Two original 1940's oil paintings by the New England landscape artist Emile Gruppe (1896-1978) were sold on eBay by West Highland Art Auction Brokers on August 26, 2011 for remarkably strong prices. A 25" x 30" (untitled) Winter Scene was sold for $5,500, and a 16" x 20" landscape titled "Sycamores In Fall" was sold for $3,500. In a live public auction, like Sothebys or Christies, a 20% buyer's fee would have been added to the prices realized.
"These are very competitive prices in today's art market," stated Les Fox, co-owner of West Highland. "Honestly, I don't think we could have done better anywhere else. Even at Sotheby's or Christies. The original owner, a woman in her 80's, was very happy with the results. And so are we."
West Highland Art Auction Brokers is a unique art auction service. Fox buys art for top dollar, then "shares the auction profit" with the original owner, which no other art dealer in the world will do. The brokers only deal in original paintings by listed artists with public auction records. They offer free research and art appraisals.
"We recently decided to give our clients the option of selling in a live public auction or selling on eBay," noted Sue Fox. "We've sold art on eBay for many years, but we weren't sure how well these exciting paintings would do. We started the bidding at $100 apiece, with no reserve. Amazingly, over 550 serious collectors looked at each auction, and we got 36 bids! People know our name. They trust us to offer genuine and high quality art on eBay. We stand out from the mix of amateurs and dealers who list over 100,000 paintings a day on the popular auction site."
New York Times bestselling authors Les and Sue Fox are now researching a new book titled "The Art Buyers Handbook" which will be published in 2012. The book will tell people how to find valuable art at garage sales and flea markets.
"Based on these eBay results," Fox said, "We are interested in buying or brokering paintings by all popular 19th and 20th century artists, including Emile Gruppe, Aldro Hibbard, Fern Coppedge, Anthony Thieme and Rolph Scarlett to sell on eBay. Plus, we still offer our clients the option to sell at Sotheby's, Christies or any of the other high end auction houses. Whatever is best for the client is best for us."
West Highland Art Auction Brokers does not appraise or broker prints, lithographs, limited editions or other reproductions.
2011年8月31日星期三
2011年8月30日星期二
UNKNOWN WATERCOLORS BY OTTO DIX
Their arresting blaze of colors is unforgettable, and cannot be captured by reproduction. Otto Dix’s large watercolors
are among the most sensual works of the Neue Sachlichkeit. Now, several previously unknown Dix watercolors have been
rediscovered. They were turned up by the Duesseldorf gallery owners Peter Barth and Herbert Remmert while working on an
exhibition to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Dix’s birth in 1891. A small sensation in the world of art history.
In the 1920s Dix established his reputation as an enfant terrible, and at the same time as a virtuoso of watercolor
technique, known for masterful wet-on-wet depictions of prostitutes, sailors, invalids and other marginal figures of
contemporary society. After studying in Dresden, the artist settled in Duesseldorf in 1922, where he maintained an
atelier and met the art dealer Johanna Ey and Dr. Hans Koch, who was soon to become one of his major patrons.
It did not seem bother Koch that Dix stole his wife in the year that he arrived in Duesseldorf. “If you are going to
take her away from me, then do it properly,” Koch said, or something along those lines. Dix married his wife Martha in
1923 and they remained together until his death in 1969. The children from Martha’s marriage to Dr. Koch, Martin and
Hana Koch, grew up with their father.
Herbert Remmert: We found the watercolors a few weeks ago in the estate of Martha Koch’s daughter. We had been in touch
with her, Hana Koch, and her daughter since 1994, when we held an exhibition about Dr. Hans Koch, who in addition to his
medical practice was also an art collector and dealer. He possessed an important collection, including works by Paul Klee
and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Since 1917, Koch was also curator of Das Graphische Kabinett von Bergh & Co., where he showed
works by Erich Heckel, Emil Nolde and many other artists.
We advised Hana Koch and her daughter that we were planning an exhibition for Otto Dix’s 120th birthday and while we
were doing our research there we found these previously unknown watercolors, and also some drawings came to light.
How many watercolors are we talking about and how do they fit in from an art historical point of view?
Specifically, we are talking about three important watercolors from Dix’s years in Duesseldorf, from 1922 and 1923. The
titles of the works are Soubrette, Nächtens and Strich III. The period in which they were produced is deemed the most
important for Dix’s watercolors and was his most productive time. Furthermore, a preparatory work, in watercolor, was
found for an important oil painting, Bildnis des Kunsthändlers Alfred Flechtheim, which can today be found in the Neue
Nationalgalerie in Berlin.
are among the most sensual works of the Neue Sachlichkeit. Now, several previously unknown Dix watercolors have been
rediscovered. They were turned up by the Duesseldorf gallery owners Peter Barth and Herbert Remmert while working on an
exhibition to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Dix’s birth in 1891. A small sensation in the world of art history.
In the 1920s Dix established his reputation as an enfant terrible, and at the same time as a virtuoso of watercolor
technique, known for masterful wet-on-wet depictions of prostitutes, sailors, invalids and other marginal figures of
contemporary society. After studying in Dresden, the artist settled in Duesseldorf in 1922, where he maintained an
atelier and met the art dealer Johanna Ey and Dr. Hans Koch, who was soon to become one of his major patrons.
It did not seem bother Koch that Dix stole his wife in the year that he arrived in Duesseldorf. “If you are going to
take her away from me, then do it properly,” Koch said, or something along those lines. Dix married his wife Martha in
1923 and they remained together until his death in 1969. The children from Martha’s marriage to Dr. Koch, Martin and
Hana Koch, grew up with their father.
Herbert Remmert: We found the watercolors a few weeks ago in the estate of Martha Koch’s daughter. We had been in touch
with her, Hana Koch, and her daughter since 1994, when we held an exhibition about Dr. Hans Koch, who in addition to his
medical practice was also an art collector and dealer. He possessed an important collection, including works by Paul Klee
and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Since 1917, Koch was also curator of Das Graphische Kabinett von Bergh & Co., where he showed
works by Erich Heckel, Emil Nolde and many other artists.
We advised Hana Koch and her daughter that we were planning an exhibition for Otto Dix’s 120th birthday and while we
were doing our research there we found these previously unknown watercolors, and also some drawings came to light.
How many watercolors are we talking about and how do they fit in from an art historical point of view?
Specifically, we are talking about three important watercolors from Dix’s years in Duesseldorf, from 1922 and 1923. The
titles of the works are Soubrette, Nächtens and Strich III. The period in which they were produced is deemed the most
important for Dix’s watercolors and was his most productive time. Furthermore, a preparatory work, in watercolor, was
found for an important oil painting, Bildnis des Kunsthändlers Alfred Flechtheim, which can today be found in the Neue
Nationalgalerie in Berlin.
2011年8月29日星期一
Top 10 Oil Paintings for the Summer
In the heat of summer, one might be enjoying the beach, the poolside parties, and the summer cocktails infused with exotic fruits. Has anyone thought for a moment to consider a change in their interior design? Perhaps an update to the walls in the home can brighten one's day. Cheapoilpainting.com provides affordable art reproductions to everyone.
VP of Marketing at Cheapoilpainting.com, Olivia Preston, said, "We have thousands of oil paintings that can complement any season: Winter, Fall, Spring, and Summer. Since it is now summer we've noticed an increase in order on summer themed paintings. We've also noticed a general trend of more and more people buying according to the seasons - perhaps they are looking to harmonize the interior of their homes and offices with their external environment".
With that in mind, Cheapoilpainting.com has put together a list of their top 10 favorite paintings for the summer.
1. Paul Gauguin, Tahitian Landscape (circa 1893). Almost everyone knows the story behind Gauguin, and the mystique and allure of the summer paradise only adds to the oil painting's standing. After all, who doesn't have the summer fantasy of escaping a dreary existence and lazing on an island paradise? This oil painting is perfect for the beach house - or for eliciting getaway fantasies in your suburban office.
2. Claude Monet, The Poppy Field (1873). This painting is one of a series hailed as the best Monet paintings, recreating the French summer to such sweltering effects that the poppies seemingly shimmer on the canvas - watch out, it could be hot to touch.
3. Winslow Homer, A Summer Night (1890). Many critics consider this oil painting to be the perfect synthesis of Realism and Symbolism - an exquisite piece conveying the sense of summer mystery and poetry.
4. Alfred Sisley, The Loing at Moret in Summer (1891). This Impressionist landscape classic features clear blue skies and the brilliant reflections of light on a slowly meandering river - you can almost feel the summer love in the air. A perfect addition to the vacation home by the river.
5. David Hockney, A Bigger Splash (1967). This painting represents a break in the old and the ushering of the modern, at least in terms of houses and swimming pools. With pool parties steadily increasing in popularity, everyone knows the impact of that splash. No artist has captured that pivotal moment more astutely than this Hockney oil painting.
6. Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, Basket With Wild Strawberries (1761). Anyone who has ever picked their own wild strawberries knows the heavenly reward for the hard work; added to the heap of strawberries is a smooth round peach and traffic-light bright cherries. A glass of water cools off the summer intensity. An ideal still life for that sweltering day.
7. Isaac Levitan, Summer Evening (1899). The Russian artist beautifully captures the rural mood of a parched and sparse country landscape. The heat, combined with the loneliness, perfectly portrays the summer-soaked evening light in the country. It's no wonder he was a favorite artist and close friend of Chekhov.
8. Bridget Riley, To a Summer's Day (1980). What makes this painting so special is its simplicity - summer hues are interweaved across the horizontal canvas, simultaneously creating impressions of the sky, ground, ocean or whatever landscape your mind's eye develops. Perfect for any location to recreate the mirage and ripples of high summer temperatures.
9. Fred Williams, Beachscape with bathers Queenscliff IV (1971). This oil painting is a clear indication of why many consider him Australia's greatest modern painter, and why beaches will forever be treasured as an integral part of summer. Williams captures the beachscape effortlessly and with precision, reminding everyone of summers spent frolicking in the sand and surf.
10. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880-81). This oil painting remains one of Renoir's best known and most popular work of art. Why? It flawlessly captures the idyllic and jovial summer atmosphere as friends share conversation, food and wine on a balcony overlooking the Seine. It summarizes the most important thing about the season: spending time with loved ones and enjoying the simple things in life.
Who is Cheapoilpainting.com?
Cheapoilpainting.com offers museum-quality oil painting reproductions at a price everyone can afford. They also offer hand painted picture to painting services. With up to 70% off gallery prices, the company has a 30-day, 100% money back guarantee, along with an extensive 100% satisfaction guarantee. High resolution photos are sent to customers for approval before shipping any painting and shipping of paintings is free of charge. Browse Cheapoilpainting.com to view its extensive collection of oil paintings and for special offers.
VP of Marketing at Cheapoilpainting.com, Olivia Preston, said, "We have thousands of oil paintings that can complement any season: Winter, Fall, Spring, and Summer. Since it is now summer we've noticed an increase in order on summer themed paintings. We've also noticed a general trend of more and more people buying according to the seasons - perhaps they are looking to harmonize the interior of their homes and offices with their external environment".
With that in mind, Cheapoilpainting.com has put together a list of their top 10 favorite paintings for the summer.
1. Paul Gauguin, Tahitian Landscape (circa 1893). Almost everyone knows the story behind Gauguin, and the mystique and allure of the summer paradise only adds to the oil painting's standing. After all, who doesn't have the summer fantasy of escaping a dreary existence and lazing on an island paradise? This oil painting is perfect for the beach house - or for eliciting getaway fantasies in your suburban office.
2. Claude Monet, The Poppy Field (1873). This painting is one of a series hailed as the best Monet paintings, recreating the French summer to such sweltering effects that the poppies seemingly shimmer on the canvas - watch out, it could be hot to touch.
3. Winslow Homer, A Summer Night (1890). Many critics consider this oil painting to be the perfect synthesis of Realism and Symbolism - an exquisite piece conveying the sense of summer mystery and poetry.
4. Alfred Sisley, The Loing at Moret in Summer (1891). This Impressionist landscape classic features clear blue skies and the brilliant reflections of light on a slowly meandering river - you can almost feel the summer love in the air. A perfect addition to the vacation home by the river.
5. David Hockney, A Bigger Splash (1967). This painting represents a break in the old and the ushering of the modern, at least in terms of houses and swimming pools. With pool parties steadily increasing in popularity, everyone knows the impact of that splash. No artist has captured that pivotal moment more astutely than this Hockney oil painting.
6. Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, Basket With Wild Strawberries (1761). Anyone who has ever picked their own wild strawberries knows the heavenly reward for the hard work; added to the heap of strawberries is a smooth round peach and traffic-light bright cherries. A glass of water cools off the summer intensity. An ideal still life for that sweltering day.
7. Isaac Levitan, Summer Evening (1899). The Russian artist beautifully captures the rural mood of a parched and sparse country landscape. The heat, combined with the loneliness, perfectly portrays the summer-soaked evening light in the country. It's no wonder he was a favorite artist and close friend of Chekhov.
8. Bridget Riley, To a Summer's Day (1980). What makes this painting so special is its simplicity - summer hues are interweaved across the horizontal canvas, simultaneously creating impressions of the sky, ground, ocean or whatever landscape your mind's eye develops. Perfect for any location to recreate the mirage and ripples of high summer temperatures.
9. Fred Williams, Beachscape with bathers Queenscliff IV (1971). This oil painting is a clear indication of why many consider him Australia's greatest modern painter, and why beaches will forever be treasured as an integral part of summer. Williams captures the beachscape effortlessly and with precision, reminding everyone of summers spent frolicking in the sand and surf.
10. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880-81). This oil painting remains one of Renoir's best known and most popular work of art. Why? It flawlessly captures the idyllic and jovial summer atmosphere as friends share conversation, food and wine on a balcony overlooking the Seine. It summarizes the most important thing about the season: spending time with loved ones and enjoying the simple things in life.
Who is Cheapoilpainting.com?
Cheapoilpainting.com offers museum-quality oil painting reproductions at a price everyone can afford. They also offer hand painted picture to painting services. With up to 70% off gallery prices, the company has a 30-day, 100% money back guarantee, along with an extensive 100% satisfaction guarantee. High resolution photos are sent to customers for approval before shipping any painting and shipping of paintings is free of charge. Browse Cheapoilpainting.com to view its extensive collection of oil paintings and for special offers.
2011年8月28日星期日
Cheap returns for clueless Olley art thief
Art tends to skyrocket in value after the artist passes away - or so the cliche goes. It was perhaps with this in mind that a thief walked into the Bowral and District Hospital five days after Margaret Olley's death and took one of her pictures from a wall.
The crime was meticulously planned. The thief walked into the waiting room at the children's ward with a cheap replacement print swathed in white fabric. With the new print disguising the theft, it took hospital staff five days to miss Olley's work.
It might have been the perfect get-rich-quick scheme - but for one crucial detail. While Olley's paintings and signed prints sell for thousands of dollars, the hospital's unsigned reproduction of the oil painting Parrot Tulip is worth next to nothing. Identical prints are on sale at the Mittagong Visitor Information Centre for $50.
Olley painted it to raise money for the McGrath Foundation during the annual Southern Highlands Tulip Time Festival. It sold at auction for $50,000 to the broadcaster Alan Jones, who donated it back to the charity.
Organisations that helped with the fund-raising received unsigned reproductions of Olley's work. One of the 100 prints went to Berrima District Credit Union's charity foundation for children. The credit union spent $400 on framing and donated it to the hospital. The vice president of the credit union foundation, Ross Stone, said the theft was disappointing, though - given the work's value - hardly alarming. ''I don't know what they think they'll do with it,'' Mr Stone said.
The police have identified a suspect. Moss Vale policeman Senior Constable Martyn Rigby said it was ''reasonable'' to speculate the thief hoped to cash in on Olley's death.
''It's a brazen act,'' he said.
The crime was meticulously planned. The thief walked into the waiting room at the children's ward with a cheap replacement print swathed in white fabric. With the new print disguising the theft, it took hospital staff five days to miss Olley's work.
It might have been the perfect get-rich-quick scheme - but for one crucial detail. While Olley's paintings and signed prints sell for thousands of dollars, the hospital's unsigned reproduction of the oil painting Parrot Tulip is worth next to nothing. Identical prints are on sale at the Mittagong Visitor Information Centre for $50.
Olley painted it to raise money for the McGrath Foundation during the annual Southern Highlands Tulip Time Festival. It sold at auction for $50,000 to the broadcaster Alan Jones, who donated it back to the charity.
Organisations that helped with the fund-raising received unsigned reproductions of Olley's work. One of the 100 prints went to Berrima District Credit Union's charity foundation for children. The credit union spent $400 on framing and donated it to the hospital. The vice president of the credit union foundation, Ross Stone, said the theft was disappointing, though - given the work's value - hardly alarming. ''I don't know what they think they'll do with it,'' Mr Stone said.
The police have identified a suspect. Moss Vale policeman Senior Constable Martyn Rigby said it was ''reasonable'' to speculate the thief hoped to cash in on Olley's death.
''It's a brazen act,'' he said.
2011年8月25日星期四
Fastest Growing Companies for Second Consecutive Year
The nine-year-old company specializes in home décor with the most comprehensive selection of hand painted reproduction oil paintings, frames, and ceramic art tiles to choose from in the online oil painting industry. overstockArt.com also ranked 33rd out of the 204 companies representing the retail sector. The company’s three year growth rate of 368 percent was one of the largest contributing factors to its high ranking. This is the second year in a row the overstockArt.com’s first appearance on the prestigious list.
“We are incredibly honored to be recognized among the nation’s elite private companies,” said Sasson. “overstockArt.com’s growth is directly attributable to the talent and commitment of our team, the high quality of our art and the degree of confidence customers have as they shop with us.”
As an Inc. 5000 honoree, overstockArt.com shares a prestigious pedigree with such notable alumni as Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Jamba Juice, Timberland, Visa, Clif Bar, Patagonia, Oracle, and scores of other powerhouses.
The 2011 Inc. 5000 list measures revenue growth from 2007 through 2010. More than seven million businesses applied for selection. Winners are awarded a listing with other leading companies , a feature in the September 2011 issue of the magazine, and an invitation to an honoree ceremony.
“We are incredibly honored to be recognized among the nation’s elite private companies,” said Sasson. “overstockArt.com’s growth is directly attributable to the talent and commitment of our team, the high quality of our art and the degree of confidence customers have as they shop with us.”
As an Inc. 5000 honoree, overstockArt.com shares a prestigious pedigree with such notable alumni as Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Jamba Juice, Timberland, Visa, Clif Bar, Patagonia, Oracle, and scores of other powerhouses.
The 2011 Inc. 5000 list measures revenue growth from 2007 through 2010. More than seven million businesses applied for selection. Winners are awarded a listing with other leading companies , a feature in the September 2011 issue of the magazine, and an invitation to an honoree ceremony.
2011年8月24日星期三
Top 10 Oil Paintings for the Summer Revealed
In the heat of summer, one might be enjoying the beach, the poolside parties, and the summer cocktails infused with exotic fruits. Has anyone thought for a moment to consider a change in their interior design? Perhaps an update to the walls in the home can brighten one’s day. Cheapoilpainting.com provides affordable art reproductions to everyone.
VP of Marketing at Cheapoilpainting.com, Olivia Preston, said, “We have thousands of oil paintings that can complement any season: Winter, Fall, Spring, and Summer. Since it is now summer we’ve noticed an increase in order on summer themed paintings. We’ve also noticed a general trend of more and more people buying according to the seasons – perhaps they are looking to harmonize the interior of their homes and offices with their external environment”.
With that in mind, Cheapoilpainting.com has put together a list of their top 10 favorite paintings for the summer.
