Sotheby's London Offers the Greatest Collection of 20th-Century British Art

Written by Pauline Whiteside Friday, 10 February 2012 21:13

LONDON.- Sotheby’s London announced the sale of the greatest collection of 20th-Century British Art ever to come to the market: The Evill/Frost Collection, a stand-alone three-part sale which launches with an Evening Sale on Wednesday 15th. This incomparable collection comprises outstanding works of the highest calibre by Modern British masters including the most important – and largest – group of paintings by Stanley Spencer ever to come to the market, in addition to works by Lucian Freud, Henry Moore, Dame Barbara Hepworth, Graham Sutherland, Edward Burra and Patrick Heron, amongst many others. The collection – which is estimated to fetch in excess of £12 million and comprises not only 20th-century British art but also furniture and porcelain.

The paintings and sculptures, collected by Wilfrid Evill between 1925 and 1960 and then vigilantly maintained by Honor Frost, represent a window for the collectors of today to look into a past world, and the dispersal of this collection offers those same collectors opportunities that appear perhaps only once in a lifetime – to acquire the very best. The collection, aside from the Spencer's which have been loaned for Stanley Spencer retrospectives, has been largely hidden from view since the 1965 Wilfrid Evill Memorial exhibition at Brighton City Art Gallery . The assemblage demonstrates an unparalleled vision of the achievements and talent of some of the most accomplished British artists in the period just before and after World War II.

Wilfrid Evill and Honor Frost
A discreet but widely respected connoisseur, Wilfrid Evill was a collector with a remarkable understanding of contemporary art during the inter-war period and just after. His interest in and support for British artists at this time ensured the careers of some of our most celebrated artists. Evill’s choices when he held a ten-year tenure as a buyer for the Contemporary Arts Society ensured the acquisition of masterpieces for museums and galleries throughout Britain.

Wilfrid Evill was a London solicitor who represented several artists including Stanley Spencer, Lucian Freud and Graham Sutherland – along with a number of other notable names such as Evelyn Waugh – but he also represented trade unions. It was with Stanley Spencer that Evill struck up a particularly strong friendship and he eventually built up the most important private collection of Spencer’s work. Evill’s appreciation of and support for Spencer’s work led him to acquire paintings directly after their exhibition, but he also pursued works that had been bought by other collectors, waiting a number of years until they appeared for sale on the market. Notable too are the large sums he paid for works he desired. In 1937 he paid £250 to secure Workmen in the House – a considerable amount to be spent on art at the time and significantly more money than he spent for on any other work in his collection for some years. For Lucian Freud’s Boy on a Sofa, for example, he paid just £18 in 1944, the details of which were rigorously archived in his ledgers. No other private lender, beyond the artist himself, was more generous than he, as was seen for the 1955 Tate Gallery retrospective of Spencer. Similarly, bequests by Wilfrid Evill of important Spencer paintings to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge immediately established their holding of the artist’s work as one of the most significant outside London.

When Evill died in 1963 he bequeathed his estate, together with his extraordinary collection of paintings and works of art, to his long-time ward Honor Frost. An only child, Honor lost both her parents when she was small, after which Evill took over responsibility for her upbringing and education. Both keenly intelligent, they developed over the years an extremely close relationship. A fascinating woman in her own right, Honor shared Evill’s love of the arts: having studied at the Central School of Art in London, and the Ruskin School of Art in Oxford, she went on to work as a designer for the Ballet Rambert and then became director of publications at the Tate Gallery, before becoming a marine archaeologist, for which she is renowned, pioneering its pursuit as a scientific discipline.

