Nov 05 Collector

BUYING SMART

COLLECTOR

One of the great legends of the Wiener Werksttte(WW) emerged shortly after this progressive al-liance of designers and artisans completed its most

lavish private commission, the Palais Stoclet in Brussels,in 1911.The Palais,a 40-odd-room private residence,em-bodied all that the Wiener Werksttte stood for. The aes-thetic scheme was based on simple geometric elementslike the circle and the square. Its interior decoration hadbeen exquisitely handcrafted with the finest materials,from rare marble to kid suede.And every aspect of its de-signfrom the marquetry floors to wall mosaics to thesilver bath accessorieswas visually integrated, reflectinga unified design (a concept known as gesamtkunstwerk).According to Jane Kallir, principal of New Yorks GalerieSt. Etienne and author of Viennese Design and the WienerWerksttte, there was not a detail that could be removedor changed without altering the whole.

As the story goes, when the commission was com-plete, Madame Stoclet invited the WW crew over to ad-mire the spread. Apparently, they were so dismayed tofind her decked out in Paris couture that they rushedback to Vienna to design special frocks, shoes, hats andgloves that would allow her to better visually integratewith her home. Talk about total design!

Who were these ardent artisans? And what exactlywas this entity called the Wiener Werksttte? Literally in-terpreted as Vienna Workshops, it was a cooperativeof architects, artists and craftspeople, dedicated to theideal of integrating the fine and applied arts. Launchedin 1903 with backing from Viennese industrialist Fritz

Gustave Klimts design for a sumptuous wall mosaic for the diningroom of the Palais Stoclet, the Wiener Werkstattes tour de forcecommission. The mosaic featured gold, jewels and rare marble.

The Wiener Werksttte: Viennas Visual Feast

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Buying Smart:Wiener Werksttte 1

A Closer Look 1

Collectors Eye: Abstract Expressionist Prints 1

Holiday Gift Guide 5

Upcoming Sales 9

MarketWatch 10

PURSUING PASSIONS AND PROFITS IN ART, ANTIQUES AND COLLECTIBLES NOVEMBER 2005 VOLUME 3 NUMBER 11

COLLECTORS EYE

Abstract Expressionist Prints

A Closer Look

It was another high-flying November inthe New York auc-tion rooms. BothSothebys and

Christies boasted their best multi-owner sales since 1990 in theimpressionist and early moderncategory. At Christies, 82% ofworks sold within or above theirestimates. Why? Sellers were dig-ging out the good stufflikePicassos 1907 watercolor YellowNude, a study for his masterpieceDemoiselles dAvignon. It made$13.7 million, more than triple itshigh estimate.

In postwar and contemporary,Christies posted a record total of$157.4 million, highest ever in thatcategory. Among the seasonsrecord-breakers were three blue-chip standouts: Mark Rothkosiconic Homage to Matisse ($22.4million), Roy Lichtensteins In theCar ($16.2 million) and, over atSothebys, David Smiths rare-to-market Cubi XXXVIII sculpture,which made $23.8 million, morethan double its high estimate andan auction record for a postwarartwork. Interesting to note:recent market darlings likeMurakami, Dumas and Gurskydidnt make the evening sales.Fashion winds will blow. M.S.

Conventional wisdom says that abstract expressionist artists workedalmost exclusively in New York, in the 1940s and 50s. Early histo-ries of the movement contend that the artists were almost all men,

who painted massive, macho action paintings (think Jackson Pollock,Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline) and huge, hovering fields of color(Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman). Mythology has many of them livinghard and dying young.And now, of course, their work sells at auction upinto the tens of millions of dollars.

Charles Dean has created a collection of abstract expressionist printsthat has turned conventional wisdom on its head.

Louise Nevelsons The Magic Garden, c. 1953.This richly textured print is particularly desir-able as she also drew and painted on it by hand.

continued on page 6

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2 November 2005 Copyright 2005 Forbes Collector

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O.E.Berninghaus (1874-1952) "Albert Looking Elk andFriend." Oil on board,16x20 inches, signed lower right.

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Wrndorfer, the venture was spearheaded artisti-cally by the visionary designers Josef Hoffmannand Koloman Moser, prominent figures in the Vi-enna Secession movement. With hundreds ofartists and artisans in its Vienna-based workshops,the WW expanded to include retail outlets and in-ternational branches, including one in New York.

From the beginning, Wiener Werksttte mate-rial was a luxury proposition, catering to thewealthy classes with sumptuous handcrafted goodsranging from furniture, metalwork, ceramics andglass to graphic design, jewelry and textiles. A 1920brochure advertises a beautiful silver repoussddressing table mirror by a now-obscure architectnamed Oskar Strnad for $1,000. Thats as much asit cost many people back then to buy a house. Butthis venture was always more about art than busi-ness. Plagued by chronic financial difficulties, theWerksttte plowed through the personal fortunes ofseveral backers, finally closing its doors in 1932.

Collectors began to perk up their ears for thismaterial in the mid 1980s, after a series of museumexhibitions on both sides of the Atlantic raisedawareness of the artistic hotbed that was Vienna atthe turn of the last century.At the same time, influ-ential architects like Charles Gwathmey andRichard Meier incorporated WW furniture anddecorative objects into their architectural projects.Hollywood interior designer Naomi Leff liberallysprinkled Hoffmann furniture in homes of left-coast luminaries like Steven Spielberg and BarryDiller. The most important collection of WienerWerksttte material in this country almost certainlybelongs to Este Lauder chairman Ronald Lauder,who has included it in the Neue Galerie, his NewYork museum of German and Austrian art.