1. Paul Gauguin, Tahitian Landscape (circa 1893). Almost everyone knows the story behind Gauguin, and the mystique and allure of the summer paradise only adds to the oil painting’s standing. After all, who doesn’t have the summer fantasy of escaping a dreary existence and lazing on an island paradise? This oil painting is perfect for the beach house – or for eliciting getaway fantasies in your suburban office.
2. Claude Monet, The Poppy Field (1873). This painting is one of a series hailed as the best Monet paintings, recreating the French summer to such sweltering effects that the poppies seemingly shimmer on the canvas – watch out, it could be hot to touch.
3. Winslow Homer, A Summer Night (1890). Many critics consider this oil painting to be the perfect synthesis of Realism and Symbolism – an exquisite piece conveying the sense of summer mystery and poetry.
4. Alfred Sisley, The Loing at Moret in Summer (1891). This Impressionist landscape classic features clear blue skies and the brilliant reflections of light on a slowly meandering river – you can almost feel the summer love in the air. A perfect addition to the vacation home by the river.
5. David Hockney, A Bigger Splash (1967). This painting represents a break in the old and the ushering of the modern, at least in terms of houses and swimming pools. With pool parties steadily increasing in popularity, everyone knows the impact of that splash. No artist has captured that pivotal moment more astutely than this Hockney oil painting.
6. Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, Basket With Wild Strawberries (1761). Anyone who has ever picked their own wild strawberries knows the heavenly reward for the hard work; added to the heap of strawberries is a smooth round peach and traffic-light bright cherries. A glass of water cools off the summer intensity. An ideal still life for that sweltering day.
7. Isaac Levitan, Summer Evening (1899). The Russian artist beautifully captures the rural mood of a parched and sparse country landscape. The heat, combined with the loneliness, perfectly portrays the summer-soaked evening light in the country. It’s no wonder he was a favorite artist and close friend of Chekhov.
8. Bridget Riley, To a Summer’s Day (1980). What makes this painting so special is its simplicity – summer hues are interweaved across the horizontal canvas, simultaneously creating impressions of the sky, ground, ocean or whatever landscape your mind’s eye develops. Perfect for any location to recreate the mirage and ripples of high summer temperatures.
9. Fred Williams, Beachscape with bathers Queenscliff IV (1971). This oil painting is a clear indication of why many consider him Australia’s greatest modern painter, and why beaches will forever be treasured as an integral part of summer. Williams captures the beachscape effortlessly and with precision, reminding everyone of summers spent frolicking in the sand and surf.
10. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880-81). This oil painting remains one of Renoir’s best known and most popular work of art. Why? It flawlessly captures the idyllic and jovial summer atmosphere as friends share conversation, food and wine on a balcony overlooking the Seine. It summarizes the most important thing about the season: spending time with loved ones and enjoying the simple things in life.
Who is Cheapoilpainting.com?
Cheapoilpainting.com offers museum-quality oil painting reproductions at a price everyone can afford. They also offer hand painted picture to painting services. With up to 70% off gallery prices, the company has a 30-day, 100% money back guarantee, along with an extensive 100% satisfaction guarantee. High resolution photos are sent to customers for approval before shipping any painting and shipping of paintings is free of charge. Browse Cheapoilpainting.com to view its extensive collection of oil paintings and for special offers.
VP of Marketing at Cheapoilpainting.com, Olivia Preston, said, “We have thousands of oil paintings that can complement any season: Winter, Fall, Spring, and Summer. Since it is now summer we’ve noticed an increase in order on summer themed paintings. We’ve also noticed a general trend of more and more people buying according to the seasons – perhaps they are looking to harmonize the interior of their homes and offices with their external environment”.
With that in mind, Cheapoilpainting.com has put together a list of their top 10 favorite paintings for the summer.
1. Paul Gauguin, Tahitian Landscape (circa 1893). Almost everyone knows the story behind Gauguin, and the mystique and allure of the summer paradise only adds to the oil painting’s standing. After all, who doesn’t have the summer fantasy of escaping a dreary existence and lazing on an island paradise? This oil painting is perfect for the beach house – or for eliciting getaway fantasies in your suburban office.
2. Claude Monet, The Poppy Field (1873). This painting is one of a series hailed as the best Monet paintings, recreating the French summer to such sweltering effects that the poppies seemingly shimmer on the canvas – watch out, it could be hot to touch.
3. Winslow Homer, A Summer Night (1890). Many critics consider this oil painting to be the perfect synthesis of Realism and Symbolism – an exquisite piece conveying the sense of summer mystery and poetry.
4. Alfred Sisley, The Loing at Moret in Summer (1891). This Impressionist landscape classic features clear blue skies and the brilliant reflections of light on a slowly meandering river – you can almost feel the summer love in the air. A perfect addition to the vacation home by the river.
5. David Hockney, A Bigger Splash (1967). This painting represents a break in the old and the ushering of the modern, at least in terms of houses and swimming pools. With pool parties steadily increasing in popularity, everyone knows the impact of that splash. No artist has captured that pivotal moment more astutely than this Hockney oil painting.
6. Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, Basket With Wild Strawberries (1761). Anyone who has ever picked their own wild strawberries knows the heavenly reward for the hard work; added to the heap of strawberries is a smooth round peach and traffic-light bright cherries. A glass of water cools off the summer intensity. An ideal still life for that sweltering day.
7. Isaac Levitan, Summer Evening (1899). The Russian artist beautifully captures the rural mood of a parched and sparse country landscape. The heat, combined with the loneliness, perfectly portrays the summer-soaked evening light in the country. It’s no wonder he was a favorite artist and close friend of Chekhov.
8. Bridget Riley, To a Summer’s Day (1980). What makes this painting so special is its simplicity – summer hues are interweaved across the horizontal canvas, simultaneously creating impressions of the sky, ground, ocean or whatever landscape your mind’s eye develops. Perfect for any location to recreate the mirage and ripples of high summer temperatures.
9. Fred Williams, Beachscape with bathers Queenscliff IV (1971). This oil painting is a clear indication of why many consider him Australia’s greatest modern painter, and why beaches will forever be treasured as an integral part of summer. Williams captures the beachscape effortlessly and with precision, reminding everyone of summers spent frolicking in the sand and surf.
10. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880-81). This oil painting remains one of Renoir’s best known and most popular work of art. Why? It flawlessly captures the idyllic and jovial summer atmosphere as friends share conversation, food and wine on a balcony overlooking the Seine. It summarizes the most important thing about the season: spending time with loved ones and enjoying the simple things in life.
Who is Cheapoilpainting.com?
Cheapoilpainting.com offers museum-quality oil painting reproductions at a price everyone can afford. They also offer hand painted picture to painting services. With up to 70% off gallery prices, the company has a 30-day, 100% money back guarantee, along with an extensive 100% satisfaction guarantee. High resolution photos are sent to customers for approval before shipping any painting and shipping of paintings is free of charge. Browse Cheapoilpainting.com to view its extensive collection of oil paintings and for special offers.
2011年8月23日星期二
Stamp honours Edward Hopper
A stamp, celebrating American painter Edward Hopper, has been unveiled during a ceremony in Provincetown, where the artist used to come on vacation. The stamp is a reproduction of one of his seascapes, The Long Leg (circa 1935).
The oil painting reproduction depicts the coast of the Provincetown area. A boat sailing near the coast can be seen, as well as an isolated house in the background. The work, preserved at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, is striking due to its use of light. As often in Hopper’s oeuvre, light is used to reflect solitude, absence and waiting. There are no characters in The Long Leg, leaving the landscape completely bare and encouraging its viewers to reflect.
The oil painting reproduction depicts the coast of the Provincetown area. A boat sailing near the coast can be seen, as well as an isolated house in the background. The work, preserved at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, is striking due to its use of light. As often in Hopper’s oeuvre, light is used to reflect solitude, absence and waiting. There are no characters in The Long Leg, leaving the landscape completely bare and encouraging its viewers to reflect.
The stamp reads the artist’s name, followed by “forever” and will cost the same as other regular stamps.
2011年8月22日星期一
Top 10 Oil Paintings for the Summer
In the heat of summer, one might be enjoying the beach, the poolside parties, and the summer cocktails infused with exotic fruits. Has anyone thought for a moment to consider a change in their interior design? Perhaps an update to the walls in the home can brighten one's day. Cheapoilpainting.com provides affordable art reproductions to everyone.
VP of Marketing at Cheapoilpainting.com, Olivia Preston, said, "We have thousands of oil paintings that can complement any season: Winter, Fall, Spring, and Summer. Since it is now summer we've noticed an increase in order on summer themed paintings. We've also noticed a general trend of more and more people buying according to the seasons - perhaps they are looking to harmonize the interior of their homes and offices with their external environment".
With that in mind, Cheapoilpainting.com has put together a list of their top 10 favorite paintings for the summer.
1. Paul Gauguin, Tahitian Landscape (circa 1893). Almost everyone knows the story behind Gauguin, and the mystique and allure of the summer paradise only adds to the oil painting's standing. After all, who doesn't have the summer fantasy of escaping a dreary existence and lazing on an island paradise? This oil painting is perfect for the beach house - or for eliciting getaway fantasies in your suburban office.
2. Claude Monet, The Poppy Field (1873). This painting is one of a series hailed as the best Monet paintings, recreating the French summer to such sweltering effects that the poppies seemingly shimmer on the canvas - watch out, it could be hot to touch.
3. Winslow Homer, A Summer Night (1890). Many critics consider this oil painting to be the perfect synthesis of Realism and Symbolism - an exquisite piece conveying the sense of summer mystery and poetry.
4. Alfred Sisley, The Loing at Moret in Summer (1891). This Impressionist landscape classic features clear blue skies and the brilliant reflections of light on a slowly meandering river - you can almost feel the summer love in the air. A perfect addition to the vacation home by the river.
