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We've Moved! A New Site for 2009

2009-01-01T16:37:00.002-05:00

We've moved to a new site for 2009 and beyond. Find Urban Art and Antiques at urbanartantiques.com

Ramsess II

2008-12-31T09:19:00.003-05:00

There was a moment of silence when my friend asked me why Egyptian art? Why a people 5,000 years ago whose language obsolete?

Nothing is more striking than looking at this picture of head of Ramsess II lying on the rubbles. It is sad, mysterious, and marvelous despite of the damage.

If we obliterate the future and the past, the present moment stands in empty space, outside life and its chronology, outside time and independent of it.

Ruminating -- Thoughts after visiting "Art and China's Revolution"

2008-12-29T08:59:00.030-05:00

I was born at the end of the Cultural Revolution (CR) in China. Like a typical single child in my generation, my understanding of CR could only come from other's experience. The source, however, has not always been readily available for years. My parents have been silent about their roles and life in CR period. (They are more willing to tell me the suffering of starvation in the first three years of 1960's.) What's more, they have successfully shielded away from any possibility that I could have to get some stories from my relatives or their friends.

The young generation grew up in a vacuum of sterility. This official history books are shy about China's past after 1949. In particular, the political turbulence and the national fever of the CR are totally eliminated as if the history has vapored in the air.

The intellectuals and artists, who had been become more active in the 80's or 90's, are getting older and producing less. Furthermore, the outputs are not even among different genre. The non-fiction novels and report-a-larges were popular in the late 80's. In particular some biographies written by those who went to "Bei Da Huang" (i.e. Siberia-equivalent in China) amazed me in their determination, almost bordering stubbornness. But those authors were aware of the the great gap between the relative comfortable city life where they used to live and the barbarous no-where. Even though a lot of them eventually found the way out and went back to cities, their views have not always been negative: It was the period when their energy was the highest, the place where comradeship was wrought to last through hardship and where they may have their first love.

There are less movies about CR since it is a more accessible media compared to the intellectual-favored books. A lot of the movies, which could not pass the censorship, won awards abroad. But nothing is more scarce compared to the CR-related art during the post Cultural Revolution period. After all, movies and novels show a process or a period. Within it, violence and injustice can be mellowed down by romance, love or even happy endings. The paintings, which only capture a state of being or a particular moment, cannot find a middle ground to speak both the consciousness of the artist while passing the censorship of Culture Bureau.

Because of the scarce of reflective works, the current exhibition "Art and China's Revolution" in Asia Society gives an introspection by showing the artworks from that period. I have not seen such an exhibition in China, and probably it will never happen in China during my life time. It was not pleasant, in fact excruciating because the artworks are neither true nor beautiful, yet they were created by the best artists of the country. I begin to ask: are they art?

Artistically, they were technically wonderful. Some of the oil paintings show the influence of Russian school in the way of depicting light and arranging subject matters. The Father, one of the most celebrated paintings in China, reminds me of Fechin with regard to light and color palette. But Fechin's succinct brush strokes would be too avant-guade thus too Western for China.

However, what strikes me the most was most of the paintings were historical paintings and depict events and movement that led to the Cultural Revolution. In one example, a painting praised the fruit of the "Great Leap Forward" movement with Mao in the field of experimental wheat field. In another, Mao was with the coal miners including a female worker. These were painted by the same painters who, during the first three years of the 1960's, read in starvation the news of new record of unit field production from the newspaper daily, the same painters who lost their wok because all irons went to some backyard steel furnace. They became waste since regular people didn't know the metallurgy, but the waste was still counted as the national steel production in order to catch up with Britain in 15 years.

Have the artists lost their consciousness to become one of the feverish or were they doing it because that's the only way to survive? I don't know. But it is shameful to look at them as Chinese. If Germans can spent years self-criticizing their past in WW2, why can't Chinese, from the top to the individual, look straight back at that period and most importantly make sure the mistake will not happen again? Milan Kundera said: The basis of shame is not some personal mistake of ours, but the ignominy, the humiliation we feel that we must be what we are without any choice in the matter, and that this humiliation is seen by everyone.

It is true that that "Da Zi Bao" (big character posters) are more rebellious and violent. But when artworks, in the disguise of surface beauty and technical excellence, stop to speak truth from the heart: It is a revolting product: it shrills people not only because artists behind the canvas were institutionalized, but also because the arts became part of the machine.

Ironically, in those propaganda paintings, there were no individuality except Chairman Mao and other leaders. They looked perfect, happy, young and vivacious. Their hands point forward or raise up as if the underlining movement was getting higher and faster without a check.

Now as China gets stronger and bigger, there is another wave of extreme patriotism national wide. They broke in and vandalized French-owned chain stores because the Olympic torch relay was disturbed (by Chinese dissidents) in France. There is a growing anomosity toward the western and several books are published with simily titles like "China can say NO", "China has to say NO" etc. The government silently approves and assist the trend because Chinese are too easy to confuse the love of motherland with the love of government. And again the youth is at the front of the new trend. They have marched in the official sponsored demonstration, arms high and spirit higher.

This reminds me again Milan Kundera in the book "Unbearable Lightless of the Being": Behind Communism, Fascism, behind all occupations and invasions lurks a more basic, pervasive evil and that the image of that evil was a parade of people marching by with raised fists and shouting identical syllables in unison.

History should not be repeated, it must not be. And Chinese, especially the young generation should ruminate the past, even if it is revolting.

Planned, Then and Now

2008-12-26T16:42:00.014-05:00

Perhaps it was too ambitious at the beginning, a design in the second half of Gilded Age when everything should be grand and opulent.

The original design of the Brooklyn Museum by McKim, Mead and White would outshine Louvre and Met in its scale, but once the city of Brooklyn merged with Manhattan, the other side of the East River would lose its competitiveness and the final result is partially sweet for its grand facade, but partially sad because it is in my opinion a forever symbol of an unfulfilled dream.

The new entrance, sleek, modern and inviting in its own way, does not add too much exhibition space. I always hope that at least the west side of the building can be built to match the single finger-shape of the building on the east side, thus the museum can have two Beaux-Art courts.

In the era of shining clad, my wish may be too absurd to the public taste. (The only recently built public building with classical design that I have seen is the symphony hall in Nashville, TN. ) For me, it is not about the Roman classics or nobility, it is the historical integrity, a chance to make the dream true.

The Brooklyn Bridge in Stereo

2008-12-21T17:20:00.007-05:00

The Brooklyn Bridge was an engineering marvel that changed New York. On completion in 1883, it was the largest suspension bridge in the world, the first steel-wire suspension bridge, and the first bridge to connect to Long Island. The bridge was lucky enough to be built when stereoview cards were popular, and so today is a frequently appearing image on these cards.

Stereoview cards contain a set of photographs taken by a camera with two lenses. The images are about 2.5 " apart, which is approximately the distance between our eyes. When viewed in the prismatic lens of a stereoviewer, the brain perceives them as a single image in 3-D.

Stereoview cards are quite collectible today. They are relatively easy to find if you know where to look and show landmarks, genre scenes and important events. While not many of us alive today can remember when stereoviews were popular, many of us can remember the ViewMaster, which works on the same principle. (a nice bakelite viewmaster is a great thing to have too!)

Three images of the Brooklyn Bridge include one by the Keystone View Company from Meadville, Pa; one from William H. Rau in Philadelphia and one from Underwood & Underwood from New York. In 1920, the company sold most of its catalog of views to the Keystone View Company.

While for the most part stereoviews are associated with the Victorian-era, the Keystone View Company and a subsequent company manufactured the cards into the 1970s. If you search for the cards on ebay, you may find some pornographic images which found their way onto the cards in the 1950s.

