Frank Vining Smith: Maritime Painting in the 20th Century

2010-07-13 22:04:28 -0600

The marine art of Frank Vining Smith (1879-1967) has become part of America's collective consciousness. When we envision a wind-propelled sailing ship plying the high seas, often the image in our mind's eye is inspired by, if not actually painted by, Smith. Prints of his ship paintings adorn seafood restaurant walls, original oils grace art museums and corporate office suites, and his best works now inspire collectors to bid upwards of $25,000 at auctions.

The life ...

Bailed-out Bank of America shares art collection with communities

2010-05-18 17:07:32 -0600

Bank of America (BofA), the recipient of $45 billion in taxpayer-funded government bailouts, has been loaning works from its corporate collection to dozens of art museums worldwide since 2007.

Charlotte, North Carolina's Mint Museum of Art will be exhibiting 60 of the bank's major American contemporary artworks in a $60 million new building beginning October 1.

The scope and value of the BofA's collection has ...

Collector's Guide: American Art in New York City

2010-05-12 19:21:30 -0600

American paintings, works on paper, and sculpture take center stage in Manhattan from May 17 to 26 in a series of major auctions and special events at leading art galleries.

The dizzying array of art-centric festivities involves cocktail receptions, special exhibitions, three auctions, two dozen gallery open houses, and a pair of important fundraisers.

Thousands of works of art will be available for sale. View our Itinerary below to help plan logistics. Plus, a

Most popular Fall 2009 press releases on ARTFIXdaily

2009-12-31 12:19:19 -0700

The three most-read press releases on ARTFIXdaily, published in the ArtWire section between September 1 and December 31, 2009, highlighted museum exhibitions:

1. Art and Illusions, Masterpieces of Trompe-l'loeil from Antiquity to the Present. On view through ...

The Impressionist art of Clark Greenwood Voorhees comes to light

2009-12-10 18:48:21 -0700

Tucked away for decades in the private collections of the artist's descendants, many of the best large-scale oil paintings by Clark Voorhees (1871-1933) are now re-emerging in an exhibition at New York City's Hawthorne Fine Art. The Light Lies Softly: the Impressionist Art of Clark Greenwood Voorhees, on view from December 15, 2009 through February 27, 2010, will showcase about thirty-two of the ...

"The Art of Aiden Lassell Ripley" is Now Available

2009-11-10 17:01:20 -0700

Written by sporting art dealer Stephen O'Brien Jr. and ARTFIXdaily publisher Julie Carlson Wildfeuer, The Art of Aiden Lassell Ripley documents the artist's progression and growth, from his initial rise as an Impressionist to Realist depictions of his outdoor passions that continue to shape sporting art today.

Over three years in the making, this is the most comprehensive book to date on the ...

Behind the Giant Flowers: Georgia O'Keeffe's life revealed in TV movie

2009-09-16 20:05:52 -0600

The exhilarating rise of Georgia O'Keeffe's fame, fashioned by her tumultuous love life and a quest for indepedence, is colorfully presented in a new biopic of the American painter on Lifetime Television this Saturday.

Perhaps one of the most successful and recognized women artists of all time, O'Keeffe is aptly portrayed by actress Joan Allen, an executive producer of the film. The

Dutch Treat: New York exhibits the best in Netherlandish art

2009-09-10 12:54:05 -0600

This fall marks the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's historic journey from Holland to New York. In commemoration of this early settler's voyage, a number of spectacular New York exhibitions are celebrating Dutch art.

From Sept. 10 to Nov. 29, the Metropolitan ...

Big-dollar Beauties: Dolls demand high auction prices

2009-08-17 19:57:31 -0600

Private collections are yielding some rare and coveted dolls to the auction market this year. An art doll from an Italian private collection provoked a heated paddle battle at Theriault's July 12 sale while the Richard Wright Collection at Skinner's will offer up many more supreme examples of doll-making this October.

On the eve of France's Bastille Day, Theriault's hammered down the gorgeously-outfitted French art doll for a world ...

