John Marin, Weehawken Series, signed l.r. and dated ’34, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 inches. Purchased from a Greenwich, Conn., estate 25 years ago. Mid Hudson Galleries image.
NEW WINDSOR, N.Y. – On Saturday, June 16, at noon EDT, Mid-Hudson Auction Galleries will offer important artworks and bronzes to include a John Marin oil on canvas, Weehawken Series.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
Other artists represented in the 700-lot auction are Edward Redfield, Charles Hoffbauer, Jane Peterson, J.G. Tyler, Cassius “Kash” Marcellus Coolidge, Albert Pels (three), Donald Purdy, E.E. Case, F. Hopkinson Smith, a mural study by Diego Rivera, Victor Higgins, B. Bouts, Herman Hyneman, Hayley Lever, Frank Starowieyski, Louis Eilshemius and an array of American illustrations from the Norcross Calendar Co. including five by Rudy Nappi. There are five Nemethy family paintings in the sale.
Bronze sculptures being offered include: a Frishmuth Playdays fountain and three rare works in bronze by Alfred Charley from the artist’s estate. A sculpture instructor at Clarion State University, Alfred Charley, was killed in an automobile accident, at age 57, on the eve of his exhibition opening at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. The exhibition, nine years after his exhibition at Le Grand Salon in Paris, surely would have brought wider recognition in the United States, said Joanne Grant, principal auctioneer.
The auction also includes a collection of more than 200 lots of Orientalia; more than 30 antique, semi-antique and other carpets; rare sports memorabilia; and hundreds of early Hollywood collectibles. The event will be held at the Continental Room, 171 Temple Hill Road, New Windsor, N.Y.
For details visit the website www.midhudsongalleries.com or phone 914-882-7356.
John Marin, Weehawken Series, signed l.r. and dated ’34, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 inches. Purchased from a Greenwich, Conn., estate 25 years ago. Mid Hudson Galleries image.
Italian photography takes center stage in London. On June 12 Christie’s will hold an auction of rare vintage prints coming from Paolo Morello’s collection. The catalog includes 150 photographs by 23 Italian photographers depicting life and culture in Italy between 1945 and 1975. They appear for the first time on the market. Prices are accessible and range from £2,000 to £30,000 ($3,000-$46,000).
Paolo Morello is one of the most prominent authorities for photography in Italy. Since 1998 Morello has been dealing with photography as an art historian, professor at many Italian universities, photographer, publisher and collector. For many years Morello has been pursuing the idea of opening his collection to the public and founding a museum for Italian photography. “I have offered to donate my collection to three Italian regions,” Morello tells Auction Central News, “In return I asked the local government to guarantee an adequate location and not to leave the works closed in a crate. In all cases I did not receive constructive reactions; I clashed with bureaucracy and bad administration and I had to renounce to my intent.”
Still Morello is optimistic: “This is a great opportunity for Italian photography,” Morello says. “It is the first time that an important auction house as Christie’s dedicates an auction exclusively to this market. It will work as a flywheel for Italian photography, which has not received the right recognition at an international level, yet.”
The auction includes works by important Italian photographers such as Gianni Berengo Gardin and Mario de Biasi. The choice of which works to put on sale was not made by the collector, but it was left in Philippe Garner’s care, who is International Head of the Photographs Department at Christie’s and a friend of Morello’s. Garner’s selection fell on works carrying a strong formal taste. The choice reflects a certain image of Italy as it is seen at an international level. There are photographs representing la Dolce Vita, portraits of famous actors such as Sofia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni, as well as paparazzi, seascapes and views of Venice. Nevertheless, Morello’s colletion is much wider and includes also images of war and earthquakes with a stronger social value.
Besides being wider in dimensions and subjects, Morello’s collection is not limited to the postwar decades but includes contemporary photography. “My collection is made up of two parts: there are works I buy to support emergent artists, and works I buy to conduct my studies. This part represents the majority of my collection and is composed of vintage prints, contact prints, publications and much more.”
The auction represents an occasion to invest in a still undervalued market and, according to the collector, it is also an important opportunity for the market of photography in itself, which is now dominated by the French, English and American school.
“I hope this episode will not be an isolate case,” Morello says, “but you need a virtuous system which includes exhibitions, scientific publications and serious art dealers working in the primary market.”
Last February in New York there were already some important events dedicated to Italian photography. One of them was an exhibition entitled “Peripheral Visions: Italian Photography, 1950s-Present,” promoted by the Hunter College and curated by Maria Antonella Pelizzari, professor for history of photography at the Hunter College. The exhibition, which was on view until April 28, showcased the works of major Italian photographers who have explored an alternative image of the country: the urban landscape connected to the industrial evolution of postwar Italian cities. Parallel to this exhibition, Verona-based gallery Studio la Città organized, in collaboration with Howard Greenberg Gallery, the exhibition “An Italian Perspective” (until March 13). The show, curated by Angela Madesani, included works by four leading Italian photographers: Massimo Vitali, Gabriele Basilico, Vincenzo Castella and Luigi Ghirri.