It's difficult to determine the actual photographer of many of the images. Of particular interest is the work of William H. Rau, a noted landscape photographer who was at one point on assignment for the Pennsylvania Railroad. His work is in the collections of several American Museums including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Rau also photographed the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in Saint Louis, and the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, Oregon. I am not sure how many of the images on cards with a Rau label were actually taken by him.

Goodbye, eBay Live

2008-12-20T20:51:00.002-05:00

Those of you who have used ebay Live often will notice that all listed upcoming auctions are before Jan 1, 2009. Don't be fooled. This is not because the auction houses have slowed down due to holidays, but eBay has officially ended its eBay live auction services and will focus on their traditional auction business in future.

For me, the nice thing about eBay live is not about being able to bid online (certainly you can, but sometimes with some annoying delay which costs you winning plus some auctions charges higher buyer premium for online bidders). But eBay listed all upcoming auctions together so that you can use traditional search engine to search items among all auctions. I have found this is quite powerful. (There is some similar service which charges monthly fees!)

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/ will hosts the online auction service for traditional auction houses. I tend to think their user interface is not well done, but at least you can still browse through catalog without going through each auction house's own website!

The Hushed Note

2008-12-15T21:32:00.004-05:00

Among all the paintings representing American Barbizon and Tonalism paintings in the ongoing "Path to Impressionism" exhibition at Newark Art Museum, Bruce Crane's "A November Scene" is the one which speaks to me the most.

Everything in the picture is subdued: color, form and subject. The scene is not beautiful itself, but evocative, with a smell of decaying leaves over the chilled water. It is a scene of the last days of New England autumn, which although I have never experienced, I feel associated with the spare air in the Western Pennsylvania where I had been living for the past 6 years.

It was not barbaric as some depicted by Enneking, since there are human traces such as wood piles, deserted and almost ineligible, in the middle ground or a stone wall, which visually and possibly physically blend into the brownish yellowish surrounding. Nature, once gain, took over where once habituated by early New England settlers.

The hushed scenery is less idyllic than what it looks like on the surface. The painting was painted in 1895, at the height of the Gilded Age. Between 1865 to 1905, while the population in rural area increased little, the population in metro areas increased 20 times. In particular, New England was proved to be too rugged to be farmed and thus became uninhabited in its rural area. In fact, New England, for a while, became the factory for clothing and shoes manufacturing. Gone with the rural habitation was the simple and self-reliant Protestant life style and moral virtues.

Ironically, if Bruce Crane intended to use the solitude of the nature itself to prove it was the industrialization that deprived human to get embraced by the natural beauty, the robber Barons, who praised and advocated his works, didn't think so. Among them, George Hearn made a fortune from dry good retails. William Evans was the president for the Mills & Gibb firm. while Henry Chapman was the prominent banker and stockbroker from Brooklyn. For them, the economic brushwork by Crane recalls repose and tranquility that they would associated before industrialization. The suggestive mood and ethereal atmosphere were perfect for recollection and recount of the past.

A close examination shows that Crane used impasto and glazing to great extent. Crane first placed a thin layer of paint for the background (the remote trees are almost formless). Then he built up the painting by brushed or dotted thick layers of paints within limited range and hues. The surface of the canvas at the foreground is as rugged as the landscape itself. The brown glazing, seemingly randomly disposed, gives a harmonious yet subtle veil to the scenery. It is true that not painting from the plein-air but from the memory gave Crane freedom to manipulate the painting based on his will, but it is his determination and imaginative power that gave a could-be-depressive scene romantic and poetic rendering.

I stood there long and felt I was dissolved in the field. The soil is infertile, the field rocky, the weather freezing. Yet the sentimental pastoral beauty arouse strong heartbeats for those who had lived it and lost it. Almost, I think, everyone has it in his heart: somber yet bitter-sweet, a spiritual New England forgone.

A Sip of High Victorian - Trip to the Hudson River Museum

2008-12-14T18:14:00.010-05:00

While browsing the website of Hudson River Museum, Eric and I found an attached house museum, "Glenview" which is regarded as one of the finest examples of Aesthetic Movement interior decoration from the last quarter of the 19th century. Last Saturday a train of MTA Metro North took us to Yonkers and once again we were rewarded with a splendid river view along the railroad for a pleasant day trip.

Eric and I were greeted by a museum staff who told us there is no admission fee between Thanksgiving to New Years. We headed directly toward the Glenview house.

Built in 1877 for John Bond Trevor family, the house is a fine example of high Victorian style with 26 rooms. As a visitor who took 30 minute train ride from Grand Central, what interested me most at the beginning was not the scale or the style, but the suburban sensibilities associated with the house. Situated on a bluff overseeing the river, Glenview is at the suburb of a suburb. The rapid development of railroads after 1860's made it possible that wealthy families could buy a dream home of pastoral treats with easy commute to the city. In 1881, downtown Yonkers station had 6 morning trains between 7 and 9 AM, John Trever, who spent three quarters of the year (except winter) at Glenview and had an office at 40 Wall St. must be a regular commuter.

Architect Charles Clinton's design utilized what nature offers to the house. The piazza, which once extended to the entire west facade, linked the house to the river. The house, unlike the city block which is usually 25 by 100, is so wide and spacious that the kitchen is on the first floor.

Entering the hall decorated with encaustic tile floor, the arrangement of the rooms is similar to that of Ballatine house in Newark Art Museum: On the left is the library and right is the parlor. The library is decorated with ebony furniture. Oriental motifs mingle with Italian-style tile inset. The notion of affluence and social statues in Victorian period, is not only apparent in the quality, but also by the quantity and its cosmopolitan assembly of everything that was popular. But other rooms, probably redecorated by the museum, show a more consistent decorative style which began to appear in mid 1880's. I was fascinated by the parlor room which was unified by the color and patterns used in wall paper, ceiling stencils and fabrics. It is reported that Trevor brought Leissner and Louis to complete the ornate ceiling stencils and Daniel Pabst to create the mantels and a dining room sideboard. All were photographed by the brother of Albert Bierstadt,Edward Bierstadt in the book "Homes on the Hudson" published in 1885.

The shimmering yet restrained wallpaper can also be found in the sitting room next to the library in the form of sun flowers. The stenciled leaves, flowers and branches on the ceiling become an abstraction of the nature, echoing the spring scene through the bay window.

Paintings by the contemporary artists such as Cropsey, Hart or Robert Swain Gifford do not take the spotlight. They are hung as they would be in a real family home, an integral part of the house decoration and a notion of owner's tastes.

Up the stairway which is on the right behind the billiard room, I saw the beautiful laylight which was restored by the museum with artificial light. The stain glass panel recalls the beautiful tile floor in the hall way.

The second floor is reconstructed like a traditional exhibition place. I didn't find the paintings by George Inness or John Francis Murphy as seen in their website, but there are paintings by best landscape artists such as Ashe Durand, William Hart and Théodore Rousseau.

This is the first house I have experienced faithfully decorated in Eastlake style. The visit aroused in me curiosity about the Aesthetic Movement. It may seem old-fashioned and overly decorative, yet in a grand house that speaks out affluence and tastes, the opulence looks cultivated and restrained under the iridescent wallpaper.

You can also visit Hudson River Museum website.

The regular admission fee is $5 for adult.
Metro North Hudson Line with local stops to Glenview.

What were sold? Thoughs from the Freeman's auction result

2008-12-09T15:54:00.003-05:00

The past weekend, Freeman's auctioneered around 170 paintings in its Fine American and European Paintings auction. The number of unsold items is close to 70, which exceeds one third of the total lots. Even worse, quite a few sold items were below the low estimates.

European portraiture didn't sell or didn't sell that much, neither French Barbizon paintings. Adolphe Monticelli's "Figures in an interior" was my favorite. Montecelli is painters' painter. I didn't get to know him until recently when I did some research on the Barbizon school. His paintings may lack the first-sight charm, but his genius is shone through his highly individual artistic style: His brilliant dashed brush strokes have dazzling effects that can only be rivaled by some post-impressionism works. Yet his colors are of the same vein of French Barbizon paintings like Diaz or Rousseau: rich, warm and highly glazed. The subject of the painting offered by Freeman's featured a group of figures dressed elegantly in the rural settings, a reminiscent of Antoine Watteau.

