Rauschenberg - Signs of the Times

Robert Rauschenberg - Signs - 1970 - Screenprint Signed

Robert Rauschenberg’s“Signs” 1970, is one of the most sought after Rauschenberg screenprints because of the artwork’s incredible iconographic imagery and historical significance. "Signs" was originally commissioned by Time Magazine, with the intention that it would be used as the January edition cover for the year 1970. After considering the final composition, the executives at Time Magazine found the piece was more politically charged than they had hoped and decided against using it. It was felt that the composition, though stunning, was more of a recapitulation of the 1960’s than a welcome to the new decade.

After the dismissal by Time Magazine, Robert Rauschenberg’s trusted dealer Leo Castelli convinced him to print a limited edition screenprint of “Signs”. The edition was published by Leo Castelli in New York in an edition of 250; each signed, dated ‘70’, and numbered in pencil.

“Signs” is an astounding collage encompassing the monumental events and people of 1960’s America. Rauschenberg masterfully juxtaposes scenes of innovation like the moon landing with the destructive violence of the war in Vietnam and the civil rights movement. The revolutionary nature of the era is pronounced through the images of peace protestors at the top, whose rallies for change and peace are echoed by the voice of Janis Joplin deeply singing into her microphone. The iconic leaders of the era including JFK and his brother Bobbie Kennedy challenge the divisive violence of the wars and civil unrest, even as their forms and images transition into the faces of martyrs. The “Signs” of this transformative decade are woven seamlessly by Rauschenberg, and the screen print is known as one of his most important works of art.

Permanent Museum Collections:

Smithsonian Institute of Art
Museum of Modern Art New York (MOMA)
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art

National Gallery of Australia


DENIS BLOCH FINE ART is please to offer a number of original
signed prints by Robert Rauschenberg.

Click Here To View The Collection!

Art Terms Decoded: What is a Triptych?

Duccio di Buoninsegna c. 1280
"Madonna and Child"
Location: National Gallery, London, England 

The etymological origins of the art term "Triptych" (pronounced "trip-tick") spawns from the Greek adjective τρίπτυχον  or "Three Fold". This perfectly defines the nature of a triptych - which is a three paneled or three sectioned work of art.



Master of Frankfurt c. 1510-1520
"HolyFamily with musical Angel, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, and Saint Barbara"
Location: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

The three pieces in a triptych can be separate pieces or can be conjoined or hinged together. The hinged triptych was an extremely popular and standard format in early Christian alter pieces from the middle ages onward. In these traditional Christian alter pieces the middle panel was generally the largest panel flanked by two smaller panels on either side which could be displayed opened or closed. The center panel was generally the most important scene, often a motif of the Virgin and Child or Jesus, while the smaller side panels were dedicated to admiring saints.

Roy Lichtenstein "As I Opened Fire" 1964

The modern format of the triptych is usually three coordinating pieces on wood panels, canvases, or even works on paper. The three pieces can be different sizes but are often the same size and shape. The triptych composition may consist of three separate images or could also be one composition separated into the three panels. One of the most noted triptychs of the 20th Century is Francis Bacon's triptych painting from 1969, Three Studies of Lucian Freud, which broke the record for the highest price ever paid for an artwork at auction at $142.4 million.

Francis Bacon "Three Studies of Lucien Freud" 1969

 

For more information about fine art collecting and art terms visit our website:

 

WWW.DENISBLOCH.COM

 

Art Terms Decoded - What does "Acid Free" Mean?

Pablo Picasso Linocut - Perfect Margin Conditions

Have you ever bought an original art print and encountered the term "Acid Free"?  Probably your art dealer or framer mentioned it? Well here is a useful definition of this important art term to give you some insight into protecting and preserving your fine art print investments:


Example of Acid Burn from non-archival framing

The term "Acid Free" refers to the materials used to frame an original artwork. When you frame a work of art - particularly a work on paper you must be extremely careful about the framing materials. Cardboard or regular tape have acidic properties that will eventually over time "burn" the paper or canvas that is exposed to them. The exposure to acidic matting, paper, or even storage materials causes a brown discoloration and deterioration of the paper. Many times the discoloration may occur underneath a frame and cannot be seen.

Pablo Picasso Etching with acid mat burn

When an artwork has been exposed to acidic materials and discolored it seriously devalues the piece. As mentioned in previous posts the investment quality of an artwork is heavily determined by the excellent condition of the piece. That is not to say that a damaged piece has no value, sometimes prints can be restored by a professional paper conservator depending on the level of damage, however this can be an expensive process.