“Our aim was to contribute to the promotion of Italian photography in the U.S., where until now there has not been a real awareness about it.” This is the comment of Marta Fraccarolo, spokeswoman of the gallery. “We had a lot of success and we sold also works by Vincenzo Castella and Gabriele Basilico, who were the lesser-known of this group of photographers.” The price range of the exhibited works by Castella and Basilico was $16,000-$19,000 and $8,000-$19,000, respectively. Massimo Vitali is already better known in the U.S. thanks to the fact that his images find a direct correspondence in the collective imaginary. Luigi Ghirri is experiencing a boom right now. His works on show in New York ranged between $16,000 and $28,000. “All exhibited works were landscapes: natural landscapes in the case of Vitali and Ghirri, and urban views in the case of Basilico and Castella.” Fraccarolo says, and concludes: “We have noticed that the interest for the Italian school is growing and growing.”
Bakewell pattern-molded and engraved sugar bowl and cover, colorless, circa 1820-1835 (May 19 sale, $8,625, Lot 171). Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates. MOUNT CRAWFORD, Va. – A pattern-molded and engraved sugar bowl and cover, attributed to Bakewell, Page & Bakewell and made circa 1820-1835, soared to $8,625 at an auction dedicated to 18th and 19th century glass and lighting held May 19 by Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates. The bowl and cover were the top lot of the 882 items sold.
The firm also held sales on back-to-back days in April. The April 28 event featured 18th and 19th century lighting (headlined by the second half of the Meyer lighting collection), while the April 29 auction saw the sale of the Phillip Sullivan lantern collection. All three sales were successes, as Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates specializes in 18th-20th century glass and lighting, Southern decorative arts, Americana, art and antiques.
The May 19 sale—the annual early glass and lighting auction—was particularly special this year because it combined with the National American Glass Club’s 2012 seminar that Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates hosted in neighboring Harrisonburg. Historic and private collections tours, a day of lectures at the company gallery plus the auction kept attendees busy and enthralled all weekend.
“The seminar turnout was fantastic,” said Jeffrey S. Evans. “Members flew in from California, New England, Florida, Canada and England.” He added, “The auction performed as we expected. The market for bottles and flasks continues to be very hot, as is the demand for free-blown wares, especially when a strong attribution can be made. Also hot are open salts from the early pressed and lacy periods.”
Evans cautioned that other categories of glass collecting are “off probably by 50 percent from the prerecession market, which is pretty much in line with most other types of antiques today.” But he said it’s a situation that presents an opportune time to acquire quality 19th century glass at wholesale prices. “Collectors are beginning to recognize the great values out there. Now is a great time to buy.”
The April and May auctions were all absolute, meaning everything sold, regardless of price. The May 19 sale had 66 bidders in attendance, plus 223 people registered to bid online (through LiveAuctioneers.com). Internet activity accounted for 1,912 submitted bids. There were 1,696 total alternate bids (including phone, absentee and online left bids) and absentee bidders totaled 137 people. In all, the auction grossed right at $228,500.
Following are additional highlights from the May 19 auction. All prices quoted include a 15 percent buyer’s premium.
A free-blown saucer-base whale oil lamp, colorless, made circa 1825-1830 by the Boston & Sandwich Glass Co., and others, with a folded rim and rough pontil mark, with just a hint of wear to the font, went for $6,325; and a blown-molded creamer (GIII-24), with a deep cobalt blue body and colorless handle, also made by Boston & Sandwich Glass Co., circa 1820-1840, changed hands for $5,750.
A medium sapphire blue one-pint scroll flask (GIX-18), with an ill-defined center star only, made by an unknown United States glasshouse circa 1840-1860, standing 7 inches tall, coasted to $4,888; and a colorless lead glass pressed Horn of Plenty rectangular undertray, one of only two known, made to accompany an extremely rare rectangular covered casket/dish and made circa 1845-1855, topped out at $3,738.
An extravagant, blue to colorless cut overlay chalice, a deep bowl cut with tiny stars and upright ferns, probably made in France by Saint-Louis or Baccarat, circa 1880-1900, 12 1/4 inches tall, 5 inches in diameter, topped out at $3,220; and an advertising ironstone covered dish, octagonal footed form, for Sweeny & Son in Wheeling, Va. (now West Virginia), circa mid-19th century, 7 inches tall, wowed the crowd for $3,105.
As stated, the star of the April 28 lighting auction was the second half of the Meyer collection. A large number of the lamps in the first Meyer auction were purchased by a new museum being formed in the western U.S., while most lamps in this auction were captured by private collectors throughout North America. The appeal of the collection was the complete nature of each lamp, including the period burner, chimney and shade.
“The Western museum found these features especially attractive, considering the difficulty of acquiring complete period setups in today’s market,” Evans observed. “The Meyers spent more than 30 years carefully assembling their collection, piece by piece, and their efforts were rewarded, both monetarily and in terms of historical significance. This was truly a museum-quality collection.”
About 76 people were bidding live, at the gallery, for the April 28 event, while 81 registered absentee and phone bidders submitted 812 bids. The 139 bidders who were approved to bid through LiveAuctioneers placed a total of 1,746 alternate bids. All 497 of the lots that came up for bid changed hands. There were zero passes. The auction grossed $162,455.