Stanley Spencer, R.A. (1891-1959)
The elements of narrative, personal experience and visionary presentation make Stanley Spencer one of the most important yet elusive British artists of the twentieth century, and he is represented in the Evill/Frost Collection by a group of works that offer an opportunity to rediscover and re-engage with the artist’s life and vision. Executed in 1935, Workmen in the House (est. £1.5-2.5 million**) ranks among the most important works in Stanley Spencer’s oeuvre. It has featured in virtually every publication on the artist, and indeed was chosen as the cover for the important 1955 Tate retrospective of the artist’s work, as well as for Evill’s memorial exhibition in 1965. It thus holds a position as one of the best known yet relatively little seen of Spencer’s major paintings. One of his more accessible works of this period in Spencer’s career, Workmen in the House refers to an incident at Chapel View, the house Spencer lived in whilst painting the Burghclere Chapel series. The everyday setting of a smoking kitchen range becomes a springboard for the artist which allows him to address a much wider range of topics, not least the element of intrusion and disturbance of the home environment that the visit of the workmen entails. As with much of Spencer’s best work, one detailed memory leads to a wider remembrance, and in a letter of 1937 he outlined how this derived from the sense of excitement that he had experienced as a small boy when familiar rooms were redecorated and the furniture moved around.

Not seen in public since the Wilfrid Evill Memorial Exhibition of 1965, Patrick Heron’s Table with Fishes, of 1954, is estimated at £250,000-350,000. This is a superb example of Heron’s early style, drawing on the example of Braque’s magisterial Atelier interiors, but employing a palette and manner entirely his own. The coloring of this painting is particularly striking, the blue, red and pink creating the space of the room, whilst the dense inky blackness of the night-time world beyond the window is remarkable. The thick handling of the paint offers a wonderful counterpoint to the delicacy of Heron’s line, which winds beautifully across the image, giving enough detail to inform without ever showing too much. The guttering flame of the candle is a master-stroke, animating the entire composition with just the simplest and most minimal gesture.


Spencer’s Sunflower and Dog Worship, an important work of 1937, ranks among the most extreme manifestations of Spencer’s notion of universal harmony. In it, Spencer envisages a heaven-like state of all-embracing love as the two central figures, a husband and wife enclosed within their garden walls with a number of dogs (emblematic in Spencer’s work of the kind of untrammeled freedom mankind is seeking), enjoy a mystical state of joy, embracing and being embraced by huge sunflowers. Spencer’s more complex, narrative works such as this were less readily appreciated by the wider collecting community of the time, yet Evill belonged to a small band of collectors who saw in works such as these the “real Spencer”. Sir Hugh Walpole was another collector who shared Evill’s appreciation of Spencer’s work and he was quick to recognize the importance of this painting, purchasing it within just two hours of its exhibition in December 1937. Disappointed at having missed it, Evill was able to buy it from Walpole some seven years later for £100. It is now estimated at £1,000,000-1,500,000.

Further Highlights of the Sale
Beyond the uniquely large group of works by Spencer, the sale offers paintings, drawings, watercolors and sculptures; a selection which moves through generational boundaries, and highlights different phases of Evill’s collecting. Starting with the major names of the inter-war period, such as Henry Moore, Edward Burra, and Graham Sutherland, together with Spencer, William Roberts and Paul Nash, his involvement with the Contemporary Art Society gave him access to a younger generation of artists working in the post-war period. These included the young Lucian Freud, John Craxton and Patrick Heron.

A stunning example of Lucian Freud’s early work Boy on a Sofa (est. £400,000-600,000), drawn in 1944, demonstrates the artist’s exceptional ability as a draughtsman. A composition of wonderful simplicity, the direct presentation of the sitter (Billy Lumley) and his engagement with us as a viewer is nevertheless somewhat disarming, and the setting – using the worn chaise that appears in the seminal The Painter’s Room of the same year – and the clothing appear oddly out of keeping with the youth and innocence of the sitter.


Not seen in public since the Wilfrid Evill Memorial Exhibition of 1965, Patrick Heron’s Table with Fishes, of 1954, is estimated at £250,000-350,000. This is a superb example of Heron’s early style, drawing on the example of Braque’s magisterial Atelier interiors, but employing a palette and manner entirely his own. The coloring of this painting is particularly striking, the blue, red and pink creating the space of the room, whilst the dense inky blackness of the night-time world beyond the window is remarkable. The thick handling of the paint offers a wonderful counterpoint to the delicacy of Heron’s line, which winds beautifully across the image, giving enough detail to inform without ever showing too much. The guttering flame of the candle is a master-stroke, animating the entire composition with just the simplest and most minimal gesture.

