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Walt Kuhn found substance in the lives of circus performers

Walt Kuhn’s ‘Contralto,’ a 1947 oil portrait of a singer, earned $42,500 plus the buyer’s premium in March 2022. Image courtesy of Barridoff Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

ABOVE: Walt Kuhn’s ‘Contralto,’ a 1947 oil portrait of a singer, earned $42,500 plus the buyer’s premium in March 2022. Image courtesy of Barridoff Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

NEW YORK — Almost all artists are intrigued by alternative lifestyles, and Walt Kuhn (1877-1949) was no exception. He painted bold and psychologically charged portraits of circus and vaudeville performers that still resonate though vaudeville is extinct and the circus might soon join it.

Kuhn was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was fascinated with show performers and the entertainment industry. His mother reportedly introduced him to art and theater as a young child, and he attended countless performances of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus. He once secured a press pass to its Madison Square Garden performances, allowing him wide access to the performers backstage. This helped give his portraits more of an intimate look, such as in an oil-on-canvas painting of a ruddy-cheeked red-headed acrobat that attained $50,000 plus the buyer’s premium in February 2018 at Clars Auction Gallery.

This 1944 painting of a red-haired acrobat by Walt Kuhn attained $50,000 plus the buyer’s premium in February 2018. Image courtesy of Clars Auction Gallery and LiveAuctioneers.

According to the Sullivan Goss gallery’s website, “For the remainder of his life, employment in the entertainment industry acted as a second career and source of income for the artist. More importantly, it provided limitless inspiration for his canvases.” Shortly before he was institutionalized in 1948, he had even hoped to launch an open-air venue for circus and show business acts in Ogunquit, Maine, close to his studio in Cape Neddick, where he summered.

Kuhn rode a wave of American Modernism that took off shortly after the famous 1913 Armory Show in New York, which he helped organize. A prolific artist who created some 3,000 studies and paintings in his lifetime, he is best known for his oil portraits of performers. He often painted sitters from real life, though sometimes he relied on models. His subjects have a strong frontal gaze and are pictured without all the trappings of the circus in order to focus attention on the person.

Walt Kuhn’s 1927 portrait ‘The Tumbler’, a watercolor on paper, took $21,000 plus the buyer’s premium in August 2021. Image courtesy of Barridoff Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

“There’s not a lot of people who can get away with painting these outlandish characters and having them bring big money, but that’s really where he brings his big money,” said Jeremy Fogg, a fine art consultant at Barridoff Auctions in South Portland, Maine. “His landscapes bring a fraction of what his performers bring. He created this fascination with that circus lifestyle.”

In his portraits, he removes the performers from the stage and sets them against a monochromatic backdrop, usually painted in jewel-like tones of greens, reds, or purples, and sometimes white or black. Instead of delighting the audience with a performance, his sitters adopt solemn facial expressions. Some even look downcast or angry, perhaps illustrating to viewers the hardships they faced in life.

Detail of Walt Kuhn’s ‘Contralto,’ a 1947 oil portrait that earned $42,500 plus the buyer’s premium in March 2022. Image courtesy of Barridoff Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

The deep shadowing in a 1947 portrait, Contralto, adds to its emotional intensity, and the heavy makeup the sitter wears appears more like a mask to dissuade the viewer from getting to know her. The portrait earned $42,500 plus the buyer’s premium in March 2022 at Barridoff Auctions.

While his oil portraits bring the most money, Kuhn’s watercolors and works on paper perform well, with several commanding $20,000 to $40,000. A 1927 watercolor portrait, The Tumbler, took $21,000 plus the buyer’s premium in August 2021 at Barridoff Auctions. Dressed in a one-piece blue costume with a sash around his waist, the performer adopts a slightly jaunty stance and defensively crosses his arms in front of him.

An atypical subject matter for Walt Kuhn is this 1944 seascape oil on canvas, which brought $23,000 plus the buyer’s premium in August 2021. Image courtesy of Barridoff Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

Kuhn didn’t just paint performers, however. His subjects also included still lifes and landscapes, which also find favor with buyers. A 1944 seascape oil on canvas of his brought $23,000 plus the buyer’s premium in August 2021 at Barridoff Auctions. Images of waves crashing against the rocky shore is a perennially popular subject with New England audiences.

Fogg said the auction market has recorded a wide range of prices for Kuhn’s works, from a $1.5 million portrait of a circus performer that sold in 2021 at Christie’s to quick sketches and small drawings that can bring about $1,000. “It really depends, there’s just a big jump. There is a lot of work out there for him,” he said. “He did a lot of works on paper that people love, little sketches where he is doing the same figures, but really quick and moving fast. Because there are people who want to get into his market at every level, those pieces find their way onto the market.”

A 1929 still life of flowers by Walt Kuhn realized $4,500 plus the buyer’s premium in February 2024. Image courtesy of Freeman’s Hindman and LiveAuctioneers.

Among his paintings that are accessible to new collectors are his still lifes of flowers, which he painted in a slightly more traditional manner. An example realized $4,500 plus the buyer’s premium in February 2024 at Freeman’s Hindman.

