Denis Bloch Fine Art

Sam Francis – Space and Color

2011-12-27T17:20:00.000-08:00

Sam Francis - Trietto II - Aquatint Print

“Painting is about the beauty of space and the power of containment.” – Sam Francis

Sam Francis with Wallse Ting in studio

American Abstract Artist Sam Francis was late to start his successful and brilliant career as a painter and printmaker. While serving as a pilot in the United States Air Force during WWII, Sam Francis suffered an injury that hospitalized him for several years. While recovering, Sam Francis began to paint over the side of his hospital bed to escape the mundane routine of the hospital as well as the pains of his aching body. Developing a love for art and finding an artistic voice was healing for Sam Francis, and the art created in this time had an astonishing remedial effect on Sam Francis’ mental and emotional state.

Sam Francis - Untitled SF345
Lithograph

Sam Francis’ experience as a pilot had a unique bearing on his paintings and prints, which often utilized aerial perspectives to communicate the silence of the skies. Sam Francis’ aerial approach to the canvas became paramount to his methodology as a painter, as well as a signature style for Sam Francis.

During the late 1940s, Sam Francis began producing and exhibiting his earliest abstract artworks. Francis was initially influenced by the work of the Abstract Expressionists, like Mark Rothko and Arshile Gorky, and Sam Francis incorporated many of their techniques and ideas in his art. Despite this influence, Sam Francis’ art was also in close dialogue with modern and contemporary French art. His references ranged from the Water Lilies of Claude Monet, which inspired many of Sam Francis ideas about atmosphere and space, to Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse, whose conceptions of pure color were particularly resonant with Francis.

Sam Francis - Pasadena Box (Plate 8)
Lithograph Print

While traveling to Japan during the 1950’s, Sam Francis became interested in Japanese calligraphy and art, particularly the Japanese use of negative space. Sam Francis was acutely aware of the dialogue between color and space on the canvas. In many of Sam Francis’ prints and paintings from the 1960’s the brushwork is relegated to the outer edges, leaving vast empty spaces in the center of each art piece. The negative space, or silence within Sam Francis’ art is as meaningful as Francis’ fluid brushwork of radiant color.

“Color is a kind of holy substance for me,” Francis said. “It’s the element in painting which I am most fascinated with. It is an element of painting which overcomes me. . . . Color in a way is a receptacle for a feeling and a way for you to hold it until understanding arrives or meaning is extracted.” Sam Francis’ artwork further investigated perceptions of light and color by contrasting glowing jewel tones with large areas of white. White in Sam Francis’ art does not function simply as a ground against which he applies color. Rather, the white areas are dynamically engaged in active communication with the colors. For Francis each color had a symbolic value: white corresponded to the infinite, blue to the cosmos and water, and yellow to the sun.

Sam Francis - Untitled - Monotype

Considered one of the premier colorists of the twentieth century, Sam Francis is best known for dramatic, lushly painted works comprised of vivid pools of color, thinly applied. Sam Francis has also been compared to Color Field artists on the basis of large, fluid sections of paint that seem to extend beyond the confines of the pictorial surface. Sam Francis’ art is a dynamic and sophisticated juxtaposition between color and space, a luminous conversation played out in strokes of lush color.

Visit our website for more available prints by Sam Francis.

A smARTer Investment

2011-09-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

Jeff Koons, Cracked Egg (Red), 2008

If you’d added a few fine artworks to your portfolio over the last few years, instead of all those bank stocks, your retirement nest egg might be looking a little different right now.

Let’s face it, the stock market rollercoaster, particularly in the last month has left the average investor nauseous and contemplating getting off the ride all together (if not already). In many cases the market volatility has driven investors to alternative investment markets like gold and Fine Art.

Fine Art has been an attractive investment for centuries and is becoming increasingly recognized as it has outperformed more conservative investments over the last few decades. It is an alternative investment earning capital gains rather than a dividend.

Indeed, for the last ten years, the price index of all Fine Art works sold more than once worldwide has produced a nearly 11% annualized return, outperforming the Standard & Poor’s 500 index of large cap stocks and most other asset classes, including bonds and commodities.

Marc Chagall, Multiflore, 1974

Fine Art, including paintings, sculpture, original prints and photography is a very interesting long-term asset class. Indeed, investment-grade art enjoys a low correlation with other asset classes, including stocks and bonds, strengthening its case as a candidate for portfolio diversification. And some maintain they can act as an inflation hedge, since “real assets” (like gold) tend to rise in value while the value of money falls.
Since the end of World War II the value of Fine Art works has appreciated enormously. Quality works of art have proved to be a remarkable store of value. This is predominantly due to increasing rarity caused by an expanding demand from museums and collectors, and dwindling supplies.

Before you even think about putting down money, however, it’s important to educate yourself on the forces affecting the art market overall. The best advice is to talk to seasoned collectors and professionals in the industry. Go to the galleries and ask questions. Get involved with the museum and befriend the curator. An educated consumer is going to be best equipped to maneuver in this marketplace.

If, as it is more likely the case, you want to invest your money in something that you also like the look of,
(which I recommend!), make sure that your heart doesn’t rule your head and you buy something that looks pretty but is unlikely to ever accrue in value or worse yet decrease.

On that note, beware of galleries and dealers promoting artists with niche bubble markets. There is a reason we have not seen some very “popular” commercial artists in any major Contemporary Museums – the following of these types of artists is purely promotional, and their value is backed by the people marketing them, not by an actual global market. Over time these types of mega-marketed commercial artists will fall victim to the tastes of the market and will be virtually worthless.

Jim Dine, Fortress of the Heart, 1981-82

It is important to note that the high end of the market is not at the mercy of public taste. The art market has its blue-chip investments (museum artists) and these quality investments will bring a reliable return. Of course, the entry point can be higher. Artwork that emanates from more mature markets, such as Museum Class Master Paintings, can cost anywhere from $10,000 to many millions depending on the artist.

Picasso Linocuts featured at the MOMA 2009

The alternative is the investment in Museum Class Master Graphics or Original Prints with an entry point in the $1,000 level. Of course even great Prints are now expensive, but I’d recommend those! The best ones generally increase in value the most. From a return on investment standpoint, it’s also good advice to buy the best piece you can afford. The market has become much more selective, with an emphasis on quality.

Sonia Delaunay Biography: Textiles, Design, and Prints

2011-06-21T16:19:00.000-07:00

Sonia Delaunay Original Print -
Composition with Semi-circles

Artist Sonia Delaunay-Terk was born in present day Ukraine on November 14th, 1885 under the surname Stern. At a young age Sonia Delaunay moved to St. Petersburg, where she was cared for by her mother's brother, Henri Terk, a successful and affluent Jewish lawyer. Henri Terk and his wife Anna adopted Sonia Delaunay in 1890 when she assumed the name Sonia Terk. Sonia Delaunay-Terk received a privileged upbringing with the Terks, traveling widely throughout Europe where Sonia Delaunay was introduced to art museums and art galleries.

Sonia Delaunay Etching -
Composition with Circles

When Sonia Delaunay was 18, she was sent to study art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe, Germany. Sonia Delaunay studied in at the Art Academy until 1905 when she decided to join the Modern Art movement at Montparnasse in Paris. Sonia Delaunay was deeply influenced by the post-impressionist art of Van-Gogh, Gauguin, and Henri Rousseau as well as the artists of the Fauves group including Henri Matisse.

During Sonia Delaunay’s first year in Paris Sonia Delaunay met, and married, German homosexual art gallery owner Wilhelm Uhde. It is assumed that Sonia Delaunay’s marriage to Uhde was a marriage of convenience to escape the demands of her parents, who disliked her artistic career. Through Uhde's gallery Sonia Delaunay gained entrance into the Parisian art world and benefitted from his connections, and Uhde masked his homosexuality through his public marriage to Sonia. Through her connections Sonia Delaunay met prominent artists of the modern art movement including: Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Georges Rouault, and Maurice de Vlaminck.