5. David Hockney, A Bigger Splash (1967). This painting represents a break in the old and the ushering of the modern, at least in terms of houses and swimming pools. With pool parties steadily increasing in popularity, everyone knows the impact of that splash. No artist has captured that pivotal moment more astutely than this Hockney oil painting.
6. Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, Basket With Wild Strawberries (1761). Anyone who has ever picked their own wild strawberries knows the heavenly reward for the hard work; added to the heap of strawberries is a smooth round peach and traffic-light bright cherries. A glass of water cools off the summer intensity. An ideal still life for that sweltering day.
7. Isaac Levitan, Summer Evening (1899). The Russian artist beautifully captures the rural mood of a parched and sparse country landscape. The heat, combined with the loneliness, perfectly portrays the summer-soaked evening light in the country. It's no wonder he was a favorite artist and close friend of Chekhov.
8. Bridget Riley, To a Summer's Day (1980). What makes this painting so special is its simplicity - summer hues are interweaved across the horizontal canvas, simultaneously creating impressions of the sky, ground, ocean or whatever landscape your mind's eye develops. Perfect for any location to recreate the mirage and ripples of high summer temperatures.
9. Fred Williams, Beachscape with bathers Queenscliff IV (1971). This oil painting is a clear indication of why many consider him Australia's greatest modern painter, and why beaches will forever be treasured as an integral part of summer. Williams captures the beachscape effortlessly and with precision, reminding everyone of summers spent frolicking in the sand and surf.
10. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880-81). This oil painting remains one of Renoir's best known and most popular work of art. Why? It flawlessly captures the idyllic and jovial summer atmosphere as friends share conversation, food and wine on a balcony overlooking the Seine. It summarizes the most important thing about the season: spending time with loved ones and enjoying the simple things in life.
Who is Cheapoilpainting.com?
Cheapoilpainting.com offers museum-quality oil painting reproductions at a price everyone can afford. They also offer hand painted picture to painting services. With up to 70% off gallery prices, the company has a 30-day, 100% money back guarantee, along with an extensive 100% satisfaction guarantee. High resolution photos are sent to customers for approval before shipping any painting and shipping of paintings is free of charge. Browse Cheapoilpainting.com to view its extensive collection of oil paintings and for special offers.
VP of Marketing at Cheapoilpainting.com, Olivia Preston, said, "We have thousands of oil paintings that can complement any season: Winter, Fall, Spring, and Summer. Since it is now summer we've noticed an increase in order on summer themed paintings. We've also noticed a general trend of more and more people buying according to the seasons - perhaps they are looking to harmonize the interior of their homes and offices with their external environment".
With that in mind, Cheapoilpainting.com has put together a list of their top 10 favorite paintings for the summer.
1. Paul Gauguin, Tahitian Landscape (circa 1893). Almost everyone knows the story behind Gauguin, and the mystique and allure of the summer paradise only adds to the oil painting's standing. After all, who doesn't have the summer fantasy of escaping a dreary existence and lazing on an island paradise? This oil painting is perfect for the beach house - or for eliciting getaway fantasies in your suburban office.
2. Claude Monet, The Poppy Field (1873). This painting is one of a series hailed as the best Monet paintings, recreating the French summer to such sweltering effects that the poppies seemingly shimmer on the canvas - watch out, it could be hot to touch.
3. Winslow Homer, A Summer Night (1890). Many critics consider this oil painting to be the perfect synthesis of Realism and Symbolism - an exquisite piece conveying the sense of summer mystery and poetry.
4. Alfred Sisley, The Loing at Moret in Summer (1891). This Impressionist landscape classic features clear blue skies and the brilliant reflections of light on a slowly meandering river - you can almost feel the summer love in the air. A perfect addition to the vacation home by the river.
5. David Hockney, A Bigger Splash (1967). This painting represents a break in the old and the ushering of the modern, at least in terms of houses and swimming pools. With pool parties steadily increasing in popularity, everyone knows the impact of that splash. No artist has captured that pivotal moment more astutely than this Hockney oil painting.
6. Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, Basket With Wild Strawberries (1761). Anyone who has ever picked their own wild strawberries knows the heavenly reward for the hard work; added to the heap of strawberries is a smooth round peach and traffic-light bright cherries. A glass of water cools off the summer intensity. An ideal still life for that sweltering day.
7. Isaac Levitan, Summer Evening (1899). The Russian artist beautifully captures the rural mood of a parched and sparse country landscape. The heat, combined with the loneliness, perfectly portrays the summer-soaked evening light in the country. It's no wonder he was a favorite artist and close friend of Chekhov.
8. Bridget Riley, To a Summer's Day (1980). What makes this painting so special is its simplicity - summer hues are interweaved across the horizontal canvas, simultaneously creating impressions of the sky, ground, ocean or whatever landscape your mind's eye develops. Perfect for any location to recreate the mirage and ripples of high summer temperatures.
9. Fred Williams, Beachscape with bathers Queenscliff IV (1971). This oil painting is a clear indication of why many consider him Australia's greatest modern painter, and why beaches will forever be treasured as an integral part of summer. Williams captures the beachscape effortlessly and with precision, reminding everyone of summers spent frolicking in the sand and surf.
10. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880-81). This oil painting remains one of Renoir's best known and most popular work of art. Why? It flawlessly captures the idyllic and jovial summer atmosphere as friends share conversation, food and wine on a balcony overlooking the Seine. It summarizes the most important thing about the season: spending time with loved ones and enjoying the simple things in life.
Who is Cheapoilpainting.com?
Cheapoilpainting.com offers museum-quality oil painting reproductions at a price everyone can afford. They also offer hand painted picture to painting services. With up to 70% off gallery prices, the company has a 30-day, 100% money back guarantee, along with an extensive 100% satisfaction guarantee. High resolution photos are sent to customers for approval before shipping any painting and shipping of paintings is free of charge. Browse Cheapoilpainting.com to view its extensive collection of oil paintings and for special offers.
2011年8月21日星期日
Plainfield architect Donald Ross' journey had humble beginnings in Boston
The journey of Donald Ross ends on a steep slope in Section J, Lot 294 of the Newton Cemetery.
Architect of nearly 400 golf courses, he was buried in this sleepy corner of suburban Boston 63 years ago, underneath a large granite headstone with his last name boldly etched onto the front. It’s butted up against an oversized bush and within the shadowy grasps of the slender oak tree on the top of the hill. The woman at the front desk of the cemetery’s administrative offices says that normally there are trinkets left behind by visitors — a hat, a golf ball, a scorecard.
On a recent sunny afternoon, there are none.
Perhaps it’s more appropriate that way. These days, the mere mention of the name “Donald Ross” is tribute enough. His courses have hosted U.S. Opens, PGA Championships, Ryder Cups and countless amateur and local events. This week — at Plainfield Country Club in Edison — the first leg of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, The Barclays, will be added to that list.
But while each one of the 125 players in the field will walk past the Donald Ross plaque on the first tee, the thought of how the journey to this site happened will barely be a blip in their minds.
Because while Ross’ legend has grown with places like Pinehurst in North Carolina, Aronimink Golf Club in suburban Philadelphia and Seminole Golf Club on the shores of Juno Beach, Fla., it began in and around his final resting place.
An immigrant from Scotland, he came over to the country with his life savings in hopes of building a life in golf. Instead, he became a legend.
This is the story of how that happened.
Architect of nearly 400 golf courses, he was buried in this sleepy corner of suburban Boston 63 years ago, underneath a large granite headstone with his last name boldly etched onto the front. It’s butted up against an oversized bush and within the shadowy grasps of the slender oak tree on the top of the hill. The woman at the front desk of the cemetery’s administrative offices says that normally there are trinkets left behind by visitors — a hat, a golf ball, a scorecard.
On a recent sunny afternoon, there are none.
Perhaps it’s more appropriate that way. These days, the mere mention of the name “Donald Ross” is tribute enough. His courses have hosted U.S. Opens, PGA Championships, Ryder Cups and countless amateur and local events. This week — at Plainfield Country Club in Edison — the first leg of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, The Barclays, will be added to that list.
But while each one of the 125 players in the field will walk past the Donald Ross plaque on the first tee, the thought of how the journey to this site happened will barely be a blip in their minds.
Because while Ross’ legend has grown with places like Pinehurst in North Carolina, Aronimink Golf Club in suburban Philadelphia and Seminole Golf Club on the shores of Juno Beach, Fla., it began in and around his final resting place.
An immigrant from Scotland, he came over to the country with his life savings in hopes of building a life in golf. Instead, he became a legend.
This is the story of how that happened.
2011年8月18日星期四
Cheap returns for clueless Olley art thief
Art tends to skyrocket in value after the artist passes away - or so the cliche goes. It was perhaps with this in mind that a thief walked into the Bowral and District Hospital five days after Margaret Olley's death and took one of her pictures from a wall.
The crime was meticulously planned. The thief walked into the waiting room at the children's ward with a cheap replacement print swathed in white fabric. With the new print disguising the theft, it took hospital staff five days to miss Olley's work.
It might have been the perfect get-rich-quick scheme - but for one crucial detail. While Olley's paintings and signed prints sell for thousands of dollars, the hospital's unsigned reproduction of the oil painting reproduction Parrot Tulip is worth next to nothing. Identical prints are on sale at the Mittagong Visitor Information Centre for $50.
Olley painted it to raise money for the McGrath Foundation during the annual Southern Highlands Tulip Time Festival. It sold at auction for $50,000 to the broadcaster Alan Jones, who donated it back to the charity.
Organisations that helped with the fund-raising received unsigned reproductions of Olley's work. One of the 100 prints went to Berrima District Credit Union's charity foundation for children. The credit union spent $400 on framing and donated it to the hospital. The vice president of the credit union foundation, Ross Stone, said the theft was disappointing, though - given the work's value - hardly alarming. ''I don't know what they think they'll do with it,'' Mr Stone said.
The police have identified a suspect. Moss Vale policeman Senior Constable Martyn Rigby said it was ''reasonable'' to speculate the thief hoped to cash in on Olley's death.