Kuhn watercolors also appear at reasonable prices, particularly those that do not depict his signature subject matter. A watercolor and ink drawing titled Indian Brave on Horseback sold for $1,400 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2022 at Freeman’s Hindman. While born in New York, he actually started his career as an illustrator in San Francisco, California. Traveling out west, he was taken with the landscape and even created a series titled An Imaginary History of the West, which was inspired in part by the Western novels he read.

Walt Kuhn’s watercolor titled ‘Indian Brave on Horseback’ went out at $1,400 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2022. Image courtesy of Freeman’s Hindman and LiveAuctioneers.

Despite a lack of attention across the years — the last major Walt Kuhn exhibition was a retrospective at the DC Moore Gallery in 2013, commemorating the centennial of the Armory Show — prices for Kuhn’s work have been strong recently. “I do think he’s having a little moment in the sun right now,” Fogg said.

Andrea Valluzzo

Andrea Valluzzo is an award-winning journalist who has worked for media publications for more than 20 years. Today, she enjoys writing about antiques, collectibles, art and the art of collecting. Based in Connecticut, she's also an avid scrapbooker who loves Broadway shows.

Bid Smart Walt Kuhn

Tiffany Studios windows radiate beauty and stir the soul

A circa-1916 Tiffany Studios ‘Gabriel Blowing His Horn’ window made $85,000 plus the buyer’s premium in September 2021. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery and LiveAuctioneers.

NEW YORK — The use of stained glass windows in churches to illustrate stories from the Bible dates back as far as the 10th century. Pictorial lessons for the masses were key as literacy rates in medieval Europe were poor. These colorful windows typically depicted Jesus, angels, and religious figures amid symbolic and venerated motifs signifying concepts such as rebirth, immortality, truth, charity, love, and purity. The practice of wealthy donors funding stained glass windows has a long history as well, and in the 19th century, patrons turned to Tiffany Studios when they wanted to make a statement while glorifying their house of worship.

Boris Lovet-Lorski gave Art Deco a sultry shape

‘Diana,’ a Boris Lovet-Lorski bronze featuring the Roman goddess known for hunting, attained the highest price for the artist on the LiveAuctioneers platform when it sold for $47,500 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2021. Image courtesy of Freeman’s Hindman and LiveAuctioneers.

NEW YORK — At the height of the Art Deco era, Boris Lovet-Lorski (Lithuanian and American, 1894-1973) was one of the most celebrated sculptors working in New York City. The metropolis had already become a locus for art thanks to the 1913 Armory Show, and in the mid-1920s, it was a Mecca for Art Deco enthusiasts.

Born in Lithuania, Lovet-Lorski studied architecture and sculpture in Russia at the Imperial Academy of Art and worked as an architect until arriving in the United States in 1920. The ‘20s were a heady time in New York. Following World War I, the city was booming economically and artistically. Art Deco skyscrapers such as the Chrysler building and the Empire State building sprang up during this era, forever changing the appearance of the skyline.

Thriving in the culturally diverse atmosphere of New York, Lovet-Lorski soon became well known for his lyrical and well-balanced sculptures that were inspired by forms from antiquity and a variety of cultural styles, but had a modern bent.

Another view of Boris Lovet-Lorski’s bronze, ‘Diana,’ which attained the highest price for the artist on the LiveAuctioneers platform when it sold for $47,500 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2021. Image courtesy of Freeman’s Hindman and LiveAuctioneers. — Another view of Boris Lovet-Lorski’s bronze ‘Diana,’ which attained the highest price for the artist on the LiveAuctioneers platform when it sold for $47,500 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2021. Image courtesy of Freeman’s Hindman and LiveAuctioneers.

“Lovet-Lorski is best known for his sculptural works that depict human figures and animals in a distinctive Art Deco style characterized by voluminous forms, sensuous lines, and stylized details,” said Director of Arts and Design at Heritage Auctions, Samantha Robinson.“The artist’s work in stone and bronze continues to command strong prices at auction. Collectors are particularly drawn to his depictions of mythological figures and horses.”

Among his sculptures paying homage to Greek and Roman mythology is Diana, a bronze featuring the Roman goddess known for hunting. This work, dating to 1927-29 and depicting the goddess with two highly stylized dogs at her heels, attained the highest price for the artist on the LiveAuctioneers platform. It sold for $47,500 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2021 at Freeman’s Hindman.

Boris Lovet-Lorski’s ‘Polymnia,’ a carved marble sculpture standing 25 ½-in tall, achieved $34,000 plus the buyer’s premium in April 2022. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

Several of his sculptures were inspired by Greek myths, including Polymnia, a carved marble sculpture standing 25 ½in tall, which achieved $34,000 plus the buyer’s premium in April 2022 at Heritage Auctions. The title translates to ‘one of many hymns.’ “Polymnia is a spectacular example of Lovet-Lorski’s work in carved marble, depicting the Greek muse of sacred poetry, hymn, and dance in half-length format,” Robinson said. “While her lack of arms reinforces the suggestion of antiquity, the style in which she is executed was quite modern in the 1920s. Her facial features, hair, and body are highly stylized, reduced down to their simplest elements. She is at once powerful and elegant.”

