AD 20/21 in Boston, Part II: From Graffiti Art to the One Shot Stool

AD 20/21 | Fine Art in Boston | Skinner team

Heather and Kathryn from the Marketing Department with Kathy, Robin, and Elizabeth from the American & European Works of Art Department at Skinner, Inc.

As an art appraiser and appreciator, I’ve always enjoyed AD 20/21: Art & Design of the 20th & 21st Centuries. This year, the show has moved beyond just modern design and prints to feature more contemporary art than I’ve seen in the past. The show is open from March 15– 18, 2012 at the Boston Center for the Arts

Last night, I stopped in with my colleagues, Kathy Wong and Elizabeth Haff, for a visit. We saw too many wonderful and beautiful things to describe in one blog post, but a few of our favorites were found in the booths for Artists for Humanity and Room 68.

At Artists for Humanity, a dress made out of Vitamin Water labels pulled me in for a closer look. The clever design and unusual material reminded me of the reality show Project Runway. In fact, the dress was made for Fashion Week in Boston.

Artists for Humanity is a group that provides underprivileged high school kids with art employment opportunities. These young people work on design projects, logo development, and fine art projects, and many go on to graduate from art school and continue working in the arts.

On the back wall of their booth, I was intrigued by two works that almost looked cubist, with a graffiti-like feel. It turns out that a couple of the kids in the program were indeed graffiti artists, so their mentors encouraged them to take that style, and create a piece that looks like graffiti without words.

Room 68 showed off concepts in contemporary design, including everything from the One Shot Stool by Patrick Jouin to cleverly designed vases, ceramics, and textiles. The moving parts of the stool were all cut from a single piece of material, and like an umbrella, it folds up into an easy shape for carrying.

Although the objects on display at the show many be on the pricier side for some, Kathy Wong looked online after the show and discovered that their prices for design accessories start at a very affordable $15.

We all appreciated the integration between fine art, design, and prints, and with such a range of styles and prices, there’s sure to be something for everyone. Have you been to the show? Let us know in the comments or on the American & European Works of Art Facebook page which booth was your favorite.

Jane Prentiss, Director of 20th Century Design at Skinner, Inc. enjoyed the show as well. Here are her impressions.

Auction Highlights, Part II: The $5.5 Million Dollar World Record

This post continues a series of stories behind some of the top highlights in Skinner auctions from the past decade. Through telling these stories, we hope to shed light on where the market has been and where it’s going now.

Fitz Henry Lane, Manchester Harbor

Skinner set a new world record for a painting by Fitz Henry Lane in November 2004: a record that still stands today. The $5.5 million price bested the previous world record price for the artist by over $1.5 million. Even more exciting, this was the third record price that Skinner set for a work by Fitz Henry Lane, who is widely regarded as one of the foremost American painters of the 19th century. At the time, this painting was also the most valuable artwork ever sold at auction in New England.

Skinner still holds the world record for a work by artist Fitz Henry Lane, set when Manchester Harbor sold for $5.5 Million in a Skinner American & European Paintings & Prints Auction in Boston in November 2004

Lane was born in 1804 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and spent much of his youth sketching the Cape Ann shore, north of Boston. He also seems to have undergone two name changes, only one of which was of his own doing. He was born Nathaniel Rogers Lane. As a young man he changed his name, possibly to differentiate himself from the well-known miniature painter Nathaniel Rodgers. He apprenticed with William S. Pendleton, the Boston lithography firm, in the early 1830s, specializing in topographic views. At this time, he began signing his works “F.H. Lane.” Lane fell out of favor with collectors in the late 19th century, and remained that way well into the 20th century. As of the 1930s, if scholars considered Lane at all, they considered his name to be Fitz Hugh Lane. In fact, when Manchester Harbor sold in 2004 this was still thought to be the case. It was not until 2005 that researchers in Gloucester, Massachusetts rediscovered the 1831 letter Lane had written to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts requesting
a name change to Fitz Henry Lane.