Henry Moore’s bronze, Rocking Chair No.3 was purchased by Evill in the 1950s for £150. One of an edition of 6 casts, this important piece now comes to auction with an estimate of £800,000-1,200,000. Moore’s ability to combine realism and abstraction in his sculpture works here as a perfect vehicle for a sculpture that despite its scale has both a monumentality and a real tenderness. The theme of the mother and child was a central one for Moore throughout his career and this marvelously poised sculpture captivates by its understanding of the subject and his rendering of it into sculptural forms.

A rigorously urban image of life on the streets, rife with style and shrewdly observed elements of character, Edward Burra’s Zoot Suits, £250,000-350,000, depicts a group of men newly arrived in London from Jamaica on the SS Empire Windrush in 1948, and who are establishing themselves within the new urban culture that was burgeoning in London. The work recalls Burra’s excitement on first visiting New York in 1933 when he was particularly drawn to the energy of the Harlem Renaissance and therefore draws a parallel between the artistic and social movements present in New York in the 1930s and those emerging in London in the 1940s.

Furniture & Ceramics
In addition to works of art, the sale will also include a selection of furniture and ceramics, a highlight of which is a Sèvres tea service contained within a kingwood parquetry carrying box (est. £10,000-15,000), formerly in the collection of the great actor, director and theatre manager David Garrick (1717-79). Garrick visited Paris three times and on his final visit in the autumn of 1764, returning from a European tour, he purchased this Sèvres service together with its fitted box. This illustrious owner and the high quality of the set by possibly the best 18th century porcelain manufactures would have delighted Evill and met the qualifying requirements of beauty and quality that were established for choosing objects for his collection.

Beatrix Potter’s "The Rabbit"

Written by Norman Branston Friday, 10 February 2012 21:12

LONDON - Today at Sotheby’s London, Beatrix Potter’s original watercolour illustration for the final scene from “The Rabbit’ Christmas Party” sequence sold for the remarkable sum of £289,250 – almost five times its pre-sale high estimate (est. £40,000-60,000) – setting a new record for any book illustration sold at auction.

Read more: [Beatrix Potter’s "The Rabbit"]

Koller Zurich Announces Their Autumn Auctions of 2,000 Lots

Written by Stephen Carleton Friday, 10 February 2012 21:10

Zurich.- Under the title "Assured and Timeless", the Koller auction house in Zurich has announced their Autumn auctions, which will be held between September 19th and 24th. Around 2000 lots will be offered for sale at over seven auctions at Koller Zurich. After the sensational results of the June sale of Swiss Art with around CHF 14 million and the final price of CHF 7.3 million for the portraits of two children by Albert Anker, the Swiss auction house enters the autumn season with an especially strong selection of works by the masters. One of the most important objects in September is an outstanding painting by the Antwerp master Frans Francken the younger. His remarkably detailed Old Testament scene of the “Feast of Belshazzar” from circa 1610, which 25 years later was also depicted by Rembrandt, will be offered with an estimate of CHF 700,000 / 900,000 on 23 September.

The auction of Furniture and Decorations also promises a strong range of works in all areas, including for example a “Bureau Mécanique” from the collection of Eugène de Beauharnais, first son of the famous Josephine. The classic Dutch still life is represented with Jacob Marrel’s “Bouquet of Flowers in a Clay Vase” (CHF 350,000 / 450,000) circa 1645 and the masterly floral still life with insects by Ambrosius Bosschaert the younger from 1631 (CHF 200,000 / 300,000). Lovers of the Dutch old masters will relish a work by the artist known as the Master of the Mansi Magdalene. His “Holy Family before a broad landscape” is estimated by Koller at a value of between CHF 220,000 and 280,000. From Italy comes the “Martyrdom of Saint Agatha” by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, with an estimate of CHF 50,000 / 70,000; the “Penitent  Magdalene” by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called il Guercino, with an estimate of CHF 150,000 / 200,000 and a splendid depiction of St Mark’s Square in Venice with the Basilica by Francesco Guardi, which will be offered at between CHF 80,000 and CHF 120,000.