Sonia Delaunay met painter Robert Delaunay in early 1909. Sonia and Robert became lovers in April of the same year and it was decided that Sonia Delaunay and Uhde should divorce. The divorce was finalized in August 1910. In November of 1910 Sonia and Robert Delaunay were married. Sonia Delaunay was pregnant with their son Charles who was born on January 18, 1911. Sonia Delaunay made a patchwork quilt for Charles' crib, which is now in the collection of the Musee National d'Art Moderne in Paris. Sonia Delaunay’s quilt was created spontaneously and exemplifies Sonia Delaunay’s use of geometry and color in her textiles, paintings, and original prints.

Sonia Delaunay Aquatint -
Composition with Triangles

Contemporary art critics recognize this as the point where Sonia Delaunay moved away from perspective and naturalism in her art. Robert & Sonia Delaunay became associated with the development of Orphism, a highly abstract art movement which paralleled the geometry of Cubism but with a much brighter color palette. It is said that artist Paul Klee was so taken with Sonia Delaunay’s’ patterning of squares from a 1912 illustrated book, that they became an enduring feature in Klee’s own art.
During the 1910-1920s, Sonia Delaunay focused on bringing this new artistic lyricism into the world of design, transforming Art Deco fabrics into vibrant high fashion clothing, wall coverings, furniture textiles as well as, theatrical costumes. In 1917 Sonia Delaunay met Sergei Diaghilev, and Sonia Delaunay designed costumes for his productions of Cleopatra and Aida.
The Russian Revolution brought an end to the financial support Robert & Sonia Delaunay received from Sonia’s family in Russia, and a different source of income was needed. Sonia Delaunay made clothes for private clients and friends, and in 1923 created fifty fabric designs using geometrical shapes and bold colors, commissioned by a manufacturer from Lyon. Sonia Delaunay’s customers included Nancy Cunard, Gloria Swanson, Lucienne Bogaert and Gabrielle Dorziat.

In the 1930s, Sonia Delaunay returned her focus on painting, joining the Abstraction-Creation group in seeking to create an art based upon non-representational elements, often geometrical, and continuing to focus on color as central to painting. The group was trans-national, and including among its members: Jean Arp, Barbara Hepworth, Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian. In 1937 Sonia & Robert Delaunay collaborated on a mural for the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne.

Sonia Delaunay Print -
Geometric Composition

In 1941 Robert Delaunay died of cancer. After Robert death, Sonia Delaunay continued to work and exhibit regularly as a painter & designer, turning often to printmaking including: etchings, lithographs, and pochoirs prints. In 1963 Sonia Delaunay donated 58 of her own works and 40 of Robert Delaunay’s to the Musee National d'Art Moderne, Paris. Sonia Delaunay became the first woman ever to be exhibited at the Louvre during her lifetime when the museum mounted an exhibition of the works in 1964.

In 1966 Sonia Delaunay printed Rythmes-Couleurs with 11 of her gouaches produced as pochoir prints, with texts by Jacques Damase. In 1969 Sonia Delaunay printed Robes poemes, also with texts by Jacques Damase containing 27 Sonia Delaunay prints.

Sonia Delaunay-Terk died in 1979 at the age of 94 with no regrets in her life.

Sonia Delaunay’s work in modern design included the use of geometric abstraction in the integration of furniture, fabrics, wall coverings, clothing, prints, lithographs, and etchings.

Sonia Delaunay was the subject of a recent Exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum.

Select Museum Collections:
Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, DC
Tate Gallery, London
Reina Sofia National Museum, Madrid
Louvre, Paris

David Hockney Vintage Posters - A Colorful Timeline

2011-04-25T16:07:00.000-07:00

David Hockney, Mount Fuji and Flowers,
Offset Lithographic Poster

Artist David Hockney has continued to be an innovative artistic force since the beginning of his career in the 1960s. Although Hockney has always denied being a part of the Pop Art Movement, Hockney is often included under this heading because of the vibrancy of his palette, though he never adopted the iconographic subject matter of the Pop Artists. David Hockney's affiliation with the Pop Artists is mostly by association, and seems more to do with his friendships with peers like Andy Warhol, whom he met in New York in 1961, than Hockney's artwork.

David Hockney, Paper Pool #7, Off-Set Lithographic Poster

Taking a look at the time-line of David Hockney's exhibition, museum, and art posters, we get a good sense of the development Hockney's unique aesthetic and painting style over the years. After completing his training at the Royal College of Arts in London, Hockney's art had adopted a deliberately rough and rudimentary style which Hockney owed a great deal to artists Jean Dubuffet and Francis Bacon. Hockney was in a phase of rapid self-discovery on both artistic and personal levels. David Hockney was coming to terms with his own sexuality while at the same time searching for an artistic style.

David Hockney, A Bigger Splash,
Off-Set Lithographic Poster

After his first trip to Los Angeles in 1964, Hockney returned to England set to work on a series of prints and paintings that reflected his American experiences. David Hockney began to incorporate acrylic paint in his art, and Hockney created his first series of stylized Southern Californian landscapes as well as his first swimming pool paintings. One of Hockney's most noted swimming pools is "A Bigger Splash," 1967, which is now a part of the permanent collection of the Tate Gallery, London and the title of a documentary about Hockney that was released in 1974. David Hockney had always fantasized about living in Los Angeles: “Within a week of arriving there in this strange big city, not knowing a soul, I'd passed the driving test, bought a car, driven to Las Vegas and won some money, got myself a studio, started painting, all within a week. And I thought, it's just how I imagined it would be.” In 1978 David Hockney experimented with a process of moulding colored paper pulp, producing a series of twenty-nine Paper Pools. Hockney's "Paper Pools" were greatly influenced by Van Gogh.

David Hockney, Photocollages, Off-set Lithographic Poster

David Hockney, XVI RIP Arles,
Offset Lithographic Poster

During the 1970's David Hockney made his first photomontage or photo collage artworks, which Hockney referred to as "Joiners". David Hockney was greatly inspired by the art of Pablo Picasso particularly Picasso's Cubist Period, and Hockney saw photography and his Polaroid composites as a new investigation of Cubism and pictorial space. David Hockney explored the use of the camera, making composite images of Polaroid photographs arranged in a rectangular grid. Later Hockney used regular 35-millimetre prints to create photo-collages, compiling a 'complete' picture from a series of individually photographed details. In 1985 Hockney lectured on his photographic experimentation at the prestigious Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie in Arles.

David Hockney, Parade,
Off-set Lithographic Poster

During the mid 1970's Hockney embraced the challenge of a new medium, creating a number of designs for various Theatrical productions in London and New York. As a young child, David Hockney had developed an obsession with opera when he first saw the Carl Rosa opera company's production of La Bohème, and Hockney was ecstatic to bring his two passions together. From 1975 - 1993 Hockney produced set and costume designs for:

'The Magic Flute' 1978,

'Parade' 1981,

'Oedipus Rex' 1981,

'Tristan und Isolde' 1986,

'Die Frau Ohne Schatten' 1991,

and 'Turandot' 1993.

David Hockney, A Bigger Grand Canyon,
Offset Lithographic Poster

Nichols Canyon
Lithographic Poster

Continuing to be influenced by American culture and the natural landscapes found in California and the Western United States, David Hockney's vivid palette became more striking and beautiful and in 1980 David Hockney painted "Nichols Canyon" after a well known canyon in the Hollywood Hills. In 1982 David Hockney traveled with friends through the American West and Hockney was inspired to create a large photocollage of the Grand Canyon. "A Bigger Grand Canyon" is one of David Hockney's most celebrated artworks, rich with brilliant colors that capture the cascading landscape of the Arizona desert.

David Hockney, Hotel Well III,
Offset Lithographic Poster

During the 1980's David Hockney's palette became imbued with an array of saturated and vibrant colors making Hockney's artwork both dramatic and enticing. During a trip down to Mexico City, David Hockney was moved by the courtyard landscape of his Hotel in Acatlan, Mexico, and enthusiastically created a number of original prints known as the "Moving Focus" series. The "Moving Focus" print series from the mid 1980's is the culmination of Hockney’s experiments with Cubism. The constant shifting focus in Hockney's "Hotel Well III," brings together multiple and simultaneous perspectives, clearly feeding off of Hockney's work with photography and his "Joiner" pieces. Fascinated by the Hotel Well and courtyard, David Hockney revisited the subject in multiple lithographs, incorporating the passage of time and light in the concept of perspective as seen in artworks like "Hotel Acatlan, Second Day" and "Hotel Acatlan, Two Weeks Later."