Whether you call him Nathaniel, Hugh, or Henry, the artist probably saw the works of Robert Salmon and Washington Allston in Boston in the early 1840s. It was at this time that he decided to concentrate on painting. The paintings of the late 1840s and early 1850s reflected Lane’s earlier graphics training, in conjunction with the influence of the marine artists of the earlier generation. As is apparent in Manchester Harbor, the foreground details with its figures, piers, and spits of land, the scale for the work while accentuating the vastness of the view and its light. The low placement of the horizon line allows for an expansive sky. Tinted with the warm hues of sunrise and reflected in the calm waters, the light becomes the focus of the work, as is typical of Luminism.

The horizontal arrangement of the composition creates stillness in spite of the great, varied activity of the foreground. In conjunction with the concentration of light around a sun viewed through clouds just above the horizon, Manchester Harbor foreshadows the increasing calm and poetry of Lane’s mature Luminist style as it would emerge in the late 1850s.

From my experience as an appraiser of fine paintings and prints for Skinner and on Antiques Roadshow, I know how rare it is to find a masterpiece like this one. Every time I sell a fabulous painting at auction, I wonder how many more there can be left to find? But I know there are many more amazing finds out there.

If you have an exceptional painting or print by a well known artist, and would like me to take a look, please call and set up an appointment at 508-970-3299.

Blooms for Books

Support the Boston Public Library and get a glimpse of spring in the middle of winter at the upcoming Skinner Prints and Paintings Auction

This lovely arrangement interprets an 18th/19th century portrait of a gentlewoman as Diana, Goddess of the Hunt (Lot 310 in the February 3, 2012 Paintings auction)

Several months ago, Skinner art appraiser Kathy Wong agreed to arrange all of the flowers for a friend’s wedding. I know you’re wondering what this has to do with antiques and auctions, but just stay with me for a minute. The friend happens to be a Skinner colleague, so this past fall we have all enjoyed watching the process as Kathy brought in ideas to show to the bride-to-be: designs for table arrangements, bouquets, boutonnières, and more.

It turns out that, in addition to being a great art historian, Kathy has a fantastic eye for color and design.

Now, Kathy is putting her design talents to work for the sake of art and a terrific cause. In conjunction with the February 3rd Prints and Paintings auction in Boston, Kathy will interpret several of the lots presented as flower arrangements. Have you ever seen the Museum of Fine Art’s Art in Bloom or the Worcester Art Museum’s Flora in Winter? Our presentation will be similar, but we are adding a slight twist. The arrangements will be sold during the Paintings & Prints auction to raise money for the Boston Public Library’s Fine Arts Library in the historic McKim building in Copley Square.

Attend our Fine Art Gallery walk on February 2nd to view the art-inspired bouquets.

The BPL’s Fine Arts Library is a tremendous resource open to all, and as art appraisers, we use the library constantly in our research. The librarians are extremely knowledgeable, and work under difficult conditions – anyone who has gone in there to do research on a hot July day knows exactly what I’m talking about! Given the number of books I request in the course of a single visit, I can’t imagine that they are ever thrilled to see me, and yet they are always welcoming and considerate. It is one of our favorite places to work, and yet it is a place desperate for an upgrade. We realize that the amount we raise for them will only be a drop in the bucket, but it is our very small way of saying thank you.

Plus, won’t it be nice to come to the Paintings & Prints auction preview and see all the fresh, colorful flower arrangements? There’s nothing like a little bit of spring in the middle of winter!

The preview will be open to the public on Wednesday, February 1st, 12 to 5 pm; Thursday, February 2nd, 12 to 8 pm; and Friday, February 3, 9 to 10:30 am at Skinner’s Boston auction gallery. The auction begins at noon on Friday, February 3rd. We hope to see you there!

Should I Collect Prints or Paintings?

Edward Hopper (American, 1882-1967) Night Shadows, 1921, Auctioned for $27,255 in September, 2010

“Want to come up and see my etchings?”