''It's a brazen act,'' he said.
The crime was meticulously planned. The thief walked into the waiting room at the children's ward with a cheap replacement print swathed in white fabric. With the new print disguising the theft, it took hospital staff five days to miss Olley's work.
It might have been the perfect get-rich-quick scheme - but for one crucial detail. While Olley's paintings and signed prints sell for thousands of dollars, the hospital's unsigned reproduction of the oil painting reproduction Parrot Tulip is worth next to nothing. Identical prints are on sale at the Mittagong Visitor Information Centre for $50.
Olley painted it to raise money for the McGrath Foundation during the annual Southern Highlands Tulip Time Festival. It sold at auction for $50,000 to the broadcaster Alan Jones, who donated it back to the charity.
Organisations that helped with the fund-raising received unsigned reproductions of Olley's work. One of the 100 prints went to Berrima District Credit Union's charity foundation for children. The credit union spent $400 on framing and donated it to the hospital. The vice president of the credit union foundation, Ross Stone, said the theft was disappointing, though - given the work's value - hardly alarming. ''I don't know what they think they'll do with it,'' Mr Stone said.
The police have identified a suspect. Moss Vale policeman Senior Constable Martyn Rigby said it was ''reasonable'' to speculate the thief hoped to cash in on Olley's death.
''It's a brazen act,'' he said.
2011年8月15日星期一
Meet Susan Burns, Serial Art Attacker
Do you think that it’s possible to be addicted to attacking famous works of art? It might seem like an odd question, but given the fact that Susan Burns was arrested last week for “attempting to rip” The Plumed Hat, a $2.5 million Henri Matisse oil painting, off the wall of the National Gallery of Art just four months after trying the same thing with an $80 million work by Paul Gauguin in the same museum, we think that it’s one worth asking..
You might remember Burns’ interesting explanation for the April attack; she considered Gauguin’s Two Tahitian Women to be evil. “He has nudity and is bad for the children,” she said at the time. “He has two women in the painting very homosexual. I was trying to remove it. I think it should be burned. I am from the American CIA and I have a radio in my head. I am going to kill you.” As part of her release agreement with authorities, Burns signed a document at the time promising that she would “stay away from all museums and art galleries in Washington DC including the National Gallery of Art.” So much for that.
While the logic behind this more recent incident has yet to be revealed, we enjoy this take by a police officer on the scene: “What she did was strange, but when you think about all the homicides in this city, it’s really not so bad. Maybe she just really hates art.” Or maybe she just really hates French artists?
You might remember Burns’ interesting explanation for the April attack; she considered Gauguin’s Two Tahitian Women to be evil. “He has nudity and is bad for the children,” she said at the time. “He has two women in the painting very homosexual. I was trying to remove it. I think it should be burned. I am from the American CIA and I have a radio in my head. I am going to kill you.” As part of her release agreement with authorities, Burns signed a document at the time promising that she would “stay away from all museums and art galleries in Washington DC including the National Gallery of Art.” So much for that.
While the logic behind this more recent incident has yet to be revealed, we enjoy this take by a police officer on the scene: “What she did was strange, but when you think about all the homicides in this city, it’s really not so bad. Maybe she just really hates art.” Or maybe she just really hates French artists?
2011年8月14日星期日
Treasures Regained...
Restoring deteriorating art works have become a trend among major collectors. But this process, experts caution, requires expertise. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke reports
O bviously, that large oil on canvas painting hanging on the wall of the vice chancellor’s office had certainly seen better days! Cracks had developed on it and the white surface of the canvas was beginning to show. It was a large Ben Enwonwu landscape painting, depicting the University of Ibadan campus in its current location dated 1952. Worried by its derelict state Omooba Yemisi Shyllon, a keen art aficionado, wondered if his host was aware of the value of the work.
No he was not. His host, Professor Olufemi Bamiro, then serving his tenure as the university’s vice chancellor, used to be a lecturer in the university’s engineering faculty. Art was not his thing, he offered by way of explanation.
Shyllon, who used to be his student, took time to explain not only the greatness of the artist but also the painting’s importance to the history of the university. Hence he couldn’t help lamenting about its then sorry state.
This was in 2009. Activities heralding the university’s golden jubilee anniversary celebrations were revving up. Anything that would burnish the university’s image would be welcome.
“It was in the process of our subsequent discussion that I offered to restore it,” Shyllon recalled two years later in his Lagos office. “I saw myself as a stakeholder, being an alumnus of the university. I thought I should contribute my quota in preserving the institution’s history.”
Through his foundation, OYASAF – acronym for Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Art Foundation, he contracted a Lagos-based landscape painter, Oyerinde Olotu, to restore the work. Olotu soon began to work in earnest...
This was not Shyllon’s first attempt at initiating the restoration of art works. Sometime in the late 1990s, he had contracted Abraham Uyovbisere, a Lagos-based artist, to restore one of the many paintings in his collection. Subsequently, another Lagos-based artist, Emmanuel Mbanefo, helped to restore a surrealistic painting by the late Clary Nelson Cole. Then, Olotu was also contracted to restore a series of paintings, one of which was by Jossy Ajiboye.
O bviously, that large oil on canvas painting hanging on the wall of the vice chancellor’s office had certainly seen better days! Cracks had developed on it and the white surface of the canvas was beginning to show. It was a large Ben Enwonwu landscape painting, depicting the University of Ibadan campus in its current location dated 1952. Worried by its derelict state Omooba Yemisi Shyllon, a keen art aficionado, wondered if his host was aware of the value of the work.
No he was not. His host, Professor Olufemi Bamiro, then serving his tenure as the university’s vice chancellor, used to be a lecturer in the university’s engineering faculty. Art was not his thing, he offered by way of explanation.
Shyllon, who used to be his student, took time to explain not only the greatness of the artist but also the painting’s importance to the history of the university. Hence he couldn’t help lamenting about its then sorry state.
This was in 2009. Activities heralding the university’s golden jubilee anniversary celebrations were revving up. Anything that would burnish the university’s image would be welcome.
“It was in the process of our subsequent discussion that I offered to restore it,” Shyllon recalled two years later in his Lagos office. “I saw myself as a stakeholder, being an alumnus of the university. I thought I should contribute my quota in preserving the institution’s history.”
Through his foundation, OYASAF – acronym for Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Art Foundation, he contracted a Lagos-based landscape painter, Oyerinde Olotu, to restore the work. Olotu soon began to work in earnest...
This was not Shyllon’s first attempt at initiating the restoration of art works. Sometime in the late 1990s, he had contracted Abraham Uyovbisere, a Lagos-based artist, to restore one of the many paintings in his collection. Subsequently, another Lagos-based artist, Emmanuel Mbanefo, helped to restore a surrealistic painting by the late Clary Nelson Cole. Then, Olotu was also contracted to restore a series of paintings, one of which was by Jossy Ajiboye.
2011年8月11日星期四
Gallery finishes summer with double artist show
Joel Bouchard and Jim Fergusen's art styles couldn't be any more different, but they come together to deliver a wonderful show at this month's Gwen Fox Gallery exhibit.
The show, which opened on Aug. 2 and will run until the end of the month, feature's Bouchard's watercolor, acrylic and oil paintings, as well as Fergusen's wood art that is created by using a scroll saw - a technique that he says took him more than 20 years to perfect.
"I've been doing this for 25 years, I started playing around with wood by making toys and eventually started making pictures," said Fergusen. "It takes practice, a lot of practice."
Fergusen, who lives in Matlock, says each of his pieces that are on display in the gallery have taken him dozens of hours to create. Fergusen first sketches his image on a very thin piece of oak or birch panel, and then painstakingly cuts out his pattern.
One picture in particular, a leopard walking in the grass, has over 1,100 cuts alone and took an upwards of 40 hours to complete.
His other pieces depict pictures of other jungle animals, motorcycles, rodeo scenes, and he even has plaques of Hollywood legends John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe for sale in the gallery's gift shop.
"I like to do it to see the finished product. I sketch it out and sometimes I don't know if I'm going to be able to do it," explains Fergusen. "But I look at it after and see that I could."
Meanwhile Bouchard, who grew up in Laurier, began drawing in elementary school and began painting at the age of 12 having been inspired by reproductions of famous paintings by Monet and Gauguin hanging in his grandmothers living room.
He says he is most interested in oil painting reproduction Manitoba scenery and landscape, particularly the vanishing buildings built by pioneers.
"The rugged landscape of the Precambrian shield, the open prairies, and the unpopulated north draw my attention and inspire me to record these uniquely Manitoba wonders," Bouchard writes in his biography.
Bouchard says he also enjoys photography and painting on ceramic tiles, and has displayed his work in several exhibitions and gallerys throughout the years.
The show, which opened on Aug. 2 and will run until the end of the month, feature's Bouchard's watercolor, acrylic and oil paintings, as well as Fergusen's wood art that is created by using a scroll saw - a technique that he says took him more than 20 years to perfect.
"I've been doing this for 25 years, I started playing around with wood by making toys and eventually started making pictures," said Fergusen. "It takes practice, a lot of practice."
Fergusen, who lives in Matlock, says each of his pieces that are on display in the gallery have taken him dozens of hours to create. Fergusen first sketches his image on a very thin piece of oak or birch panel, and then painstakingly cuts out his pattern.
One picture in particular, a leopard walking in the grass, has over 1,100 cuts alone and took an upwards of 40 hours to complete.
His other pieces depict pictures of other jungle animals, motorcycles, rodeo scenes, and he even has plaques of Hollywood legends John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe for sale in the gallery's gift shop.
"I like to do it to see the finished product. I sketch it out and sometimes I don't know if I'm going to be able to do it," explains Fergusen. "But I look at it after and see that I could."
Meanwhile Bouchard, who grew up in Laurier, began drawing in elementary school and began painting at the age of 12 having been inspired by reproductions of famous paintings by Monet and Gauguin hanging in his grandmothers living room.
He says he is most interested in oil painting reproduction Manitoba scenery and landscape, particularly the vanishing buildings built by pioneers.