David Hockney, Hotel Acatlan Second Day, Offset Lithographic Poster

After working with California master printer Ken Tyler in the 1980s making etchings and lithographs, David Hockney explored ways of creating art with color photocopiers in 1986. “The works I did with the copying machine ...were not reproductions,” Hockney said later, “they were very complex prints.” Subject to the same curiosity about new technical methods, David Hockney began to experiment with the fax machine, and in 1989 sent work for the Sao Paulo Biennale to Brazil via fax. David Hockney began experiments using computers, composing images and colors on the screen and having them printed directly from the computer disk without preliminary proofing. David Hockney has had major retrospectives of his art in New York, Los Angeles and London. Technical experimentation has continued to inform and develop the art of David Hockney and his most recent artworks have been created on Hockney's iPad. David Hockney primarily works in his art studio in the Hollywood Hills near Los Angeles, California, where Hockney has lived permanently since 1978.

For more information on David Hockney Art Posters please visit our website:

David Hockney

RUFINO TAMAYO & MIXOGRAFIA PRINTS

2011-02-19T16:04:00.000-08:00

Perro de Luna, 1973 LITHOGRAPH

Rufino Tamayo’s legacy to the history of art is truly found in Tamayo’s oeuvre of graphic prints, in which Tamayo cultivated every technique. A truly innovative print-maker, Rufino Tamayo’s graphic work was produced between 1925 and 1991 and includes the mediums of woodcuts, lithographs, etchings, aquatints, and mixografia prints.

Niña, 1981 MIXOGRAPH

In the early 1970's, printer Luis Remba approached Rufino Tamayo to produce a series of lithographs. Although Tamayo was interested, he made it clear that he was looking for new horizons within the medium - particularly seeking ways to get more volume and texture into his original prints. Together Luis Remba & Rufino Tamayo expanded the technical and aesthetic possibilities of the graphic arts by developing a new genre of multiples, which they named Mixografia.

Dos Hermanos, 1987 MIXOGRAPH

The Mixografia technique is a unique fine art printing process that allows for the production of prints with three-dimensional texture. The quality of a Mixografia print is similar to that of a fresco or bas-relief, in which the surface of the paper has a kind of sculptural depth. The technique not only registered the texture and volume of Rufino Tamayo's design, but it also granted Tamayo the freedom to use any combination of solid materials in its creation. Rufino Tamayo was delighted with the Mixografia process, and Tamayo created some 80 Original Mixographs over his lifetime.

Due to the inability of commercial paper to withstand the stress of the Mixografia three-dimensional printing technique, a more resilient handmade paper was also invented. The paper of a Mixografia print has a heavy and thick consistency that further enhances the sculptural three-dimensionality of a Mixografia print.

Relief Sculpture from Pelenque Ruins

Greatly influenced by his Mexican and Zapotec heritage, much of Rufino Tamayo’s artwork, particularly Tamayo’s Mixografia prints, illustrate the same weight and feel of Pre-Columbian stone reliefs and sculptures. Rufino Tamayo became interested in Pre-Columbian art as early as 1926, when Tamayo became the head of the department of ethnographic drawing at the National Museum of Archaeology in Mexico City.

Nocturno, 1975 ETCHING

Most of the compositions in Rufino Tamayo’s original graphics are extremely simple yet highly inventive in their technicality. Tamayo was known for taking an elementary drawing and filling it with structural elements, textures and colors obtaining striking etchings, lithographs and mixographs created with eloquent and economical expression.

Hombre, 1979 LITHOGRAPH

Rufino Tamayo was one of the first artists in Latin America to interpret his roots without historicism, anecdote, or proclamation. In doing so, Rufino Tamayo formed one of the most brilliant chapters of the already rich and prestigious field of original graphic art in Mexico.

To view the gallery’s collection of available Rufino Tamayo
Prints please visit our website:

www.denisbloch.com

Marc Chagall - The Story of Exodus

2011-02-05T16:17:00.000-08:00

Exodus - "God parted the clouds... "(M467)

Marc Chagall and Lithography

Marc Chagall was introduced to original lithography by Fernand Mourlot, owner of the renowned Mourlot Atelier lithographic studio located in Paris, France. Marc Chagall worked closely with Master Printer Charles Sorlier and over the next 35 years, Chagall created over 1,000 original lithographs at the Atelier Mourlot. The partnership between Marc Chagall and Charles Sorlier was extremely fruitful. . Charles Sorlier advised Chagall on all his future color lithograph projects and supervised their printing at the Mourlot Studio:

Marc Chagall

"Marc Chagall fabricated a mystical world of lovers, musicians and artists in his work. Chagall chose lithography as a print medium that could offer him almost unlimited painterly freedom to explore this world. Since lithography is a technique where the artist can work directly on the printing plate or lithostone, the resultant prints convey the spontaneity of Chagall’s brushstrokes and drawn lines. Lithography also allowed Chagall to work in lush color, which he viewed as his métier, and for which Chagall has become renowned. Chagall's lithographs are now among the most collected art works of the 20th century."
– Charles Sorlier

While working with Charles Sorlier and Mourlot, Chagall completed many lithographic series including The Bible, The Story of Exodus, The Circus, Daphnis and Chloe and The Odyssey. Chagall used up to 25 different lithographic plates per print to achieve the perfect expression of color. Over the course of his lifetime, Marc Chagall continued to be fascinated with color lithography as a printmaking medium and retained the Mourlot Atelier and especially Charles Sorlier as his creative collaborators.

Marc Chagall and The Bible

Exodus "Moses and
the Burning Bush" (M447)

Raised in a remote village in present day Belarus, Marc Chagall’s Jewish heritage proved to be one of the major influences in Marc Chagall’s Art. Chagall’s art is characterized by imagery drawn from the quaint Jewish village including animals from Chagall’s childhood, his strong family heritage, and the Jewish faith and practice. Chagall endeavored to express the spiritual meaning and moral messages found in Biblical teachings through his paintings, lithography, etchings, and original prints.

Exodus - "Bezaleel and
his Golden Cherubim" (M464)

“Ever since my earliest youth I have been fascinated by the Bible. The Bible is the echo of nature, and this I have endeavored to transmit. . . . In art everything is possible, so long as it is based on love.” – Marc Chagall

In 1966, Marc Chagall created a series of original lithographs depicting the biblical Story of the Exodus. The Story of Exodus portfolio contained 24 large color lithographs. 23 of The Story of Exodus Lithographs were printed on paper measuring 50 x 37 cm and the last original print was created as a double-size plate with a centerfold. The Story of Exodus was created in a limited edition consisting of 285 portfolios signed on the justification page by Marc Chagall: 250 on Velin d'Arches numbered from 1 to 250; 20 on Japon Nacre paper; and 15 hors commerce (not for sale) lettered A to O reserved for project collaborators.

Exodus - "Moses Calls Down the
Waters Upon the Eqyptians" (M453)

The name Exodus means "going out" or “departure". It refers not only to one of the most important events of the book Exodus (the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt), but also to other highly significant events as well, such as the call of Moses and God’s covenant with the nation Israel at Sinai - an experience culminating in God’s giving of the moral law (Ten Commandments) through Moses to the people. Portraying one of the most important stories of The Old Testament, and one of the central figures in the Jewish faith, Chagall’s Story of Exodus is a brilliant series with vivid color illuminating the spiritual and emotional nature of the story.

Exodus - "Moses Shows the
Elders the Tablets of the Law" (M457)

Often Marc Chagall would travel to foreign countries for inspiration for his artwork. Prior to creating The Story of Exodus, Chagall made a personal and spiritual journey to Palestine and present day Israel. Chagall wanted to experience the land and culture of the birthplace of Judaism. Chagall’s time spent in the Middle East influenced all of his biblically themed works, including the Exodus Series as well as the Bible Series.