Two important works by Carl Spitzweg will be offered for sale at the Auction of 19th Century Paintings: the oil painting “In the garden – the philosopher” made between 1850 and 1855 (CHF 100,000 / 150,000) and the thoroughly charming and almost touching “Bergmännchen” from 1845/50 (CHF 60,000 / 80,000). Russian art is represented, amongst others, by the work of Konstantin Ivanovic Gorbatoff, whose winter landscape will be offered with an estimate of CHF 80,000 / 120,000. At the Auction of Old Master Prints and Drawings the work of the great masters from the early 14th to the 19th centuries are represented. From a book illustrator from the Lake Constance area comes a page fragment from a liturgical book with scenes from the life of Saint Catherine of Alexandria with an estimate of CHF 40,000 / 60,000. From Albrecht Dürer comes a 1520 copper engraving depicting the Virgin with infant in swaddling at the attractive price of CHF 9,000 - CHF 14,000. Anne Louis Girodet-Trison created the pen drawing “Jesus blessing the children” which will be auctioned at an estimate of CHF 6,000 / 9,000. Finally, lovers of the gouache may acquire a work by Johann Ludwig Bleuler’s circle, a depiction of the “Borromean Islands in Lago Maggiore” for CHF 3,000 - CHF 5,000.

Two highlights of the Books Auction are the complete cycles “Los Proverbios” (CHF 7,000 / 10,000) and “Los Caprichos” (CHF 15,000 / 20,000) by the Spaniard Francisco de Goya, who had created religious frescoes, altarpieces, tapestry designs and countless portraits of the nobility, before he turned away from courtly life and addressed the political and social circumstances of the time. “Los Caprichos” is a cycle of 80 socially critical aquatint etchings produced between 1793 and 1799. It was a key work which made Goya’s name and his art famous throughout Europe. The history of the Jewish war is the masterpiece of the Roman-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, written in the years 75-79. This, together with the “Antiquitates Judaicae” written somewhat later, was published in March 1481 by Reynaldus de Nimwegen as an incunable in one volume. At the Books Auction this rare piece will be offered with an estimate of CHF 26,000 / 32,000. From the collection of the infamous Cardinal Richelieu comes Pliny’s “Secundi historiae mundi libri XXXVII”. This work, bound in leather and with Richelieu’s supralibros, published in 1606, will be offered with an estimate of CHF 1,500 / 2,000.