"The rugged landscape of the Precambrian shield, the open prairies, and the unpopulated north draw my attention and inspire me to record these uniquely Manitoba wonders," Bouchard writes in his biography.
Bouchard says he also enjoys photography and painting on ceramic tiles, and has displayed his work in several exhibitions and gallerys throughout the years.
2011年8月10日星期三
How I miss poolside book snobbery
We all know that you can't judge a book by its cover, but you can surely judge people by the covers of their books. Or could, until the Kindle and iPad came along to ruin that peculiar paperback snobbery that the British middle classes take on holiday as surely as they take the Factor 30 and the floppy straw hat.
We have just come back from 12 days in Turkey, where around the hotel swimming-pool my wife and I were able to make only a limited series of snap judgements about our fellow Brits, owing to the number of electronic books being read behind maddeningly unrevealing black cases. It simply hadn't occurred to me, until we arrived at the pool on our first morning, that I was about to lose my inalienable right as a paperback snob to see what is causing the fellow on the next sunbed to chuckle. And of course it's only going to get worse, as more and more people take their holiday reading in digital form.
Despite the packing benefits, I can't imagine ever doing it myself. For me, the book soiled by a combination of heat, suntan lotion and water, fit only for the bin by the eve of the homeward journey, is one of the tactile pleasures of a summer holiday. And I write as a man whose copy of The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim, by Jonathan Coe, actually disintegrated with two chapters to go.
I'd left it by the pool while I went on a tour of an olive-oil factory, but of course only mad dogs and Englishmen leave out paperbacks in the midday sun. I came back to find that the binding-glue had melted, and that a gust of wind had then scattered 20 or 30 pages to all parts. This reportedly prompted an exciting and rather neighbourly paperchase by several of my fellow guests, watched by my children, who were having lunch on a nearby terrace, and were not quite sure whether they should join in, shout encouragement, or keep their heads down pretending that the book had nothing to do with them.
They took the third option, immensely relieved that I wasn't there myself chasing round the pool after poor Maxwell Sim, whose terrible privacy had turned into public embarrassment. For the kids, the shame would have been unendurable, while I would have felt like the leading player in what in the old days would have been a commercial for Hamlet, the mild cigar from Benson & Hedges, and what could now be a rather effective commercial for Kindle, with proper smugness on the faces of those following the chaos from behind their e-books.
Meanwhile, I suppose we paperback snobs will have to find some other way of assessing the e-book brigade, while continuing to make the most of what's left, silently deriding thepeople on the Greek islands ostentatiously holding up their copies of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, and speculating on the dynamic between the wife reading Katie Price and the husband reading Martin Amis.
Around the pool in Turkey, for the record, we also clocked a couple of Maeve Binchys, a pair of Harry Potters, two copies of Keith Richards' autobiography, a Graham Greene, a Lynda La Plante, a Frederick Forsyth and, most impressively, a Marcel Proust. Somewhere or other there were also three missing pages of The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim, which ends with a clever twist. According to the blurb it does, anyway. Cruelly, the pages missing were the last three, yet even that won't get me taking e-books on holiday. After all, pure paperback snobbery means letting others judge you as slyly and doubtless unfairly as you do them.
You don't know what you've got till it's gone
A hundred years ago this month an Italian carpenter called Vincenzo Peruggia secured himself a kind of immortality by stealing a valuable painting not entirely as an act of greed (although he did try to sell it) but at least partly in the spirit of patriotism.
The painting was Leonardo da Vinci'sMona Lisa, and Peruggia believed fervently that it belonged not in the Louvre museum in Paris but in Italy, evidently also believing, mistakenly, that Napoleon Bonaparte had stolen it in the first place and that he was merely righting anhistoric wrong.
Whatever the motivation, he didn't have to work very hard, more or less walking up tothe Mona Lisa when nobody else was around, taking her off the wall and hiding her underhis coat.
She stayed hidden for more than two years before Peruggia was finally rumbled, and it was those two years that turned the Mona Lisa, painting, into the Mona Lisa, icon. The theft made front-page headlines around the world, and thousands of reproductions, effectively wanted posters, gave the old girl the global fame she retains today. Is there a better example, in cultural if not monetary terms, of crime paying?
Splendours and miseriesof the vegetable patch
We came back from holiday to find thatour Jerusalem artichoke plants had grownlike Jack's giant beanstalk, to well over twometres high.
This is the first year I have grown Jerusalem artichokes and the pleasure of coming home to find them prospering more than compensates for the disappointment of the bolted spinach and lettuce. It's hard to convey to anyone not into growing their own produce what emotional ups and downs a vegetable patch can yield.
But of course I won't really know whether the Jerusalem artichokes have succeeded until I dig the first plants up sometime in late autumn. And even then only their popularity with the family will constitute real success for a vegetable rudely dismissed by the writer John Goodyer in 1621 as the cause of "a filthie loathsome stinking winde ... more fit for swine than men".
We have just come back from 12 days in Turkey, where around the hotel swimming-pool my wife and I were able to make only a limited series of snap judgements about our fellow Brits, owing to the number of electronic books being read behind maddeningly unrevealing black cases. It simply hadn't occurred to me, until we arrived at the pool on our first morning, that I was about to lose my inalienable right as a paperback snob to see what is causing the fellow on the next sunbed to chuckle. And of course it's only going to get worse, as more and more people take their holiday reading in digital form.
Despite the packing benefits, I can't imagine ever doing it myself. For me, the book soiled by a combination of heat, suntan lotion and water, fit only for the bin by the eve of the homeward journey, is one of the tactile pleasures of a summer holiday. And I write as a man whose copy of The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim, by Jonathan Coe, actually disintegrated with two chapters to go.
I'd left it by the pool while I went on a tour of an olive-oil factory, but of course only mad dogs and Englishmen leave out paperbacks in the midday sun. I came back to find that the binding-glue had melted, and that a gust of wind had then scattered 20 or 30 pages to all parts. This reportedly prompted an exciting and rather neighbourly paperchase by several of my fellow guests, watched by my children, who were having lunch on a nearby terrace, and were not quite sure whether they should join in, shout encouragement, or keep their heads down pretending that the book had nothing to do with them.
They took the third option, immensely relieved that I wasn't there myself chasing round the pool after poor Maxwell Sim, whose terrible privacy had turned into public embarrassment. For the kids, the shame would have been unendurable, while I would have felt like the leading player in what in the old days would have been a commercial for Hamlet, the mild cigar from Benson & Hedges, and what could now be a rather effective commercial for Kindle, with proper smugness on the faces of those following the chaos from behind their e-books.
Meanwhile, I suppose we paperback snobs will have to find some other way of assessing the e-book brigade, while continuing to make the most of what's left, silently deriding thepeople on the Greek islands ostentatiously holding up their copies of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, and speculating on the dynamic between the wife reading Katie Price and the husband reading Martin Amis.
Around the pool in Turkey, for the record, we also clocked a couple of Maeve Binchys, a pair of Harry Potters, two copies of Keith Richards' autobiography, a Graham Greene, a Lynda La Plante, a Frederick Forsyth and, most impressively, a Marcel Proust. Somewhere or other there were also three missing pages of The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim, which ends with a clever twist. According to the blurb it does, anyway. Cruelly, the pages missing were the last three, yet even that won't get me taking e-books on holiday. After all, pure paperback snobbery means letting others judge you as slyly and doubtless unfairly as you do them.
You don't know what you've got till it's gone
A hundred years ago this month an Italian carpenter called Vincenzo Peruggia secured himself a kind of immortality by stealing a valuable painting not entirely as an act of greed (although he did try to sell it) but at least partly in the spirit of patriotism.
The painting was Leonardo da Vinci'sMona Lisa, and Peruggia believed fervently that it belonged not in the Louvre museum in Paris but in Italy, evidently also believing, mistakenly, that Napoleon Bonaparte had stolen it in the first place and that he was merely righting anhistoric wrong.
Whatever the motivation, he didn't have to work very hard, more or less walking up tothe Mona Lisa when nobody else was around, taking her off the wall and hiding her underhis coat.
She stayed hidden for more than two years before Peruggia was finally rumbled, and it was those two years that turned the Mona Lisa, painting, into the Mona Lisa, icon. The theft made front-page headlines around the world, and thousands of reproductions, effectively wanted posters, gave the old girl the global fame she retains today. Is there a better example, in cultural if not monetary terms, of crime paying?
Splendours and miseriesof the vegetable patch
We came back from holiday to find thatour Jerusalem artichoke plants had grownlike Jack's giant beanstalk, to well over twometres high.
This is the first year I have grown Jerusalem artichokes and the pleasure of coming home to find them prospering more than compensates for the disappointment of the bolted spinach and lettuce. It's hard to convey to anyone not into growing their own produce what emotional ups and downs a vegetable patch can yield.
But of course I won't really know whether the Jerusalem artichokes have succeeded until I dig the first plants up sometime in late autumn. And even then only their popularity with the family will constitute real success for a vegetable rudely dismissed by the writer John Goodyer in 1621 as the cause of "a filthie loathsome stinking winde ... more fit for swine than men".
2011年8月9日星期二
Dan VanLandingham: The art of happiness
Born and raised on the Vineyard, Dan VanLandingham, 26, developed an eye for art and beauty at an early age. "I remember seeing an Allen Whiting painting at the Tisbury School when I was very young," he says. "I stared at it and immediately felt its power."
Mr. VanLandingham has emerged as one of the Island's artists to watch. He captures a unique view of the Island's changing landscape in both his traditional oil paintings and in his more conceptual mixed media work. A recent master's of Fine Arts graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, he has returned to the Island this summer to show his new works at both Dragonfly Fine Arts Gallery and PIKNIK Art & Apparel in the Oak Bluffs Arts District, and at the juried Vineyard Artisans Festivals held on Sundays in West Tisbury.