To safely protect your fine art prints and artworks specify to your framer that you want only Acid Free or Archival matting, backboard, and hinging. We additionally recommend UV protective plexi-glas to further preserve your artwork.


For More Information on Art Conservation and Professional Art Terms visit our website: www.denisbloch.com/art_terms.php

 

We also welcome comments and questions regarding archival acid free preservation!

 

info@denisbloch.com / 310-270-4880

Francisco Toledo - Arte Grafica

Francisco Toledo, Nesting Birds, 2009

The Art of Francisco Toledo is deeply influenced by Toledo´s Mexican heritage. Many of Francisco Toledo´s artworks illustrate his Oaxacan roots, exemplified by Toledo´s paintings, sculptures, lithographs, etchings, and drawings of Mexican animals and scenery as well as Mexican History & Mythology.

Mexican artist, Francisco Toledo, was born in Oaxaca, Mexico in 1940. At the age of 12, Francisco Toledo learned the art of engraving at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Oaxaca. Under the instruction of Guillermo Silva Santamaria at the Centro Superior de Artes Aplicadas del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Francisco Toledo continued his studies of the graphic arts including: etching, lithography, and engraving.

Francisco Toledo, Sapos Con Frijoles, Etching

In 1959, Francisco Toledo had his first solo art exhibition in Mexico City at Galeria Antonio Souza. Soon after, Toledo traveled to Europe where he began to work at the shop of the renowned British printmaker Stanley William Hayter in Paris. In 1963 Francisco Toledo´s first International art exhibitions were held in Paris at the Galerie Karl Flinker and the Daniel Gervis Gallery. By 1965 Francisco Toledo had exhibited his art in Galleries in Switzerland, Germany, England, Norway and the U.S.A.

Francisco Toledo´s first prints exhibition entitled Toledo Obra Grafica was held in 1969 at the Galeria Juan Martin in Mexico City. As an art medium, graphics (original prints) particularly intrigued Toledo from early in his career because of the extraordinary range of effects available through printing and etching. Among Francisco Toledo´s notable graphic artworks, are Toledo´s series of illustrated art books on Mayan myths.

Francisco Toledo's unique artistic aesthetic is based on a fantastic reality that Toledo finds residing in nature and life. Anthropomorphized animals (that are not often associated with beauty, such as insects, toads, and bats) are often the center–point of Francisco Toledo´s original artworks. Always juxtaposing the beautiful (the grain of the paper beneath Francisco Toledo´s washes of watercolor, or how deep the chroma illuminating Toledo´s small gouaches) with the disturbing.

Francisco Toledo, Crabs & Dogs, Lithograph

Francisco Toledo´s social and cultural concerns about his native state led to his life–long participation in the cultural revitalization within the Mexican community. Francisco Toledo became integrally involved in the establishment of a number of cultural and art institutions including: the Casa de la Cultura in Juchitan 1972, the Instituto de Artes Graficas de Oaxaca (IAGO) 1989, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca (MACO) 1992, Patronato pro Defensa y Conservacion del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural de Oaxaca (PROOAX) 1993, Centro de la Imagen Manuel Alvarez Bravo, the Biblioteca Jorge Luis Borges for the blind in Oaxaca and the Inaugurates Fonoteca Eduardo Mata in the Centro Fotografico Manuel Alvarez Bravo. Francisco Toledo has also received several accolades for his contributions to the Mexican community including, Mexican National Prize in 1998, the Prince Claus Award in 2000, and the Right Livelihood Award in 2005.

In 1980 the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City held a retrospective of Francisco Toledo´s art. Francisco Toledo´s art is found in the permanent collection of major Art Museums across the globe. Francisco Toledo continues his artistic and humanitarian efforts from Oaxaca City, Mexico.

Select Museum & Institutional Collections:

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Fundacion Proa, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, CA

Developing the Abstract - Frank Stella Biography

Frank Stella - Cantahar - 1998

American Abstract Artist Frank Stella was born in Malden, MA in 1936. Frank Stella is a highly regarded and collected Abstract artist known for his large–scale freestanding sculptures, architectural structures, and the most complex original prints ever realized in the medium of printmaking.

 

Frank Stella began painting in his sophomore year of high school at the Philips Academy in Andover, MA. Stella continued taking fine art courses at Princeton University, while majoring in history. While in school, Frank Stella visited numerous influential art exhibitions in the galleries of New York City. Frank Stella´s artistic development was directly shaped by the Abstract Expressionism of Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline, and in 1958 Stella moved to New York.  

