Roy Lichtenstein - Still Life With Crystal Bowl

Still Life With Crystal Bowl; serigraph and lithograph on BFK Rives roll paper, 1976; Signed, dated and numbered 13/45 rf Lichtenstein ’76 in pencil, lower right; Framed using an acid-free mat, a black wood exterior frame and conservation clear UV protective glass.

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Roy Lichtenstein's "Still Life With Crystal Bowl" is just a wonderful work in which to write about, as it seems to sum up a survey of Lichtenstein's oeuvre.  The image that is first noticed in the work is the entablature in the upper left.  Lichtenstein started using entablatures as subject matter in 1971, first with paintings and then with prints.  In this work, the large entablature serves as background with a second background fragment in the upper right and a small fragment in black and white with benday dots lower center; that has been placed for compositional balance.  Picasso and Matisse, the two titans of 20th century European painting, are addressed head on with this print.  The trompe-l'oeil wood graining is a direct Picasso synthetic cubism reference and can be found on the lower half of the violin and on both the table tops of the small cabinet lower right and the large table lower left.  The violin as subject matter, as well as the cubist deconstruction of both the wine bottle and the crystal bowl, are direct appropriations of Picasso techniques.  The tilt of the small cabinet with it's top being placed on a diagonal vertical plane references the flatness of Matisse compositions.  The entire print is wonderfully balanced in form, line, and color and exemplifies the best in Lichtenstein and his references to art history.

#roylichtenstein #lichtenstein #picasso #matisse #ar t#artcollecting #trompeloeil

Andy Warhol - Watercolor Paint Kit

Watercolor Paint Kit, Lithograph on Carnival Felt Cover paper, 1982; Signed Andy Warhol in black felt pen, lower right and numbered 284/500 in pencil, lower left; Framed using two acid-free mats, the original green painted wood exterior frame and Museum Image Perfect UV protective glass.

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"Watercolor Paint Kit" is a wonderful example of Warhol's satirical response to abstract expressionism and a nod to his contemporary pop artist, Roy Lichtenstein.  Pop Art, which arose in the early 1960's, was the idea of using everyday popular culture objects, people, etc. as subject matter.  It was also a revolt against the need to show splatters or brushstrokes, that were a staple of the expressionistic wing of the abstract expressionist movement of the 1940's.  Late 1950's and early 1960's works by Warhol showed splatters on his flat pop imagery in order to pay homage to Pollock and de Kooning; however, those tributes to the past were quickly discarded in favor of much cleaner compositions.  In fact, Warhol would quickly go the opposite direction by making every attempt to eliminate all surface brushstrokes, which lead him directly to silkscreening.

In 1965 Roy Lichtenstein had already produced paintings of large brushstrokes as subject matter and in the above work, Warhol goes even further by making the subject matter the actual supplies used to make art.  The idea is a painting of the supplies used to make a painting, in this case an open watercolor kit with brushes and the dried colored pigment discs.  The French artist Arman would produce similar works when he suspended paintbrushes and the brushstroke created by them into a sculptural acrylic block.

#warhol #andywarhol #watercolor #paintkit #artcollecting #art #popart #lichtenstein #arman

"The Rest" by Marc Chagall

Le Repos, (The Rest), Lithograph on Arches paper, 1968; Signed Marc Chagall in pencil, lower right and numbered 49/50 in pencil, lower left; Framed using two linen mats, an inset black wood interior fillet frame, a linen mat, a gold and black wood exterior frame and conservation clear UV protective glass. (Catalogue Raisonné: DAP 555)

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Marc Chagall is one of those artists that the public is instantly attracted to and one that they truly adore.  Chagall's style and imagery is instantly recognizable and even from far across the Gallery a patron will say with excitement, "Look a Chagall!"  The compositions of Chagall are wonderfully balanced with forms accurately placed and both positive and negative space utilized; so that a work does not lose it's sense of control.  Color is critical, with the choices made based on anticipated viewer appreciation and technically manipulated in order to activate a composition.  Chagall's imagery is based on emotional interpretations rather than formal technical associations.