A lustrous bronze ‘Venus’ by Boris Lovet-Lorski realized $4,600 plus the buyer’s premium in July 2022. Image courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries and LiveAuctioneers.

In keeping with the Art Deco aesthetic, Lovet-Lorski’s work has a streamlined, fluid look that ripples with sensuality, as seen in a highly polished bronze of Venus holding her arms above her head, winglike. It went out at $4,600 plus the buyer’s premium in July 2022 at New Orleans Auction Galleries.

“His work is very much indicative of the Art Deco period, and as such appeals to modern tastes,” said Michele M. Carolla, a fine art specialist in British and American paintings and works on paper and sculpture at New Orleans Auction Galleries. “His initial training as an architect is reflected in his sculpture, with the emphasis on the linear, the elongated forms or limbs, the sharp, angular contours, and the reduction of elements to their most basic, highly polished surfaces,” she said.

This well-defined Boris Lovet-Lorski sculpture, dubbed ‘Poodle’ and measuring 17 by 7 by 15in, brought $3,000 plus the buyer’s premium in September 2018. Image courtesy of Toomey & Co. Auctioneers and LiveAuctioneers.

Adding a touch of whimsy to his oeuvre is a sculpture in pewter dubbed Poodle. Boasting well-defined features, it made $3,000 plus the buyer’s premium in September 2018 at Toomey & Co. Auctioneers.

His white marble sculpture busts are also desirable, though they typically do not see the prices that his highly reflective dark bronze sculptures bring. A carved marble Lovet-Lorski bust was a good buy at $3,500 plus the buyer’s premium in September 2023 at Material Culture. Small in stature and measuring just 11in tall, including the wood stand, this bust can easily be displayed.

This carved marble bust by Boris Lovet-Lorski sold for $3,500 plus the buyer’s premium in September 2023. Image courtesy of Material Culture and LiveAuctioneers.

Perhaps due to the limited number of his sculptures, which range from bronze to marble examples, demand has long been strong, Carolla said. “The auction market for Boris Lovet-Lorski’s sculpture at the moment is robust and has remained fairly consistent over the last few years.”

Those who seek his sculptures tend to be advanced collectors of Art Deco material located both in the United States and Europe, Robinson said. “While Lovet-Lorski also worked in other media, such as painting, drawing, and lithography, his sculptural works dominate the upper ranks of his auction record. Sculptures dated to the late 1920s and early 1930s, the height of Art Deco, are the most highly sought after.” New collectors looking for accessible entry points to his art would do well to focus on his two-dimensional works, Robinson added.

A group of 10 lithographs by Boris Lovet-Lorski earned a robust price of $7,000 plus the buyer’s premium in July 2021. Image courtesy of Shapiro Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

Noting that Lovet-Lorski’s works do not come up at auction that often, especially his sculptures, Carolla advised beginning collectors “to concentrate on his drawings. They are stylistically and thematically similar to his sculptures — some may even be preliminary sketches for his sculptures — but they generally sell for under $500.”

Lithographs typically are accessible to new collectors and can be sourced individually or in group lots. A lot offering 10 Lovet-Lorski lithographs sold for $7,000 plus the buyer’s premium in July 2021 at Shapiro Auctions. The lithographs on loose pages were originally printed in a bound portfolio by the artist in 1929 when in Paris.

Due to problems with arthritis, which developed in the 1930s and became worse as time passed, Lovet-Lorski was forced to change his medium from sculpture to painting. He reportedly could not lift his hands over his head, which prevented him from creating heavy sculptures.

Boris Lovet-Lorski’s ‘Ceremonial’, a circa-1960 oil on canvas, went out at $4,400 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2021. Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries and LiveAuctioneers.

Lovet-Lorski endeavored to make his two-dimensional works just as compelling as his sculptures. Ceremonial, a circa-1960 oil on canvas measuring 42 by 50in, went out at $4,400 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2021 at Swann Auction Galleries. “His late-career abstract paintings, like the current work, echo the mythological and fantasy subject matter of his Art Deco works while channeling the artist’s ‘innermost self,’ his memories, and his interest in natural beauty,” according to the auctioneer’s catalog description of this painting.

Another distinctive abstract work from this era is a 1961 tile mosaic that sold for $3,200 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2022 at Rago Arts and Auction Center.

A 1961 abstract tile mosaic by Boris Lovet-Lorski took $3,200 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2022. Image courtesy of Rago Arts and Auction Center and LiveAuctioneers.

From his sleek and elegant Deco-era sculptures that accentuate form and line to later explorations of vibrant color in his abstract paintings, Boris Lovet-Lorski retained a highly distinctive style throughout his career. Referencing classical and ethnographic themes helped provide continuity throughout his body of work, and in turn makes it appealing to contemporary collectors.

Andrea Valluzzo

Andrea Valluzzo is an award-winning journalist who has worked for media publications for more than 20 years. Today, she enjoys writing about antiques, collectibles, art and the art of collecting. Based in Connecticut, she's also an avid scrapbooker who loves Broadway shows.