Investors eschew Wall St. for Wall Art

2009-08-12 18:55:07 -0600

Inflation may be lurking around the corner...so what are stock market-skittish Americans considering as investments? Oil, gold, and great art---assets which some experts consider positioned to perform well in the next market upswing.

For ...

Tarbell's "An Opal" Shimmers at Auction

2009-08-05 12:36:54 -0600

Within the wide selection of Frank Benson bird etchings and Ogden Pleissner sporting scenes in Copley Fine Art Auctions' two-day Annual Sporting Sale, July 15-16, was a softly-rendered, warmly-lit portrait by Boston School artist Edmund Tarbell (1862-1938). Tarbell's "An Opal: Study of Yellow and White Light" pictured a confident Victorian lady.

At the Plymouth, Massachusetts, sale Copley hammered down this alluring image for a ...

Destination Maine: Artists' Vacationland

2009-08-04 14:27:12 -0600

Rugged and wild, the coast of Maine has inspired generations of painters to capture its primeval forests and rocky shores in all artistic mediums.

Two idyllic rental cottages in Maine offer vacationers dramatic scenery once enjoyed and painted by renowned American artists John Marin and the family dynasty of N.C., Andrew, and James Wyeth. With a

Buy Americana: U.S. Stocks versus Collectibles

2009-07-29 21:15:14 -0600

The Wall Street Journal published a new study by Birinyi Associates on Tuesday comparing U.S. stocks with other assets over the long haul. The results touted selected collectibles as the biggest winners.

Here's how eight asset types ranked in the study:

1. Sports memorabilia, ie., a rare Honus Wagner baseball card has appreciated 9,900% since 1985. (Honus Wagner, known as "The Flying Dutchman" for his ...

A Whale's Tooth Steeped in Historical Significance

2009-07-28 14:07:47 -0600

Sailing to auction this fall is a 7-inch-long whale’s tooth decorated by private James Bute of the Royal Marines while aboard the ship from which Charles Darwin surveyed the Galapagos Islands in 1835.

Darwin made significant scientific observations from the H.M.S Beagle which formed the basis of his seminal work, “The Origin of Species.”

The hand-engraved ivory depicts the three-masted sloop H.M.S. Beagle slicing through rough waters against a mountain ...

Forbes' Top Billionaire Art Collectors

2009-07-27 15:44:53 -0600

Forbes revealed its list of "Top Billionaire Art Collectors" on Friday. Even with the world's wealthist folks losing 23% on average of their net worth last year, these collections made the cut with values ranging from $700 million to $2 ...

Seven-Figure Finds, Unclaimed Loot spice up Antiques Roadshow

2009-07-26 20:29:35 -0600

The perfect antidote for the recession blues, PBS' hit series "Antiques Roadshow" plans to keep reeling in viewers with exciting discoveries.

From attics, and now government safes, valuable (and worthless) art, antiques, and collectibles continue to emerge from the long parade of hopeful Americans who line up in auditoriums across the country for a televised appraisal.

On Friday, the show taped its experts perusing jewelry in Colorado's Unclaimed Property Division.
...

Jazz Age Artists flocked to Santa Barbara

2009-07-23 15:04:54 -0600

Before Hollywood claimed the role of movie-making capital, Santa Barbara, California, ninety miles north of Los Angeles, was the epicenter of the burgeoning film industry.

Surrounded by picturesque mountains, a sparkling ocean, and lovely streets lined with various revival-style architecture, this small city provided the ideal backdrop for nearly 1,200 silent films made by Flying A Studios before the production company moved to Los Angeles.

Around this time, known as the ...

Art World Gets Geeky

2009-07-22 23:10:40 -0600

Twitter, Facebook, iPhone apps, blogs, and wikis are fast making their way into how the art world operates. Today, information is expected online instantly.

With the art market in a sorry slump, innovative new technology is playing a role in attracting the attention of clients and visitors during a time when consumer spending is down. (Most Americans saw their net worth decline more than 11% in the July-September quarter last year, according to the Federal Reserve.)

Volatile ...