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) was born to a Jewish family in what was the Russian Empire, but which is now Belarus.  As a Jewish artist in that time and place he had two choices in order to be a successful artist, one was to hide his Jewish heritage and the other was to embrace it; he chose the later.  His move to Paris in 1910 afforded him the opportunity to visit museums and interact with Apollinaire, Delaunay, and Leger.  Chagall travelled extensively through the years including, Europe, the Holy Land, and the US.  He worked in a broad range of mediums from painting and print making, to stain glass and theatre set/costume design.  Today he is regarded as one the century's greatest artists.  Pablo Picasso said of him, "When Matisse dies, Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is."

In the work above the sun, in the upper left, is white hot with a light top shading of yellow.  The landscape background is created using a brilliant green that depicts vegetation with a bird centered between two hills.  Just below is a body of blue water and the foreground is dominated by a beautiful brown haired woman dressed in deep red.  Chagall loved the phrase that a man's head could be turned by a beautiful woman; and so here is what has happened to her beguiled male companion.  There is negative space (unpainted) that runs throughout the composition, but it is balanced by the wonderful mossy green landscape throughout.  Composition, balance, color, artistic control, line, and form all combine to make this a truly spectacular work!

"Le Repos, (The Rest)," Framed.

#chagall #art #marcchagall #artcollecting

What Determines The Price For A Work Of Art?

SOLD: Caring For A Surrealist Watch (Attention Pour Une Contemplation Surréaliste) from Memories Of Surrealism, 1971; Etching and lithograph on Arches paper; Signed Dalí in pencil, lower right and numbered A 14/175 in pencil, lower left and embossed Salvador Dalí lower left and stamped © SALVADOR DALI-1971 in black ink, lower right, verso; Unframed; Image size 20” x 15 3/4”; Sheet size 29 7/8” x 21 1/8”

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A question that any collector wants to know is price.  What determines price, am I getting a good "deal," am I over paying, is this going to go up in price over time, etc.  Art as investment is a 20th century concept which has been further enhanced by media coverage of the stratospheric prices achieved at auction of works by Picasso, Warhol, Van Gogh, etc.  As a collector I ask these questions and as a dealer I answer them.  Let's just start with some basics.

Within a given artist's repertoire some mediums are more desired by collectors, and therefore more expensive; examples would be linocuts by Picasso or early 1960's serigraphs by Warhol.  Also keep in mind when the public thinks of a given artist, say Salvador Dali, they think about a melting clock; so artwork by him with a melting clock in the image will command a premium.  The same is true of Andy Warhol and his image of Marilyn Monroe, or Pablo Picasso and his deconstruction of a still life or portrait through the use of cubism.  This idea can be extrapolated to any artist, with works that are consistent with the artist's most recognized pieces commanding the highest price.  

Price is affected by the following factors, edition size, condition, and desirability of image.  Desirability of image is discussed above, and condition is simply how minty fresh the work appears.  If the print was stored using acid free materials and avoided any type of exposure since it was printed, it would be considered mint.  If it were framed without glass, using acid mats, and hung in a sunroom with a house full of smokers; it would not.  The cleaner the sheet, the more desirable and therefore the higher the price.  Edition size is a function of rarity.  The lower the edition size, generally the higher the price and vice versa.  In the case of James Rosenquist for instance, the rare prints seem to be the early prints (ie. the 1960's, which was the beginning of the POP art movement) and therefore the most desired.  Most of the early Rosenquist prints are in very low editions sizes; less than twenty.  For the most part, the prints are also already in the permanent collections of major world art museums and those that remain tend to be in the hands of big collectors.  Something to keep in mind, is that collectors are competing with the world's museums and with other collectors for the same works!  Although museums don't keep their print collections out in their Galleries all the time, a quick search of their inventories shows that they are a major repository.