A few American paintings went high. The portrait of Milton by Eastman Johnson, although small and more toward sketchy side based on Eastman John's style, will be included in the forthcoming raisonne, went higher than expected. I just visited Morgan Library last Friday and visited their current exhibition "John Milton’s Paradise Lost". With his head leaning backward against red wall and half buried in darkness, the 17th century poet had a Victorian romantic appeal. The high price for the painting by John La Farge contrasted sharply with a deer study by Bierstadt which didn't reach the reserved price. This seem to confirm what I perceive of the current art and antiques market: buyers are more focused and only the best represented works can sell well.

It didn't surprise to see another pine trees in sunset painting by Charles Warren Eaton went high in the auction. Among all American tonalism painters, Eaton's market demand has increased so dramatically that the price has doubled or tripled during the past few years. I remember the first time I saw his painting was in Akron Art Museum, which has a great collection of American tonalism and Impressionism paintings. The pine trees, standing together against the darkening sky, thin-trunked yet thick capped, for the first time brought up the spiritual side of the nature into my mind.

Unlike other tonalism painters such as John Francis Murphy or Dwight Tryon (whose works can also be found in Akron Museum), Eaton was not totally obsessed with the decaying and deserted New England farms. Even in his sunset paintings, the pine trees, with their elongated upward gesture, are morally uplifting. Thus his paintings are more likely to fit in modern trendy setting.

Come and Go ---- Thoughts About the Recent Acquisition and Deaccession

2008-12-08T23:13:00.007-05:00

Museums are always collecting. I have found a tea pot in the Brooklyn Museum which was produced in the 1990’s for Target stores. Based on my observation, today major traditional American institutions mostly concentrate the contemporary arts. Such practice is NOT because they have changed their directions; on the contrary it is the direction that they have always been following: collecting contemporary art. By committing collecting arts through the times, they’ve shaped the aesthetic tastes of the public and quietly assembled works when they were still affordable.

That is not the case for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, founded by Alice Walton. No major American art museums will feel its 19th century collection complete without paintings by Hudson River school artits, early portrait painters like Copley, Stuart or Peale. The same can be said for works by Andy Warhol or Edward Hopper to lead the 20th century collection. But without years of primary collecting, Crystal Bridges has to start from scratch for everything.

Last Friday’s press release showed that Francis Guy’s “A Winter Scene in Brooklyn” was the museum’s latest acquisition. The painting was exhibited in the Brooklyn Museum in 2006 along with their own version. Possibly painted by Francis Guy’s last year, the two were almost identical except the one in Brooklyn Museum lost about 2 feet on the left side due to a fire. It was said that the one bought by Alice Walton once had a painted balustrade along its lower edge but was trimmed for unknown reasons. If so, the feature that evoked the artist’s window ledge would surprise all those 20th century artists who claimed inventing more naturalistic or accidental cropping compositions. At a time when there is no nationally recognized style or high demand for landscape paintings, Guy, trained as a tailor and silk dyer, painted his window scenes no less than five times.

I am personally not a fan of Francis Guy. His paintings have tremendous historical value for sure. “Tontine Coffee House” in New York Historical Society, painted in 1797 tells a vivid story how Wall Street came into being. The village scenery of Front Street and Fulton Street, long disappeared after the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, provided scholars of the architectural, economic, social and ethnic views of Brooklyn in 1820. Guy, like other early landscape painters, has a peculiar detail-oriented tendency. The dramas, anecdotes, and humors were found here and there in carefully arranged objects and humans to provide a narrative sub context. If Hudson River School is going to be blamed for their tedious copy of nature, Guy, their predecessor, showed an amateurish understanding of naturalism by giving everything sharp edges.

But the painting does have its charm. Instead of looking from the far back to grasp the magic light in Durand’s landscape, one is enticed to get as close as possible to examine the daily life of the people in Guy’s “A Winter Scene in Brooklyn”. (About 40 names of the houses, stores, shops or people are identified in Guy’s painting! Don’t forget to look at the person on the chimney!)

But I would doubt such findings as the black person’s name is Samuel Foster would have the same "wow" effect in Bentonville, AR. A Winter Scene in Brooklyn is essentially Brooklynite. For those people who jog on the promenade and wonder why there are so many Asian wedding photo sessions under the Brooklyn Bridge, the painting reminds them of Brooklyn, although it has become much bigger and more diverse, it still holds a home feeling. The visitors to Crystal Bridges may successfully identify the painting as a primitive landscape, yet they would not have the chance to hop on the subway from the museum and get off at Clark Street and overcome all the obstacles now blocking the ferry to see what it's like now and thus deeply appreciate the genius of Francis Guy.

The deaccession at the National Academy (NA)seems to be related to Crystal Bridges too. News broke out that Nation Academy sold two important paintings (one by Church, one by Gifford) from their permanent collection to pay their bills. Where the two paintings went has yet to be revealed, but the disclosure of selling works reminds New Yorkers of the outcry of the public when New York Public Library sold Kindred Spirits by Durand to Crystal Bridges Museum.

I have been to National Academy for both visiting exhibition and doing research. They do have an extensive permanent collection since every new academician is supposed to submit a diploma painting. But they don’t have a permanent place to exhibit them. Their permanent collection thus is most likely to be in the storage. This coming February, NA will have an exhibition to highlight some of their permanent collection. I agree with Eric that it is better to show artworks in public regardless of the location than store them in the dark room.

National Academy also mentioned that these two paintings were not diploma works but were donated by another member. This statement, in my mind, neither legitimizes nor invalidates their deaccession activity. Just because it is donated does not make a painting less important or less valuable. Ethnically, selling donated objects (more common in Natural History Museums nowadays because some donors insisted to donate their whole collection in the past) is in general against the donor’s intention. The donor of the two paintings must have regarded NA the most proper organization to place the asset. On the other hand, legally it is up to the museum who determines how to dispose the artworks when they do not want to show them permanently. I hope that the original donor would be happy to know that sometime soon the two paintings would be hung publicly.

My two cents: Don’t blanketly donate artwork to museums, at least not in unrestricted terms. They have thousands of objects collecting dust in the darkness for years. Why bother another one?

Thoughts on Crystal Bridges

2008-12-08T18:59:00.008-05:00

It's not a secret among antique dealers that folks in the American South have a better appreciation for American Decorative Arts. I suppose to some extent this may extend to American paintings. I haven't noticed a tour of American Art before 1880 being offered at the nearby Brooklyn Museum. Although there have been tours of the Dutch houses in the museum, I haven't noticed a tour being offered of the 19th Century Period Rooms.

Now there's some speculation that Alice Walton, already the possessor of Durand's Kindred Spirits, has bought two paintings from the collection of the National Academy. On an emotional level, it's sad to see them leave New York. From a practical point of view, I'd say a painting on display in Arkansas is better than one stored in New York.

I hope that a new administration will help bring some renewed pride in America and interest in objects and paintings from the first century of our existence. We need the likes of Alice Walton, like Ford, Rockefeller, Hogg and DuPont before her, to breath new life and interest to American Art and Decorative Arts. I hate seeing our great collections of American Art overlooked. Nature hates a vacuum and the vacuum that New York creates, Arkansas fills.

Christie's auction

2008-12-05T22:00:00.001-05:00

On Dec 4, the highlight of Cristie's Important American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture was supposed to be the 10 deaccessioned paintings from the famous museum: Corcoran Museum of Art in DC, including big names such as George Inness and Thomas Cole.