Frank Stella - Untitled - 1967

Upon moving to New York City, Stella reacted against the expressive use of paint by most painters of the abstract expressionist movement, instead finding himself drawn towards the "flatter" surfaces of Barnett Newman's art and the "Target" paintings by Jasper Johns. Stella gained early and immediate recognition in 1959 with his series of black pinstriped paintings that turned the gestural brushwork and existential angst of Abstract Expressionism on its head. Several of Frank Stella´s "black paintings" were included in major art exhibitions including: "Three Young Americans" at the Allen Memorial Museum at Oberlin College, and "Sixteen Americans" at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York. The Black Paintings served as an important catalyst for Minimalist art of the 1960s.

In 1959 Frank Stella joined fine art dealer Leo Castelli´s gallery of artists, and in 1960 Stella began painting artworks in aluminum and copper paint as well. Stella´s art aesthetic steadily developed as he introduced a wider range of colors, typically arranged in straight or curved lines. Stella eventually created his paintings on shaped canvases (canvases in a shape other than the traditional rectangle or square), often being in L, N, U or T–shapes. In 1965 Frank Stella´s art was included in "The Shaped Canvas" at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and "Systemic Painting" of 1966. Stella´s shape canvases developed into more elaborate designs, in the Irregular Polygon series of 1967.


Frank Stella - Harran II - 1967

In 1971 Stella developed his Protractor Series, in which arcs, sometimes overlapping, within square borders are arranged side–by–side to produce full and half circles painted in rings of concentric color. These paintings are named after circular cities he had visited while in the Middle East. Frank Stella´s Irregular Polygon canvases and Protractor Series further extended the concept of the shaped canvas. The shaped canvases took on even less regular forms in the Eccentric Polygon series as elements of collage were introduced. Stella´s artwork became more three–dimensional to the point where he started producing large, free–standing metal wall sculptures. As the 1970s and 1980s progressed, these became more elaborate and exuberant, marked by curving forms, Day–Glo colors, and scrawled brushstrokes. From the mid–1980s to the mid–1990s, Stella created a large body of paintings, sculptures, and original prints that responded in a general way to Herman Melville´s Moby–Dick.




Frank Stella - Extracts - 1993

Starting in the mid–1960s Frank Stella launched his extended involvement with printmaking, working first with master printer Kenneth Tyler at Gemini G.E.L. Stella would continue to produce original prints for the duration of his artistic career, and in 1973 he had a print studio installed in his New York house. Frank Stella's abstract prints in lithography, screenprinting, etching and offset lithography had a strong impact upon printmaking as a fine art.



Frank Stella - Sanor - 1996

Additionally Frank Stella is heralded for his large free–standing sculptures for public spaces from the 1990´s including: the 10,000–square–foot mural for Toronto´s Princess of Wales Theatre; his 5,000–square–foot "Stella Project" which serves as the centerpiece of the theater and lobby of the Moores Opera House on the campus of the University of Houston, in Houston, TX; and Frank Stella´s monumental sculpture was installed outside the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Frank Stella's virtually relentless experimentation has made him a key figure in American modernism, helping give rise to such developments as Minimalism, Post–Painterly Abstraction, and Color Field painting. In 2009 Frank Stella was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama, and in 2011 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in Contemporary Sculpture by the International Sculpture Center. Frank Stella continues to live and work in New York.

"A sculpture is just a painting cut out and stood up somewhere." – Frank Stella

Select Museum Collections:

Art Institute of Chicago
Guggenheim Museum, New York
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, DC
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Tate Gallery, London

IS ART A GOOD INVESTMENT?



There are a number of indicators that prove that Fine Art, carefully selected, can be a lucrative commodity investment. Art is one of the most enticing hard asset investments, as collectors have created a hefty supply and demand system throughout the years.

According to Michael Moses, a retired New York University business school professor who co-

Marc Chagall

created the Mei Moses World All Art Index, over the past 60 years, the total return on fine art has been very similar to the return on the S&P 500-stock index. "If you use the last 30 years, the S&P substantially outperforms art," Moses says. "If you look at the most recent eight [to] 10 years, art has outperformed the S&P."

Another reason to consider investing in Art is that Fine Art has a proven track record as a good choice during hard times. Fine Art is more or less resilient to times of economic turmoil and trouble. It has outperformed during all of the wars of the 20th century, and has outperformed during the last 27 recessions. One of the biggest draws to this asset class is the fact that there is no underlying financial market to tinker with prices. There will never be a bad trade or a flash crash that will suddenly erase the value of your art investment. Though it is not a guarantee, Art also has the potential to appreciate with time.