In conclusion, set your budget and buy what you like; after all you are the one that is going to be living with what you acquire.  Good Luck Collecting!

SOLD: Spaghetti And Grass, 1964-1965; Lithograph on handmade Crisbrook British paper watermarked HAND MADE vertically, lower right; Signed and dated James Rosenquist 1965 in pencil, center right and numbered Artists Proof in pencil, center and titled Spaghetti + Grass in pencil, center left and complete with ULAE blindstamp embossed, center left; Unframed; Image size 27 3/4” x 17 1/8”; Sheet size 31 5/8” x 22 5/8”

#dali #artprice #art #artcollecting #warhol #picasso #rosenquist #modernart

Ellsworth Kelly - I Could Do That!

Untitled, Lithograph on Rives BFK paper; 1972; Signed Kelly in pencil, lower right and numbered 79/125 in pencil, lower left; Framed using a black wood exterior frame and conservation clear UV protective glass.

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I have heard the phrase "I could do that" so many times as people wonder through the Gallery.  But the phrase is never heard as much as when people see works by Ellsworth Kelly.  I used to rush out from behind my desk into the Gallery to try and explain the works to them, but as the years have passed, I have grown weary.  With this entry, I will attempt to shed some light onto the works of Kelly and perhaps in the process make myself feel better for ignoring all of those veiled cries for help in past few years.

Ellsworth Kelly is one of the 20th century's greatest artists.  All of the world's museums have his works which include paintings, drawing, sculpture, prints, etc. in their permanent collections; however the public, for the most part, has no real concept of how to even interact with his art.

After viewing works by Kelly most would agree that he would fall into Hard-Edge painting, Color Field, or Minimalism.  After all, two rectangles varying only in color would be minimal.  However, Kelly does not see himself as a minimalist at all; but rather a figure to ground painter and a color interaction painter.  Before continuing down this path, I want to first point out that Kelly's works have a life model.  His painting are not like those by Ad Reinhardt, Josef Albers, or Barnett Newman because his forms are drawn from nature or from his surroundings.  Photographs taken by Kelly as early as 1949 show the casting of shadow and light over surfaces of Parisian architecture; and it was these photographs that served as references for his paintings at the time.  You can see these types of things as you walk outside or drive under a bridge and look up.  You can edit and isolated regular and irregular forms from shadows or just small sections of trees or buildings.  If you were then to paint these forms a single color, you would have a Kelly painting. 

I took the photograph above from inside the Chicago Institute of Art looking out into their courtyard.  On the exterior building wall is a very large painted aluminum curve by Ellsworth Kelly.  "White Curve, 2009" is an enormous 14 x 54 x 3 feet aluminum wall sculpture that has been painted high gloss white.  Kelly views this work as a figure that is hanging on an entire ground (the wall).  To Kelly, the interaction of the curve to the wall is the same as a painting of a tree to it's landscape. 

Finally, I want to return to the first photograph on this blog, "Untitled, 1972."  This is a color interaction work.  The orange rectangle is the same size as the black below it; but Kelly has now made a connection of orange to black that is unique in this particular composition.  The light value of orange and black are chosen specifically by Kelly as is the orientation, scale, size, and form.  Any modification of the parameters of the composition alters the experience.  For example, if you flip the work with black on top the interaction is now different.  Black is now dominate and there is a immediate heaviness to the work that previously did not exist. 

Because of the way in which the forms are printed, there is also a figure (orange and black forms) and ground (white paper) relationship created.  The forms float and there is a mood that is created.  The result of viewing this work is the realization that this is a specific and elegant composition, created with the intent of invoking a feeling.  It does not have to be objects that are recognizable in order to have a subject, and that subject matter can be a simple emotion or a response.  With art by Kelly; relax, slow down, take it easy, and just enjoy!

Framed Ellsworth Kelly Original Lithograph.

#ellsworthkelly #minimalism #art #artcollecting #colorfield