Following are highlights from the April 28 auction. All prices quoted include a 15 percent buyer’s premium.
A wood and glass candle lantern with square softwood frame and worn red paint and three full glass panels with a hinged door fitted with a small glass window with guards, circa 19th century, 15 1/2 inches tall, rose to $3,335; and a swirled marbrie loop stand lamp, ruby with opal pulled and swirling loops, its thumbwheel marked “E. F. Jones, Boston,” circa third quarter 19th century, realized $2,760.
A Blackberry stand lamp with brilliant teal green font and alabaster/clambroth Baroque base, made circa 1870, achieved $2,300; and a cut overlay star and quatrefoil stand lamp, with a white cut to starch blue pyriform font, earned $2,185.
A 19th century sheet iron Rumford type stand lamp having the original green paint with traces of yellow pinstriping, and with a square weighted base and hinged refill cap and sleeve for a detachable shade, climbed to $2,070; and an opaque pale green Coolidge Drape stand lamp with matching patterned chimney-shade, circa last quarter 19th century, garnered $1,955.
“We could not have had a more memorable way to end our lighting auction weekend on April 29 than with the Rushlight Club seminar and Sullivan lantern collection,” Evans said. “Phil Sullivan was a past president and active member of the club, and he and his wife, Carolyn, were friends with many of the club’s New England constituents. All who participated in the auction commented on the breadth and fine quality of the Sullivan collection. Bidding was spirited throughout the auction.”
Winning bidders included two U.S. museums, private collectors and dealers from across North America and around the world. “Our lighting cataloger, Barbara Morris, was thrilled to have the opportunity to handle such an important and specialized collection,” Evans said. “It offered her a crash course on the history of the lantern within the overall narrative of historic lighting.”
The April 29 auction actually comprised just half of Phil Sullivan’s 900-piece lantern collection. The second half will be sold by Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates on Friday, Oct. 19, at 1 p.m., in Mount Crawford. The final numbers for the April 29 auction were: 78 in-attendance bidders, 120 registered LiveAuctioneers.com bidders (placing 1,567 bids), 99 absentee and phone bidders (296 bids) and a final gross of $87,782.
Following are highlights from the April 29 auction. All prices quoted include a 15 percent buyer’s premium.
A pair of brass cold-blast tubular signal marine lanterns, ring-handled, one of them embossed with “Perkins 17 Mld No. 2 Anchor Fig. 61,” made circa last quarter 19th century and each standing 25 3/4 inches tall, brought $2,185; and a third quarter 19th century New England Glass Co. pierced sheet iron whale oil lantern with bail handle and fixed colorless globe, 15 inches tall, fetched $1,380.
A pierced sheet iron “P.W.R.R.” whale oil lantern with traces of japanned decoration and a strap ring handle, having a fixed colorless globe and removable base with bayonet mechanism, circa mid-19th century, reached $1,380; and a C.T. Ham sheet iron and brass “New York Central” conductor’s railroad lantern with bail handle, vertical wire guards and removable base, late 19th century, made $1,150.
Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates’ next big auction will be held on Saturday, June 23. Offered will be hundreds of examples of Americana and Fine Antiques. A preview will be held June 20-22, from 10-6, with a free appraisal day on Wednesday, June 20, from 1-4 p.m. As with all Jeffrey S. Evans auctions, it will be held in the spacious Mount Crawford gallery at 2177 Green Valley Lane.
Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates is always accepting quality consignments. To consign an item, an estate or collection, call 540-434-3939 or e-mail them at info@jeffreysevans.com. For more information on the company, and its schedule of upcoming auction events and seminars, log on to www.jeffreysevans.com.
Bakewell pattern-molded and engraved sugar bowl and cover, colorless, circa 1820-1835 (May 19 sale, $8,625, Lot 171). Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates.
Free-blown, saucer-base whale oil lamp with colorless globular font, circa 1825-1830 (May 19 sale, $6,325, Lot 337). Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates.
New England Glass Co. ‘WRR’ pierced sheet iron whale oil lantern, circa 1854 (April 29 sale, $1,380, Lot 520). Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates.
Pair of polished brass cold blast tubular signal marine lanterns, 25 3/4 inches tall each (April 29 sale, $2,185), Lot 641). Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates.
Square softwood frame and glass candle lantern with worn red paint, circa 19th century (April 28 sale, $3,335, Lot 449). Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates.
Swirled marbrie loop stand lamp, ruby with opal pulled and swirling loops, marble base (April 28 sale, $2,760, Lot 1). Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates.