The decision was made much earlier when the market melt down was not significant. And the reasons for selling are various. But from the yesterday's result, the paintings by Inness, Cole, Harnett, and Homer were NOT listed. Were they withdrawn or sold privately? Most of the paintings were sold without a surprise and a few (including one by Stuart also from Corcoran Gallery) were sold well under low estimation.

Those which were listed in the catalog but are missed in the result list have highest estimated prices in the whole auction.

Antiques and Art at Armory

2008-12-04T08:28:00.003-05:00

The exhibitor list in this prestigious show contains a lot high-end dealers such as Whitley Collection who specializes Royal Doulton will be there. Tomorrow there will be a panel discussion about Designing with Antiques in the Modern World.

AVENUE-Wendy Antiques & Art at The Armory
Thursday, December 4th and run until Sunday, December 7th, 2008.

The Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10021
Admission: $20

The Pleasures of Collecting

2008-12-03T19:47:00.010-05:00

If you are familiar with the sitcom Seinfeld (and I wonder who isn't), you might have heard about the coffee table book about coffee tables. Taking a twist on that, I'd like to mention my small, but none-the-less significant collection of books on collecting.

Like many things collected, they go through a series of stages, among them the initial notice, admiration, purchase, sometimes research (although this can come before purchase) and placement, before a thing is forgotten, or at least no longer immediately in sight of our minds-eye. This works fine for some objects, say a decanter, but not for books. A book may look nice, but can't be seen or known completely, until it is read.

This morning I picked up one of those books I have collected, but didn't yet know intimately. Purchased a year or more ago, it was about time we became more acquainted. I didn't quite know what else could be said on the subject, but the engaging pages showed me the subject is deeper, and the topic wider than I had realized. Beware ye who may find collecting tenuous.

"Your true collector does not appologize for his hobbies; he exalts their virtues," the book begins, "Necessity may occasionally compel him to resort to the camouflage of mid-interest, as when his family is not in sympathy with his pursuits; or, again, when fate has placed him in arid communion with unsympathetic associates, individuals whose personalities have developed independently of their souls, leaving them pronounced in the directions they invariably select; directions, in consequence, invariably divergent from those paths which the true collector loves to tread."

Take that! And dare you spend these moments pondering why collecting is tenuous, stop and take note of the quote from Anatole France...

People laugh at collectors, who perhaps do lay themselves open to raillery, but that is also the case with all of us when we fall in love with anything at all. We ought to envy collectors, for they brighten their days with a long and peaceable joy. perhaps what they do a little resembles the task of the children who spade up heaps of sand at the edge of the sea, laboring in vain, for all they have built will soon be overthrown, and that, no doubt, is true of collections of books and pictures also. But we need not blame the collectors for it; the fault lies in the vicissitudes of existence and brevities of life. The sea carries off the heaps of sand and the auctioneers disperse the collections; and yet there are no better pleasures than the building of heaps of sand at ten years old, of collections at sixty.

Should you want to read more or just have one lying around, it appears there are several collectible copies on Alibris.

Brooklyn Museum -- Target First Saturdays this weekend!

2008-12-01T21:57:00.002-05:00

For details of the event which including panel discussion, artists talk and hot dancing party on Beaux-Arts Court, visit Target First Saturdays page.

Antiques, in the struggling market, make sense?

2008-11-28T16:23:00.005-05:00

In the current Maine Antique Digest, an article by Hollie Davis and Andrew Richmond takes an honest view of commodifying antiques.

The antiques marketplace seems to be struggling for an identity, and we have to be really careful that in that search we don't give away the heart of who we are. Antiques are beautiful, special, unique, but they're also not always practical, not always good investments, and not always the easiest option. That Chippendale chest is nice, but in many ways, it's a lot easier to go to Target.

If we regard antiques as "rent to own", as suggested by the author, the capability of retain the values makes antiques good choice of life enrichment, but that capability is far from value appreciation. True, works by some artists or some period decorative objects have gone record high, but there are others that have seen a sharp deline of demand.

There are still dealers, the number of whom still proves antiques dealing can be money-making, if not in the short run. But as individual, I think the two tenets mentioned in the article should be combined into one: Buy the best which you love and you can afford.

The moonligh shines --- Current Exhibition of Unknown Blakelock at National Academy

2008-11-24T23:03:00.009-05:00

No word than the nature dreamer can better describe Blakelock, whose poetic paintings are now exhibited in National Academy. “The Unknown Blakelock” brings some of the key works of Ralph Albert Blakelock from the museums and collectors of the country into the National Academy.

The three moonlight paintings, one of the two major subjects that associated with him, were hung side by side in the gallery. The silhouetted massive trees, the greenish bluish sky, and the high-keyed moon of heavily impasto vividly display mysterious scenery which is at once intimate, personal yet surreal. It is almost monochrome. Its two dimensional graphic pattern was laid down on super rugged surface: the texture itself provides an additional layer of viewing: abstract, accidental yet fascinating like a magic spell.

The scales of the paintings are medium or small, yet my heart was still immersed in the poetic moon light when I stepped out of the museum after the research on Henry Golden Dearth in the museum archives. I knew a second visit was a must. It didn’t take me that long to go back: in fact only about 24 hours. Daingerfield, his first biography writer remarked that Blakelock only depicted two phases of nature: twilight and moonlight. If so, moments of solitude and silence are a requisite of appreciation. For a long time, there were only Eric and me surrounded by the paintings of Blakelock. (Though next to Guggenheim, the National Academy was not crowded on Saturday.)

There are two pieces of facts that really contrast with the underappreciated status of the artist and draw my attention: Blakelock is the one of the most forged American artists if not the most forged artist in America. And his work in the collection of National Academy and Sheldon Museum of Art are among the favorites of the artist members and local practicing artists.

However, Blakelock stands by himself as one of the less known artists from art history point of view: A follower of Hudson River School at his early career; an outsider of the Barbizon school. And even though was paired with Ryder for the abstract patterns, forms in their works, in general only Ryder is credited as the precursor of the American abstract modernism.

In those moonlight or twilight paintings, I saw the sculpted layers of paint being built up and scrapped down and the forming of paint partially by consciousness, partially by subconsciousness and accidents. No doubt Blakelock lived in his own realm which is quite different from those of Barbizon school: Dwight Tryon and Alexander Wyant belong to the old world, even though they have abandoned the keen observation of nature and favored a more evocative personal expressiveness. Blakelock, by painting from his internal feeling and insights, had gone further to show the dream world that did not has its prototype in the real world. If Henry Ward Ranger dabbed the color with varnish to advance the range of oil paint from translucent to opaque, Blakelock’s obsess with the ruggedness of canvas anticipated the 20th century modern art when the surface structure of paint speaks as loud as the content itself.

There are other works that surprised me by their being un-Blakelock. A painting of sunset with seals has dazzling colors: The warm orange red on top of blue sky and sea water is not something untypical. However, if the pattern of the tree branches surrounded by the yellowish cloud echoes Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata in his painting which bears the same title, here the range of the colors that he adopted plays dramatic music scores. (I could almost hear the hymn of the splendid sunset sung by those seals painted suggestively.) A still life painting of bee on thistle blends the hi-fi effect of blowing up details with its mysterious background. It does not have the exactness and perfection as Georgia Keefe, but the light pinkish/purple flower out of the hazed dark green accented by a oversized bee is so audacious in its high-contrast that highly decorative flowers boldly attacked by John Lafarge would look from the old world.