Art Deco Art Deco sculpture Bid Smart Boris Lovet-Lorski

Alice Neel, the rebel portraitist who saw her sitters clearly

A 1982 lithograph by Alice Neel, ‘Bather (Olivia with Red Hat),’ earned $13,000 plus the buyer’s premium in October 2021. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

NEW YORK — Portraits tell stories. The unflinching portraits by Alice Neel (1900-1984) are realistic and honest, showing a wide swath of humanity in a variety of settings: a young girl on a beach, a well-dressed businessman sitting in an office, a gay couple embracing, an immigrant family relaxing at home. These portraits tell many stories; in some, the viewer can only guess at the story by mulling a sitter’s enigmatic expression. As Neel herself once said, “For me, people come first. I have tried to assert the dignity and eternal importance of the human being.”

Neel has been described as one of the most important portrait artists of the 20th century. At a time when male artists dominated the art world, and whose paintings were often made for male viewers, Neel’s work was a breath of fresh air. Her paintings subscribed to the ‘female gaze’ concept in art, especially in her powerful nudes of women that were decidedly not made for male viewers to drool over. A fine example is an untitled 1966 lithograph of a woman shown nude from the waist up. She is not lolling on a bed or posing seductively. Instead, she sits upright, assertively, and stares at the viewer as if to ask what they are looking at. This work made $6,000 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2022 at Rago Arts and Auction Center.

This untitled Alice Neel lithograph of a nude woman made $6,000 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2022. Image courtesy of Rago Arts and Auction Center and LiveAuctioneers.

Neel also stands out for specializing in figurative painting at a time when Abstract Expressionism was in vogue. “Alice Neel was a rebel. She painted female nudes exuding their own self-created, personal power, not derived from sexuality,” said Wade Terwilliger, president of Palm Beach Modern Auctions in West Palm Beach, Florida. “She was associated with scandalous social circles, lived in poverty — even shoplifting to support her children, according to an article I read — and had a fascinating history of love affairs, one of which resulted in the burning of 350 of her works. She followed this up by painting herself nude at 80 years of age. As a multifaceted rebel in her own life, her artistic genre is just one aspect of her contrarianism.”

Alice Neel’s lithograph ‘Mother and Child (Nancy and Olivia)’ realized $5,500 plus the buyer’s premium in March 2023. Image courtesy of Freeman’s Hindman and LiveAuctioneers.

In her portraits, Neel strove to not make a subject beautiful or handsome, but to instead show the subject’s humanity. Any so-called ‘flaws,’ from a tired smile by an exhausted mother to an extra roll of flesh, only made her subjects more relatable. In lithographs such as Mother and Child (Nancy and Olivia), which realized $5,500 plus the buyer’s premium in March 2023 at Freeman’s Hindman, she departs from her male contemporaries’ typical idealized views of motherhood. In this portrait of her daughter-in-law, she shows that motherhood is life-changing. Neel’s own motherhood experiences were fraught with tremendous challenges. She lived a tumultuous life, and ended up having four children with three men. After losing her firstborn daughter to diphtheria at age one, her husband left her, taking their second child with him. Neel suffered a nervous breakdown and spent six months in a hospital after attempting suicide. Her subsequent relationships with men yielded two more children, but were not drama-free.

An oil on Masonite by Alice Neel, ‘Black Spanish Intellectual,’ attained $80,000 plus the buyer’s premium in December 2022. Image courtesy of Palm Beach Modern Auction and LiveAuctioneers.

In certain portraits, she steers clear of typical portraiture conventions and depicts her sitters turned away from the viewer, perhaps locked in a moment of deep thought. Black Spanish Intellectual, an oil on Masonite that attained $80,000 plus the buyer’s premium in December 2022 at Palm Beach Modern Auctions, clearly demonstrates this approach.

“Black Spanish Intellectual offers Neel’s typical complexity of expression, and some mystery that makes this portrait special,” said Terwilliger. “Instead of a direct, intense gaze back at the viewer, there is quiet conflict, a reaction to an internal dialogue, or something happening off camera, and that is a strength.”

A crayon, watercolor, and gouache and pencil Alice Neel portrait of noted feminist journalist and art collector Harriet Lyons soared above its $20,000-$30,000 estimate to bring $70,000 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2021. Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries and LiveAuctioneers. — A crayon, watercolor, gouache, and pencil Alice Neel portrait of noted feminist journalist and art collector Harriet Lyons soared above its $20,000-$30,000 estimate to bring $70,000 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2021. Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries and LiveAuctioneers.

Born and raised in a Philadelphia suburb, Neel lived in Cuba for a while before settling in New York City in the 1930s. There, she lived in two very different neighborhoods: Spanish Harlem and the Upper West Side, and her experiences in both fueled her interest in painting people from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. She painted family and neighbors as well as those in the arts. She was also interested in social justice, and painted activists. In her 1974 portrait of Harriet Lyons, a founding editor of the feminist magazine Ms., Neel portrays Lyons with a direct and commanding gaze — an artistic choice that honors the important work the sitter was doing in writing about issues of women’s sexuality and rights. The crayon, watercolor, gouache, and pencil portrait made $70,000 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2021 at Swann Auction Galleries.