Michael Jackson’s fedora from the 1987 music video ‘Smooth Criminal.’ It has Jackson’s name, printed in gold, on the inside brim. Image courtesy Premiere Props. EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Premiere Props announced will be auctioning off over 1,000 Hollywood costumes and props including several personal items from Hollywood icons Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Sammy Davis Jr., Liberace and Michael Jackson, plus hundreds of items from contemporary films including the “Harry Potter during their Hollywood Extravaganza VI on Saturday, June 23, and Sunday, June 24. The auction will take place at Premiere Props’ headquarters beginning at 11 a.m. PDT, with a preview from 9-11 a.m. each day.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
The star-studded lineup includes:
– Elizabeth Taylor’s personal 36-foot dressing room/trailer from the set of Cleopatra;
– Marilyn Monroe’s personally owned Pucci dress;
– Rare negatives from Marilyn Monroe;
– Frank Sinatra’s trench coat from The First Deadly Sin;
– Frank Sinatra’s stage-used bar stool from his concert performance in Brazil;
– Never before released photographs of Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 during their last recording session as the Jackson 5 (includes all rights to the photos);
– Michael Jackson’s original signed deed to Neverland Ranch;
– Unreleased Elvis Presley negatives and photographs;
– Program from Michael Jackson memorial service;
– The Monkees’ autographed guitars;
– Davy Jones’ stage worn shirt;
– Brandon Lee’s shirt from The Crow;
– Rock Hudson’s frock coat and helmet from Bengal Brigade;
– Tony Curtis’ military jacket from Suppose They Gave a War; and
– Dean Martin’s military jacket from Airport.
Also included is a collection of Sammy Davis Jr.’s stage-worn costumes including a black tuxedo by Sy Devore, Hollywood, with a gray vest, black silk bow tie by Sulka and a blue dress shirt with lace trim and mother of pearl buttons embroidered “Sammy Jr” by Natlvise, Sunset Strip (May 1973); a blue and gray striped double breasted custom-styled suit by Certo, Beverly Hills, with a blue and orange shirt custom made by Ascot Chang; and a Levis jacket and pants with rhinestones depicting “Love each other” on the back with flowers, hearts, butterfly, bird and star designs.
A collection of Liberace’s costumes includes a jeweled velvet and lace tuxedo with tails and matching pants, vest, dickey and velvet bow tie choker that is pictured on Liberace’s album The Way We Were, includes record album; and his original Bicentennial costume—a rhinestone covered red, white and blue leather jacket with fringe matching hot pant shorts, handbag and necklace—which was featured during his 1971 run at Caesar’s Palace.
Also offered are hundreds of props from contemporary films including the Harry Potter and Piranha franchises.
“Hollywood Extravaganza VI will truly be an extravaganza, as we are offering fans a once in a lifetime opportunity to bid on amazing and rare personal objects from legendary stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra,” said Dan Levin, vice president of marketing for Premiere Props. “These items all hold a place in the history of Hollywood and we are delighted that we are able to bring them to adoring fans around the world.”
Fans can starting bidding now, placing bids online at https://www.liveauctioneers.com/news or calling to set up phone bidding with a Premiere Props representative. Collectors can place proxy bids until the Hollywood Extravaganza V Auction goes live at 11 a.m. on June 23.
For more information, visit http://www.premiereprops.com or call 310-322-PROP or 888-761-PROP.
Michael Jackson’s fedora from the 1987 music video ‘Smooth Criminal.’ It has Jackson’s name, printed in gold, on the inside brim. Image courtesy Premiere Props.
Sammy Davis Jr.’s Levis jacket with rhinestones spelling out ‘Love each other.’ Image courtesy Premiere Props.
Black fedora handmade in Italy by Guerra and worn by Michael Jackson on his Victory Tour of 1984. Image courtesy Premiere Props.
The exterior of Elizabeth Taylor’s 36-foot dressing room/trailer used while filming ‘Cleopatra.’ Image courtesy Premiere Props.
Fit for a queen, Elizabeth Taylor’s bed inside the dressing room/trailer. Image courtesy Premiere Props.
Marilyn Monroe’s personally owned Pucci dress. Image courtesy Premiere Props.
Josef Israels, ‘Women Gathering Shellfish,’ oil on canvas. Image courtesy Woodbury Auction.
WOODBURY. Conn. – On Sunday, June 17, Woodbury Auction presents its third anniversary spring fine estates auction with a strong offering of over 480 lots of fine and decorative art and American and Continental furniture from seven estates and over 70 individual consignors from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas and California.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
This anniversary sale is being held at 11 a.m. EDT in the firm’s auction hall at 710 Main St. South, Middle Quarter Plaza, in Woodbury. Preview times are Thursday, June 14, noon to 5 p.m.; Friday, June 15, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday, June 16, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. An extended preview with wine and cheese will be open from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday evening. Preview is also available from 8 a.m. on the day of sale. An old-fashioned barbeque will be served on Sunday during the auction.
Among the highlights of the auction are two original pieces of silver jewelry by renowned sculptor Alexander Calder, whose workshop was in Roxbury, Conn. The items, a spiral brooch and a ring, have never been offered for sale, having been given by the artist to the consignor, a local Woodbury resident, in 1953. According to Thomas Schwenke, owner and auctioneer, the items were discovered as a result of the firm’s consignment event held in April.
Other noteworthy lots from local sellers include a rare marble sculpture by noted American sculptor Oscar L. Lenz, who worked in Providence, R.I. The monumental work depicts the adoration of Pan by a female nymph and is in as found condition. According to the consignor, the sculpture descended from the Perry family home in Newport, R.I., and has been in storage for some time.