The second room in the exhibition displayed works in a more coherent style. The Pegasus with a few others seems to be more about patterns, forms and shapes than what they really represent. A few were painted probably in a rush that the wood panel corner was left unpainted; others seem to have lost the original colors due to the coal tar ingredient used by Blakelock. (His paintings must be disastrous project from conservator’s point of view.) The moonlight owned by and Sheldon Museum of Art, hung above fireplace of the room. If color (or devoid of color) and music can be used to describe the three moonlight paintings grouped together in the first room, this undated moonlight reminds me of late Blakelock’s mental illness. The clouds around the moon bear striking contrast between fire-burning neuroticism and suppressive coldness. Like the thistle, the clouds popped out visually and physically. I looked up: it was hung high and not much detail can be obtained. The natural light shone onto the surface, but the night is still dark, irresistible and chilled my spine. It is a lonely night, and like his other paintings, there exudes a sense of unease and insecurity. Beyond that, words fail; only emotion stirs like the burning clouds. A plaque on the painting next to it comments:

What if the clouds one short dark night, hide the blue sky until morn appears
When the bright sun that cheers soon again will rise to shine upon earth for endless years

The Unknown Blakelock is on view at National Academy Museum till Jan 4, 2009.

Painting Immergrun: The Art Collections of Charles M. Schwab

2008-11-24T19:19:00.014-05:00

When you walk through the Met or the National Gallery, you might notice a number of names affixing painting labels quite frequently: Mellon, Morgan, Frick and Vanderbilt. One you don't see as often is Charles M. Schwab. Yet one can only imagine that the 75-room French Chatteau on Riverside Drive in Manhattan was filled with art. Almost as impressive, and still existing, is Schwab's 990-acre, 18 building Immergrun estate at Loretto, Pa.

Among the reasons we don't see Schwab's name often in museums is not he didn't like or collect art. A reason could be because he had a different philosophy of spreading wealth than Andrew Carnegie (Carnegie aimed to give it away before he died, Schwab aimed to spend it before he died). Schwab died bankrupt, having departed with many of his most important paintings. (While I can't verify the ones I know about are the "most important," by their caliber I can probably assume as much.)

One such painting is "Rockets and Blue Lights" by J.M.W. Turner. Schwab paid $250,000 for it in 1917. The art dealer Duveen paid $129,000 for it seven years previous. The painting is now at The Clark in Williamstown, Ma. The museum web site says it was acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark in 1932. Schwab died in 1939, so I am guessing he sold it to them.

The second painting I have found a newspaper reference for is Rembrandt's "The Accountant," also known as "St. Luke" being sold by Schwab to the Holland Museum. A New York Times article indicated the reporter reached Schwab at his Loretto, Pa estate, but Schwab declined to comment. The painting was in the Hudson-Fulton Exhibition at the Metropolitan in 1913.

Certainly there must have been many more paintings. A diagram of Schwab's Riverside Drive Mansion shows a gallery filled floor to ceiling with paintings. A 1904 article about the construction of Riverside mentions more than 100 artisans engaged in building and finishing it. One artist, Jose Villegras, completed a painting entitled "Prosperity in America." The article also mentions two gigantic bronze statues by Gerome, symbolizing metallurgic and scientific engineering.

Other references to Schwab and his art include his commissioning of Chartran to paint portraits of Admiral Dewey and his wife. The work of Paul Manship could be seen at the Loretto estate in urns embellished with an Indian carrying game from the hunt; a centaur holding his bow poised to shoot; an old man riding a donkey, and a cow scratching its nose with its hoof.

Much of Schwab's collections likely made it into museums around the country and throughout the world, but also likely passed through one or more private owners first. There is one place where you can see Schwab's name associated with items he owned, at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, adjacent to his former Loretto estate, where some Tiffany lamps are held.

Schwab's wife had died in the Riverside estate, and so he no longer desired to live there and also shuttered Immergrun. "Now I have no home," he would be quoted as saying, and in the same breath felt compelled to "start life anew" in a Park Avenue apartment. Schwab himself said the site could be adapted well to an apartment house. And eight years later Riverside would be razed for an apartment building. According to a 1947 article, it took two months to remove the wood paneling, chandeliers, organ and stained glass windows before demolition could begin.

"No one wants to live in it," Schwab had said. Today some 2,000 apartments crowd the site.

Saturday Auctions: Needlework Memorial

2008-11-22T13:26:00.004-05:00

I'm spending the morning watching auctions on ebay live, a service that is discontinuing December 31, 2008. My observation is some early American furniture is going for remarkably low prices. Chinese export porcelain is coming in inline with the estimate. One Item I noted went way above estimate is #1267 at Freeman's, a Needlework mourning picture dated 1823.

Here's the description:

Depicting a young girl in white dress, bonnet and coral necklace holding a ball, the background with weeping willow and lake with swans, eglomise mat inscribed 'M.A. Pray in her 13th month daughter of J &C Pray Worked by her sister C. Pray, 1823', eglomise mat, in silk and chenille threads, heightened with watercolor on silk ground, gilt frame.
H: 31 1/4 in. W: 37 3/4in.

PROVENANCE:
Deaccessioned from a Pennsylvania Historical Institution.

Estimated at $10,000-$15,000, it closed at $38,000

Industry In Art: Visualizing Progress Through Painting and Photography

2008-11-16T16:22:00.011-05:00

In the 20th Century there have been a number of approaches to painting industrial America. It took some time for artists to work their way up to the task, and some of the first attempts were corporate. In fact, the notion of corporate sponsorship remains in much of industrial art throughout the century.

One place to start is in 1855 with "The Lackawanna Valley" by George Inness. The painting, now in the National Gallery, was commissioned by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and depicts the company's first roundhouse at Scranton, and integrates technology and wilderness within an observed landscape. As his career progressed, Inness would not continue to depict a landscape blended with industry.

The word "industry" in the 21st Century (and late 20th), might just as easily be referred to as technology. A pioneer at bringing technology to his art and work is the photographer William H. Rau. Like Inness, Rau was commissioned, this time by the Pennsylvania Railroad. As revolutionizing as the technology of the steam train was on transportation, photography was as much on the art world. The picturesque images taken by Rau introduced Americans and Europeans to the scenic countrysides not easily accessible before the train. Curiously many of Rau's photographs do not show trains. The images show a peaceful co-existence between nature and human civilization. They are not unlike a landscape by William Wall, or a painting by Russell Smith. The difference is in the Wall painting, there's a sense of timelessness, as if the state of things would remain that way forever. That's a popular notion in sentimental paintings, but not one embraced by Rau. Many of his images provide a clear sense that there is a steady march of progress. An obvious example is in an image of a half-built Philadelphia City Hall.

Corporate commissioning of industrial art may have reached its climax in a series of calendar prints done by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1930s-1950s. During the war effort, the images even incorporated politics, and as government and industry merged in the market, so did they in the commissioned art. One of my favorite by Dean Cornwell shows Uncle Sam rolling up his sleeve as smoke billows and trains thunder below. There's a certain fascist element to it, one that has repeatedly surfaced into the 21st century in war time. Through the mid-century, smoke had been alligned with progress. The sentiments of the Hudson River painters are completely absent from this image, and never again would industry and the pollution it created be so glamorized.

Some of the best images of industrial America can be found in the work of Aaron Henry Gorson, who painted Pittsburgh's steel mills. Gorson seems unmotivated by the politics that often invade art, the sense of progress, environmental damage or workers rights. When you look at his work, you don't see a march of progress, rather an attempt to see industry for what it was physically. Gorson finds the beauty in industry and captures it. The smoke, the colors, the reflections in the water-Gorson seems to look at it all as if it were a tree or sunset. Gorson's work was commissioned, however, by Andrew Carnegie, Mrs. W. S. King, the wife of a glass manufacturer; the Mellon family; and Charles Schwab. Like many of his benefactors, Gorson later moved to New York and began painting scenes of the city and views of the Hudson River, but continued to create works showing the steel mills of Pittsburgh.

Most associated with industrial art today is Charles Sheeler. I found it amusing that a web site about "Objectivist Art" listed Sheeler as an Objectivist artist. Objectivism is the philosophy of writer Ayn Rand. I felt like emailing the creators of the site this quote I located by Sheeler.

"I find myself unable to believe in Progress--Change, yes. Greater refinements in the methods of destroying Life are the antithesis of Progress. Where is the increase in spirituality to be found?"