Exodus - "Then
Came Alamek" (M456)

“I saw the hills of Sodom and the Negev, out of whose defiles appear the shadows of our prophets in their yellowish garments, the color of dry bread. I heard their ancient words. . . . Have they not truly and justly shown in their words how to behave on this earth and by what ideal to live?” – Marc Chagall

Marc Chagall’s illustrations of The Story of Exodus are magnificent examples of Chagall’s masterful use of vibrant color to create lush depth, texture and emotion. The Exodus lithographs were highly acclaimed at their time of release and remain one of Chagall’s most popular series due to their expert use of color and fervent imagery.

Exodus - "Moses Sees the
Suffering of his People" (M446)

“Changes in societal structure and in art would possess more credibility if they had their origins in the soul and spirit. If people read the words of the prophets with closer attention, they would find the keys to life.”
- Marc Chagall

To view our collection of available Marc Chagall Prints
please visit our website:

WWW.DENISBLOCH.COM

Tom Wesselmann - The Great American Nude

2011-01-06T10:46:00.000-08:00

Monica with Motherwell, 1994 Serigraph

"Personality would only be distraction from the simple fact of nudity. When I create physical details like lips or nipples, they are of importance for the erotic simplification. From the beginning I never gave them faces. A face gives personal touch to a sexual act, makes it a portrait act. And that, I don´t like at all."
– Tom Wesselmann

Tom Wesselmann, an American born painter, sculptor, and printmaker, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1931. Tom Wesselmann studied psychology at the University of Cincinnati and also took art classes at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Wesselmann had originally intended to become a cartoonist, but instead turned to painting.

Claire sitting Robe Half Off (Portfolio 90), 1993 Screenprint

From 1956-1959 Tom Wesselmann continued his art studies at the Cooper Union in New York. While studying in New York, Wesselmann quickly informed himself about modern art by visiting the museums where the art of Robert Motherwell and Willem de Kooning made a lasting impact on Wesselmann. In 1957 Tom Wesselmann met Claire Selley, another Cooper Union student who was to become his friend, model, and later, his wife. After graduating, Tom Wesselmann became one of the founding members of the Judson Gallery, along with Marc Ratliff and artist Jim Dine.

In 1961 Tom Wesselmann began working on his series the Great American Nude. After a dream concerning the phrase "red, white, and blue", Tom Wesselmann decided to paint a Great American Nude in a palette limited to those colors and any colors associated with patriotic motifs such as gold and khaki. Tom Wesselmann’s Great American Nude series incorporated representational images with an accordingly patriotic theme, such as American landscape photos and portraits of founding fathers. Often these nudes were collaged from magazines and discarded posters, and were very large scale. Tom Wesselmann had his first solo art show at the Tanager Gallery in New York later that year, representing both the large and small Great American Nude collages.

Tom Wesselmann would soon emerge as one of the leading figures in American Pop Art along with fellow artists Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jim Dine and Alex Katz among others. Tom Wesselmann never liked his inclusion in American Pop Art, pointing out how he made an aesthetic use of everyday objects and not a reference to them as consumer objects.

Still Life with Petunias, Lilies and Fruit, 1988 Screenprint

In 1962, Tom Wesselmann participated in the New Realists art exhibition, which included art by the American Pop artists Jim Dine, Robert Indiana, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol; and Europeans such as Arman and Christo. Wesselmann contributed two Still Life collages to the art exhibition. That year, Wesselmann had begun working on a new series of Still Lifes, experimenting with assemblage as well as collage.

Still Life with Liz (Portfolio 90), 1993 Screenprint

Tom Wesselmann's subjects are characteristically overtly sexual and Wesselmann is best known for his artworks where the nude becomes a depersonalized sex symbol set in a commonplace environment. Wesselmann would emphasize the woman's nipples, mouth and genitals with the rest of the body depicted in flat, unmodulated color.

Bedroom Blonde, 1997 Serigraph

During the late 1960s and early 1970s Tom Wesselmann worked constantly on the 'Bedroom Painting Series' in which elements of his 'Great American Nude', 'Still Lifes' and 'Seascapes' were juxtaposed. With these artworks Wesselmann began to concentrate on a few details such as hands, feet and breasts surrounded by flowers and objects. A major motivation of the 'Bedroom Paintings' was to shift the focus and scale of the attendant objects around a nude; these objects are relatively small in relation to the nude, but become major, even dominant elements when the central element is a body part.

Nude with Bouquet and Stockings, 1992 Screenprint

Tom Wesselmann was a highly inventive printmaker who favored the screenprint or serigraph, but also worked in unconventional formats, such as blind embossing and mixograph relief prints. These large scale prints mirror the boldness of Wesselmann’s unique paintings and embody the vitality, openness and free spirit of the sixties.

Following surgery for Wesselmann’s heart condition, Tom Wesselmann died on December 17, 2004.

Select Museum Collections:
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Tate Gallery, London
Haifa Museum, Israel
Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

Le Repas Frugal (The Frugal Meal) by Pablo Picasso

2010-11-23T14:51:00.000-08:00

Le Repas Frugal, 1904
Etching
Image: 46.3 x 37.7 cm

Poised between Pablo Picasso’s two most significant periods, Le Repas Frugal (The Frugal Meal) by Pablo Picasso represents a pivotal point in the Pablo Picasso’s printmaking oeuvre. As part of Picasso’s first suite/series of etchings, entitled La Suite des Saltimbanques, Le Repas Frugal contains elements of both Picasso’s Blue Period, marked by its melancholic introspection, and Picasso’s Rose Period, characterized by Pablo Picasso’s fascination with strolling acrobats or players. The bohemian life of those who lived on the edge of society was important to the young struggling Picasso as he too frequented the circus, the theater and music halls to escape from his impoverished lifestyle.

Les Pauvres (Saltimbanques Suite), 1905
Etching
23.6 x 18 cm

The Frugal Meal portrays an iconic image of a starving couple with a meager spread. The nearly skeletal man looks to the side as he comforts his female companion, perhaps denying their dire circumstance and blind with the hope of a better tomorrow. The woman stares with tired but tearless eyes, engaging an empathy that can only be acquired by a human diligently struggling to maintain dignity in the face of destitution. Other etchings from the Saltimbanques Suite also portray these scenes of insolvent social outsiders.

The Frugal Meal

displayed at the MOMA, April 2010

Executed in only two states, The Frugal Meal etching possesses a remarkable confidence and skill that belies Picasso's lack of formal training in printmaking. Having just learnt the etching technique from Ricardo Canals, a fellow resident of Montmartre, it is astonishing that Pablo Picasso produced this icon in the history of printmaking at the age of only twenty-three. Le Repas Frugal is considered one of Pablo Picasso’s masterpieces as a printmaker and was only Picasso’s second work created in the medium. The medium of etching would fascinate Pablo Picasso for the remainder of his life.

First printed in small numbers by the printer Eugene Delatre in 1905, The Saltimbanques etching plates were later acquired by art dealer and publisher Ambroise Vollard. Vollard had the fragile copper plates steel-faced and, in 1913, the edition of 250 was printed by Louis Fort. Together with an additional eleven drypoints and two etchings made by Picasso between 1904 and 1906, these early prints are commonly known as the Saltimbanques Suite.

Le Repas Frugal was recently exhibited at the Pablo Picasso Prints and Paintings exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Frugal Meal is a part of the permanent collections of the following museums and institutions:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Museum of Modern Art, New York
The National Gallery, Washington, DC

The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles

The Musee Picasso, Paris
The Museo Picasso, Barcelona

The Brooklyn Museum, New York

Georges Braque Biography

2010-10-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

“Once an object has been incorporated in a picture it accepts a new destiny.” – Georges Braque

Oiseau Blanc, 1961 , Ceramic Plaque

Artist Georges Braque was born on May 13, 1882, in Argenteuil sur Seine, France. The son of a house decorator, Georges Braque received his first art lessons in painting from his father. In 1890 the Braque family moved to Le Havre, where Georges Braque would attend evening art classes at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts from about 1897 to 1899. At the age of 19, Georges Braque left for Paris to get a craftsman certificate.