One of the rarest items in the sale is an original Art Nouveau-style bronze Porter Garden Telescope, serial number 27. The garden telescope was designed in the 1920s by Russell W. Porter, father of amateur astronomy in America, founder of the Springfield Telescope Makers, and an instructor at MIT. One of the fewer than 20 known surviving examples is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
Several mid-century modern pieces are on offer, including a grouping of wrought iron serpentine wall sconces and a rare and unique wrought iron circular serpentine 53-inch-diameter chandelier, all attributed to the renowned French designer Jean Royere. The items have been in storage for several years after being removed from a Connecticut location where they were installed in the 1950s.
The sale also features many fine art lots including a framed oil on canvas of two peasant women gathering shellfish by Josef Israels (1824-1911) a Dutch artist; a unique painted taxicab by graffiti artist LA II; a recently discovered oil on canvas of a harbor scene by Harry Chase (1853-1889); an American artist working in Europe, and two works by Ernest Hennings, which were recently found in a Chicago attic. Hennings painted in Taos, N.M., and sold works through Marshall Field & Co. in Chicago. The sale includes over 100 paintings, prints and drawings by various other listed artists including works by Marc Chagall, Le Corbusier, Joseph Newman and many others.
Fresh to the market formal American furniture lots include a recently discovered Federal inlaid mahogany Pembroke table, possibly from Litchfield, Conn., a rare Sheraton carved mahogany game table attributed to the workshop of Duncan Phyfe in original untouched condition, and a Hepplewhite inlaid mahogany swell-front chest with drop panel, probably made in Portsmouth, N.H.
Silver lots to be sold include a unique sterling silver presentation cup from Yale University, several sterling silver flatware sets including Dominick & Haff, Gorham and Towle, and from the estate of Jane Coler in Woodbury is a rare Tiffany & Co. sterling silver ivory handled presentation trowel given to Bird S. Coler as commissioner of New York City Department of Welfare and inscribed to commemorate the New York City Cancer Institute, Roentgen Pavilion, dated May 20, 1925.
Several bronzes are also featured, including two fine Bergman cold painted bronzes, one a lamp form Carrying the Princess, as well as a gilt bronze figure Nude Study by noted American sculptor Paul Howard Manship, best known for his famous Prometheus statue at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
The sale also includes over 50 estate Oriental carpets including Persian and Caucasian room and scatter-size rugs, and other regional Asian rugs of varying sizes.
The catalog for the sale is viewable at www.woodburyauction.com. Absentee and phone bidding are available for this live gallery auction, and the sale will be broadcast live through LiveAuctioneers.com. To register or arrange for absentee or phone bidding, please call Woodbury Auction at 203-266-0323.
U.S. soldiers climb the reconstructed stairs of the Ziggurat of Ur in Iraq in 2010. The ancient Mesopotamian temple tower was damaged in the First Gulf War in 1991 by small arms fire and the structure was shaken by explosions.Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Iraqi architects and historians have decried official neglect of historical buildings nationwide, many of which have fallen into disrepair and disuse, and called for greater attention to be paid to them.
“For many years, we have talked about the importance of maintaining historical centers and buildings spread across Iraqi cities … but unfortunately, the government did not respond to these calls,” Iraqi architect Hisham al-Medfai said at a conference of local historians and architects over the weekend.
“Architectural heritage in urban centers now requires an important step to maintain it,” Medfai said.
He pointed out that only 200 old houses remain in the eastern half of Baghdad, after hundreds were replaced by new shopping centers, which Medfai described as a big loss and a result of the absence of planning.
Medfai called for the government to invest in preserving heritage buildings.
“There are historical centers and a huge heritage culture that Baghdad inherited, and they are now 1,250 years old,” said Iraqi historian Salim al-Alusi.
“And there are historical centers belonging to the pre-Islamic period, especially in Agerguf (west Baghdad), but there is no interest in maintaining them,” he said.
“The best period Baghdad passed through was during the monarchy, but there are no institutions for keeping the heritage like officials did in that era,” Alusi continued.
During the rule of now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq enforced laws protecting historical sites.
But since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that overthrew his regime, such laws have seen lax enforcement and the government has prioritized reconstruction of the war-battered country over preservation of heritage buildings.
More recently, however, Baghdad’s local authority has begun prohibiting locals from renovating their houses or buildings if they are classed as historical sites.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
U.S. soldiers climb the reconstructed stairs of the Ziggurat of Ur in Iraq in 2010. The ancient Mesopotamian temple tower was damaged in the First Gulf War in 1991 by small arms fire and the structure was shaken by explosions.Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Humberto Calzada, ‘War of Solitude,’ circa 1987, acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy Abell Auction Co.