On Fire: Jamie Wyeth's "Seven Deadly Sins"

2009-07-20 21:34:43 -0600

What's hot with museum-goers this summer? Images evoking the sins of pride, envy, anger, greed, sloth, gluttony, and lust. A fresh look at human frailty is on view at the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine, through August 30th, in the powerful series of Jamie Wyeth paintings titled "The Seven Deadly Sins."

Free of ...

Brooke Astor's Favorite Painting at Heart of Trial

2009-07-06 00:51:25 -0600

UPDATE (Oct. 8, 2009) - Jurors convicted Anthony Marshall, Brooke Astor's son, of 14 criminal counts, including fraud and grand larceny. He was found not guilty on charges of larceny, relating to the sale of his mother's Childe Hassam painting, and falsifying business records. The 85-year-old Marshall faces up to 25 years in prison. His sentencing is set for Dec. 8.

Happy Again: Americana Market Comeback at Pook & Pook

2009-06-23 12:19:56 -0600

The Father's Day weekend auction at Downington, Pennsylvania-based Pook & Pook Inc. gave the Americana market a needed shot in the arm. Several contested lots surpassed their modest pre-sale estimates, including a pair of Boston Chippendale mahogany dining chairs that stepped up to $163,800 from a $1,500-2,500 estimate.

This June ...

Shock 'n' Awe: Chris Jordan's Green Theme Mega-Art

2009-05-20 20:57:50 -0600

Chris Jordan was a lawyer, but don't hold that against him. He reinvented himself as an artist with a social conscious. Seattle-based Jordan creates large-scale photographic works that jolt viewers into thinking about burning issues such as global consumerism and excess.

On view at Santa Barbara's Museum of Natural History (through Sept. 11, 2009) is the travelling exhibition "Running the Numbers," his powerful series of work that Jordan describes

Collect Art, Not Ashes

2009-05-12 13:40:28 -0600

After a foggy morning dawned on Mother's Day, Santa Barbara's Jesusita fire is now 70 percent contained. From May 5 to 9, the fire burned a total of 8,733 acres including 77 homes. About 4,000 firefighters and personnel have been on the scene, assisted by flame-snuffing helicopters and DC-10s flying day and night over ArtfixDaily's office in this usually tranquil seaside city.

In a previous post, I mentioned that Chubb Insurance ...

Got Art? Insurer Fights Fires to Help Protect Customers’ Property

2009-05-10 18:19:56 -0600

The Chubb Insurance Group, a leading insurer of homeowners and personal art collections worldwide, announced in a press release on May 8 that the company has sent a new kind of aid to its customers in fire-ravaged Santa Barbara, Calif. The insurer contracted Wildfire Defense Systems, Inc., to help protect customers’ homes by deploying private fire engines and crews to flame-threatened areas.

The Jesusita Fire has been raging since May 5 in the ...

ArtfixDaily Blogs - Art & Antiques Notes

Frank Vining Smith: Maritime Painting in the 20th Century

Bailed-out Bank of America shares art collection with communities

Collector's Guide: American Art in New York City

Most popular Fall 2009 press releases on ARTFIXdaily

The Impressionist art of Clark Greenwood Voorhees comes to light

"The Art of Aiden Lassell Ripley" is Now Available

Behind the Giant Flowers: Georgia O'Keeffe's life revealed in TV movie

Dutch Treat: New York exhibits the best in Netherlandish art

Big-dollar Beauties: Dolls demand high auction prices

Investors eschew Wall St. for Wall Art

Tarbell's "An Opal" Shimmers at Auction

Destination Maine: Artists' Vacationland

Buy Americana: U.S. Stocks versus Collectibles

A Whale's Tooth Steeped in Historical Significance

Forbes' Top Billionaire Art Collectors

Seven-Figure Finds, Unclaimed Loot spice up Antiques Roadshow

Jazz Age Artists flocked to Santa Barbara

Art World Gets Geeky

On Fire: Jamie Wyeth's "Seven Deadly Sins"

Brooke Astor's Favorite Painting at Heart of Trial

Happy Again: Americana Market Comeback at Pook & Pook

Shock 'n' Awe: Chris Jordan's Green Theme Mega-Art

Collect Art, Not Ashes

Got Art? Insurer Fights Fires to Help Protect Customers’ Property