According to Christies Carina Villinger, themarket has flattened out in the past five years, inpart because the winds of design fashion haveshifted so strongly toward midcentury modern.Still, rare, important pieces in excellent conditioncontinue to appreciate.Five years ago, the New Yorkgallery Historical Design sold a pair of Hoffmanncandelabra for $150,000. Today, says principalDenis Gallion, theyd be worth closer to $350,000.But as Jeremy Morrison of Sothebys contends, thismarket is still relatively undervalued compared to

Art Deco and Art Nouveau, which have experi-enced massive run-ups in the last decade.

What do knowledgeable collectors look for?Foremost is the designer name. At the top of theheap are co-founders Hoffmann and Moser, fol-lowed by later leaders like Dagobert Peche, CarlOtto Czeschka and Berthold Lffler. In general,ma-terial from the earliest days of the venture, from1904-14, is most desirable. Thats when they de-signed and executed their most important commis-sionsand when there was greatest stylistic unitybetween the various departments.

The wildly prolific Hoffmann was an architectwho designed anything and everything under thesun, from furniture and teapots to flatware andjewelry. His building commissions were the enginedriving the workshop; among the most importantwere the Purkersdorf Sanatorium, near Vienna(1904-05) and the Palais Stoclet in Brussels (1904-11). According to Kallir, Hoffmann was so enam-ored of using square and cubic forms that heearned the nickname Quadratl (Little Square).

Koloman Moser was a painter, designer andgraphic artist. His furniture designs are known fortheir geometric contours and beautiful wood inlays.His designs are most rare, since he left the WienerWerksttte in early 1907. According to ChristaZetter of Galerie bei der Albertina in Vienna, hisdesks and chairs are particularly sought after. Oneof his painted beech and cane armchairs from thePurkersdorf Sanatorium sold for $554,000 in 2000.

Dagobert Peche came later to the party, servingas co-artistic director after 1915. A master of formand color, he eschewed earlier geometries, prefer-ring organic forms, which he treated with a flam-boyant, baroque flourish. According to Villinger,hes especially known for whimsical silver animalcenterpieces, scarce today on the market,along withstriking floor lamps and gilded mirrors. Sothebyssold a giltwood Peche mirror in 2003 for $71,260.

Rarest and most coveted in the Wiener Werk-sttte universe are furniture, lighting and metal-work from important architectural commissions.Nothing has emerged on the market from the ex-traordinary Palais Stoclet,now in the process of be-coming an historical landmark. But other earlycommissions included private residences for backerFritz Wrndorfer, industrialist Otto Primavesi andcritic and salon hostess Berta Zuckerkandl, amongothers.A original complete chandelier that hung inthe Wiener Werkstttes own Vienna salesroomfetched $250,000 at an Austrian auction this year.Provenance is crucial. Best is a piece that has de-scended in the family from the original client, com-plete with a bill of sale or period photographsshowing the piece in its original context.

Connoisseurs also look for designs createdfor important exhibitions, like the KunstschauWien of 1908, and for projects like Caf Fleder-maus, a Viennese cabaret created very much inthe spirit of gesamtkunstwerk, with everything vi-sually interrelated, from the furniture to the wall-paper to the flatware. A small silver-and-enamel

RECENT NOTABLE SALES

The most highly valued Wiener Werkstttematerial? Furniture, jewelry and metalworkdesigned by its visionary co-founders, JosefHoffmann and Koloman Moser.

$554,004Koloman Moser, Painted beech and canearmchair for Purkersdorf Sanatorium

Christies London, 2000

$483,360Koloman Moser, Parquetry bedroomcabinet, 1904

Sothebys London, 1994

$292,000Josef Hoffmann, Diamond and gem-setsilver and gold brooch, 1904

Christies New York, 2000

$128,041Koloman Moser, Painted beech and canearmchair for Purkersdorf Sanatorium

Sothebys New York, 1993

$118,000Josef Hoffmann, Silver and malachitecenterpiece, c. 1904-05

Christies New York, 1999

$112,471Koloman Moser, Silver, ivory and lapislazuli centerpiece/tureen, 1904

Christies Amsterdam, 2002

$104,727Josef Hoffmann, Silver teapot, 1903-04

Sothebys London, 2005

Hoffmanns iconic Sitzmaschine (machine for sit-ting) included his signature geometric elements:the cutout squares and the attached spheres.

The Wiener Werkstttecontinued from page 1

Copyright 2005 Forbes Collector November 2005 3

A brooch from the Caf Fledermaus, a Viennese cabaretin which all design elementseven the servers jewelrywere visually integrated. It fetched $86,040 in 2003.

BUYING SMART

Fledermaus hostess brooch (page 3) sold for$86,040 in 2003, on an estimate of $2,500-$3,500.

But not everything was handcrafted. For largerprojects, like Purkersdorf and Fledermaus, Hoff-mann and Moser designed furniture that was man-ufactured outside the workshop, by Viennese firmslike Thonet and Jacob and Josef Kohn. These itemsappear on the market more regularly. Early versionsof the Fledermaus caf chairs, with the arcing backand balls underneath the arms and legs, sell from$5,000 to $15,000. Ten years ago, Hoffmanns bent-wood Purkerdorf dining room chairs,which featurea backsplat with two vertical rows of cutout circles,sold for $12,000; five years ago,one sold for $40,000.