The last and perhaps most rewarding aspect of collecting Fine Art are the emotional and aesthetic rewards. Because Art is a physical asset class, your investment is something that you can potentially enjoy every day.


COLLECTING THE RIGHT ARTIST

The greatest draw back to investing in fine art is the relative unpredictability of the performance an artist’s body of work might have. Like other markets there are artists and artworks that are highly unlikely to retain or develop future value, and so it is very important as a beginning collector to be highly selective of the artists you collect. The best advice is that you select artists with established markets. A blue-chip artist would have a major following, specifically by academic and museum interest. The Artist is your best indicator for potential value.

Pablo Picasso

Normally a museum artist like Picasso, Warhol, or Hockney would be out of range for the average
collector, but through the limited edition prints market you can attain these artists for a few thousand dollars as opposed to a few million. Many collectors and art dealers will tell you that originals will always perform better than prints, and this is half true. The original paintings for Pablo Picasso or Damien Hirst will always outperform the graphic artworks for these artists certainly, and if you have the capital to invest in high-level paintings of Museum Masters, I strongly recommend that this is the market you seek. However, an original painting by an immerging and unknown artist vs. an establish master’s print will not necessarily hold value or outperform the print. The performance of an original painting depends heavily on the current market and demand for the artist.

COLLECTING THE RIGHT PIECE

Aside from the Artist, other excellent indicators of future potential rest on the work itself. It is true that some compositions are simply more aesthetic than others. Some artworks may bear iconic images and characteristics of an artist’s specific period or style. It can be beneficial to research an artist’s backstory, as it can have a fair amount of weight in the resale value of a piece. Additionally if you are collecting sculptures or original prints the edition sizes can also play a major factor. When deciding what art to buy, the most important is that you enjoy and appreciate the art.  


 

ZAO WOU-KI



CELEBRATING THE ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST


Zao Wou-ki with painting - Getty Image

Chinese – French Artist Zao Wou – ki was born in Beijing, China in 1921. Zao´s given name, "Wou – ki" (or "Wuji" in the standard Hanyu Pinyin romanization used in China), translates to "no boundaries." This perfectly encapsulates Zao Wou–ki as an artist, who was uniquely able to combine the cultures and aesthetic visions of France and China in his Fine art paintings, prints, etchings, and lithography.



Zao Wou-ki - Suite Beauregard - 1981 - Etching

Zao Wou – Ki went to school in Nantung, a small town north of Shanghai, where his father worked as a banker. Zao Wou–ki was considered a gifted pupil and he took great interest in literature and in Chinese and world history. Zao Wou – ki´s family was one of intellectuals who appreciated painting and fine art, and Wou–Ki would learn the traditional Chinese art of calligraphy from his grandfather.
From the age of ten Zao Wou–ki created drawings and paintings constantly. In 1935, at the age of fourteen, Zao Wou–Ki was admitted to the School of Fine Arts at Hangzhou, China. There Zao Wou – ki studied life drawing, oil painting, and also received instruction in the theories of calligraphy and western perspective. Despite the traditional teachings in accuracy and realism, Zao Wuji sought to capture the broad outlines and essence in his artwork compositions.

Zao Wou–Ki was appointed lecturer at the School of Fine Arts and in 1941 held his first art exhibition. According to Wou–Ki "To tell the truth, the [Paintings] I showed were strongly influenced by Matisse and Picasso. My harlequins recalled the ‘Blue Period´, my statue women the ‘Greek Period´." Indeed it was in the artworks of Cezanne, Matisse and Picasso that Zao Wou–Ki would find the vision he considered closest to nature. Inspired by his collection of postcards of reproduced French paintings and full page illustrations of Renoir, Modigliani, Cezanne, Matisse and Picasso artworks in American magazines, Zao Wou–ki developed his artistic approach.

 In 1947, the twenty–seven year old Zao Wou–Ki decided to leave China for Paris. Zao Wou–ki and his wife, Lan–Lan, sailed from Shanghai in early 1948 and after a voyage of 36 days, arrived in Paris, France where Zao Wou–Ki spent his first afternoon at the Louvre Art Museum. Zao Wou – ki settled in a studio near that of Alberto Giacometti; took French lessons; and visited and saw everything he could in Paris. The city inspired him and Zao Wou–ki easily frequented a circle of international artists, writers and intellectuals. While in Paris, Zao Wou–ki acquainted himself with European Lyrical Abstraction, a movement of postwar French artists pursuing free–form abstract expression through painting.