Neel also trained her unflinching gaze on a young girl on the beach in a 1982 lithograph, Bather (Olivia with Red Hat), which earned $13,000 plus the buyer’s premium at Heritage Auctions in October 2021. She captures the child, who is dressed in a bikini and a bucket hat and has her hands on her hips, staring at the viewer with an expression of mild annoyance, at an age when she is still confident in her body.

The auction market is strong for Neel, particularly among United States-based collectors, but European audiences have begun taking notice. According to the Alice Neel website, she received little attention in Europe until “exhibitions that toured Europe in 2010 and 2016 resulted finally in her recognition as a world renowned artist.” New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art mounted a major Neel retrospective in 2021 that renewed attention and drove a price spike immediately after. “Her highest auction results for paintings are recent, within the last three years,” Terwilliger said. “Of those over $1 million, only one was prior to 2021. Editions are in a similar trend as well.”

An Alice Neel screenprint of ‘Geoffrey Hendricks & Brian’ took $11,000 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2023. Image courtesy of Palm Beach Modern Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

For beginning collectors who admire Neel’s work, her editioned prints are often a good entry point. Prices can vary from a few thousand dollars to more than $10,000. A signed screenprint of Geoffrey Hendricks & Brian took a strong price of $11,000 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2023 at Palm Beach Modern Auctions. This particular work likely performed so well as it was prominently featured in the Met’s retrospective. “It was very recognizable to collectors, even among the many evocative depictions she made of queer life and relationships,” Terwilliger said.

While her drawings obviously don’t bring prices that match her original oil paintings, they are highly sought after. An untitled ink and gouache on paper known as Young Girl Sitting at a Table brought $22,000 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2021 at Rago Arts and Auction Center.

An untitled Alice Neel ink and gouache on paper, also known as ‘Young Girl Sitting at a Table’, brought $22,000 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2021. Image courtesy of Rago Arts and Auction Center and LiveAuctioneers.

Neel’s artworks are as relevant today as when she painted them. Calling herself a collector of souls, she depicted people from all corners of society. In each work, she imbued a sense of the sitter’s dignity, whether they were a vaunted art critic or a washerwoman. Psychologically intense, they nearly vibrate with emotion.

“You can look at Alice Neel’s portraits and immediately relate to them,” Terwilliger said. “She painted her subjects with candor and honesty, and often depicted states of mind that aren’t ‘pretty’, but are universally felt. Boredom, stress, curiosity, stoicism, exhaustion, and a smirk here and there keep her work relevant over 70-plus years.”

Andrea Valluzzo

Andrea Valluzzo is an award-winning journalist who has worked for media publications for more than 20 years. Today, she enjoys writing about antiques, collectibles, art and the art of collecting. Based in Connecticut, she's also an avid scrapbooker who loves Broadway shows.

Alice Neel Bid Smart portraits woman artist

Martin Lewis captured the shadowy allure of New York City

A 1930 pencil-signed Martin Lewis drypoint, ‘Shadow Dance’, achieved $27,500 plus the buyer’s premium in September 2023. Image courtesy of Freeman’s Hindman and LiveAuctioneers.

NEW YORK — Born in Australia, Martin Lewis (1881-1962) emigrated to the United States in 1900 and became renowned for his prints and etchings of New York. He ably captured the timelessness of the city from its people to its urban landscapes.

In his lifetime, Lewis’s work was very popular, though his output was limited. He produced slightly fewer than 150 drypoints and etchings (Picasso, by comparison, made more than 2,400 unique prints). Along with his friend Edward Hopper, Lewis was one of the leading artists of the Etching Revival (1850-1930). Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, Lewis found success and receptive audiences for his New York City scenes that captured its character as well as its teeming life.

Detail of ‘Shadow Dance’, a 1930 Martin Lewis-signed drypoint that achieved $27,500 plus the buyer’s premium in September 2023. Image courtesy of Freeman’s Hindman and LiveAuctioneers.

Despite his talent, Lewis and many other artists found themselves struggling economically in the 1930s. To save money, he left New York and relocated to rural Connecticut, switching his subject matter to pastoral landscapes. These pieces were not as desired by collectors, however, and by the time Lewis was able to move back to New York City in 1936, the Etching Revival was over. Lewis continued working, but failed to reach the career highs he once had, and he began teaching at the Art Students League to supplement his income.

In the ensuing decades, he has alternately been forgotten and celebrated. Kennedy Galleries in New York mounted a retrospective in 1973, and the Old Print Shop had one for him in 2016. Despite a seeming lack of attention paid by the museum world, collectors who seek out American Scene artists such as Lewis have retained a fondness for his prints.

“Buyers love Martin Lewis for the shadows — he was the master of the night, and the way that light hits his subjects is simply magical. They also love him for his realistic depictions of city life in the 1920s and 1930s,” said Monica Brown, vice president and head of the department of prints and multiples at Freeman’s Hindman.

Martin Lewis’s 1928 drypoint ‘Relics (Speakeasy Corner)’ attained $60,000 plus the buyer’s premium in November 2023. Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries and LiveAuctioneers.