Arguably Hoffmanns most archetypal designwas a wooden recliner he called the Sitzmaschine(see page 3), originally designed for Purkersdorf.Boldly sculptural, it features a reclining back panelwith Hoffmanns signature square cutouts. Today,the chairs range from $20,000 to $50,000, depend-ing on finish, originality and condition.

Metalwork also remains a popular collectingareafrom cutlery and tea sets to tureens andlamps. Again, youll pay a premium for custompieces. Hoffmann and Moser-designed lamps canbring $100,000 or more. Historical Design gallerysold a silver-and-ivory Hoffmann tea set five yearsago for $150,000which, they project,would prob-ably bring upward of $250,000 today. But there areentry points in this area.One of the signature designmotifs of the WW was called gitterwerk, a checker-board pattern with the center of the squares cut out,used in everything from flower baskets to center-pieces. Gitterwerk ranges from $2,000 for paintediron examples up to $40,000 for more valuable silverones. Also more affordable: 1920s brass bowls andtrays, which run from $2,500 to $10,000.

Jewelry is also highly desirable. But dont ex-pect the dazzle of diamonds and precious gems.WW artisans preferred silver, copper and semi-precious stones. A 1904 Hoffmann-designed

brooch for Fritz Wrndorfers wife fetched$292,000 in 2000 while a similar design executedseven years later sold for $107,700 in 2004.

In their day, the fashion and textile divisions, runby renowned designer Eduard Josef Wimmer-Wis-grill, were the Werkstttes most financially success-ful. So lush and original were their fabrics that hautecouture designer Paul Poiret used them liberally inhis Parisian fashions. Today, they are sought after bycollectorseven fabric swatches, which can beframedbut few of the delicate fabrics have sur-vived. If you can find them, they run to four figures.

Ceramics range from $500 to $20,000, depend-ing on significance, rarity and condition. Early styl-ized,geometric designs can be found by Hoffmannand Jutta Sika, who produced a very Deco-lookingtea service for a firm called Josef Bck. A pair ofcups sold in March for $918. A founder of WienerKeramic, Michael Powolny, made putti figures in-spired by German medieval sculpture and thepaintings of fellow WW artist Gustave Klimt. Lookalso for works by Susi Singer and Vally Wieselthier,

known for hand-modeled female busts rangingfrom a few thousand dollars up to about $15,000.

In the area of glass, the top names are Hoff-man and Otto Prutscher. Prutschers wine glasseswith shallow bowls atop long cubist stems (seebelow) vary in color and shape. The yellow onesmay be rarest, while the blue are most popular. Aset of six amber ones fetched $13,000 in April,while a single blue one sold for $8,728.

Graphic design was a specialty of the Werk-sttte. Posters are extremely rare, as they were madeas advertisements, not for mass consumption. Agood one can run $50,000 to $100,000. But post-cards are plentiful, ranging from $50 up to $15,000for an extraordinary, rare Egon Schiele design.

Fakes do exist in this material, mostly in metal-work, where forgers sometimes take less-valuablepieces of silver and fake the stamps. So its impor-tant to know which marks were used when; Madein Austria, for example, was used only after 1918.You also need a good sense of the thickness of themetalthe silver was not cast, but hammered byhand,so it was quite lightand be able to recognizethe patina of metal as it ages. It helps to know whichelements were used as border decorations, andwhen.In addition to forgeries,collectors can be con-fused by later re-editions of furniture, metal andglass. Pieces should be clearly marked as such. Andprovenance always helps as an authenticating tool.

Finally, a word about condition. Buyers rangefrom collectors who want items in untouched orig-inal condition to those who want their pieces com-pletely refinished and made to look brand new. Iside with the purists who feel that stripping a pieceof its original finish will diminish its value. If youwant a perfect finish and dont care about original-ity, there are repros out there for far less money.fc

MAK, Vienna, Austriawww.mak.at/e/jetzt/f_jetzt.htm

Neue Galerie, New Yorkwww.neuegalerie.org

The Minneapolis Institute of Artswww.artsmia.org

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Yorkwww.metmuseum.org

Clean modern lines: this rare silver tureen, designedby Koloman Moser, fetched $112,471 at auction. Itsthe only known example of six originally made.

WHERE TO SEEWIENER WERKSTTTE

WHERE TO BUYWIENER WERKSTTTE

Christieswww.christies.com

Sothebyswww.sothebys.com

Galerie bei der Albertina, Viennawww.galerie-albertina.at

Historical Design, New York www.historicaldesign.com

Galerie St. Etienne, New York www.gseart.com

Rita Bucheit Gallery, Chicagowww.ritabucheit.com

Dorotheum Auction House, Viennawww.dorotheum.com

4 November 2005 Copyright 2005 Forbes Collector

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These wineglasses, designed by Otto Prutscher, sellwell at auction. One fetched more than $8,500 ear-lier this year. Beware of recent repros, though.

FILM POSTERSMotion Picture Arts Gallery East Rutherford, N.J. www.mpagallery.com

Breakfast at Tiffany's, 30 x 40 in.Just the sight of this poster evokes strains ofMoooooon Riiiiiver..... This example wasone of the few printed on a heavier cardboardstock and special ordered, mostly for drive-ins. Much more rare than a one-sheet. $8,500.

CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY Yossi Milo Gallery New York, N.Y.www.yossimilo.comGirl With Marbles, 2005, Ilfochrome print, 11-3/4 x 11-3/4 in., from an edition of 20.Enchantingly innocent, strangely vacuousand utterly riveting. Loretta Luxs surreal por-

traits of children, digital amalgams of figure and background, have ahaunting lost quality that is both nostalgic and unnerving. $7,000.

RUSSIAN ICONSTemple Gallery London, U.K. www.templegallery.comThe Virgin of Vladimir, mid-18th c., 9.45 x 7.8 in.Shortly after being brought to Russia fromByzantium in the 11th century, this image wasadopted as the symbolic protector of the Russ-ian people, delivering them from enemies andperforming numerous miracles. It has been rendered over and overthrough the centuries. $4,300.

CONTEMPORARY QUILTS Noho Gallery New York, N.Y. www.nohogallery.comJudith Plotner, DeconstructedMemories X, 2003 Not your grandmothers quilt.Using hand-dyed and photo-copied fabric and old family pho-tos transferred to fabric, Plotnercreates an evocative collage of

memories. Contemporary quilts are among the most original andundervalued forms of art on today's market. $1,000.

GOLF MEMORABILIA Golf's Golden YearsPalatine, Ill. antiqglf@comcast.net Derby silver-plated cocktail set, 1921What goes better than golfing andcold beverages? The 18-inch traycomes complete with six cups and ashaker cast in the shape of an oldstovepipe golf bag, complete with amesh-ball top. Fabulous ball and bagdetails throughout. A smaller set with only four cups reportedly sold oneBay for $7,500 earlier this year. $8,500.

BOTANICAL PRINTS Donald Heald GalleryNew York, N.Y. www.donaldheald.comRobert Thornton, The Nodding Renealmia,1801, 20 x 15-1/4 in.One of the most strikingly graceful imagesfrom the greatest English color-plate flowerbook, ever. This hand-colored and color-printed aquatint, stipple and line engravingshows the renealmia, a tall flowering plantintroduced from the Far East in the 1790s.First state of two. $7,000.

NATIVE AMERICAN BASKETSMorning Star GallerySanta Fe, N.M. www.morningstargallery.com Pomo beaded basketry gift bowl, c. 1890,H. 4-1/2 in. x D. 8-1/2 in.An early gem from the golden age of Cali-fornia basketmaking. The Pomo are amongthe most celebrated of the California basketmakers, known especially fortheir supertight weaves and gift baskets, like this one, that incorporatebeads and feathers into the design. $9,500.

RENAISSANCE RINGS Les EnluminuresChicago, Ill. www.lesenluminures.comGold and garnet ring, 15th century,fits U.S. ring size 6What could possibly be more roman-tic than a ring worn by a Renaissance noblewoman? The stone is charm-ingly irregular, as jewelers didnt cut or facet gemstones until the 16thcentury. This example is likely Italian. $5,000.

Collectible Gifts Under $10,000

Copyright 2005 Forbes Collector November 2005 5

With the holidays upon us, we went looking for distinctive, undervalued collectible gems thattake the same-old, same-old out of gift-giving.

Dean didnt set out to start a collection, per se.Having collected everything from cufflinks toStaffordshire china to American art pottery, the56-year-old captain in the restaurant at NewYorks Carlyle Hotel just wanted to buy some artto put on the walls of his one-bedroom Manhat-tan apartment. But after Dean had 10 or 15 prints,he realized that they were taking on a life of theirown. I had no idea that it would snowball theway it did.

Dean has now amassed more than 120 ab-stract expressionist prints, which curators andscholars consider to be one of the premier collec-tions of its kind in the country. After trackingdown and befriending many forgotten artists, get-ting them to pull print boxes out of their closetsand share memories of their artistic heyday, Deanis helping to re-write art history. His collectionbroadens the scope of the movement considerablyin terms of artistic media, geography, dating, artistgender and price point. Selections of it have beenexhibited at the International Print Center in NewYork and the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardensin Jacksonville, Fla., in 2003. More will be on viewnext May at the Pollock-Krasner House on LongIsland. I talked to the ebullient Georgia nativeabout how the collection developed.

Why abstract expressionism? Whats the appeal?To me, its the culmination of modernism, agradual process through which artists were re-leasing art from the need to illustrate visual re-

ality, and calling ever more attention to its es-sential component parts: forms, gestures, colors.The abstract expressionists wanted to use artisticform to picture inner realities of the heart andsoul and unconscious mind, which is why I findit to be such a profound and interesting artmovement. I cant afford the paintings, but I waslucky to stumble across the prints, which fewpeople even knew existed.

What was your first acquisition? What movedyou to buy this work?It was in 1987, at the Hirschl & Adler Gallery,which is a few blocks from the Carlyle Hotel,where I work. I was struck by a Jacob Kainenprint called Marine Apparition, which is a veryabstracted marine scene. I bought it as a me-mento of my father, who had died within thelast year. He loved the water: beaches, lakes,boating, fishing. It made me think of him.

What are the important groupings in your col-lection? One is the work done by the Atelier 17 group inNew York. The Atelier was started by Englishprintmaker Stanley William Hayter in Paris, thentransplanted to New York during World War II.He became a galvanizing force for Americanartists, showing that printmakinghe taught in-tagliocould be more than a medium for repro-ducing images; it could be a medium for fine art,and for experimentation. When American artistssaw the surrealists Andr Masson, Roberto Matta,Joan Mir and other major European migrartists making prints there, it was an eye opener.