I'm in my infancy in regards to my knowledge about Sheeler, but it would seem he is more likely being critical of the depersonalization of industry, or just depicting the way in which we can see the world around us.

Sheeler was also commissioned, by Ford Motor Company to photograph and make paintings of their factories and by Fortune magazine to "reflect life through forms…" that "trace the firm pattern of the human mind." Sheelers paintings were based on photographs, and so even the more personal painting had its origins in the mechanical photograph. I don't know for sure if Sheeler, known as a precisionist and modernist, was criticizing the loss of humanity in the modern world. To me there's elements of both admiration from the shape and form of architecture and machinery, and some sense of loss. However, when he painted the barns in Doylestown, the technique is no different. We may, on the other hand, be thinking too much about it.

"To a man who knows nothing, Mountains are Mountains, Waters are Waters, and Trees are Trees," Sheeler wrote. "But when he has studied and knows a little, Mountains are no longer Mountains, Waters are no longer Waters, and Trees are no longer Trees. But when he has thoroughly understood, Mountains are again Mountains, Waters are again Waters, and Trees are Trees."

Showing at the Pier Antique Show

2008-11-16T10:06:00.005-05:00

The Pier Antique Show, continuing through today in Manhattan, was one of the most enjoyable shows I have attended in some time. There I found a wide variety of merchandise, and knowledgeable dealers. One of the nicest things is when you come away from a show with new knowledge or new interest. I had valuable conversations about antique ceramic tiles, Wedgewood and Royal Doulton in the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition. What I didn't see was much 19th Century American furniture. Talking with one local dealer about this, he said "brown furniture is out," and he couldn't bring it to shows anyway, because it's too heavy. One piece I did see was a 19th Century Classical sofa, with circa 1970s black plastic upholstery. "I can't believe they did that to it," I said to the dealer. She seemed somewhat defensive, so I added, "I bet it wouldn't have sold otherwise though." She responded with "probably not."

New Exhibition ---- Scenic Views: Painters of the Scalp Level School Revisited

2008-11-13T13:27:00.010-05:00

Westmoreland Museum of American Art (WMOAA) dedicates another exhibition "Scenic Views: Painters of the Scalp Level School Revisited" to the western Pennsylvania region starting from Nov 9 to Feb, 1 next year (see the Nov 2, 2008 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article "Profile rises for landscapes from Scalp Level Sc hool" by Mary Thomas about detailed information of the exhibition).

This time the museum is celebrating their 50th anniversary by assembling paintings from private lenders, different museums and from their own collection. An exhibition can stimulate research, show, forum and public interests in the topic and thus increasing the market value of the artists. Scalp Level painters, except George Hetzel, who is often associated with Hudson River School, have not reached the same market value as their contemporary fellows along the east coast. In a recent article of The Magazine Antiques, Barbaba Novak is credited with bringing the Hudson River School to an unprecedented level of public awareness and appreciation through her pioneering book published in 1969. The "American Tonalism" exhibition held at Metropolitan Museum of Art and Montclair Art Museum in 1999-2000 brought another American school in life and their market values increasing ever since. So how would the current exhibition at WMOAA impact the future of Scalp Level? That's something I would be interested in as we move into the future.

Here are some of my thoughts

1 Exhibitions in Museums
Scalp Level paintings are not widely displayed in major museums. Most museums collecting and exhibiting their paintings are in the Western Pennsylvania area. The current limited availability in major institutes does provide one advantage: One can do much of his research or seeing the majority of works in public within the Ohio Valley area.

The West Wing of the first floor in WMOAA exhibits permanently the best examples of the school. Southern Allegheny Museum of Art features a painting of George Hetzel on their website, but I didn't see their permanent collection during my visit to Loretto branch last year.

Carnegie Museum of Art (CMOA) groups the paintings by the decades during which they were created. Therefore a few of Hetzel's paintings, one still life of K. F. King and several paintings by William Coventry Wall are all separated. CMOA probably has a much larger collection of Scalp Level paintings, nevertheless the scope (from Medieval to Modern and from different continents) and the strength (after 1900 especially after 1940s) of the collection make it less likely to add more regional-related works into tight permanent space.

The grand lobby of the Carnegie Music Hall, next to the museum is a great place to examine Scalp Level artworks although the lighting is not designed for art appreciation. Even worse, like most of the paintings collected when Pittsburgh was still a smoky manufacturing city, these paintings are all behind the glass, which sometimes makes the painting hard to see. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed the opportunity of examining them closely without being disturbed by the pesky museum staff. (Among them, a deep autumn forest painting by A. S. Wall is my favorite. )

The Heinz History Center in strip district of Pittsburgh also has some Scalp Level paintings in the collection. Because the center is focused on the cultural heritage of Pittsburgh region, a lot of paintings are not on view.

Butler Institute of American Art is a gem in the Ohio Valley. The depth and breadth in its American collection will rival any national level museums. It is there I saw one of the best Jasper Lawman paintings: a harmony of rural scene: mundane but pastoral, exceptional composition and colors.

These places are also great for research purpose because each of them have important archives and documents. A good start would be Carnegie Public Library, which is much easier to access than museums. I went through their archived documents of Scalp Level two years ago. Among them there are critics articles from local newspaper dated as far back to 1900's as to 1980's.

2 Auctions and Galleries
Eric and I have been watching the auctions of Scalp Level paintings for a while. George Hetzel and Charles Linford come into the market once a while. I have not noticed the active change of ownership for other painters. It may be because my biased alertness to the painters who I know more. I didn't look hard enough for the auction records of other painters in this case.

George Hetzel is the only painter among Scalp Level school to achieve national fame. Although still more affordable compared to Hudson River School painters such as Cropsey or Kensett, a painting by Hetzel can easily fetch more than 10,000 dollars. One of our friends who is a vigilant collector told us his paintings sometimes ask for $100,000 in the market.

Our own experience proves such an upswing trend. Two years ago, when an interior wood painting by George Hetzel came to an auction in Maine, we were stunned that it was sold for 11,000 dollars (hammer price) , almost 8 times as high as its estimation. (Interestingly, a painting by George Inness in the subsequent lot fetched the same amount of money.) Later, Maine Antique Digest summarized the lot as a mistakenly estimated. We have also seen a spring blossom scene painting offered by Aspire Auction, which, according to the same friend, was very unusual. I was not convinced to see the signature even with a magnifying glass, which according the auction house was possibly due to the over cleaning done in-house. It was sold much lower than the regular market value eventually. Later, we saw the same painting in its newly gilded frame in an upscale gallery at Shadyside, with a price tag $20,000 more.

Concept Art Gallery is probably the most reliable auctioneer source to resort to if one is destined to own a painting by George Hetzel. And nowhere else can one witness the rising price of paintings by George Hetzel better than at this auction house. In this year, two paintings were offered by Concept Gallery, one fetched $22,000 while the other went to $42,000. Just three years ago, three paintings by George Hetzel were auctioned on Nov 5 and the highest was $11,000. (It is noteworthy that in the same year one of his paintings in Concept Gallery was sold above $50,000 because of its exceptional quality.) *

Charles Linford can sometimes be found in the auction houses on the east coast such as Freeman's in Philadelphia or Skinner's in Boston. Linford lived in Philadelphia for quite a long time and possibly frequented New York and Boston. In his Philadelphia times, he exhibited in Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and befriended with Thomas Eakins who left a imposing portrait of Linford whose weary looking gives hints of his coming end of life in a fairly young age. Linford's paintings are almost invariably interior forests. In a September auction last year offered by Concept Gallery, a painting on wood panel was sold for $1800. Later on another similar painting also on wood panel was sold by Skinner for $1200. Both are small, heavily soiled, with surface crazing and some paint lift; nevertheless both are charming and exemplary. The most recent auction records show that there is a higher appreciation of Charles Linford's untamed woodland beauty: In September 2008, Alderfer auctioned one of his paintings for $4000 and Concept Gallery sold a horizontal format painting last month for $3750. In both cases, the estimated price was still between one to two thousands, and in both cases, the realization beats the estimation by around 2 to 1.