From 1902 to 1904, Georges Braque studied art at the Academie Humbert in Paris, where Braque met artists Marie Laurencin and Francis Picabia. By 1906, Georges Braque had evolved his art from the Impressionist style into the bolder Fauvist style. Georges Braque showed Fauvist works of art the following year in the Salon des Independants in Paris. Georges Braque had his first solo art show at Daniel-Henri Kahnweiler’s gallery in 1908.

In 1909, Georges Braque began to work very closely with artist and collegue Pablo Picasso, as the two artists’ styles were becoming very similar. Both Braque and Picasso’s art showed an increased interest in geometry and simultaneous perspective, and by 1911 Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso had developed the artistic style of Cubism. One of Picasso's many pet names for Georges Braque was 'Vilbour' or 'Wilbourg', a reference to Wilbur Wright. Pablo Picasso saw in their 1908-1914 creative art partnership something that was akin to the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright, the pioneers of sustained powered flight. In 1912, Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso started to incorporate collage elements into their art and to experiment with the papier colle (pasted paper) technique, in which Barque utilized a roll of wallpaper found in a local shop. Braque and Picasso’s productive collaboration continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

Georges Braque served with honor in the French army during World War I and was seriously wounded in the head, leaving Braque temporarily blinded and unable to create art. Upon recovering in 1917, Georges Braque began a close friendship with cubist artist Juan Gris.

Theiere et Fruits, c. 1950 , Collotype

After the war Georges Braque became freer and less schematic in his art, moving away from the harsher abstraction of Cubism. Braque painted many still life subjects during this time, maintaining an emphasis on structure. In 1922 Georges Braque had an art exhibition at the Salon d’Automne in Paris that brought Braque great fame and recognition. During the mid-1920s, Georges Braque designed the art decor for two Sergei Diaghilev ballets. By the end of the decade, Georges Braque had returned to a more realistic interpretation of nature, although certain aspects of Cubism always remained present in Braque’s art.

In 1931, Georges Braque created his first engraved plasters and began to portray mythological subjects. Georges Braque had his first important art retrospective in 1933 at the Kunsthalle Basel. In 1937 Braque won First Prize at the Carnegie International, in Pittsburgh.

Georges Braque at his studio with Mourlot and Master Printers, 1962

During World War II, Georges Braque remained in Paris. During this period Braque primarily painted still-lifes and interiors, and Braque’s art became more and more somber as the war continued. From the late 1940s Georges Braque created numerous lithographs, engravings, and sculptures where, Braque utilized recurring themes of birds, ateliers, landscapes, and seascapes. Georges Braque, along with Henri Matisse, is credited for introducing Pablo Picasso to Fernand Mourlot, and most of the lithographs, illustrated books, and original prints Braque created in the 1940s and '50s were produced at the Mourlot Lithography Studios. In 1948 Georges Braque was awarded the main prize for painting at the Venice Biennale, and in 1951 Braque was made a Commander of the Legion of Honour. A few years later, Braque employed his skills as a craftsman, when Braque designed stained-glass windows for the church of Varengeville and painted the ceiling for the Etruscan Gallery at The Louvre. In 1961 George Braque had the distinction of being the first living artist to have his art exhibited at The Louvre.

Louvre I , c. 1955, Lithograph

Louvre IV, c. 1955, Lithograph

During the last few years of Braque’s life, ill health prevented Braque from undertaking further large-scale commissions, but Baroque continued to paint, create lithographs, and design jewelry. Georges Braque died on August 31, 1963, in Paris with his wife, Marcelle, at his side.

Joan Miro and Carborundum Etchings

2010-10-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

Trace sur la Paroi IV, 1967

Etching, Aquatint with Carborundum
73.5 x 104 cm

Throughout his life, Artist Joan Miro worked in several printmaking processes, including engraving, lithography and etching, as well as the use of stencils (called pochoir). Joan Miro stated that printmaking made his paintings richer, and gave him new ideas for his art.

Exile Vert, 1969
Etching, Aquatint with Carborundum
102.5 x 70 cm

A major breakthrough for Miro's graphic work arrived through an introduction, by renowned master printmaker Robert Dutrou, to carborundum (silicon carbide engraving) in 1967. The Carborundum printmaking process, pioneered by Henri Goetz, is an engraving technique requiring the use of an abrasive ground (carborundum) added to the etching plate to create a granulated or textured surface. Joan Miro found that by combining this new technique with other etching methods, especially aquatint (a painterly technique of engraving a resin ground on an etching plate rather than the plate itself), Miro could invent images to rival any painting, thereby ennobling the art of printmaking. The etchings and aquatints with carborundum, created from 1967 through 1969, set an incomparable standard for quality and indicated to the artist the incredible possibilities inherent to the carborundum technique, which Joan Miro would continue to explore throughout the balance of his career. The importance of this series of carborundum aquatints conceived from 1967 through 1969 was recognized by the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1970 with a special exhibition devoted to them titled Joan Miro: Fifty Recent Prints.

La Fronde, 1969
Etching, Aquatint with Carborundum
106 x 70 cm

In the final decade of Joan Miro’s life, Miro devoted himself primarily to the art of printmaking, literally flinging himself headlong into project after project. Miro'sretreat from painting was not due to any weakening of his creative abilities or fertile imagination, but rather a focus especially on etching as the chosen means to an end. This was also a busy period for Robert Dutrou. From 1976 to 1981, Joan Miro created twenty-two compositions in etching, aquatint and carborundum with him, many on a large scale, as well as completing many engravings as illustrations for books.

Would you like to Collect Joan Miro Original Works of Art? Please visit our website to view our complete collection of Joan Miro Carborundum Etchings for sale.

DENIS BLOCH FINE ART

2010-09-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

“With regard to life, modern painting is a revolutionary activity…We need it in order to transform the world into a more humane place where mankind can live in liberty…We must accept these things with passion. It means that we must live imaginatively.” – Wifredo Lam

Le Regard Vertical, 1973

Wifredo Lam was born December 8, 1902, in Sagua la Grande, Cuba. Lam’s father was a Chinese immigrant, and Lam’s mother was of African, Indian, and European descent. From and early age Lam was exposed to rites of the African orishas, and Lam’s contact with African celebrations and spiritual practices proved to be Lam’s greatest artistic influence especially in his lithographs, etchings, aquatints, and engravings.

Demons Familiars (Pleni Luna Suite), 1974

In 1916, the Lam family moved to Havana, where Wifredo Lam attended the Escuela de Bellas Artes. During the early 1920s, Lam exhibited at the Salón de la Asociación de Pintores y Escultores in Havana. In 1923, Lam moved to Madrid. While living in Madrid Lam studied at the studio of Fernando Alvarez de Sotomayor, the Director of the Museo del Prado and the teacher of artist Salvador Dalí.

In 1929, Lam married Eva Piriz, who tragically died of tuberculosis two years later, as did Lam’s young son. This heartbreaking event may have contributed to the dark and brooding appearance of much of Lam’s later lithographs, etchings, and aquatints.

Lune Haute (Pleni Luna Suite), 1974

In the early 1930s, the influences of Surrealism were evident in Lam’s work, as was the influence of artists Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. Lam moved to Paris in 1938, where Picasso took Lam under his wing, introducing Lam to many of the leading artists of the time, such as Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Georges Braque and Joan Miró. Picasso encouraged Lam’s interest in African art and primitive masks, and Lam’s involvement with Santería, a religion rooted in African culture, would become integral to his work. During that year, Lam also traveled to Mexico, and stayed with artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

By the late 1930s, Lam was associated with the Surrealists. Wifredo Lam had his first solo show at the Galerie Pierre Loeb in Paris in 1939, and Lam’s work was exhibited alongside Picasso’s at the Perls Galleries in New York.