They were particularly intrigued by Haytersinterest in automatism, a technique of sponta-neous drawing, without conscious self-control,which the surrealists used in an effort to minetheir innermost creative impulses. While famedartists like Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwellwere known to work at the Atelier, the studio alsoattracted a number of young Americans who areless well-known to history, like Minna Citron,Fred Becker, Sue Fuller and Peter Grippe.

I have 12 works from the Atelier group, fromits heyday of the 1940s and 50s, including one byHayter. Some show the cross-pollination betweenthe Americans and the Europeans, like Gabor Pe-terdis 1948 print The Dreamy Lobster, an allovercomposition that looks very influenced by Mir.One of my favorite prints is a 1945 Grippe en-graving called Improvisation, which is inspired byjazz. Its allover composition, without a single focalpoint, shows the way things were moving, aesthet-ically, for abstract expressionism. (Think Pollocksfamed all-over drip paintings.)

I have later Atelier works, too, from the 1950s,

like a piece called The Magic Garden by LouiseNevelson (see page 1) and a photo-engraving byFranz Kline that incorporates poetry by FrankOHara, the influential New York poet, art criticand curator who sometimes collaborated with theabstract expressionists to make poem-paint-ingsand, in this case, a poem-print.

And there was a California outpost of thismovement as well?Yes, mostly in the Bay area. I think theyve beenunjustly ignored by the general East Coast bias ofart history. But thats changing quickly. Hayter wasagain a catalyst, teaching experimental printmak-ing briefly at the California School of Fine Arts inSan Francisco in 1940, and again in 1948.

James Budd Dixon, who studied with him,carried the torch and taught the class afterward.Some of the Californians whose work I have in-clude Edward Dugmore,Walter Kuhlman, Roy DeForest, Frank Lobdell, George Miyasaki, ByronMcClintock, Sam Tchakalian, George Stillman,Robert McChesney, James Kelly and SoniaGechtoff. There are a few intaglios, but most arelithographs. Kellys Deep Blue I of 1952 is a mas-terpiece, really stunning. I bought it from him be-fore he died and he said it was his favorite. Its oneof four Kellys that I have. Of all the Californians,he was the most focused on lithography.

Any other groupings? While this movement is famous for being quitemacho, I have found some extraordinary womenartists working in the style. Sue Fuller and MinnaCitron were important in Atelier 17. SoniaGechtoff was the most prominent woman work-ing in California in the 50s. I also have a SylviaWald work in silkscreen, a Lee Krasner lithograph(see page 7) and several of Grace Hartigans ex-traordinary screenprints.

COLLECTORS EYE

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST PRINTS

California abstract expressionism? Who knew? JamesKellys 1952 lithograph, August, typifies the rough, brashspontaneity that Bay Area artists brought to the style.

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6 November 2005 Copyright 2005 Forbes Collector

Worcester Art MuseumWorcester, Mass.www.worcesterart.org

Whitney Museum of American ArtNew York, N.Y.www.whitney.org

Selections from Charles Deans collectioncan be seen May 4 through July 30,2006, at the Pollock-Krasner House andStudy Center, The Springs, N.Y.

WHERE TO SEEABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST PRINTS

While the works are abstract, there do seem tobe themes. You mentioned jazz. Any others?Jazz is a definite undercurrent. Most of theartists of this period were great jazz fans. Andthe improvisational quality of their abstract ges-tures is very much the visual equivalent of musi-cal improvisation. Just recently, I bought an in-taglio from 1943 by a little-known artist, PhillipPlatt. The piece is so musicala sunny, swoopy,jazzy image. I have at least five or six jazz-themed works, including Peter Grippes JazzMusicians (see page 8).

Then theres landscape; the Californians, inparticular, seemed to really respond to it, fromSonia Gechtoff to George Miyasaki to John AllenRyan. I have a Robert McChesney silkscreen from1951, inspired by exotic islands in the Pacific thathe saw when he was in the Merchant Marines.And a Walter Kuhlman intaglio from 1949, abeautiful abstraction that gives me the feeling of aChinese landscape.

And as it turns out, theres also a lot of waterimagery from this period. In addition to the firstpiece I bought, I have works with titles like TheDreamy Lobster (Gabor Peterdi), Wash Shapes(Phillip Guston), Squid Under the Pier (MinnaCitron) and Eight Leggers (Bernard Childs), toname a few. Others dont have water in the name,but they have watery, splashy imagery. Its interest-ing; it wasnt until I exhibited the collection for thefirst time a few years ago, that it came over me thatmany of the works had this strong water themeand that much of that affinity had been inspiredby my dad, who so loved the water. It was an ex-tremely emotional realization. It made me under-stand that there is often something subconsciouspushing collectors, something deeply meaningfulfueling the collecting impulse.

With so much of this workprinted singly or in tiny editions,do you feel like theres much outthere that hasnt been mined atthis point? Things do still turn up. That jazzyPhillip Platt I mentioned. He isntknown now, but his work was in allthe Hayter exhibition catalogs of theperiod.At the recent print fair, DorisSeidler, who worked at Atelier 17 inthe early 50s, appeared with threebeautiful abstract woodcuts shedmade that were too large to mail.They were enormous, three feet tall.