The opportunity to throw out a line like this may be one motive to collect prints, but there are much better reasons. Collecting prints is the auction equivalent of “having your cake and eating it too.”

“Print” is a broad term that, in the context of fine art, refers to a work for which the artist creates the printing matrix, such as an etched plate, a lithographic stone, or a carved woodblock, and uses this to create multiple impressions of an image.

The artist may or may not be the actual printer, but generally approves of the quality and methodology of printing, and often signs his or her prints by hand.

Prints tend to be smaller in scale than paintings – unless you’re looking at Modern and Contemporary works – and generally invite the close, intimate scrutiny that a smaller space engenders. This intimacy lends itself extremely well to adorning the walls of a regular-sized home.

If you have a limited budget—who doesn’t these days?—you should consider prints.

Because of their very nature, prints are less expensive than paintings. Prints are multiples, rather than one-of-a-kind works of art, so clearly they are less rare. This also means that condition is extremely important. In buying a unique work, if you absolutely love the image you may be more accepting of some minor condition problems.

With prints, however, the rules change. Consider an iconic etching like Edward Hopper’s Night Shadows of 1921. If that is the work you want, then you have options. This work was printed in an edition of 500. The very next one to come up at auction might be laid down or have trimmed margins or staining — all negative condition issues. If you’re willing to overlook those problems, you could get one of those 500 etchings for around $25,000 or less. Or, you can hold out for a fantastic impression in pristine condition for $40,000.

Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889-1975), Threshing

The Hopper in poor condition may not be within your price range, but here’s another example: Let’s say you want to buy Thomas Hart Benton oil—just a minor one. Well, you need to be ready to spend $300,000 to $500,000. That’s the price of a house! It’s simply beyond most people’s budgets. And that doesn’t even address the cost of a prime example of his painting – his record for auction prices is just over $2.4 million.

But, you can get a great Thomas Hart Benton lithograph—a quintessential example of his work—for $3,000 to $5,000. That’s not cheap, but it’s only a mortgage payment or two, and if you’re in love, what are a few mortgage payments? And since you’re wondering; for a major Hopper painting, plan to spend the price of the house, two new cars, plus 4 years of college tuition… or over $1,000,000. Suddenly $25,000-40,000 seems like a bargain.

My advice to you is, “have your house and decorate it too.”

So, should you collect prints or paintings? It’s a few mortgage payments versus the whole house. You make the call!

View the Fine Paintings & Prints Auction Catalogue for our February 3, 2012 auction.

Originally published November 23, 2010. Revised and updated January 13, 2012.

Steel, Stones, and Smoke: Art Appraisers Tour Art Basel Miami Beach

During the day, Brian Tolle's "Tempest," 2010 is a spiraling path, but at night it takes on the aspect of a tumultuous sea filled with phosphorescence.

Last week, I had the opportunity to travel to Florida for one of the year’s most spectacular art shows: Art Basel Miami Beach. I spent the first part of the trip with fellow art appraiser Kathy Wong, and then my husband and 7-year-old son joined me as traveling companions.

In addition to spotting famous and emerging artists (Julian Schnabel, Orlan, the controversial Mr. Brainwash, and Marina Abramovic, to name a few), we snapped photos of many pieces of art that struck us as beautiful, original, shocking, or thought-provoking. You can view the full gallery on the American & European Works of Art Facebook page.

I’m happy to report that despite “The Great Recession,” sales seemed brisk. By 11:35 am on Wednesday (the VIP opening started at 11:00), Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, had already sold a huge diptych by Kara Walker entitled Pastoral. A departure from her silhouette images, this piece was a monumental drawing of a mother hiding in an alleyway during a riot.

Interestingly, many galleries opted out of the tradition of placing red dots on labels to mark pieces as sold. The reason? A potential collector seeing a red dot might not make an inquiry, and each inquiry is an opportunity to attract new clients.

