uncertainty and Collective Acts.”

Tanaka’s thinking about collective action crystalized following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which he followed from Los Angeles where he lives.

“When the earthquake happened, people collaborated and helped each other to deal with the strange situation,” Tanaka said.

On Twitter, Tanaka followed as friends in Tokyo chronicled their hours-long walks home without public transport. People responded spontaneously, opening up their homes and businesses as temporary shelters. Tanaka said even his own gallery took people in.

Already before the quake, Tanaka had done a few video pieces as part of earlier work that also dealt with the outcomes of collective acts, such a group of hairdressers collaborating on the same hair cut or artists making pottery together.

“We realized this kind of video could be reinterpreted in the post-earthquake society,” said curator Mika Kuraya.

FRANCE and GERMANY

It may be the spirit of Franco-German friendship, which has been at the core of postwar Europe. Or it may just be a collection of artists open to new venues after years of shunned proposals.

But France and Germany, whose pavilions stand opposite each other in the Giardini, took the unusual steps of pavilion-swapping this edition.

In the German Pavilion, French-Albanian artist Anri Sala produces a multimedia installation of musical recordings and videos of a piano concerto composed by French composer Maurice Ravel for the left hand. The show is called “Ravel Ravel Unravel,” a play on the English verb `’to rave” and the composer’s name.

For Germany, exchanging pavilions wasn’t enough. It invited artists from four countries to underline the international nature of artistic inspiration, inherently questioning national schemes. The artists include Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who contributed a sculpture of 886 antique stools that are arranged in interlocking arches. He was unable to attend the biennale, where he also has two other installations, because Chinese authorities denied him a visa.

AP-WF-06-01-13 1439GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

China’s communist mouthpiece condemns plague of ducks

'Rubber Duck' by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman. Image taken on May 3, 2013 at Ocean Terminal, Hong Kong. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

BEIJING (AFP) – The official mouthpiece of China’s ruling Communist Party condemned an outbreak of giant yellow ducks across the country Monday, after imitations of an artwork in Hong Kong landed in several cities.

Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman’s 54 foot-tall yellow inflatable has been a sensation in both Hong Kong and mainland China since it was installed in Victoria Harbor a month ago.

Property developers in several cities, among them Hangzhou, Wuhan and Tianjin, have rushed to install similar, albeit smaller, yellow ducks to attract potential customers to their projects.

In an editorial the People’s Daily, China’s most-circulated newspaper, condemned the imitators for betraying what it said was Hofman’s own message.

The duck, it said, was a symbol of “humanity’s shared culture and childhood memories, pure art and anti-commercialization.”

Copycat ducks were merely “kitsch” and such unoriginal behavior “will ruin our creativity and our future and lead to the loss of imagination eventually” it said.

“The more yellow ducks are there, the further we are from Hofman’s anti-commercialisation spirit, and the more obvious is our weak creativity.”

“It’s good that the rubber duck is popular, but it’s sad to see the innovation of our country to go down. We often talk about awareness and confidence in our own culture, but where do they come from? Definitely not from following new trends.”

Tourism authorities in Hunan, it pointed out, have renamed a mountain long known as the “Southern Sky Column” as “Avatar Hallelujah Mountain” after it inspired landscapes in the Hollywood special-effects blockbuster.

“This is not innovation, it’s selling our inheritance,” the newspaper said in the editorial, which appeared both in print and online editions.

For those who want a giant rubber duck of their own, China’s vast army of manufacturing firms has moved to meet demand.

One company, KK Inflatable, is selling ducks in multiple sizes, one of them even larger than Hofman’s creation, on Taobao, China’s biggest shopping website.

A two-meter one costs 2,800 yuan ($460), one of the size of Hofman’s is 118,000, and the biggest bird of all, a 20-meter monster duck, costs 149,800 yuan.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Sign up for daily highlights by email