Bringing together sought-after works and their collectors is one of the strengths of the Furniture and Decorations Auction at Koller. Amongst the top objects is an Important Renaissance Cabinet with pietra dura inlays, with an estimate of CHF 180,000 / 280,000. With an estimate of CHF 250,000 / 450,000 comes a “Bureau mécanique” attributed to the Empire period master cabinet maker A. Régnier. This extremely rare item comes from the collection of Eugène de Beauharnais, son from the first marriage of the famous Joséphine, wife of the Emperor Napoleon.  Traditionally the Auction of Jewellery and Wristwatches comprises a large selection of signed modern jewellery as well as numerous old and antique gems and generally a large number of works in diamonds. Especially noteworthy are the lots from the mid 20th century. These outstanding pieces include a Diamond Wristwatch from the house of Kutchinsky with an estimate of CHF 25 000 to CHF 35 000; a Diamond Necklace at CHF 17,000 to CHF 27,000; a Ruby and Diamond Clip by Van Cleef & Arples with an estimate of CHF 23,000 / 33,000; an Onyx and Diamond Ring circa 1925 at CHF 25,000 to CHF 35,000; as well as a Sapphire and Diamond Brooch by Tiffany & Co for CHF 18,000 to CHF 28,000. Amongst the wristwatches comes a Frank Muller Gentleman’s Wristwatch Chrono-Automatic for CHF 10,000 to CHF 15,000, as well as a Diamond Wristwatch by Louis Moinet for CHF 10,000 to CHF 15,000. Antique jewellery is represented with for example a Natural Pearl and Enamel Pendant or Brooch by René Boivin from circa 1890 for CHF 7,000 to CHF 10,000 and a Diamond-Aigrette/Brooch from 1880 for CHF 8,000 to CHF 14,000. A fine, 45-part Meissen Tea and Chocolate service from 1738/1740 with an estimate of CHF 60,000 / 80,000 and an exquisite Meissen Coffee Pot with merchant scenes attributed to Christian F. Herold at CHF 24,000 to CHF 28,000 are both amongst the highlights of the Porcelain Auction, together with the splendid “Augustus Rex” Vase with fire-breathing dragon and lavish flowers: this too is from the Meissen factory and will be offered at auction with an estimate of CHF 10,000 / 15,000. Highlights of the Silver Auction include two Covered Tureens with Bowls, fashioned circa 1808/1809 by the London master Paul Storr to be offered at an estimate of  CHF 8,000 / 12,000.

Koller is the leading Swiss auction house and among the foremost auctioneers worldwide, Koller has been holding successful auctions for 50 years. Koller organizes over 60 auctions annually in more than 15 categories, including old master & 19th century paintings, prints and drawings; Swiss art, modern & contemporary art; furniture and decorative arts; jewelry; Asian art; art nouveau & art deco; books & autographs; tribal art, and wine. A family-owned company, Koller’s name is synonymous with professional, personalized service and outstanding results. With seven representative offices worldwide from London to Shanghai, its membership in the worldwide auctioneers’ alliance IA, International Auctioneers, and its widespread presence in international publications and the Internet, Koller offers all of the advantages of an international auction house combined with Swiss efficiency and dependability. Visit the auction house's website at ... http://www.kollerauktionen.ch

This Week in Review in Art Knowledge News

Written by Editor, Art Knowledge News Friday, 10 February 2012 21:09

This is a new feature for the subscribers and visitors to Art Knowledge News (AKN), that will enable you to see "thumbnail descriptions" of the last ninety (90) articles and art images that we published. This will allow you to visit any article that you may have missed ; or re-visit any article or image of particular interest. Every day the article "thumbnail images" will change. For you to see the entire last ninety images just click : here .

When opened that also will allow you to change the language from English to anyone of 54 other languages, by clicking your language choice on the upper left corner of our Home Page.  You can share any article we publish with the eleven (11) social websites we offer like Twitter, Flicker, Linkedin, Facebook, etc. by one click on the image shown at the end of each opened article.  Last, but not least, you can email or print any entire article by using an icon visible to the right side of an article's headline.

The Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt features "Edvard Munch ~ The Modern Eye"

Written by Arne Westermann Friday, 10 February 2012 01:05

Frankfurt, Germany.- The Schirn Kunsthalle is pleased to present "Edvard Munch: The Modern Eye", on view at the museum from February 9th through May 6th. Edvard Munch is acclaimed for his vivid Symbolist painting and regarded as a pioneer of Expressionism. Prepared together with the Centre Pompidou Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, the exhibition in the Schirn offers a novel view of his work. It is for the first time that Munch’s interest in modern techniques of creating pictures such as photography and film and modern stage designs is the focus of attention. His works reveal to what degree he adopted specifically photographic or filmic forms of composition and narration, poses, or even effects in his painting.