I went to visit Walter Kuhlmanin Sausalito. He had studied withJames Budd Dixon at the CaliforniaSchool of Fine Arts. He gave me thisprint of Dixons that he had, saying its not doingany good sitting here in this box. I think there areprobably a few such boxes still out there.

How do you decide what to buy and what notto buy?I try to buy the most extraordinary example of anartists work I can find and afford. Its a brash, dra-matic period of art, so I look for dramatic images.And I do like color.

I wont buy a print just for a name. There aresome artists any museum curator would feel com-pelled to include because of their importance inthe movement. But if their work doesnt speak tome, as a private collector, I can pass. Another issueis affordability. The beautiful Adolph Gottlieb pic-tographs from Atelier 17 are very rare and beauti-ful, but theyre out of my price range, selling nowfor $25,000$35,000. If I cant afford a really goodexample, then Id rather not represent the artistwith a mediocre print. I want to show every artistat a period when their work was strong and fresh.

Printmaking can be complex, process-wise.Are there media that you think are bettersuited than others to the movements sponta-neous, straight-from-the-gut aesthetic? Its interesting to see how widely artists experi-mented in different print media, from intaglio andwoodcuts to silkscreens and lithographs. I wantedto include a full range of media. The early Atelier17 works were intaglios, because that was whatHayter taught. But by 1960, the major work wasbeing made in lithography, which artists discov-ered was a wonderful technique for this style be-cause it was like painting on a stone. Californianswere way ahead of the New York school in makinglithographs, starting as early as the late 40s andearly 50s. The New Yorkers, like Willem de Koon-ing, didnt start making lithos until around 1960.

Youd think that monotypes, in which theartist essentially paints directly on the plate andpulls one image, would be an ideal medium, butyou dont see many. George Stillman made somein the 1940s. I recently found a group of 50 thatHarry Jackson made. He was working in a Pollockstyle, dripping paint on canvases on the floor andblotting them up on the paper. Theyre quite in-teresting. I went out to his studio in Cody, Wyo.,and bought one from him. Its the only monotypeI have in the collection.

There are also some woodcuts, but its amedium not easily compatible with the abstractexpressionist style. The wood is hard to cut in afluid way.And the whole process of registering thedifferent blocks is arduous. It takes some of thespontaneous quality out of the images. WordenDay created beautiful woodcuts. I have oneveryfluid, with lush, sensitive colors, very influenced by

Lee Krasner blossomed artistically in the late 60s and early 70s, afterher husband Jackson Pollock died. This 1970 lithograph shows herstrong, confident forms and fluid, lyrical style.

Copyright 2005 Forbes Collector November 2005 7

WHERE TO BUY

Swann Galleries, New Yorkwww.swanngalleries.com

Susan Teller Gallery, New Yorkhttp://homepage.mac.com/stg568/PhotoAl-bum5.html

Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New Yorkwww.hirschlandadler.com

Annex Galleries, Santa Rosa, Calif.www.annexgalleries.com

Charles M. Young Fine Prints & DrawingsPortland, Conn.860-342-2403

Ellen Sragow Gallery, New Yorkwww.sragowgallery.com

G. W. Einstein Company, Inc., New York212-874-2172

WHERE TO BUYABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST PRINTS

Hans Hofmanns color screenprint Composition in Bluesold for $10 when it was made in 1945. Fewer than adozen impressions are now known, and most have con-dition problems. In 2000, one sold for $17,250.

8 November 2005 Copyright 2005 Forbes Collector

Asian art. Its long and vertical, like a Chinesescroll. Eve Clendenin, who was a student of HansHofmanns in Provincetown, did them as well, indeep colors: bright red, ochre, blue, black. Its likea modernist interpretation of one of the Province-town woodcuts done earlier in the century.

While its hard to get much subtlety or depthwith silkscreeningand both qualities are hall-marks of the abstract expressionist stylea fewartists did make them. Its a difficult medium touse unless you want blocky colors. I have a rareHans Hofmann silkscreen (see page 7) that is sofluid, it looks like a gouache. The Hartigansilkscreens are very beautiful, as well.

Are any of the works printed with master print-ers? How does that effect the expressive im-mediacy they sought?In the 1940s and 50s, there really werent anymaster printer workshops. With the exception ofsome late de Koonings, Krasners and Gustons,which were printed in master lithography stu-dios after they cropped up in the 1960s, most ofthe prints I own are made by the artists them-selves. I like their hands-on quality. Theres notas much emphasis on pristine, perfect printing.Its experimental, fresh, even a little sloppysometimes. You can sense the artists immediacyto get the visual message across. If its smudgyaround the edges or the registration isnt perfect,its not important. It didnt bother them, and itdoesnt bother me.

Did you have a mentor who taught you aboutquality and value? Janet Flint, a curator, author, scholar and educa-tor who had started the print department atHirschl & Adler. In the beginning she got megrounded, got me reading the right books. Sheencouraged me to look at certain artists, andgave me the courage to really look at artists Ididnt know. She helped me develop to the point

where I could make myown decisions.

What effect does conditionhas on value?If theres a great image thathas a condition problem,and only one or two exist,yes Ill buy it. My Hofmannprint is light-stained by thesun. But its a very rareprintfewer than a dozenknownand the fact is,theyre all in bad condi-tion. Made in 1945, theywere sold for probably $10at the time, and treated ca-

sually, like posters. Because of the rarity youhave to overlook the flaws of age.