One of Lewis’s most well-known prints is Relics (Speakeasy Corner). Depicting a street corner in the city’s Greenwich Village neighborhood, this aerial view is noteworthy for its ability to capture mood and architecture. A 1928 drypoint attained $60,000 plus the buyer’s premium in November 2023 at Swann Auction Galleries. According to price databases, this sum represents the highest price paid at auction for one of Lewis’ prints in the past 30 years, said Meagan Gandolfo, a prints and drawings specialist at Swann Auction Galleries. “At one point or another, we can all identify with the people in this drypoint, feeling alone in a large city, and this is what resonates with collectors. Relics … is strikingly similar to Hopper’s earlier etching, Night Shadows, which also does extremely well at auction,” she said.

Checking all the boxes is a 1930 Lewis drypoint, Shadow Dance, which achieved $27,500 plus the buyer’s premium in September 2023 at Freeman’s Hindman. “This print has what all desirable Martin Lewis prints have: great tonality, a softness to the shadows inherent in the highly skilled art of the printing process, and excellent condition,” Brown said.

A 1930 daytime scene of New York by Martin Lewis, ‘Subway Steps’, brought $28,000 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2022. Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries and LiveAuctioneers.

While most of his most beloved scenes of New York are nocturnes, a 1930 drypoint, Subway Steps, shows well-dressed commuters and families making their way around the busy city by day. A deeply-inked artist’s proof print, one of eight in this state, realized $28,000 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2022 at Swann Auction Galleries.

“He uses etching and drypoint to a masterful degree, creating extraordinary contrasts between dark and light, creating texture and highlighting small details,” said Sarah McMillan, another prints and drawings specialist at Swann Auction Galleries, who added, “He captures scenes of everyday life in New York City, which can either be full of life or empty and isolated, and are very popular with buyers.”

Martin Lewis’ pencil-signed aquatint ‘Which Way?’, is among those that do not feature New York City subject matter. This impression made $34,000 plus the buyer’s premium in April 2021. Image courtesy of Soulis Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

Only a few examples of Lewis scenes showing something other than New York are known. When one comes to auction, collectors take notice. An aquatint titled Which Way? depicting a couple driving along a snowy road in the country, probably in Connecticut, brought a robust price of $34,000 plus the buyer’s premium in April 2021 at Soulis Auctions.

A fog-drenched scene by Martin Lewis, titled ‘Misty Night, Danbury’, went out at $26,000 plus the buyer’s premium in November 2022. Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries and LiveAuctioneers.

A Connecticut scene valued for its scarcity and subject matter is Misty Night, Danbury, an example of which went out at $26,000 plus the buyer’s premium in November 2022 at Swann Auction Galleries. According to author Paul McCarron in his catalogue raisonné, “This is the only depiction of fog in Lewis’s (1881-1962) printed œuvre, and the grainy nature of lithography is particularly suited to it. His use of a delicate tracery of crooked lines to denote tree limbs in the distance is, likewise, found only in this print.”

Lewis is a favorite with American audiences. Most of his rare state prints and seldom-seen scenes offered at auction land within or above their estimates. “We are finding that scarce, technically brilliant prints by Lewis are still selling at high price points and breaking auction records,” Gandolfo said.

Buyers looking to start a collection may be dissuaded, as the upper price end for Lewis is comparable to what some artists command for original paintings, but there are affordable options. His works derived from his travels to Japan are typically affordable, as are most of his Connecticut prints, with the above-mentioned examples being exceptions. “These prints are equally technical, though have less broad appeal to Lewis collectors,” Gandolfo added.

Martin Lewis’ ‘Two A.M.’, a 1932 first state drypoint, earned $12,500 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2018. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

Lewis was at his best when capturing New York’s ephemeral moments. In Two A.M., he focuses attention on three young women walking arm-in-arm while a city worker hoses down the street. A 1932 first state drypoint, which brought $12,500 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2018 at Heritage Auctions, shows the artist’s mastery of inking out tiny details such as the dots in one woman’s hat and the merchandise in the shop windows.

An interesting print to consider is a drypoint of Late Traveler, which is signed by the artist and his daughter-in-law, Patricia Lewis, and printed posthumously circa 1982. It realized $10,000 plus the buyer’s premium in February 2023 at Swann Auction Galleries. The rich detail in the subject matter makes this work notable. Subway kiosks that Lewis includes in the composition were later torn down by the city but they live on in this print, which, despite the heavy black tones, still conveys the detail in their fish-scale-like roofs.

‘Late Traveler’ by Martin Lewis, signed by the artist and his daughter-in-law, Patricia Lewis, and posthumously printed circa 1982, realized $10,000 plus the buyer’s premium in February 2023. Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries and LiveAuctioneers.

Lewis was a skilled printmaker whose images continue to resonate with buyers. His firm command of tonality and delicate shading of shadow and plate tone ensure that his prints are prized.

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Andrea Valluzzo

Andrea Valluzzo is an award-winning journalist who has worked for media publications for more than 20 years. Today, she enjoys writing about antiques, collectibles, art and the art of collecting. Based in Connecticut, she's also an avid scrapbooker who loves Broadway shows.