The Jungle, 1949

During World War II, Lam spent most of his time in the Caribbean, along with Claude Lévi-Strauss, André Masson, and André Breton, whose poem “Fata Morgana” Lam illustrated in 1940. Lam eventually moved back to Havana in 1941. Lam’s first year in Cuba marked a pivotal point in Lam’s artistic development. In this year Lam was introduced to the theories of Carl Jung, and by the end of 1942 Lam began ‘The Jungle,’ one of Lam’s most powerful masterpieces. In “The Jungle” Lam’s exploration of mythic images paralleled that of the Abstract Expressionists. Lam created his own style by fusing Surrealism and Cubism with the spirit and forms of the Caribbean, easily found in his graphic works.

Tree of Feathers, 1974

Between 1942 and 1950, Wifredo Lam exhibited regularly at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York. In 1946, after a four-month stay in Haiti, Lam returned to France via New York. In 1960, Lam established a studio in Albisola Mare, on the Italian coast. The winter of that year Lam married Swedish painter Lou Laurin. Lam and Laurin would have three sons together.

In 1964, Wifredo Lam received the Guggenheim International Award, and in 1966–67 there were multiple retrospectives of Lam’s work at the Kunsthalle Basel; the Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the Moderna Museet, Stockholm; and the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels. Wifredo Lam died September 11, 1982, in Paris.

See more works by Wifredo Lam.

Select Museum Collections:
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Guggenheim Museum, New York
Tate Gallery, London
Metropolitan Museum, New York
Reina Sofia National Museum, Madrid
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

Lithographic Vintage Posters

2010-09-11T11:32:00.000-07:00

Henri Matisse "Madame de Pompadour" 1951

Vintage poster collecting became fashionable at the turn of the 19th Century. Vintage posters were a vibrant and expressive form of advertising meant to attract the throngs of everyday consumers in cities both large and small. These vintage posters had to be visually striking and immediately convey their message in order to entice the viewer. Vintage posters were typically placed at street (eye) level, and often these vintage posters were positioned in prominent areas such as gallery windows, railway stations, street kiosks, or on the sides of buildings where the vintage posters could be easily seen.

Pablo Picasso "Galerie Beyeler" 1967

As vintage poster collecting grew more popular, vintage posters were burglarized from billboards at an alarming rate, and it became increasingly difficult for advertisers to keep their vintage posters on the streets. As a solution to the problem, vintage poster lithography workshops increased production and began selling the vintage posters to the public.

Marc Chagall "Le Baie des Anges" 1962

These collectable vintage posters were created in lithography print workshops (also known as ateliers) that specialized in the print medium of Lithography. The Atelier Mourlot, founded in 1852, was a lithography print studio located in Paris that produced a number of vintage posters. Originally a printer of fine wallpaper, the Atelier Mourlot became involved in the printing of illustrated books as well as high quality vintage posters for the French National Museums and major foreign institutions. By 1937 the Mourlot lithography studio had established a reputation as the largest print workshop of vintage posters by master artists.

Joan Miro "Galerie Maeght" 1948

The Atelier Mourlot lithography studio was generationally operated by the sons of founder Francois Mourlot. The Atelier Mourlot took a modern artistic turn when Fernand Mourlot invited the master artists of the time into the Mourlot lithography studios to learn the technique of lithography. The Atelier Mourlot lithography studio played host to many major 20th century master artists including: Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Miro, Chagall, Leger, Dubuffet, Moore, Le Corbusier, Calder, Kelly, Rauschenberg, Matta, Bacon, Ernst, Lichtenstein, and many more.

Marc Chagall "The Magic Flute" 1967

Mourlot encouraged these master artists to work directly on the lithography stones or plates to create original vintage posters which would then be printed in small editions. The results of this artistic print collaboration between master artists and Mourlot were technically inventive, visually captivating and opened a unique realm of creative expression known as Fine Art lithography. Mourlot was proud of these vintage posters which bore the Mourlot family name and they became known worldwide for their originality, beauty and craftsmanship.

Original vintage posters by master artists of the 20th Century, have come to be recognized as a highly collectible form of art, whether for pleasure or for investment purposes. World-renowned museums exhibit vintage posters and many have permanent collections of vintage posters. Magnificent examples of such vintage poster collections can be found at the Louvre, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern, and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Le Corbusier "Tapisseries Recents" 1960

Henri Matisse Biography

2010-08-19T15:49:00.000-07:00

Odalisque au Coffret Rouge,1952
Aquatint

“What I dream of is an art of balance, purity and serenity devoid of troubling or disturbing subject matter…like a comforting influence, a mental balm—something like a good armchair in which one rests from physical fatigue.”
– Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis in northern France. Matisse first began painting in 1889, when Matisse’s mother gave him art supplies during a period of convalescence following an attack of appendicitis. Henri Matisse discovered “a kind of paradise” in painting, and Matisse abandoned his legal career, to the deep disappointment of Matisse’s father.

In 1891 Henri Matisse moved to Paris to study art at the Acadamie Julian. It was here that Henri Matisse achieved proficiency in academic painting in the classic reserved style. In 1897, Henri Matisse was exposed to the artwork of Van Gogh and the palette of the Impressionists, which deeply changed Matisse’s understanding of color. Henri Matisse was greatly influenced by Neo-Impressionist artists: Eduard Manet, Auguste Rodin, Cezanne, Paul Signac and Gauguin.

Woman with a Hat, 1905
Oil on canvas

Henri Matisse had his first solo show at art dealer Ambroise Vollard’s gallery in 1904. At the 1905 Salon d’Automne, Henri Matisse and artists Andre Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck and Albert Marquet, exhibited together. Henri Matisse and his colleagues’ intensely vibrant, spontaneously painted works were jeered by the public, who deemed them exceedingly primitive, brutal and violent. The group of artists was dubbed “Les Fauves” (the wild beasts) by art critic Louis Vauxcelles. Other Fauvist included: Georges Braque, Raoul Dufy, and Maurice de Vlaminck. Matisse’s painting from the exhibition “Woman with a Hat” was bought by Gertrude Stein, who would become an important collector and supporter of Matisse.

Le Buffet, 1929
Pochoir

Gertrude Stein and her brother Leo were avid patrons of Matisse’s work and through Stein’s salons Henri Matisse was introduced to other important collectors as well as artists. In 1907 Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse met at one of Stein’s salons. This was the beginning of a creative association and rivalry between Picasso and Matisse. “No one has ever looked at Matisse's painting more carefully than I; and no one has looked at mine more carefully than Matisse.” stated Pablo Picasso.

After World War I, Henri Matisse had gained a high reputation and Matisse was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1925. Henri Matisse was an internationally recognized artist by 1930. During the 1940s Henri Matisse also worked in the Mourlot Studio in Paris, creating black-and-white prints for several illustrated books and over one hundred original lithographs, woodcuts, linocuts, and etchings.

Decoupage, 1954
Lithograph

In 1941 Henri Matisse had two major operations for duodenal cancer which had a devastating effect on Matisse’s health and ability to paint. The surgeries left Matisse unable to stand upright in front of an easel, and Henri Matisse was confined to either a bed or a wheelchair. Undaunted by this immobility, Matisse would tape a piece of charcoal to a long stick and Matisse would draw on mounted paper or directly on the walls or ceilings. Henri Matisse discovered a new kind of artistic creativity with papiers découpés, abstract shapes cut from colored paper. “The paper cut out” Matisse said “allows me to draw in the color. It is a simplification for me. Instead of drawing the outline and putting the color inside it—the one modifying the other—I draw straight into the color”. These artworks rank as some of the most joyous artworks ever created by an artist at an advanced age and Henri Matisse continued creating paper cutout works until his death. In 1947 Henri Matisse published Jazz, a limited-edition illustrated book containing original prints (lithographs, etchings and woodcuts) of colorful, paper cut collages.

Odalisque Sur Fond Rouge, 1929
Pochoir

Henri Matisse died on November 3, 1954 in Nice as an innovative artist who explored color and form through his paintings, lithographs, etchings, linocuts, illustrated books, sculpture and stain glass windows. Pablo Picasso once said about Matisse: "All things considered, there is only Matisse".