Mr. VanLandingham's traditional Vineyard landscapes — the pastoral fields and extraordinary light — have found a home at both the Artisans Festivals and at Dragonfly Gallery. He shows his smaller paintings at the Artisans Festivals where the works are priced in a more modest range, and his larger paintings at Dragonfly where owner Don McKillop says the young artist is developing a following.
"Dan has three works here now and we've already sold another three," Mr. McKillop says. "We're waiting for more work and some larger pieces. He's young, talented, hard-working and we think he has a very bright future here."
While Mr. VanLandingham believes he will retain his passion for painting the beauty that surrounds him, he is also drawn to exploring the somewhat embattled relationship between man and his encroachment on place.
The artist's mixed media works, often depicting what appears, at first glance, to be traditional elements of landscape, both rural and urban, contain touches of the unexpected as well — swashes of color or unexplained objects.
It is this edginess that appeals most to Michael Hunter, owner/curator of PIKNIK Art & Apparel. "I don't court landscape painters," he explains, "so I was interested in seeing where Dan's 'other stuff' went. I'm always about the other side and I liked his sense of emotion and the way his nontraditional work takes you to places with voids in them. There's a porthole to an unfamiliar dimension, almost a sense of science fiction. I'm getting a great response to his work."
Drawn to the visual world that surrounds him both on the Vineyard and in Savannah, Mr. VanLandingham eschews what he calls "postcard scenes or clichéd images," choosing instead to seek places to paint that reflect some sort of visual drama.
"I look for unexpected natural occurrences," he says. "Light catching in an unusual way or any setting that evokes an emotion or a feeling of connection in me." He feels a bond with the timelessness and history of geographic areas, inspired by the sense of what might have happened 100 years ago. "I picture myself in that time, long ago, without the development that surrounds us. It's all vacant and uninhabited in my mind. Space has a provocative and emotional quality, rather than a narrative. That's what I try to evoke in my work."
Inspired by Island artists such as Allen Whiting and Ray Ellis, Mr. VanLandingham says that their successes fuel his ambition.
"It's very encouraging for a young artist to see them spend a lifetime as professional painters. It makes me feel that it's possible and leaves an example of great achievement." He suggests that the next generation of Island artists feels some degree of responsibility to carry on that tradition but that the style of work is evolving as the culture changes. "We're picking up where they leave off," he says. "Our work follows the natural progression of time and art. Modern art was very new when they began their careers but we feel the influence much more strongly."
It was, in fact, Mr. VanLandingham's desire to pursue contemporary art more intensively that led him to his graduate studies in Savannah. His undergraduate work at Green Mountain College in Vermont focused exclusively on classical style and techniques. Recognizing a void in his knowledge, he now speaks reverently about his more recent exposure to contemporary art. "I'll always be passionate about my more traditional landscapes," he says, "but I appreciate work that needs decoding and the dialogue that surrounds it."
While he insists he never concerns himself with the marketability of his efforts, he recognizes that he is fortunate to have struck a chord with different types of art buyers. "I've found an ideal situation. What I love to do happens to be very marketable. My work is purely about creating and self-expression. The fact that people are supportive is just a treat."
Keeping up with the demand of showing his work in three Island venues is proving to be more than a full-time job. But Mr. VanLandingham feels he has found the key to success: "Persistence — hard work — is the biggest part of making it work. It's overwhelming at times but I wouldn't want to be doing anything else."
Mr. VanLandingham has emerged as one of the Island's artists to watch. He captures a unique view of the Island's changing landscape in both his traditional oil paintings and in his more conceptual mixed media work. A recent master's of Fine Arts graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, he has returned to the Island this summer to show his new works at both Dragonfly Fine Arts Gallery and PIKNIK Art & Apparel in the Oak Bluffs Arts District, and at the juried Vineyard Artisans Festivals held on Sundays in West Tisbury.
Mr. VanLandingham's traditional Vineyard landscapes — the pastoral fields and extraordinary light — have found a home at both the Artisans Festivals and at Dragonfly Gallery. He shows his smaller paintings at the Artisans Festivals where the works are priced in a more modest range, and his larger paintings at Dragonfly where owner Don McKillop says the young artist is developing a following.
"Dan has three works here now and we've already sold another three," Mr. McKillop says. "We're waiting for more work and some larger pieces. He's young, talented, hard-working and we think he has a very bright future here."
While Mr. VanLandingham believes he will retain his passion for painting the beauty that surrounds him, he is also drawn to exploring the somewhat embattled relationship between man and his encroachment on place.
The artist's mixed media works, often depicting what appears, at first glance, to be traditional elements of landscape, both rural and urban, contain touches of the unexpected as well — swashes of color or unexplained objects.
It is this edginess that appeals most to Michael Hunter, owner/curator of PIKNIK Art & Apparel. "I don't court landscape painters," he explains, "so I was interested in seeing where Dan's 'other stuff' went. I'm always about the other side and I liked his sense of emotion and the way his nontraditional work takes you to places with voids in them. There's a porthole to an unfamiliar dimension, almost a sense of science fiction. I'm getting a great response to his work."
Drawn to the visual world that surrounds him both on the Vineyard and in Savannah, Mr. VanLandingham eschews what he calls "postcard scenes or clichéd images," choosing instead to seek places to paint that reflect some sort of visual drama.
"I look for unexpected natural occurrences," he says. "Light catching in an unusual way or any setting that evokes an emotion or a feeling of connection in me." He feels a bond with the timelessness and history of geographic areas, inspired by the sense of what might have happened 100 years ago. "I picture myself in that time, long ago, without the development that surrounds us. It's all vacant and uninhabited in my mind. Space has a provocative and emotional quality, rather than a narrative. That's what I try to evoke in my work."
Inspired by Island artists such as Allen Whiting and Ray Ellis, Mr. VanLandingham says that their successes fuel his ambition.
"It's very encouraging for a young artist to see them spend a lifetime as professional painters. It makes me feel that it's possible and leaves an example of great achievement." He suggests that the next generation of Island artists feels some degree of responsibility to carry on that tradition but that the style of work is evolving as the culture changes. "We're picking up where they leave off," he says. "Our work follows the natural progression of time and art. Modern art was very new when they began their careers but we feel the influence much more strongly."
It was, in fact, Mr. VanLandingham's desire to pursue contemporary art more intensively that led him to his graduate studies in Savannah. His undergraduate work at Green Mountain College in Vermont focused exclusively on classical style and techniques. Recognizing a void in his knowledge, he now speaks reverently about his more recent exposure to contemporary art. "I'll always be passionate about my more traditional landscapes," he says, "but I appreciate work that needs decoding and the dialogue that surrounds it."
While he insists he never concerns himself with the marketability of his efforts, he recognizes that he is fortunate to have struck a chord with different types of art buyers. "I've found an ideal situation. What I love to do happens to be very marketable. My work is purely about creating and self-expression. The fact that people are supportive is just a treat."
Keeping up with the demand of showing his work in three Island venues is proving to be more than a full-time job. But Mr. VanLandingham feels he has found the key to success: "Persistence — hard work — is the biggest part of making it work. It's overwhelming at times but I wouldn't want to be doing anything else."
2011年8月8日星期一
Amy was suffering a killer disease. And the name of that disease was Blake...
WHEN you walk into Sam Shaker's jazz club it looks like a shrine to Amy Winehouse set up since her tragic death last month.
But the striking portraits of the singer on the walls of Jazz After Dark - one of Amy's favourite places - were lovingly painted by Sam throughout his decade-long friendship with her.
They have been on display in his club in London's Soho for years as a tribute to her talent.
Now, though, there are four gaps on the wall where thieves have stolen some of the precious portraits since she died.
Sam - the man Amy called her "second dad" - is devastated and disgusted that people could be trying to cash in on the star's death.
Pointing to the wall in the side room he calls Amy's VIP area, Sam says: "Before Amy died, people called her names and they would ask me why I had so many paintings of her. They would say, 'She's a junkie. Why do you put a junkie on the walls?'
"Nobody liked Amy. They focused on her drug addiction. Now they want to steal Amy."
Egyptian-born Sam was at his studio in Alicante, Spain, when the pictures were stolen last week.
He fled there after her death to work on three unfinished oil paintings of Amy, commissioned by the star before she was found dead - aged just 27 - at her flat in Camden, north London.
But when he was in Spain he was too grief-stricken to work on the remaining canvases.
Sam, 72, says: "When Amy died I couldn't stand it here so I went to Alicante to finish some of the paintings. But I found myself completely stressed and distraught.
"I couldn't find Amy's CDs - they have sold out in Spain, just like here - and how can I paint Amy without listening to her music? I always listened to her albums when I painted her."
It was at Jazz After Dark that Amy's family and close friends held a tribute on July 28, two days after her funeral.
The amazingly lifelike images of the star - including those on these pages - stare down from every wall, her trademark beehive and tattoos re-created with photo-like precision.
But the striking portraits of the singer on the walls of Jazz After Dark - one of Amy's favourite places - were lovingly painted by Sam throughout his decade-long friendship with her.
They have been on display in his club in London's Soho for years as a tribute to her talent.
Now, though, there are four gaps on the wall where thieves have stolen some of the precious portraits since she died.
Sam - the man Amy called her "second dad" - is devastated and disgusted that people could be trying to cash in on the star's death.
Pointing to the wall in the side room he calls Amy's VIP area, Sam says: "Before Amy died, people called her names and they would ask me why I had so many paintings of her. They would say, 'She's a junkie. Why do you put a junkie on the walls?'
"Nobody liked Amy. They focused on her drug addiction. Now they want to steal Amy."
Egyptian-born Sam was at his studio in Alicante, Spain, when the pictures were stolen last week.
He fled there after her death to work on three unfinished oil paintings of Amy, commissioned by the star before she was found dead - aged just 27 - at her flat in Camden, north London.
But when he was in Spain he was too grief-stricken to work on the remaining canvases.
Sam, 72, says: "When Amy died I couldn't stand it here so I went to Alicante to finish some of the paintings. But I found myself completely stressed and distraught.