Bid Smart Martin Lewis

Hester Bateman, queen of British silversmiths

A Hester Bateman silver punch bowl, made in London in 1781, tripled its $3,000-$5,000 estimate when it achieved $15,000 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2021. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

NEW YORK — Collecting silver is a passion for those who seek eye-catching centerpieces fit for a palace or even just tumblers for everyday use. There are many styles as well as an infinite number of silversmiths to choose from. Women silversmiths were not uncommon in the 1700s, and one of the names that comes up often at auction is Hester Bateman, whose pieces have been coveted across the centuries.

Bateman (circa 1708-1794) was the wife of John Bateman, a chain maker (a form of a silversmith). They raised at least five children together, and she also assisted him in his silversmithing shop. As was typical in this era, she inherited his tools and his business when he died in 1760 and came up with her own hallmarks, including her initials ‘HB’ in a fancy script. Known as the queen of British silversmiths, she ran the family business for about 30 years before several of her sons took it over.

“Hester’s workshop produced thousands of works in the Neoclassical style. She created household silverwares such as teapots, coffee caddies, samovars, cutlery, and racing cups for a middle-class London clientele,” according to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, which noted that much of her work was inspired by classical Greek and Roman motifs. ⁣⁣

A large George III English silver pitcher by Hester Bateman, having a pear form, made $3,500 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2022. Image courtesy of Brunk Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

Collecting silver is, as with anything else, highly personal, but with Bateman pieces, collectors are advised to seek out large and heavy pieces to capitalize on their investment value. Standouts also boast fine engraving or piercing that accentuate the play of light on the silver.

“Her holloware forms are where the interest is, and those tend to be those wonderful Neoclassical-style George III works with beautiful lines and classical urn forms,” said Karen Rigdon, vice president of fine silver and objects of vertu, furniture, and decorative arts at Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas. While the auction market for Bateman’s work was perhaps more favorable about a decade ago, Rigdon said her statement pieces continue to do well, and are acquired mainly by American buyers.

A 1781 Hester Bateman punch bowl, shown alongside a detail of its silver marks. It tripled its $3,000-$5,000 estimate when it achieved $15,000 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2021. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

A case in point is a sizable silver punch bowl she made in London in 1781 that attained a robust price of $15,000 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2021 at Heritage Auctions. This commanding piece, weighing 63 troy ounces and standing 8 3/4 by 12 3/8 inches tall, was simple and elegant in its form, with delicate engraving on the front and around the rim. “That piece is pretty massive, 63 ounces, which is incredible,” Rigdon said, adding, “When her bright-cut engraving is good, it’s very good.” The bowl is clearly recognizable as Bateman’s to those who know her work, but it is also clearly identifiable on the bottom, too, marked with her initials as well as the lion passant and crowned leopard’s head marks she is known to have used.

Detail from a large George III English silver pitcher by Hester Bateman, showing her engraving of a heraldic design with an arm holding a flag above the initials RAB. The pear-form pitcher made $3,500 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2022. Image courtesy of Brunk Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

Showcasing the quality of Bateman’s engraving is a George III English silver pitcher from 1786, which made $3,500 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2022 at Brunk Auctions. The pear-form pitcher, having an elongated spout and an S-scroll handle, boasted fine engraving of a heraldic design with an arm holding a flag above the initials RAB.

Barrel forms with movement around the side and bright-cut engraving are some of the distinguishing attributes of Bateman’s best silver, Rigdon noted. “That’s what you think of with her — simple, classical forms, motion that tends to be vertical lines, and then the engraved surfaces.”

In 1781, Hester Bateman created this parcel gilt Torah silver pointer that earned $7,250 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2016. Image courtesy of J. Greenstein & Co., Inc. and LiveAuctioneers.

Judaica silver is prized by collectors and has a loyal following. Bateman was known to have made pieces for a then-new synagogue for the Jewish community of Portsmouth, which is reported to be the oldest Anglo-Jewish community outside of London. A Hester Bateman parcel gilt Torah silver pointer earned $7,250 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2016 at J. Greenstein & Co., Inc.

A pair of Hester Bateman sterling silver cups and covers brought $6,000 plus the buyer’s premium in November 2023. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Company and LiveAuctioneers. — A pair of Hester Bateman sterling silver cups and covers made in 1784, brought $6,000 plus the buyer’s premium in November 2023. Image courtesy of Neal Auction Company and LiveAuctioneers.

Silver collectors who use it to set a stylish table seek pieces such a pair of Bateman’s two-handled vase-form cups and covers that stood 16 1/2 inches tall. Dating to 1784 and boasting urn-form finials on the lids, the pair realized $6,000 plus the buyer’s premium in November 2023 at Neal Auction Company.

Pickings are a bit slim at auction these days for Bateman silver. What mostly becomes available are the aforementioned statement pieces that possess a certain heft and well-done engraving that auctioneers know will sell well, and indeed, they do tend to fly high above their estimates.