The Wall family doesn't appear in the auction houses quite often. At his best, paintings by William Coventry Wall recalls the style of luminism: tightly controlled river view under magnificent light. One of his painting offered by the Concept Gallery three years ago was sold for $12,000. I have not seen auction records by A. S. Wall yet. As an influential person to Carnegie Institute, I am sure that some of his paintings will come to the surface eventually. I have also seen some paintings by Jasper Lawman in some auctions, but they were not his typical works.

Besides auction houses, there are a few galleries around Pittsburgh with Scalp Level paintings in inventory. Gilliand Fine Art in Ligonier, PA has been dealing with Western Pennsylvania Art for two generations. It collaborated with WMOAA in the past and still serves as the best source for scalp level paintings. Another gallery - Artifacts - located right off the West End Bridge has a few Scalp Level paintings.

3. The Painters

It is said that George Hetzel and Charles Linford together founded the rural retreat in Scalp Level, a place near Johnstown, PA. The school was not defined by the style as is Hudson River, American Baribizon or Luminism. Instead it is defined geographically by such a group of painters (mostly from Pittsburgh) who made their trips to Scalp Level to find the natural beauty which was diminishing in Pittsburgh at that time. Similar regional school also appeared in Old Lyme, CT and New Hope, PA where painters, attracted by the local scenery, painted together.

Among them, George Hetzel was trained academically in Dusseldorf, German. From some existing drawing (some are actually figures) of his early training time, one can sense that he mastered great skills at fairly early age. Over his long career span, he gradually loosen up a Hudson-River-School-like detail-oriented style and adopted to a more tonally harmonious one, but nevertheless he never gave up a more scientific, rational approach, similar to that of his contemporary Dewitt Clinton Boutelle from Bethlehem, PA. His rendering of nature reminds me of Asher Durand because forest under his brush is both realistic and poetic. It is no joking that with paintings by George Hetzel one can study the vegetation of Scalp Level before Johnstown was flooded, which terminated the summer trip for the school. It is no accidental that one of the book about Hudson River School actually chooses one of his major works (now in WMOAA) as the cover illustration. However, unlike the Cole or Church, Hetzel found the interior of forest as much captivating as the panorama views of the Ohio Valley. He is a keen observer: quite often, the interplay between light and shade not only enhances the depth of the scene, but also tells the time of the day. Under his brush, Scalp Level may seem to offer less excitement than that of Catskill, NY; but its restrained tranquil scenery is timeless and transcendental.

Each member of Wall family is different.

William Coventry Wall is the eldest. One can easily get tired of his meticulous details in his tightly controlled pictures. My favorite is a small painting in CMOA. "Pittsburgh after the Fire from Boyd's Hill" was painted in 1846, an early but important work in his career. The dominating orange red color of debris and walls has an almost psychological effect on viewer's eyes. The panorama view is a jarring contrast between roofless houses lined repetitively and relentlessly in an unnatural patten and the formless hills on the other side of the river. The slightly exaggerated color of the burnt wall anticipated his rich pallet of autumnal scenes decades later. But while the minutiae and exacting style in depicting mountains may seem primitive in those landscape paintings, in this small urban picture however, the orderly rhythms formed by the pointed walls and chimneys and the painstaking rendering of the remains from the scorching flames under another layer of warm sunlight link the viewers with his own sympathy toward the unexpected loss and suffering.

A. S. Wall is my favorite painter among the Wall family. Alfred Wall was appointed by Andrew Carnegie as one of the original members of board of trustee of Carnegie Institute but didn't serve long before he died. His style is more painterly compared to his brother. It would be great to put his paintings next to those by Charles Linford to show a similar style, more intimate and looser, that began to gain the momentum after the civil war. Once CMOA showed one of his watercolor pictures, I was amazed by its simplicity and refined suggestive mood. Unlike Hetzel, A. S. Wall often depicted human traces in the landscape: barns, crops or straw thatched houses. For a painter who grew up in Mount Pleasant, it is not the humanized nature that he is afraid of - which must be abundant throughout Western Pennsylvania area; it is the industrialization and machine age that he and his fellow were escaping from.

Based on the biography, one of the members of board of trustee for Carnegie Institute, the son of A. S. Wall, A. Bryan Wall had no formal art lesson except from his father and his uncle. Although coined as a sheep painter, I have seen the picture of the portrait that he painted for Henry Frick which fits quite well for the society portraiture standard. Like Carlton Wiggins, A. B. Wall found his true romance in the warm textured and docile temped animals dimly lit in nostalgia light. In his numerous shepherd scenes, there is a sense of accomplishment of landscape design through his direct brush stroke, vivid, free yet effective. If A. S. Wall, by eliminating the rich palette that his elder brother used, achieved a tonal impression echoing French Barbizon style, A. Bryan Wall's directness advanced the painterly style in Scalp Level school to impressionism, a popular style of his times.

Among all Scalp Level painters, Charles Linfod is my favorite. I have not found any reference about his early life, but his paintings certainly reflects the French Barbizon style. Since he spent years living in the east coast, it is possible that he had seen imported French paintings by person. His interior forests bear similar composition as that of Diaz de la Pena; but his colors are more somber and close to that of Rousseau. Consistently, he favored an overall warm brown color for earthy atmosphere and in general took a lower position for a more intimate foreground. The sky, opening up at certain area, casts just enough light for the magic wood interior. If William Coventry Wall painted the scene while George Hetzel painted the nature, then Linford painted the mood that make one feel more than see. Maybe Scalp Level looked no different from other western Pennsylvania state parks nowadays; but in the vision of Linford, every tree is magic and sentimental that demands looking and contemplating.

Like A. B. Wall, A. F.King was another second generation of Scalp Level school. But I have not seen a convincing landscape painting by King. His light was too tried, and his brushstroke too tight. Years ago, I saw a large scale painting by him in Eclectic Gallery on Ohio River Blvd. Its overwhelming tranquility almost borders stylish stillness that are common in primitive landscapes. But such calmness becomes his biggest strength in his much acclaimed still-life paintings. "Late night snack" displayed CMOA is one of my favorite in the whole museum. The lucidity of the glass, the cloudy texture of the beer and tiny holes in the biscuits gives beholders an illusion that the satisfaction of delicious food can come from the visual joy. Unfortunately, King outlived his contemporaries, which means for an artist living out of the fashion. Ironically, when A. B. Wall sat in the board of trustee to select permanent collection for Carnegie Institute which devoted a museum to old masters of tomorrow, King, by sticking to the tradition of tightly controlled Landscape and still life in the vein of Hudson River school and Raphael Peale was forgotten in his last few years.

Jasper Lawman is another painter among the Scalp Level School who reflectd a more European tradition. Like the French Barbizon painters, he often incorporated human figure as an integral part of the pictures. But the human figures under his paint, are not laboring in the fields, instead they possess a kind of attitude of repose and ease. Thus his paintings look light and fresh, unique among Scalp Level painters.

I am in no position in discussing Woodwell, but certainly he is very versatile and some of his paintings look almost impressionism. I will also skip other painters such as Eugene Pool or a few second generation painters whom I know little of or whose paintings I have only seen one or two in person.

4 The Critics

In the article in Post Gazette, it was commented by the director of WMOAA, Judith O'Toole, that the complete infrastructure of the museums, dealership along the east coast branded the Hudson River a national school. (In comparison, the first art museum in Pittsburgh was established from the first Carnegie International in 1896.) It is true that artists probably could achieve their fame easier or higher in big east coast cities, however i disagree that Scalp Level would be raised to a national level even if those painters had been painting there.