LOS ANGELES – On Sunday, June 10, Abell Auction Co. will present an important sale offering over 450 lots of fine art, antiques, fine jewelry, silver, and appointments from estates throughout California. The auction will begin at 10 a.m. PDT. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
Highlighting the important sale is a large collection of American and French art glass from the estate of John Swint of Anaheim, Calif. John Swint arrived in Orange County with his family in the late 1940s prior to the postwar building boom that occurred in Southern California. Taking advantage of the surging population with the creation of Disneyland and the surrounding neighborhoods, Swint became one of Orange County’s most prolific architects. From the Swint estate, Abell will be auctioning three Tiffany Studios table lamps, including a Dragonfly lamp (estimated at $20,000-$30,000.00), a twelve-light Lily lamp (est. $25,000-$35,000), and an Acorn lamp (est. $8,000-$12,000). In addition, there is a collection of Tiffany Favrile glass vases, bowls, and table articles, including a Tiffany Cypriote vase (est. $7,000-$10,000); Rene Lalique bowls, vases, and platters; and vases and bowls created by Daum, Galle, Le Verre Francais, and Argy-Rousseau.
From two other Southern California collections, Abell will be offering additional Tiffany Studios table lamps and French art glass. Two significant lamps from a Newport Beach collection include a Tiffany Studios Geranium lamp (est. $60,000-$80,000) and a Grueby glazed ceramic pot with a Bigelow & Kennard shade ($15,000-$20,000). From a San Diego private collector, Abell will offer additional French art glass that includes Argy-Rousseau and Almeric Walter pate-de-verre table articles. Between these three collections, Abell is offering one of the finest auctions of Tiffany lamps and French art glass to come to market in Southern California in years.
Abell will also be auctioning American works of art by Hovsep Pushman, Jack Wilkinson Smith, Millard Sheets, Paul Lauritz, Charles Rollo Peters, William Smedley, David Howard Hitchcock, Harry Roseland, Alfred Reth, Eric Sloane, an Edward Curtis orotone, and drawings by Frederick Remington. Latin American and European artists represented include works by Fernando de Szyszlo, Miguel Padura, Humberto Calzada, Santiago Cardenas, Karl Marko, George Romney, and a Maurice Utrillo watercolor, among other artists.
Other quality items to be offered include a set of Paul Storr silver service plates (est. $10,000-$15,0000); a diamond and platinum engagement ring weighing 3.65 carats ($15,000-$20,000); a collection of gold pocket watches including pieces by Patek Philippe, E. Howard & Co., Cardineaux, and a Jules Jurgensen (est. $12,000-$15,000); as well as hundreds of lots of antique furniture, Chinese porcelains, sterling flatware and hollowware, and other quality appointments.
Previews are from Wednesday, June 6, through Saturday, June 9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2613 Yates Ave. in Los Angeles. A complete fully illustrated catalog may also be viewed at Abell’s website: www.abell.com. For any further information or questions, contact Joe Baratta at 800-404-2235.
Victor Ostrovsky (Canadian/Israeli, b. 1949), ‘Abstract I,’ oil on canvas, signed lower left, 50 inches x 40 inches. Gallery price $40,000. Estimate: $20,000-$30,000. Image courtesy Kaminski Auctions. BEVERLY, Mass. – Kaminski Auctions will conduct their June Estate Sale on Saturday, June 16, beginning at 11 a.m. EDT. Included in the collection are several oil paintings by Canadian-born artist Victor Ostrovsky, as well as a pair of Persian Kashan rugs (estimated $8,000-$12,000), and an impressive selection of antique furniture and silver.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
As a best-selling author and screenplay writer, Ostrovsky is also an accomplished painter. At a young age, the artist’s family moved from Canada to Israel, where well-known Israeli painter, Gilaldi, taught him to use oil paints. At the age of 18, Ostrovsky was a second lieutenant in the Israeli armed forces, and soon assumed the role of a lieutenant commander in the Israeli Navy. Soon after, he received an invitation to train for his country’s elite foreign intelligence service. Ostrovsky believes that such experience has informed his written works and his screenplays. His time in the Israeli army has also certainly inspired his paintings, which have been described as “enigmatic and cryptic.” Three of his pieces, Monarch Cover, Duets and Abstract I, all estimated between $20,000-$30,000, will be featured.
Other highlights from the sale include a 19th century Herter Brothers occasional table, estimated between $4,000 and $7,000. An ebonized wood piece with gold line trim and an inlaid floral design, the table epitomizes the craftsmanship of the German-born brothers, Gustave and Christian Herter. A New York-based firm, the two are said to be the most prominent decorators and furniture makers of the late 19th century. The brothers boasted clients such as William Henry Vanderbilt and the White House.
Also included in the June sale are several important Asian items, a Steinway baby grand piano (serial number 120462) built in 1906 and estimated between $5,000-$9,000, and a collection of French gilt silver. Totaling an impressive 67 pieces, the set includes flatware, a serving spoon, a tomato server, sugar sifter and tongs, and a tea caddy spoon with square tea strainer. Each piece is hallmarked with Minerva head and monogram. The set is estimated at $4,000-$6,000. Another silver flatware set will also be up for sale. This vermeil wash collection is of 19th century French origin and is estimated between $4,000 and $6,000.