This Hester Bateman five-piece silver set with salver from the mid-1780s went out at $6,500 plus the buyer’s premium in February 2023. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

Complete sets offer added value, as seen with a Hester Bateman five-piece silver salver set from the mid-1780s that bested its $2,000-$4,000 estimate to sell for $6,500 plus the buyer’s premium in February 2023 at Heritage Auctions. The set featured a 12 1/4-inch coffee pot with a wooden handle and a delicate urn-finial on the cover, as well as smaller pieces comprising a teapot, basket, a pitcher, and a salver 16 inches in diameter. Fine beading graces the spout of the coffee pot and the basket’s handle, and also circles the bases of several of the pieces.

A George III silver wax jack by Hester Bateman realized £2,600 ($3,325) plus the buyer’s premium in April 2023. Image courtesy of John Nicholson Auctioneers and LiveAuctioneers.

⁣⁣Unusual and rare Bateman works also command attention, such a George III silver wax jack that made £2,600 ($3,325) plus the buyer’s premium in April 2023 at John Nicholson Auctioneers. A wax jack was used to hold sealing wax tapers in order to seal documents. Standing on ball and claw feet, this 1776 example stood 6 1/2 inches tall and also had fine beading edges.

Bateman’s decoration tended to be restrained and minimal, but a stunning exception is a George III silver tea caddy with dare-we-say exuberant engraving that realized $2,500 plus the buyer’s premium in March 2023 at Alex Cooper.

A Hester Bateman George III silver tea caddy secured $2,500 plus the buyer’s premium in March 2023. Image courtesy of Alex Cooper and LiveAuctioneers.

With care and effort, collectors who admire Hester Bateman silver can build a respectable collection that will hold its value. Large, heavy-gauge silver holloware pieces with bright-cut engraving and piercing will not only stand up to market fluctuations but will also be a joy to behold for years.
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Andrea Valluzzo

Andrea Valluzzo is an award-winning journalist who has worked for media publications for more than 20 years. Today, she enjoys writing about antiques, collectibles, art and the art of collecting. Based in Connecticut, she's also an avid scrapbooker who loves Broadway shows.

Bid Smart British silver Hester Bateman Judaica women silversmiths

Ed Mell saw the American Southwest like no other

Ed Mell’s ‘Red Rock,’ a large oil painting from 1980, achieved $30,000 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2021. Image courtesy of Freeman’s Hindman and LiveAuctioneers.

NEW YORK — Arizona native Ed Mell (1942-2024) forged a career painting the rugged landscapes of the American Southwest, from Modernist-looking images of jagged cliffs and billowing clouds that swept over the desert to blooming cactus flowers and herds of longhorn cattle. Capturing the intense light and striking landforms of the region is no easy feat. Countless artists have done it before, so the views are familiar to audiences. Yet, in Mell’s paintings, what viewers see is a fresh, abstracted take, in keeping with a new era of Southwest modernism.

American Southwest Bid Smart Ed Mell Western art

Bulgari Tubogas jewelry, inspired by 1920s pipes, stays timeless

A circa-1960s tri-color 18K gold Bulgari Tubogas bracelet watch achieved $14,000 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2018. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

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NEW YORK — When thinking of opulent and finely-crafted Italian jewelry and watches, Bulgari is the name that comes to mind. Since its inception in Rome in 1884, the company has perfected the art of making luxurious and streamlined pieces that push the boundaries of the medium, and has come up with many memorable lines. Among Bulgari’s most celebrated — and innovative — are its jewelry and watches made via the Tubogas technique, named for the distinctive look of gas carrier pipes that were widely used in the 1920s.

Bid Smart Bulgari Bulgari Tubogas Bulgari Tubogas bracelet Bulgari Tubogas necklace Bulgari Tubogas Serpenti Bulgari Tubogas wristwatch

Marie Laurencin placed women and girls front and center

A signature Marie Laurencin portrait, featuring the sitter gazing directly at the viewer with large and dark eyes, achieved $30,000 plus the buyer’s premium in December 2020. Image courtesy of Brunk Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

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NEW YORK — At first glance, Marie Laurencin’s paintings seem innocuous and mostly decorative, portraying girls and women gazing steadily but passively at the viewer or dancing across the canvas. Nearly dissolving into their billowy and delicate gowns, the women appear in a very muted color palette of pale blues, grays, and rose hues. The French painter (1883-1956) was singular among her contemporaries in Paris, most of whom were male Cubist artists.

Bid Smart Marie Laurencin

Walter Dorwin Teague, dean of industrial design

This Walter Dorwin Teague Nocturne radio, model 1186, achieved $40,000 plus the buyer’s premium in June 2019. Image courtesy of Wright and LiveAuctioneers.

NEW YORK — Dubbed the dean of industrial design, Walter Dorwin Teague (American, 1883-1960) began his career in advertising and expanded into typography and commercial packaging before focusing on industrial design in the late 1920s. This proved to be a key time for the nascent field, as the United States would soon suffer severe economic hardship during the Great Depression. Companies needed to give customers reasons to buy their products, and they hoped industrial design would supply at least some of those reasons.

American industrial design Art Deco Bid Smart industrial design Nocturne radio Sparton Walter Dorwin Teague

Andrea Valluzzo

Andrea Valluzzo

Andrea Valluzzo

Andrea Valluzzo

Andrea Valluzzo

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