Picasso's Ceramics

2010-08-05T10:52:00.000-07:00

Pablo Picasso is considered an artistic master, partly because Picasso’s oeuvre extends far beyond traditional painting methods, and encompasses all artistic mediums including: lithography, etching, linocuts, and even pottery. Picasso gleaned a particular joy in creating ceramics, as evidenced by Picasso’s thousands of ceramic objects including: wittily decorated terra cotta plates, charming ceramic figures, earthenware pitchers, clay masks, glazed plaques and hand-painted tiles, all created with Picasso’s child-like whimsy.

By the late 1940's, Picasso was withdrawing from the pressures of Paris and spending more and more time at the Picasso home Galloise, a villa above the town of Vallauris in the south of France. The town of Vallauris had been blessed with ground that yielded excellent clay, and Vallauris had been an important ceramics-producing center from Roman times to the 1920's. In 1946 Picasso was invited by George and Suzanne Ramie to visit the Madoura pottery factory, and in 1947 Picasso began to create his own ceramics at Madoura. Between 1947-1971 Pablo Picasso created more than 3,000 ceramic objects at the Madoura pottery factory, including: ceramic plates, ceramic pitchers, hand-painted ceramic tiles, enamel glazed ashtrays, ceramic vases, and ceramic plaques. For a decade Picasso would also produced linoleum-cut posters for Vallauris’ small summer Ceramics Festival.

While working in the ceramic medium, Picasso would deliberately mismatch or reposition handles or spouts in order to ingeniously create facial or anatomical features on the ceramic objects. Picasso would pick up discarded scraps of unfired clay to create seated or standing female figures, reiterating Picasso’s reflexive obsession with the female form. When is a vessel just a vessel for Picasso? Almost never. Along with Suzanne Ramie's technical tips, Picasso used unconventional tools for surface patterning such as kitchen knives or perforated cooking utensils. The dominant themes of Picasso’s ceramics became: the face; still lifes, bucolic scenes evoking a mythical Mediterranean past, bullfights, and animals like birds and fish. In short, many of Picasso’s life-long interests conveniently found new expression in the ceramic medium.

What makes a good investment piece?

2010-07-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

As a beginning collector, you may find yourself wondering HOW you can determine whether the work you are interested in is a good investment. Multiple criteria will determine this important choice for you

Artist

As I previously established in an earlier post, for investment purposes it is wise to collect an established artist (see Who Should We Collect).

Artistic and Historical Significance

This criterion includes originality and creativity. When you are considering a work, ask yourself:

-Is the print an exceptional example of the artist’s work?

-Is it one of the artist’s signature styles?

-Is it one of the pinnacles of the artist's achievement in that style or with respect to his/her output in general?

-How does it relate to other works within that artist’s oeuvre?

-Does it relate to other artworks by other contemporaries of that artist and seem to be "of the moment"?

-Has the print been widely exhibited?

-Is it included in important books and catalogues about the artist?

Pablo Picasso, Le Repas Frugal, 1904, Original Etching

A good example of historical significance is this Pablo Picasso “Le Repas Frugal”. This etching was created early in Picasso’s career, and marks a pivotal moment between Picasso’s Blue and Rose periods.

Image

This is where the aesthetics come into play, and determines the demand for a print. There are multiple sub-criteria in this category, including expressiveness, emotional power, humor, complexity or creative economy of line.

There are also Technical considerations to take into account:

-How was the print produced?

-Does it display superior craftsmanship or technical excellence?

You may also hear a print be described as a “strong impression,” this literally means that the impression left on the paper was a “good pull” or a good press of the image.

Condition

This is especially pertinent to a print. Works on paper are delicate and can easily be damaged by mishandling, poor framing, exposure to strong light and of course the passage of time. But paper is much more resistant than we would imagine. When you look at a Rembrandt etching which is 400 years old and still in very good condition, you can realize that well preserved print can last for almost ever. Of course, the prints in good condition are more sought after by collectors and therefore their prices are higher.

Badly Damaged Etching, Artist Unknown

It is always important to determine the whole condition of a print including margins (full or not), stains, fading, etc..

A frame can be beautiful but can hide defects which can make the print of a much lesser value than the marked price.

Rarity

The international art market decides the price of a print, based on the principle of supply and demand. Original prints may exist in multiples, but they are still extremely limited. Considering an edition of 50 spread in the whole world you can easily do the math! If a certain print is in demand and the supply is no longer there, the price will go up. The rarity of a piece usually makes it more desirable and more valuable.

You should ask yourself:

-How large is the edition?

-Are there any variations within the edition?

-Has this artist produced many prints or very few?

I am often asked if the number of the edition also determines the value, and the answer is no, with a few exceptions. To the art market the number values are all the same so number 11/200 is the same as 199/200. Some people can value lower numbers, and or special numbers but this not relevant. Other exceptions are the proofs and special editions aside from the regular edition. These can be more valuable, because they can be seen as special.

Signature

Plate Signed

A signature by hand is important because we always prefer to see the direct intervention of the artist on an original print, although that does not mean that a print MUST be signed to be original. Some print editions are unsigned and still very expensive, a good example of this is Renoir's Enfant Au Biscuit, which was never signed but is still considered extremely valuable.

Hand Signed

Sometimes the signature is in the plate or stone. Sometimes the print is estate signed or estate stamped, meaning it bares the stamp of the Warhol Estate as an example. When researching a print it is very good to consult the catalogue raisonné for that artist, as it will help you determine how the specific edition was signed, if ever.

Pierre Auguste Renoir, Enfant au Biscuit, circa 1898-99, Original Lithograph

Provenance

The provenance is the history of ownership. If a piece was owned by a prestigious collector or famous individual it might be viewed as more valuable. But this is rather true for unique works whose traceability is much easier. Usually the provenance of most prints in the market is unknown and this does not affect their value.

Who Should I Collect?

2010-06-09T11:38:00.000-07:00

There are essentially two kinds of artists that you can collect:

Artists we KNOW, and Artists we FEEL.

Artists We Know

"Artists we know" are artists who have established themselves in the art market. If we were to liken these to stocks, these established artists would be considered “Blue Chips.” Obvious examples of these artists would be longtime recognized artists: Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, Warhol, Lichtenstein, etc. But also more and more living artists like David Hockney, Damien Hirst, Gerhard Richter, Peter Doig, Lucian Freud, Robert Indiana, Christo, etc.

Woman admiring Pablo Picasso prints at the MET Museum, New York

ArtistsWe Feel

"Artists we feel" are just that, artists that perhaps have not yet established themselves in the art scene, but we feel they are something special, and have great potential. These artists are comparable to a stock market “Start-up.” Of course there is no guarantee that these artists will ever reach Museum Status, but that is not why we invest in these artists, we invest in them because their works speaks to us on a visceral level, and we feel them with our hearts and souls.

Unknown Artist Exhibition, Los Angeles

Artists we know vs. Artists we feel

There is nothing wrong with spending some money on the artists we feel and love, just to have the pleasure of seeing them on our walls. My recommendation is to keep these kinds of investments low enough to enjoy without losing a lot, as money is hard earned, and a substantial price should only be paid for REAL VALUE with a strong future potential. If your purpose of collecting is investing then GO WITH WHAT YOU KNOW!

Andy Warhol, Moonwalk, 1987 Screenprint

Why Should We Collect Original Prints?

2010-05-26T16:52:00.000-07:00

Affordability

The first and probably the most obvious reason for us to collect original prints is that they are simply more affordable than other mediums. The affordability also lends itself to better quality and quantity. For the same price as a small painting by an unknown or minor artist, you might be able to collect an important print by a major internationally famous artist such as Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, etc.

Picasso Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City 2010

A Picasso painting recently broke the world record and sold for more than 106 Million dollars, but you could acquire a museum quality Picasso graphic for under $20K.

You get more for your money, and the prospect of owning an original work by a master is more attainable than you realize.

Opportunity to Collect a Museum Quality Master

Picasso Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City 2010

Although just about every significant museum of modern art today acquires prints, one of the best examples of the benefits of print collecting was provided by Norton Simon, the industrialist and founder of his eponymous museum, who hoarded Picasso prints like they were going out of style. He acquired 710 Picasso prints but only five Picasso paintings. Clearly, he didn’t do it because, unlike many print collectors, they were the only Picassos he could afford, but rather because the print medium, especially in the hands of Picasso, the greatest print innovator of all time, gave rise to unique and breathtakingly beautiful artistic expressions.