Three noteworthy pieces of mahogany furniture are on offer including a triple pedestal dining table estimated $2,000-$4,000, an antique 19th century Hepplewhite sideboard estimated $2,000-$3,000, an early New England Queen Anne Highboy estimated $4,000-$6,000 and a Boston block-front slant lid desk estimated $2,000-$3,000. An English Stonehouse Leeds tall clock estimated between $2,000 and $3,000 and a 19th century A. Breckenridge & Son Kilmarnock tall clock estimated between $1,500 and $2,500 will also be auctioned. The sale will also offer a man’s stainless steel Rolex Datejust watch from the 1970s with blue color string diamonds and a dial and pave set (model #16014) estimated between $1,500 and $2,500. Another important piece to be included is a 19th century Sheraton chest with bird’s-eye maple drawer fronts estimated $2,000-$2,500.
Many of the pieces in this sale are originally from the estate of Marie B. Dawes of Winchester, Mass.
The auction will take place at Kaminski Auctions gallery at 117 Elliott St., State Route 62, Beverly, Mass.
Victor Ostrovsky (Canadian/Israeli, b. 1949), ‘Abstract I,’ oil on canvas, signed lower left, 50 inches x 40 inches. Gallery price $40,000. Estimate: $20,000-$30,000. Image courtesy Kaminski Auctions.
Victor Ostrovsky (Canadian/Israeli, b. 1949), ‘Monarch Cover,’ oil on canvas, signed lower left, 59 x 35 inches, 73 x 49 inches (frame). Gallery price $64,800. Estimate: $20,000-$30,000. Image courtesy Kaminski Auctions.
Steinway baby grand piano, mahogany, serial number 120462, built 1906, with bench, 71 inches long x 56 inches wide. Estimate: $5,000-$9,000. Image courtesy Kaminski Auctions.
Louis Vuitton steamer trunk with tray. Estimate: $4,000-$6,000. Image courtesy Kaminski Auctions.
Nineteenth century A. Breckenridge & Son Kilmarnock tall clock, walnut, time and strike, with key, 83 inches high, inches wide at base x 10 inches diameter. Image courtesy Kaminski Auctions.
Antique 19th century Hepplewhite sideboard, mahogany, 39 inches high x 64 inches long x 27 inches deep. Estimate: $2,000-$3,000. Image courtesy Kaminski Auctions.
The Jewish Museum of Maryland is flanked by the Lloyd Street Synagogue on the left and the Chizuk Amuno Synagogue on the far right. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
BALTIMORE (AP) – When Marvin D. Pinkert tells friends from the area about his new job as executive director of the Jewish Museum of Maryland, he says they often ask, “When are they building a Jewish Museum in Baltimore?” or sometimes, “There’s a museum by Attman’s Deli?”
The museum’s outgoing director, Avi Decter, said that the site is better known nationally than locally by the Jewish community, but Pinkert aims to create “a major public attraction.”
The Jewish Museum of Maryland grew in programming, staff and collections in recent years, despite the financial challenges it and many other museums have faced. It also completed a $1 million restoration project on the Lloyd Street Synagogue next door, the oldest synagogue in Maryland.
With less government money to go around, grants and other funding sources have been difficult to come by for museums.
Just last month, the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore suspended operations because of economic challenges. When the Edgar Allan Poe House lost its city funding in 2011, it faced the possibility of closing.
“The challenges that Jewish museums face would reflect the challenges that all nonprofit organizations are facing right now,” said Joanne Marks Kauvar, executive director of the Council of American Jewish Museums, saying that most have survived by reducing their budgets, staffs and programming.
That was not the choice of the Jewish Museum of Maryland.
Decter said they nearly exhausted their reserves working to grow the museum in recent years, but had decided that “saving money, keeping it in the bank, wasn’t the most important thing.”
The museum’s most recent acquisition is a large photo collection from the Baltimore Jewish Times.
The president of the Jewish Museum, Larry Caplan, said that the museum board is working on a plan to “chart a course of fiscal stability.”
Part of this plan is reaching more people in the Jewish community and in the art community.
The museum itself gets 10,000 to 12,000 visitors in an average year, said Decter, many of whom come from throughout the U.S. and from Israel.
“Jews travel more than anyone else,” said Decter. “They like to see the oldest synagogue in town.”
Pinkert, who started his new job Friday, said he intends to use the museum’s collection to grow its audience, both national and local, by taking advantage of online outreach. He said he plans to use the museum’s website, which Decter said gets about 45,000 direct visits per year, to “complement the collections and physical museum.”
As the director of the National Archives Experience for the past 11 years, Pinkert worked in developing the archives’ first permanent interactive exhibit hall in 2004 and its digital vaults online exhibition in 2008. Before that, he was the vice president for programs at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago for 10 years, until he left in 1999 to be a consultant in the Washington, D.C., area.
This experience, said Caplan, has given Pinkert the knowledge and skills to reach the museum’s goals.
“The challenge now is for (Jewish) museums to remain dynamic and to move forward toward robust visions of what they might do in the future,” said Kauvar.
Pinkert’s vision includes the creation of a family environment at the museum, hoping to catch the interest of younger generations.
“Successful museums, they figure out a way to reach families,” said Pinkert. “Jewish Baltimore literally began here. If people really understood what is on this site, they would be here.”