Supplementing the presentation of about sixty paintings and twenty works on paper, one chapter of the show is dedicated to Munch’s own attempts in the field of photography and film. A further dimension of the exhibition reveals how the artist dealt with one and the same subject in drawing, photography, painting, graphic art, and sculpture. The artist’s frequent return to already rendered motifs provides a crucial key to the understanding of Munch’s work. Edvard Munch is celebrated for his expressive symbolist painting and is considered a pioneer of Expressionism. The exhibition originated at the Schirn, in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris, offers a new perspective on his work.


For the first time Munch is made dealing with modern recording techniques such as photography and film to contemporary stage designs in the focus of attention. His works reveal the extent to which he does specifically photographic or filmic construction and narrative forms, postures, and even effects in his paintings. In addition to the approximately 60 paintings and 20 works on paper, a chapter of Munch's own experiments in the fields of photography and film is dedicated. Shown are 50 photographs and four movies in contemporary prints of Munch. Another aspect of the exhibition shows how the artist has processed one and the same subject in drawings, photography, painting, graphics and even sculpture. The frequent recovery of motives is an important key to the understanding of Munch's work.


The Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt is one of Germany’s most renowned exhibition institutions. Since its founding in 1986, the Schirn has mounted approximately 180 exhibitions, including major survey shows devoted to the Vienna Jugendstil, Expressionism, Dada, and Surrealism, to women Impressionists, to subjects such as “shopping — a century of art and consumer culture,” the visual art of the Stalin era, new Romanticism in contemporary art, and the influence of Charles Darwin’s theories on the art of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Large solo exhibitions have featured artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Alberto Giacometti, Henri Matisse, Julian Schnabel, James Ensor, James Lee Byars, Yves Klein, Peter Doig, Lászlo Moholy-Nagy, and Georges Seurat. And artists such as Thomas Hirschhorn, Ayse Erkmen, Carsten Nicolai, Jan De Cock, Jonathan Meese, John Bock, Michael Sailstorfer, Terence Koh, Aleksandra Mir, Eberhard Havekost, and Mike Bouchet have developed new exhibitions for the Schirn. The Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt showcases highly charged themes and topical aspects of artists’ oeuvres with an incisive voice and from a contemporary standpoint. As a site of discoveries, the Schirn offers its visitors an original, sensory exhibition experience as well as active participation in cultural discourse. Visit the kunsthalle's website at ... http://www.schirn.de

The Brandywine Museum Showcases WIlliam Steig's Cartoons & Childrens Books

Written by Charles Gartside Thursday, 09 February 2012 22:47

Chadds Ford, PA.- The Brandywine Museum is pleased to present "Comic Catharsis: A Gift of Cartoons by William Steig" on view at the museum through March 11th. Although best known today as the creator of Shrek, William Steig (1907-2003) first achieved fame for his cartoons and covers for The New Yorker and his published books of drawings such as The Lonely Ones (1942), Small Fry (1944), and Dreams of Glory and Other Drawings. (1953). His situational gags are humorous and offer keen observations on various aspects of human relationships. Steig’s drawing style in early works show emphatic, incisive lines and tonal washes. Gradually he moved to simpler contour line drawings of figures inspired by the art of Pablo Picasso and the free-flowing dream-like images of Marc Chagall. Late in Steig’s career he began creating children’s books that explore, in a lighter vein, many of the same themes as his cartoons for adults.

Steig wrote and illustrated over 30 acclaimed works for children, including the Caldecott-winning Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1969) and Shrek (1990). The exhibition will feature over 100 works donated to the Brandywine River Museum in 2010 by Jeanne Steig from the artist’s estate, as well as selected works for children on loan from the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and private collections.

William Steig (November 14, 1907 – October 3, 2003) was most noted for the books 'Sylvester and the Magic Pebble', 'Abel's Island' and 'Doctor De Soto', as well as for having created the character Shrek, who inspired the popular movie series. Steig was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Polish-Jewish immigrants from Austria, both socialists. His father was a house painter, and his mother was a seamstress who encouraged his artistic leanings. As a child, he dabbled in painting and was an avid reader of literature. Among other works, he was said to have been especially fascinated by Pinocchio. In addition to his artistic endeavors, he also did well at athletics, being a member of the collegiate All-American water polo team. He graduated from Townsend Harris High School at 15 but never completed college, though he attended three, spending two years at City College of New York, three years at the National Academy of Design and a mere five days at the Yale School of Fine Arts before dropping out of each.