Availability

Picasso Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City 2010

It is also good to note that because the original print medium is a medium of limited editions, the availability of these master prints is much better, although many popular or exceptional editions can be increasingly difficult to come by.

What is an Original Graphic Print?

2010-04-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

Fine Art collecting can be an enjoyable and lucrative enterprise, but it can be easy to get lost in the process (no pun intended). As a new collector it may seem intimidating and somewhat confusing.

You might ask: How can a print be an original and valuable?

Many people confuse the print medium as a medium of copies, and though there are prints that are indeed copies after paintings or after pieces, the various print mediums are simply another method of creation for an artist. An artist chooses to create in a specific medium: drawing, sculpture, photography, film, painting or printmaking. Even within these mediums there are a plethora of media in which the work is created; for example a painting could be an acrylic, oil, tempera or gouache…or even a variety of these.

Within the print medium there are likewise various processes to attain the desired image. A graphic print is a term used to describe a print made by lithography, silk-screening, etching, aquatint, drypoint engraving, woodcut or linocut. An artist uses these printmaking methods as a vehicle of expression, and draws or paints directly on the plate or screen. Printmaking is much more involved than it sounds because the artist also must take into consideration that whatever he/she draws in the plate will be backwards once it is printed on paper. In addition to drawing in reverse, the finished print often requires multiple plates or screens to add specific hues and saturation to the final look.

Graphic prints are considered to be “original multiples,” as the finished print is the only manifestation of such work. Usually an artist makes a limited run or edition of these prints, and often they are ‘signed and numbered’ which means they are numbered sequentially and hand-signed by the artist.

Limited Editions have a stated limit of prints in the edition, and in fact the screen or plate is usually destroyed or damaged in a fashion that would make a posthumous (after death) re-print impossible. There are some editions that have an unknown or unlimited quantity of prints, and you will always find these to be of lesser value (basic supply and demand rules apply). The lower the edition size, the more difficult it may be to find said work, and thus its valuation is most likely higher.

A good rule of thumb with acquiring an original print is to find something in good condition, signed, with a low edition size.

Printmaking Methods:

Aquatint: A process for producing tone etchings, so named because the finished print resembles watercolor drawings in quality. The ordinary bitten line of etching is combined with a delicate tone or tint produced by etching the copper plate with acid through a protective resist. This resist, or ground, is laid by flooding the copper plate with dissolved powdered resin, or by inserting the copper plate in a dust box. Using the dust box method, the coating of resin dust has to be fastened to the plate by heating it. From this stage on the process is similar to etching. Those parts of the design which are to be left white are protected with an acid resistant material such as varnish, or are "stopped out", and the rest of the plate is bitten. Varying tonal effects are achieved by repeated varnishing and immersion. After preparation of the plate, the edition is pulled as would be in other etching techniques.

Drypoint, Drypoint Engraving: A process of engraving upon a copper plate with a burin, scoring deeply into the plate, creating a furrow bordered by rough, upturned edges (the burr), which hold the ink. In line engraving, the slight burr made by the burin is removed, but in drypoint engraving the burr is left. Therefore, prints taken from a drypoint engraving have a special velvety black line.

Etching: A process by which graphics are taken from a metal plate, on which the drawing is bitten with acid into the surface of the plate. A clean polished copper plate (or occasionally zinc or steel), is covered with a thin coating of acid-resisting etching ground. The drawing to be reproduced is either traced onto the blackened surface of the grounded plate, or is drawn directly onto the surface, using the burin, which exposes the metal in the drawn areas. The edges and back of the plate are then coated with an acid-resistant varnish and it is then immersed in a bath of acid which attacks the metal where it is exposed. When the lightest parts are bitten to the artist's liking, the plate is taken out of the acid and the work stopped out with varnish. The process can then be repeated until the work is completed to the artist's satisfaction. The ground and varnish are then removed with a solvent and the plate is then inked. Ink is applied to the entire surface and then carefully rubbed off, leaving the ink in the bitten areas. Impressions are made on damp paper, which is forced into the ink filled lines as the paper and plate are put through a pressure press.

Linocut: The full term is linoleum cut. A surface printing process similar to woodcutting. The image is dug into the linoleum (linoleum is a hard, smooth washable floor covering made of a mixture of ground cork, wood, and linseed oil) with the areas not to be printed being cut away. The block is then inked and paper is pressed down on the linoleum. Colors can be added by using different blocks, or altering the one block and re-inking.

Lithography: A surface printing process based on the mutual incompatibility of grease and water. (derived from the Greek term lithos meaning stone and grapho, meaning to write.) A greasy crayon is used to draw the design on the surface of a porous stone, usually a fine-grained limestone block (referred to as a plate). More modern methods use disposable aluminum plates instead of the original limestone blocks. The stone is then thoroughly wetted and an oil based ink rolled across its surface. Where the greasy design has repelled the water, the ink will adhere. Paper is then pressed onto the stone. Each print in the edition typically requires re-wetting and re-inking the stone or plate for each color resulting in a layering effect to create depth and texture.

Silkscreen or Serigraph: A printing process which involves the use of various screens or stencils. The design is drawn on the screen (at one time silk was the general material of choice, before technology provided better materials at less cost) and is either cut out (stencil) or stopped out with varnish. Ink or paint is then wiped or squeegee across the screen, and penetrates to the paper placed immediately below the screen. Different colors usually require the use of different screens, with the many colors being built up on the paper with each successive squeegee of ink or paint.

Woodcut: One of the earliest forms of printmaking, in which the design is carved in wood, with the areas not to be printed being cut away. The block is then inked and paper is pressed down on the woodblock. Colors can be added by using different blocks, or altering the one block and re-inking.

MOCA: What do the next 30 years hold?

2010-03-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

Celebrating its 30-year-anniversary the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art has compiled an admirable retrospective that superlatively tributes a rich artistic history starting from post World War II to the present, but from a perspective that is uniquely L.A. Like looking back through old school yearbooks, the expansive exhibition in two parts, highlights artists like: Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat, Sam Francis, Robert Rauchenberg, Edward Rucha, Antoni Tapies, Ellsworth Kelly, and Barnett Newman, to name a few from our gallery collection. Impressive hardly begins to describe this compendium, and the breadth of influence of the MOCA has never been so pronounced.

This leaves an interesting question at hand: How will the MOCA fair over the NEXT 30 years?

It’s no secret that the last year has been turbulent for the museum and its trustees, filled with messy financial predicaments and exigent correlating choices, the most recent being the appointment of Jeffrey Deitch as the new Museum Director. When the museum board announced in January that the infamous SoHo Art Dealer was to take over the position, the public reacted with grave apprehensions that his market-oriented approach might take the museum out of the frying pan and into the fire.

There have been ample critiques of Deitch’s eligibility including the latest ethical accusations and censure of his plan to consolidate any unsold works from Deitch Project with his private collection. In response to the uproar over his intimation that he would continue to sell works from his private collection after beginning his post on June1st, the museum board released this statement: "The trustees understand that Jeffrey is a collector and that he may occasionally sell works from his private collection from time to time in compliance with his employment contract, and the museum's and the AAM and AAMD guidelines.”

There is no doubt that Mr. Deitch is about to become a tremendously powerful man in the art-world. Once a VP of Citibank, and a Harvard MBA grad, it is evident that he was hand-picked for his abilities as a businessman over his curatorial aptitude, although he has proven proficiency in both. Deitch is no dummy, he knows the inner workings of art and money, artists and collectors, institutions and the public, and most of all he offers a different approach. In spite of the current denigration over his collection (bear in mind most Museum Directors have private collections, but few are scrutinized for them), Jeffrey Deitch has the real possibility of turning the museum around. He has everything he needs to lead the Museum into its next 30 years. Now all he needs is the public.

~Vanessa Villegas
http://www.denisbloch.com/