How has the market for this material changedsince you began? There was very little market for abstract expres-sionist prints at the time they were being cre-ated. There was no impetus for artists to makesizeable editions, so they made a few impres-sions for themselvesas few as two or three.Many were just kept, and only came on the mar-ket in the last ten years. I was lucky enough tomeet many of the artists and acquire somepieces directly. I have a James Kelly lithographcalled Red Wednesday. One is in the Fogg, one inthe Whitney and I have one and another collec-tor has another. Thats it.

When I first started there was almost nocompetition. I could buy most prints for under$2,000. But in 2003 there was an exhibition ofabstract expressionist prints at the Worcester ArtMuseum and a show of some of my Californiaprints at the International Print Center in NewYork. Now there are at least six or seven seriouscollectors. So add increasing demand to the ex-tremely limited supply, and the works have be-come more difficult to acquire. In 2003, AnnexGallery received five silkscreens, all unique artistproofs made by Bay Area artist Roy De Forest.They put them on the Internet and those fiveprints sold in a single day. And values haveslowly started to rise, especially for some of themore peripheral members of the group, who gotvery strong prices at a sale of a private collectionthis May.

You actually met with some of the artists. Tellme about that.Its the most exciting part of the collectingprocess. And such an important part of learningabout the period, by gathering these oral histo-ries, hearing their memories of the Atelier or theCalifornia School of Fine Art, learning whichfellow artists they most respected and why.

Sometimes they would pull out works they hadforgotten. I have even been able to buy prints di-rectly from some of the artists. Its been an un-expected benefit.

I visited many of the artists, like Kuhlman, inSausalito, and Peter Grippe, who lived not farfrom my house in Orient, N.Y. I also becamefriends with Sonia Gechtoff and her late hus-band, James Kelly, who lived in Westbeth inGreenwich Village.

Sonia encouraged me to find Byron McClin-tock, Budd Dixons studio assistant at the Cali-fornia School of Fine Arts, saying what a won-derful lithographer he was. I tried for years, to noavail. Finally, I got a lead by posting a query onprintcollecting.com, a community of collectorsand dealers. A dealer in San Rafael said that hehad come into her shop that year for an appraisaland she gave me his address. So I wrote him a let-ter and told him about my collection. After fiveexcruciating weeks, I finally heard from him.

He hadnt been making art for some time.But as a result of my interest, he started back inhis studio, making extraordinarily lush andbeautiful mezzotints and drypoints. Annex Gal-leries now represents him. Ive visited him twice.He did sell me three lithos from the early 50s,one of which I gave to the Whitney. His wifesaid, Until you found Byron, he hadnt beenworking for ten years and now hes in the studioevery day. That, to me, is my most importantaccomplishment as a collector. When he came toNew York, we went to the Whitney and saw hisprint. The first Christmas after I found him hesent me a beautiful little mezzotint with a notethat said Thank you, Charles, for finding me. Ididnt know how lost I was.

What a great story. Thanks. fc

Like many midcentury artists, Peter Grippe was a huge jazzfan. He told Dean that he printed this engraving, Jazz Musi-cians#1, on blue paper to evoke the mood of a smoky jazz club.

Louis Schankers 1939 woodcut, Non-Objective, shows the strong influence of VasilyKandinsky, who was concerned with the expressive power of color and line, and withthe congruences between color and music.

Copyright 2005 Forbes Collector November 2005 9

SPORTS MEMORABILIA AND CARDS (Sothebys, December 10)

LOT 184: Serge Roche chandelier, c. 1937DESCRIPTION: Mirrored glass, painted metal and glass, H 38 inches ESTIMATE: $40,000$60,000

Mid-20th century design has been enjoying a market moment for the past few years, with French work leading the charge. SergeRoche is best known for lighting and mirror designs from the 1930s and 40s, using glass, mirrors, marble, plaster and paintedmetal in a whimsically historicizing way. Provenance doesnt get much better than this: Roche designed this sprightly confection ofa chandelierlikely a one-off examplefor his own Paris apartment. The mirrored glass inside the curvy shell shows some signsof age, but the outer elements are pristine. His sconces and floor lamps have sold recently in the low to mid five figures; an impor-tant mirror sold this April for $114,700.

THE ELLA CAIN COLLECTION OF MONO LAKE BASKETS (Bonhams and Butterfields, December 5)

Upcoming Sales | What to Buy...and Why

LOT 1104: Tina Charlie, Paiute polychrome degikup basket, 1929 DESCRIPTION: Sedge, redbud and bracken fern on a willow foundation, H 10-1/4 inches, D 20-1/2 inches ESTIMATE: $100,000$150,000

Big. Bold. Technically dazzling. Artistically dramatic. Historically significant. Basket aficionados have anxiously awaited thiscollection for months, hailing as it does from Californias golden age of basketry. Tina Charlie was one of the few

makers known by name; this piece was a coveted prize winner from the 1929 Indian Field Day, documented with numerousphotos, including one of Tina herself holding it, standing next to the Governor of California. One of probably only 10 largebaskets of this size ever produced in the Yosemite-Mono Lake region, look for it to break the world basket record at auction.

LOT 71: Line Vautrin mirror, c. 1960DESCRIPTION: Talosel resin and glass, H 14 inches, W 13-1/2 inches ESTIMATE: $15,000$20,000

It may not be the most practical mirror if youre looking to adjust your hat, but thats not the point. Jew-elry maker and mirror designer Line Vautrin was all about the sunburst frames on her

unique, handmade mirrors, and in this chic, exuberant example, the frame has taken on a life of its own,becoming more important than the looking glass itself. Of late, her mirrors have been selling for between $25,000 and

$75,000, depending on size and complexity of design.