In 1949, Zao Wou–ki began making art prints after learning the technique of lithography at the Atelier Desjobert. The lithograph medium delighted Zao Wou – ki ––"The idea of throwing color on a large white stone, like on China paper, pleased me…," and Zao Wou–ki´s print experiments became lithographic masterpieces. In 1950 Zao Wou–ki published his prints accompanied by poems from celebrated poet Henri Michaux in 1950.

Zao Wou-ki - Flore et Faune - 1951 - Etching

Zao Wou–ki´s collaboration with Henri Michaux pushed him to review his Indian ink techniques and his roots in Chinese traditional drawing. Upon discovering Paul Klee´s paintings in 1951, Zao Wou–ki began to incorporate ideograms into his paintings, drawings, and prints. Zao Wuji still painted figurative elements, however, before he definitively committed to an Abstract painting aesthetic in 1953, inspired by archaic Chinese characters. Zao Wou–Ki had unknowingly come full circle back to traditional Chinese calligraphy – carefully drawing out each character with great passion and emotion.

Zao Wou-ki - Éloge des choses extrêmement légères - 1993 - Etching

Zao Wou–Ki travelled extensively in the 1950–1960s discovering and exhibiting in Italy, Spain, the United States, Japan, Greece, Switzerland and England. In 1950 Zao participated for the first time in the Salon de Mai, at which he was to exhibit regularly every year after that. Zao Wou–ki´s would befriended artists such as Rufino Tamayo and Joan Miro, as well as, architect I.M. Pei. In 1993 he was appointed Commander of the Legion of Honor by the President of France and the following year was awarded the Premium Imperial Award of Painting in Japan.

Zao Wou-ki - Village en fête - Oil on canvas - 1954

Zao Wou – ki was regarded as one of foremost Chinese Contemporary painters of the 20th century.By the end of his life Zao Wou–ki had stopped producing new artworks due to health problems. He died on April 9th, 2013 at his home in Switzerland.

"How to represent the wind? How to paint emptiness? And the light, its brightness, its purity? I did not want to reproduce but to juxtapose forms, to assemble them in order to find in them the whispering wind over still water." ~ Zao Wou–ki

Select Museum Collections:
Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
Guggenheim Museum, NYC
Georges Pompidou Centre, Paris
Musee des Beaux–Arts, Montreal
Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Museum of Modern Art, NYC
Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico
National Institute of Fine Arts, Beijing
Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona

Speedy Graphito - Technical Temptation

Speedy Graphito, City Love, Painting on Canvas

Street Art pioneer Speedy Graphito was born in Paris in 1961. Speedy Graphito began his art career in the 1980´s on the streets of Paris, creating dynamic paintings and street murals using spray paint and stencils.




Speedy Graphito, Toxic Game,
Screenprint Unique on Paper

Originally a graphic designer and art director, Speedy Graphito quickly established a distinct urban art style that incorporates schematic and charasmatic characters, cartoons and manga alongside contemporary commercial brands, logos, and iconic pop culture imagery. Speedy Graphito´s art is inspired by the virtual and physical urbanscape, but predominantly the barrage of advertising that dominates today´s consumer culture. Street Artist Speedy Graphito has become recognized and revered for his satirical exploration of commercialism, often turning a critical eye on our society through his pop graffiti art.

Speedy Graphito, Temptation,
Screenprint on Paper

Particularly influenced by the iconography of Disney characters and video games, street artist Speedy Graphito often turns a critical eye on our society, as his artworks feed off the collective memory of iconic imagery to create a new universal language. As an example, Speedy Graphito´s "Temptation 2011" features Disney´s Snow White enamored with the half–eaten logo of Macintosh Apple, creating a shrewd and satirical criticism of consumer seduction.

An astute representation of social communication in the internet era, Speedy Graphito's "Snow White" screenprint mirrors our media and technology dominant social intercourse. Our new social experience is saturated by both text and pictoral messages, echoing the layers of an inundated graffiti wall. The seduction is explicated beyond Snow White and the Apple Logo, but further distinguishes our mass enchantment with a technological world at our finger-tips - just a click away from satisfaction.  

Speedy Graphito, Money, Painting on Canvas

Speedy Graphito´s paintings, prints, and street art murals can be found worldwide. Already recognized in the international arena, Speedy Graphito´s Art is well known in France, England, USA, Belgium, India, Japan, Brazil, and Dubai, as well as major auction houses. Speedy Graphito has recently participated in a number of solo art exhibitions in Los Angeles Art Galleries, as well as exhibiting at the 2011 Miami Art Basel.

Denis Bloch Fine Art is pleased to offer original paintings, drawings, limited edition screenprints, and unique prints by Street Artist Speedy Graphito.

Sam Francis – Space and Color

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

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.