This year, the show introduced an initiative to get the general public involved as well. “Art Public” brought in art lovers who might feel that they fall outside of the usual Art Basel audience. This show transformed Collins Park (right next to Bass Art Museum and the Mr. Brainwash show) with 24 pieces of public art. Each morning the show was open, you could see groups of students touring with their teachers.

Some of Our Favorite Pieces from Art Public in Collins Park

Anish Kapoor plays with voids and vessel-like forms in Black Stones, Human Bones from 1993.

Theaster Gates: "Stand-Ins for a Period of Wreckage," 2011 features a series of waist-high columns, each with its own unique feature. Some are crumbling; others have a high, polished top; still others seem to crack to reveal stacks of dinnerware inside.

Chakaia Booker: "Holla," 2008 uses cut up pieces of tires layered over a steel frame to create a serpentine figure that is deeply textural. The construction and craftsmanship are beautiful. Visible behind are works by Damien Hirst, George Rickey, and Robert Indiana.

It’s simply not possible to fit everything I loved at Art Basel Miami Beach into one blog post, so I asked my son for his take on the trip. His favorite? A work by Mexican artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, titled Shadow Box #5: The Years Midnight. A surveillance camera mounted on the right side of the screen picks up viewers standing in front of the work. As you look at the piece, you see yourself, but with a smoky mist rising from your eyes. As you move, the mist goes with you. The interactivity was a blast for all ages (Watch a video of my husband interacting with the piece on Facebook).

All three of us are glad to be back home, and already looking forward to next year.

Contemporary Art in Boston: Exploring The Linde Family Wing at the MFA

Contemporary Art in Boston | Linde Family Wing

In the foreground: Mona Hatoum’s Grater Divide of 2002, where three panel-style cheese graters are supersized to create a floor screen. In the back left: George Segal's The Artist in His Loft, 1969. The white plaster-gauze figure at first seems real and everyday—it’s a guy shaving, and why are we in his bathroom? Yet it’s also quite unreal—he is live-sized, yet hauntingly vacant and otherworldly.

I finally had the chance to go see the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

I’ve got one word for you: go.

The layout is contextual rather than chronological, and frankly some of the choices are downright quirky (in a good way). For instance, the placement of Monet’s La Japonaise makes sense visually, but the piece is a century earlier than virtually everything else around it. Perhaps this is a clever maneuver to get certain types of museum-goers out of the comfort zone of Impressionist galleries and into something new.

Each gallery room has a theme, with the initial room titled, “Art Can Be…” It’s left up to visitors to fill in the rest of the sentence. The rooms also feature cards that pose questions to generate personal inquiry for the art, such as, “What is it made of? Why do you think the artist chose that material?” These questions are a great entrée for the novice, and also create terrific games for engaging young viewers.

Some have commented that this presentation is oversimplified and akin to dumbing-down the material, but in a city that, until recently, has been reticent at best to embrace Contemporary art, this seems like a witty way to engage hesitant viewers. It is also a way to exercise your art history muscles, whether you are a new viewer or a seasoned veteran.

As you move from the Art Can Be… to the What’s it About? gallery, you get to touch and interact with the art. The entryway is partitioned by Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ Untitled (Beginning).

Passing through Gonzalez-Torres’ green and silver beaded curtain isn’t dipping your toe into the shallow end of Contemporary art; it’s doing a cannonball into the deep end without a clue as to the water temperature. The curtain is heavy and makes a clacking, rustling noise as it moves. Just minutes after I passed through, a whole group of college students followed. They stopped gossiping as they did so, and looked up and around and through the beads. They smiled and beamed at each other.

What better entrance to a new Contemporary art space?

As is true of much of the Museum of Fine Arts, the wing mixes furniture and decorative arts with paintings and sculpture. Three video installations are featured in one dark hallway, and no you don’t have to sit for 24 hours to watch Christian Marclay’s The Clock. Instead, try the screaming and dancing New York City lawyers in Ann Carlson and Mary Ellen Strom’s Sloss, Kerr, Rosenberg & Moore, 2007. Their looped performance of 4 minutes 28 seconds is based on phrases and movements the artists recorded during actual legal trials. It is Sisyphean with a dash of humor and empathy.