HIDDEN GEM

TOP LOT

LOT1247: Beaded Paiute basket, c. 1910DESCRIPTION: Willow, glass trade beads, H 2 inches, D 4-3/4 inches ESTIMATE: $1,000$1,500

Ella Cain, an important early collector and supporter of Northern California basket makers, often doc-umented their work with personal notes and photos. And while this little gem remains anonymous in its attribution(as most native baskets were), Mrs. Cain had made a notation that this was the first beaded Paiute basket ever made.

The Paiute were not as well known for beaded baskets as, say, the Pomo tribes. Whether or not its the first, it boasts aradical designmuch more like the woven basketswith diamonds, 8-pointed stars and concentric circles.

HIDDEN GEM

TOP LOT

LOT 303: Hank Aarons cap worn while hitting home run #715DESCRIPTION: Wilson-manufactured cap size 7-3/8 ESTIMATE: $20,000$30,000

Hank Aaron wore this cap under his batting helmet when he broke Babe Ruths record, swatting his 715th homerun on April 8, 1974. The cap had been removed in the celebration and held by the starting pitcher Ron Reed, who later gave it to

Braves minor-league prospect Buck Riddle. (Documentation includes letters from Reed and Riddle.) On the underside of the band isa manufacturing code verifying the year it was made. And Aarons #44 appears under the brim in faded black marker. The cap is well

worn, with noticeable sweat stains and soiling.

LOT 233: Joe DiMaggios 1936 New York Yankees rookie home uniformDESCRIPTION: Spalding-manufactured pinstripe flannel ESTIMATE: $600,000+

Rare, historic artifact from a baseball legend. As a 21-year-old rookie, DiMaggio hit .323, leading the Yanks to four straightWorld Series, nine championships in all. Collectors covet rookie items for their rarity; Joltin Joes estate still holds most of hisstuff, and this is the only year he wore no. 9. At the end of each season, team uniforms were doled out to minor leaguers. This onewent to pitcher Charles Smoky Mason, whos had it since. DiMaggios name and number are stitched inside the collar andwaistband, and authenticators have made at least a dozen forensic photo matches. The sleeves were later cut, and the N.Y. logo re-moved, but its outline is visible. Closest comps: two historic Ruth jerseys, which sold for $771,000 and $1 million earlier this year.

TOP LOT

HIDDEN GEM

A PRIVATE COLLECTION OF FRENCH MID-CENTURY DESIGN (Christie's, December 7)

10 November 2005 Copyright 2005 Forbes Collector

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MARKETWATCH: RECENT NOTABLE SALES YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT

COLLECTOR

Item Where Sold Sale Date Price Estimate/Price FetchedFILM POSTERS

Rare Metropolis poster, 1926 Reel Poster Gallery, London 11/05 private sale/$690,000BUZZ: When it comes to the vintage film poster market, classic horror dominates the top price recordswith one exception: FritzLang's super-rare sci-fi masterpiece Metropolis, arguably the most important film poster ever. The art deco image has long held two ofthe top five records, and now it will hold three, including the highest price ever paid. Edged out of the number one spot was a posterfor the 1932 film The Mummy, which had sold for $453,500 in 1997. This was one of only four known copies in existence, and two ofthem are in museums. Flick fans were busy this month; down in Dallas, Heritage Auctions sold $1.5 million worth of the stuff, an all-time high for a movie poster auction.

ANTIQUE JEWELRY

18th-century Russian imperial diamond necklace Sothebys Geneva 11/05 $1,135,000$1,890,000./$1.5 millionBUZZ: Did she or didnt she? Apparently at least two buyers thought she did. The she in question? Russian empress Catherine theGreat. The mystery? Whether an historic necklace, dazzlingly bedecked with 27 large diamonds, had been worn by her royal highness.Provenance is often impossible to document in a country ravaged by war, revolution and decades of decidedly bling-challengedCommunism. But this imperial piece, housed in the Russian state diamond fund until 1917, is a lucky survivor of history. Much oldjewelry was broken up to produce newer, more stylish jewelry with the stones. This sale saw ten pieces top the million-dollar mark.

VINTAGE CARS

1935 Type 59/50B Bugatti Bonhams Goodwood 9/05 $1.3 million$1.8 million/$1.47 millionBUZZ: A sexy Frankenstein on wheels, built from hoarded Bugatti parts. This meticulousand some 90% originalrestora-tion, featured reproduced body panels and an engine culled from a 1935 Grand Prix de lACF at Montlhry car. But the sexy sin-gle-seater had raceworthy power and all those juicy little Bugatti details, like piano wire wheels. There is no comparable car.

EARLY AMERICANA

Jonathan Edes, Painted fireboard and overmantel, late 18th c Thomaston Place 8/05 $250,000-$325,000/$605,000BUZZ: George Washington slept here. Okay, okay, he slept in the general vicinity. But the first presidents 1789 visit to Boston in-spired these large, rare and historic panel paintings by Massachusetts artist and Revolutionary war patriot Jonathan Edes. On themare scenes of Boston harbor (including the Boston lighthouse and fort on Castle Island), a profile of Washington and a detailed sceneof a Colonial militia in formation. This price nearly triples Edes previous record of $220,800 for an overmantel panel.

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