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Information from: The Daily Record of Baltimore, http://www.mddailyrecord.com
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-06-04-12 1424GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The Jewish Museum of Maryland is flanked by the Lloyd Street Synagogue on the left and the Chizuk Amuno Synagogue on the far right. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Lee Wybranski’s first U.S. Open poster was the 2008 tournament at Torrey Pines, won by Tiger Woods. Image courtesy United States Golf Association.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – Flagstaff has its own connection to the U.S. Open golf championship.
For the past five years, Philadelphia native Lee Wybranski has been painting the official posters used by the USGA to promote its signature event.
And now Wybranski, who has been living in Flagstaff for the past couple of years while keeping his Group W Art Works studio in Philadelphia, has made the full-time transition to northern Arizona.
“We came to Flagstaff a couple of years ago for family reasons, and I kept the business studio in Philadelphia for the first few years, and things have gone well so we decided it was time to move the whole shindig out here to be a part of the place,” Wybranski said during an interview at his downtown Flagstaff studio.
Wybranski has just finished the 2012 U.S. Open poster that will be the event’s signature image, and he said the process has been quite a trip.
“I try to incorporate two or three main characters in the poster and limit them to that,” said Wybranski, who added he likes to make his posters bold and simple compositions. “With the U.S. Open posters, the main character is championship golf and usually there’s some sort of local kind of aspect that adds interest. This year, that’s the Cyprus trees.”
Wybranski said that to anyone, especially an East Coast guy like himself, the trees really stand out as a mystical and overpowering image that he couldn’t not include in this year’s poster.
He also added that he likes to incorporate a local landmark, and that this year’s instructions from the USGA said to include San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
“The painting themselves don’t take terribly long, maybe about a week, but almost all the decisions are made before the painting even begins,” Wybranski said. “The decision-making process takes a long time with me and the client going back and forth with small tweaks and changes until I get final approval.”
Once Wybranski has the green light, he puts his watercolors to the canvas in his own unique style.
He doesn’t like his posters to be very intricate with a lot of detail, and he said his background in painting posters tells him that they should be very bold and visible from a great distance.
Working with watercolors as his medium is also something that helps Wybranski with the poster-making process.
“One of the things I like is it allows for happy accidents to occur,” Wybranski said. “You can put one color next to another and sometimes they’ll run together and make a magical blend that you’d never get otherwise. It’s almost like watching Mother Nature busy at the work of creating.”
For the 2012 U.S. Open poster, Wybranski visited the Olympic Club in San Francisco last September to prepare for the project. He said he likes to spend a day or two taking photos and narrowing down his artistic vision with a camera before he puts paint to canvass.
“I really sketch a lot with the camera,” he said. “I know what’s going to go on the poster eventually in my head, so I shoot a lot of pictures that leave a lot of pace for the typeface knowing how I want it to look.”
This year’s poster is a bit unusual, as the view is from behind one of the greens looking back up at the tee with the Cyprus trees framing the fairway and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.
Between Wybranski’s love of golf—he gets the opportunity to play the U.S. Open courses once in a while—and his career as a painter, Wybranski has found the perfect niche in life.
“I knew coming out of art school that I wanted to make a career out of the arts,” he said. “Through some deliberate effort and also with some happenstance, I carved a niche out of the world of golf and it’s just blossomed in ways I’d never have anticipated.”
Wybranski’s first U.S. Open poster was for the 2008 event, and though he said it’s difficult to choose, that poster is his favorite.
“Obviously you bring your best to each one, but the 2008 poster is a particular favorite, because of both aesthetic and emotional and business reasons,” he said. “That was my first U.S. Open posters, it’s one of my favorite images I’ve ever made and it also happened to be for a historic event so the posters sold well.”
Wybranski said that as an artist, having such a large amount of people view his work in such a short period of time is one of the best ways to get his art and his name in the limelight.
“My first U.S. Open, the amount of people who saw and purchased my work, it was very gratifying,” Wybranski said. “I have a huge painting that I’ve spent over 135 hours on that would take years for 10,000 people to see. One of these posters, that only takes about a week to paint, gets huge viewership in three days. I knew since that first poster, I wanted to create images for the biggest events.”
Wybranski has now also broken the international art lines, as he was commissioned to paint the 2012 British Open poster as well.
“I have aspirations outside of golf as well, and there are many events that my work and my style would be a good fit, but in golf, I love the lore and history and mythology of the game so to be able to do work in the Old Country where it started was huge,” he said.
Wybranski will be hosting an open studio during Friday’s Art Walk, and said that he’s anticipating Flagstaff’s art-loving crowds coming to see where his work is created.
“I’ll be putting up work that I think will have the broadest appeal to people, and the work that I feel the best about and also the work that I like to see,” Wybranski said. “I don’t like to work with a lot of my own things on the wall, I like to work surrounded by the things that inspire me, so some of that will be up.”
The 2012 posters won’t be available until after the event, but all the previous year’s posters are available on Wybranski’s website, http://groupwartworks.com.
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Information from: Arizona Daily Sun, http://www.azdailysun.com/
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