What makes the Linde Family Wing worth seeing is its thoughtful contextualization. No doubt, some works will speak to you while others are cold and mute, but as a whole they will spark thought and emotion, and isn’t that what art is about?

Contemporary Art in Boston: The Smart & Witty Work of Annette Lemieux

Annette Lemieux, Potential Snowman, 2001, Hydrocal with pigment (constructed spheres and cast forms), Formica on wood platform Private collection, New York © Annette Lemieux

Contemporary art is becoming all the rage (finally!) in Massachusetts. Sebastian Smee’s article in the Boston Globe, “Contemporary Art All the Rage Across Region,” (September 18, 2011) points out how MassMOCA, the ICA, and now the MFA are all giving contemporary art its due, and even The Clark Art Institute is getting into the act.

The Worcester Art Museum (WAM) has been quietly and steadily showing contemporary work for years. Now in its ninth machination, the Wall at WAM project, currently featuring Charline von Heyl, shows site-specific murals in the Renaissance Court. And, WAM brings at least one major contemporary show each year, which, for a museum of modest size, is nothing short of amazing.

At present the ‘big show’ is “The Strange Life of Objects: The Art of Annette Lemieux.” Annette Lemieux is smart, witty, and a wordsmith. If some of her subjects are dark, violent, and painful; others are humorous and joyful. The complex combination of emotions makes for a rich, life-like experience.

Earlier this week, the artist, currently on sabbatical from Harvard, spoke at the WAM about her work. Themes of war seep into her iconography, no doubt in part due to current events, but perhaps also due to her father, who has been largely absent and had a career in the marines. Her Hell on Wheels, 1991 features a grouping of “found” helmets, each set onto two axles of wheels and set into a tight formation resembling a torpedo.

Annette Lemieux, Hell On Wheels, 1991, Found steel helmets, rubber tires, steel rods, Collection of Ruth and William Ehrlich

While they read as a quirky grouping of nifty little cars, they are simultaneously unsettling as we envision them going into motion on the offensive, each individualized but moving as a single unit. This becomes even more unnerving given their juxtaposition to Hell Text of the same year. Here a journal-like entry is burned into cotton, and recounts the experience of Jews rounded up and taken to concentration camps.

Not far away from these is an installation of three spheres of descending sizes, an organic conical form and a small pile of rocks, all arranged on a platform and all painted white. This would be Potential Snowman, 2001.

Lemieux sees humor and logic in all things. When she found she had a creative block in the mid 1990s what did she do? She began depicting brick walls to represent the mental impediment, and their stifling of the creative process. These bricks came out in myriad formations, including her Moveable Obstacles #1 and #2, both of 1995. The artist uses her own measurements to create the obstacles – shingle-like brick walls on wheels. But she’s not thinking about a typical clothing measurement like 36-24-36; the 64 x 64 x 9 3/4 inch dimensions of the obstacles are her own dimensions when she is positioned like Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man.

Anyone who has ever made an attempt at creativity knows that we ourselves are often our own greatest roadblocks. Sometimes these mental sneezes can actually run amok, as seen in Lemieux’s The Hard Go, also of 1995. Here bricks of various sizes and alignments are given wheels and move like a herd of cats. We expect to find them instantly underfoot and tripping us up, and yet they simultaneously flow like 495 during rush hour (for those of you who rarely venture outside of 128, or who don’t live in Boston, that means crowded but flying along in concert at 70 mph).

Lemieux sees life from her own personal perspective, but invites us to share many of the facets of her point of view, together with the full gamut of emotions that life has to offer.

If you’re interested in Contemporary Art, sign up for the Skinner email list to receive gallery walk invitations, auction preview information, and more.

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