Cole, Durand and other painters are the first American painters who brought the American wildness into the view of the public. Even though their subject matters are limited to the scenes along the Hudson, the grandeur of the scenery, the optimism that is shone through the canvas carries a national appealing and pride at its time. Their paintings, almost universally painted in panorama, sent a unquestionable message that the god has blessed the country with unrivaled beauty and abundant resources. Thus Hudson River School, with a mission of edifying the public and elevating the status of the homeland, were boasted and praised not only for their exceptional techniques, but also their moral discourse offered silently yet unequivocally.

Scalp Level school did not start their first trip until the end of the civil war, at least one decade later than when major painters of Hudson River school began to stun public with their enormous canvases. By the end of 1890's, Pittsburgh was a giant machine for steel and glass manufacturing. Instead of embracing the American wildness that were everywhere in the first half of the 19th century, Hetzel and his likeminded fellow saws the Scalp Level an outlet from eroding urban mundanity and thus were more inclined to walk into the forest than to look down at the mountains. Their paintings are more personal. However although the viewers are intrigued by the otherworldly beauty, a reminiscence of the past grandeur, they were conscious what has been displayed is painters' mecca forest, not accessible to the general public.

Secondly, it is common that a regional school bears a recognizable style. Old Lyme at one time was the center of American tonalism. New Hope represents a group of Pennsylvania Impressionists. But the painters in Scalp Level School differ greatly in their artistic style. If it is not because of the regional preference, it is hard to believe someone, who likes A. B. Wall, will also collect his uncle's paintings. Not only is the style unable to descend along bloodline from its first generation, but also individual had also gone through style changes in their careers. King's late period still life paintings roughen up and reject the convention of nicety. In his later life, Woodwell used large solid color blocks in some plein-air paintings that would not challenge the notion that he is a member of Scalp Level school.

This also answered the question asked at the very beginning of the blog? Will the market values of Scalp Level increase to the next tier in the next few years? In my mind, the answer will be yes and no. The Pittsburgh region has not seen an increase of affluence or people. The art and antiques that are associated with the region, hence would not change dramatically. The sharp increase in the recent auction records is partially caused by the fact that the availability of artworks is still limited and major works are yet to be discovered. The Post Gazette article said paintings that have been in artist and collector families for decades are entering the market for the past few years as the original owners gradually die out. If this is true, more scalp level paintings will appear in the market and the market may stabilize before the price surges up to balance the demand and the supply.

But more importantly, the market for individual painters may probably go through different route. In a lukewarm market, the medium ranged category is affected more than two extreme end. Therefore some may not see the rise of appreciation in monetary value, while others will keep the steady pace with more research, publication available.

______________________________________________________________
*Note, all attributed works were not considered in this analysis.

Pier Antiques Show this weekend

2008-11-11T16:31:00.002-05:00

Here is the information about Pier Antiques Show on Nov 15-16, 2008.

And wear a good pair of shoe since there are 500 exhibitors.

Trip to Montclair Art Museum, a pilgrimage to George Inness

2008-11-10T21:05:00.007-05:00

The trip to Montclair Art Museum was quite smooth. There is no commuter train running on the weekends, but Decamp bus runs every hour from Port Authority, Manhattan to Montclair, NJ. It only took about 40 minutes by bus to get to the museum, which is situated almost at the top of a hill, with a view of Manhattan. Down the hill, we found a Turkish restaurant (quite upscale), a WholeFood store and a few antique stores further down which unfortunately did not seem to open on Sunday.

Montclair Art Museum is not as big as Newark Museum, but it dedicates a full room to George Inness who spent his last decade in the town. Like all other townships near NYC, Montclair has lost its rural beauty that Inness favored in his paintings; but it is surprising that there is such a wonderful museum filled with some best American art.

Besides the Inness room, I was quite impressed by two paintings. Early Morning in Cold Spring, a painting by Asher Brown Durand shows a perfect balance between naturalism and romanticism. The fact that I just visited Cold Spring, NY a few weeks ago made the painting more personal to me. There is always a sense of freshness in Durand's painting: The nature, depicted truthful but poetic, exists in harmony with minds of intellectual. In this painting, Durand was inspired by a William Cullen Byant's poem:

And o'er the clear still water swells
The music of the Sabbath bells

The other painting is a little gem by Edward M. Bannister, an African-American painter from Rhode Island who founded Rhode Island School of Design. Passing Storm is a vivid demonstration that by the late 19th century Barbizon has been transformed into a unique style that can almost be coined as American-born tonalism. Like Inness, Bannister said "artists become an interpreter of the infinite, subtle qualities of the spiritual ideals of nature... revealing glimpses of absolute harmony." There are not as much details as are almost everywhere in Cropsey's painting next to it, but I was immediately drawn to the overall effect: the untamed nature revealing its austere beauty: It is easy to understand that now I appreciate the brownish soil under still-looming sky more when working in a place that almost every inches of earth is covered by concrete and every feet of sky is blocked by skySCRAPErs.

Philip Pearlstein's exhibition "Objectification" takes almost half of the first floor exhibition space. The figure paintings demonstrate a sense of objectivity with cut-off faces, obtruded features. He treated the human body with the same degree of coolness as other objects from his collections that were painted with the bodies. They are marvelous in the techniques but to see Pearlstein after Inness (that's how the exhibition rooms are arranged) is like to read a math dissertation after reading essays by Heinrich Heine. From the short video, Eric commented the way Pearlstein works on his paintings is almost the opposite to how Inness created his own imagination on the canvas.

Before we left, Eric asked how often the museum rotates the paintings by Inness since at least half of the collection are not on display. Unfortunately, we were told the rotation has not been done quite often. Maybe in the curator's point of view, the nine paintings in that room give the audience a complete image of Inness' style in different periods and of course his association with the town when at his peak power. We will probably go back in the near future on a Saturday when those antique stores may open. And after all, "Christmas Evening" by George Inness is Eric's favorite painting!

A Statue of Divine Consort of Amum

2008-11-09T19:56:00.002-05:00

On the bus back from Montclair, NJ to the city, I happened to have a glimpse at one of the advertisement page on the current issue of “Art and Antique” magazine. What is featured is something unusual: an almost life-size bronze statue in the 22nd Dynasty.

A lot of residence-cities of Third Intermediate have suffered almost total destruction or lie beneath Delta silt, therefore there are not a lot material remains from the palace site. (This statues are almost certain from some temple.) But Libyans, more advanced than Egyptians with respect to smith works, brought their special skills in bronze, silver and gold. Therefore, if any object survives, they could show considerable artistic merits.

The 22nd Dynasty was marked by those pharaohs with foreign names: Shoshenq or Osorkon. But they were not the Libyan described in the wall relief of the New Kingdom with the stupid side locks with beards; instead they adopted the Egyptian way naturally since they had been living in Egypt since 19th Dynasty.

In the ad, the identity of the bronze statue is a Divine Consort of Amum, a religious official post usually held by a female member of royal family. I have seen a picture of Queen Karomama from Louvre. The dress and the short wig are similar to this statue and appropriate to the period, but the details of the floral collar and the embroidered gown on the queen are far more stunning while this one is quite plain. As usual, the sistra that she is supposed to hold in both hands are missing.

I wish I can know more about this particular piece for sale. First, her feet are just shoulder-width apart. Most of the standing gods or goddesses that I have seen have left foot ahead. Secondly, if she was a Divine Consort of Amum, then there must be some records or traces because she is a wife of the god and most likely a member from royal family. The large scale size and her inlaid eyes and gold necklace indicate this is not meant for some commoner. But the statue is only dated to the dynasty, not to some specific king. And lastly, her face features, to me, actually look more like Kushite than Libyan. And it is known that Kushites kept the established Divine Consort practice. Is she a kushite?

I cannot find this particular object on the gallery’s website. But they have great inventory of antiquities. The website is www.royalathena.com.