"I couldn't find Amy's CDs - they have sold out in Spain, just like here - and how can I paint Amy without listening to her music? I always listened to her albums when I painted her."
It was at Jazz After Dark that Amy's family and close friends held a tribute on July 28, two days after her funeral.
The amazingly lifelike images of the star - including those on these pages - stare down from every wall, her trademark beehive and tattoos re-created with photo-like precision.
2011年8月7日星期日
AMAZING Calvin and Hobbes Mural Time-Lapse
There’s over 30 hours of footage, maybe 35-36. And there were a couple of hours missing because I was unaware the memory was full. So that was just painting. I’d say it took a couple of hours to use a projector to draw out Calvin & Hobbes, and portion of trees.
My skills I’d say are okay, however that’s in oil, mostly sculpting. I used latex paint, which was a first for me- so I spent a lot of time on the tree and leaves, trying to figure out good technique. For instance- the technique Bob Ross from Joy of Painting uses does not work with latex on a wall. So I’d say about 5-6 hours was just messing around on the tree. I’ve never done anything like before, however I saw another Redditor about 5 months ago do something similar, and he said he was a rookie. So yeah- I’d say if you have time, anyone can do this.
I used pencil to draw portion of the tree and all of Calvin & Hobbes. If I could have a do over, I’d used a different, softer pencil- the mechanical pencil I used on the wall was very difficult to cover up with the lighter color paints. It does have it’s benefit though, because something else I’d change is to paint the colors on first, then come behind with the black outlines. The reason for this, you can basically color outside the lines to have a nice, smooth, even paint job, and cover it up with the black afterwards to clean everything up, have a nice pop to it.
I had to always remind myself that I am not Bill Waterson, and I cannot recreate his beautiful artwork exactly. He has talent, and he’s using a different medium. I was trying to recreate water coloring using latex paint on a wall. It’s just not the same. I also had to remind myself I’m not Bob Ross, and his techniques of oil painting will also not translate to latex painting on a wall.
It’s important to step away from the painting often, and look at a distance. If you’re like me, you’ll caught up in the details and imperfections when your nose is against the wall, and you’ll spend way too long trying to make it perfect…. get some distance once in a while.
My skills I’d say are okay, however that’s in oil, mostly sculpting. I used latex paint, which was a first for me- so I spent a lot of time on the tree and leaves, trying to figure out good technique. For instance- the technique Bob Ross from Joy of Painting uses does not work with latex on a wall. So I’d say about 5-6 hours was just messing around on the tree. I’ve never done anything like before, however I saw another Redditor about 5 months ago do something similar, and he said he was a rookie. So yeah- I’d say if you have time, anyone can do this.
I used pencil to draw portion of the tree and all of Calvin & Hobbes. If I could have a do over, I’d used a different, softer pencil- the mechanical pencil I used on the wall was very difficult to cover up with the lighter color paints. It does have it’s benefit though, because something else I’d change is to paint the colors on first, then come behind with the black outlines. The reason for this, you can basically color outside the lines to have a nice, smooth, even paint job, and cover it up with the black afterwards to clean everything up, have a nice pop to it.
I had to always remind myself that I am not Bill Waterson, and I cannot recreate his beautiful artwork exactly. He has talent, and he’s using a different medium. I was trying to recreate water coloring using latex paint on a wall. It’s just not the same. I also had to remind myself I’m not Bob Ross, and his techniques of oil painting will also not translate to latex painting on a wall.
It’s important to step away from the painting often, and look at a distance. If you’re like me, you’ll caught up in the details and imperfections when your nose is against the wall, and you’ll spend way too long trying to make it perfect…. get some distance once in a while.
2011年8月3日星期三
Hitler's Family Portraits: Paintings of Parents Could Fetch $100,000 at Auction
Two sought-after oil paintings that depict Adolf Hitler's parents, Klara and Alois, have surfaced in Orange County, Calif.
According to Craig Gottlieb Auctions, an online auction house based in Solana Beach, a French veteran "liberated" the paintings from Berghof, Hitler's mountain retreat in Bavaria, after World War II. The portraits have remained with the veteran's family, who moved to the United States in the 1980s, ever since. For reasons still unknown, the family approached the auction house to sell the works earlier this year. "These portraits are not rare—they are one of kind. They're the only two that exist," Craig Gottlieb told Fox's Los Angeles affiliate KTLA . "So when it's the collector's one opportunity or the museum's one opportunity, sky is the limit."
(MORE: New Book Claims Hitler Gave Sex Dolls to Nazi Soldiers)
After receiving a phone call from the family, Gottlieb set to validating the authenticity of the portaits. He came across 1930s photos from Berghof that show the paintings hanging on the wall. "They matched brush stroke for brush stroke," Gottlieb said. "They are authentic. I would stake my entire reputation on it." And, speaking to ARTINFO, he explained that the portraits appear in a list of artwork owned by Hitler, which can now be seen on the Library of Congress web site.
Gottlieb, who is Jewish, understands that controversy almost always accompanies the sell of Nazi-era artifacts. But he says he would never knowingly sell these paintings—or any other work—to a Nazi sympathizer. He sees the set of portraits as "an interesting historical jumping-off point" and hopes a museum will snap them up for educational purposes. According to the auction site, commentators described Klara Hitler as having "Medusa" eyes as a direct result of this painting.
The auction takes place from September 1 until September 17. Experts suggest the paintings, which will be sold as a pair, could fetch $100,000.
According to Craig Gottlieb Auctions, an online auction house based in Solana Beach, a French veteran "liberated" the paintings from Berghof, Hitler's mountain retreat in Bavaria, after World War II. The portraits have remained with the veteran's family, who moved to the United States in the 1980s, ever since. For reasons still unknown, the family approached the auction house to sell the works earlier this year. "These portraits are not rare—they are one of kind. They're the only two that exist," Craig Gottlieb told Fox's Los Angeles affiliate KTLA . "So when it's the collector's one opportunity or the museum's one opportunity, sky is the limit."
(MORE: New Book Claims Hitler Gave Sex Dolls to Nazi Soldiers)
After receiving a phone call from the family, Gottlieb set to validating the authenticity of the portaits. He came across 1930s photos from Berghof that show the paintings hanging on the wall. "They matched brush stroke for brush stroke," Gottlieb said. "They are authentic. I would stake my entire reputation on it." And, speaking to ARTINFO, he explained that the portraits appear in a list of artwork owned by Hitler, which can now be seen on the Library of Congress web site.
Gottlieb, who is Jewish, understands that controversy almost always accompanies the sell of Nazi-era artifacts. But he says he would never knowingly sell these paintings—or any other work—to a Nazi sympathizer. He sees the set of portraits as "an interesting historical jumping-off point" and hopes a museum will snap them up for educational purposes. According to the auction site, commentators described Klara Hitler as having "Medusa" eyes as a direct result of this painting.
The auction takes place from September 1 until September 17. Experts suggest the paintings, which will be sold as a pair, could fetch $100,000.
2011年8月1日星期一
Painting a beautiful picture of our town
THEY’VE been showing Yorkshire really is an oil painting for over 100 years - and today they take centre stage in Doncaster.
A legion of 27 artists from Doncaster Art Club have taken over a section of Doncaster Museum and Art gallery to show the public the quality of work which is being produced by a selection of keen amateurs from all across the borough.
Group chairman Mike Shaw reckons his home county is just great for painting.
He said: “Our exhibition certainly has paintings of the Yorkshire landscape, but it also has scenes from places like Cornwall and the Mediterranean too.
“The great thing about Yorkshire for a painter is there are plenty of subjects here.
“We do meet as a club to paint outside around Doncaster, at places like Lord Scarborough’s Sandbeck Hall estate, with his permission of course. There are a number of pictures painted there in our exhibition this year. There some beautiful landscapes in and around Doncaster.”
In all, there are 140 paintings on show at the museum this week, with painters allowed to contribute up to nine each.
The show is the biggest exhibition of the year for the club and its members, and the members are hoping the public will turn out in force to see their work.
Mike’s paintings will be among them.
The retired civil servant from Bessacarr has lived in Doncaster for 33 years, and says the group is keen to recruit more young painters since most of the members are middle aged.
Almost all are amateurs, who have held jobs down while doing their work.
The one exception is professional David Curtis, from Misson, the club’s president, who is well known for his landscapes and townscapes. The club has been running since 1897 and members were instrumental in pressing for a museum and art gallery in Doncaster more than a century ago.
Fans of the exhibition include Cynthia Ransome, Doncaster Council’s cabinet member for communities.
A legion of 27 artists from Doncaster Art Club have taken over a section of Doncaster Museum and Art gallery to show the public the quality of work which is being produced by a selection of keen amateurs from all across the borough.
Group chairman Mike Shaw reckons his home county is just great for painting.
He said: “Our exhibition certainly has paintings of the Yorkshire landscape, but it also has scenes from places like Cornwall and the Mediterranean too.
“The great thing about Yorkshire for a painter is there are plenty of subjects here.
“We do meet as a club to paint outside around Doncaster, at places like Lord Scarborough’s Sandbeck Hall estate, with his permission of course. There are a number of pictures painted there in our exhibition this year. There some beautiful landscapes in and around Doncaster.”
In all, there are 140 paintings on show at the museum this week, with painters allowed to contribute up to nine each.
The show is the biggest exhibition of the year for the club and its members, and the members are hoping the public will turn out in force to see their work.
Mike’s paintings will be among them.
The retired civil servant from Bessacarr has lived in Doncaster for 33 years, and says the group is keen to recruit more young painters since most of the members are middle aged.
Almost all are amateurs, who have held jobs down while doing their work.
The one exception is professional David Curtis, from Misson, the club’s president, who is well known for his landscapes and townscapes. The club has been running since 1897 and members were instrumental in pressing for a museum and art gallery in Doncaster more than a century ago.
Fans of the exhibition include Cynthia Ransome, Doncaster Council’s cabinet member for communities.
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