His brother Irwin was a journalist and painter, and his brother Henry was a writer who played the saxophone and painted. His brother Arthur was a writer and poet, who, according to Steig, read The Nation in the cradle, was telepathic and "drew as well as Picasso or Matisse." When his family had financial problems during the Great Depression, he began drawing cartoons as a freelance artist and sold his first cartoon to The New Yorker in 1930. Living in Gaylordsville, Connecticut, he soon became successful.

Over decades, he contributed more than 1600 cartoons to the magazine, including 117 covers, leading Newsweek to dub him the "King of Cartoons." Steig was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited in the 3rd Sculpture International held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the summer of 1949. Steig was a patient of the psychiatrist Wilhelm Reich and illustrated Reich's polemic, Listen, Little Man. In 1968, he wrote his first children's book. He excelled here as well, and his third book, 'Sylvester and the Magic Pebble' (1969), won the Caldecott Medal. He went on to write more than 30 children's books, including the Doctor DeSoto series, and he continued to write into his nineties. Among his other well-known works, the picture book Shrek! (1990) formed the basis for the Dreamworks Animation popular film Shrek.


In the mid-1960s, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania in the historic Brandywine Valley, faced possible massive industrial development. The impact would have dramatically changed the character and future of a community that was then largely rural.  At the same time, and for decades thereafter, development proposed throughout the region, particularly in floodplain areas, threatened to devastate water supplies for numerous communities in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware, including the City of Wilmington. Appreciating the need for rapid action, a group of local residents bought endangered land and founded the Brandywine Conservancy in 1967. The first conservation easements, protecting more than five and one-half miles along the Brandywine, were granted in 1969. Today, the Conservancy holds more than 430 conservation easements and has protected more than 44,000 acres in Chester and Delaware counties, Pennsylvania, and in New Castle County, Delaware. In 1971, the Conservancy opened the Brandywine River Museum in the renovated Hoffman’s Mill, a former gristmill built in 1864 that was part of the Conservancy’s first preservation efforts. With nearly six million visitors to date, the museum has established an international reputation for its unparalleled collection and its dedication to American art with primary emphasis on the art of the Brandywine region, American illustration, still life and landscape painting, and the work of the Wyeth family. Among the hundreds of artists represented are Howard Pyle, many students of Pyle who affected the course of American illustration, N. C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, and Jamie Wyeth.  There is work by hundreds of famous illustrators.  Landscape, still life, portrait and genre painting includes work by Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart, Asher Durand, W. T. Richards, William Harnett, John Haberle, J. D. Chalfant, Horace Pippin, and many others, while the major still life collection includes paintings by William Harnett, John Peto, George Cope, John Haberle, Horace Pippin, and many more artists.  Nearly 300 special exhibitions have been shown in the museum’s six galleries, along with constant installations of work from the collection. Visit the museum's website at ... www.brandywinemuseum.org

Property of Hollywood Star Tony Curtis to be Offered by Julien's Auctions

Written by Gregory Canfield Thursday, 09 February 2012 20:22

BEVERLY HILLS, CA.- Julien’s Auctions, the world’s premier entertainment and celebrity auction house will offer a rare glimpse into the life of one of Hollywood’s most colorful stars, Tony Curtis. The rare Hollywood star whose off-screen character was often more sensational than his on-screen one, lived a life that could be its own movie or television series. Curtis’ career spanned six decades with popularity during the 1950s and 1960s enabling him to transpose his good looks into super movie stardom. He acted in over 100 films ranging from light comedy to serious drama and he also made numerous television appearances. In addition to being a popular actor, Curtis was a fine art connossiuer. Collectors will have the opportunity to purchase some of his impressive art collection along with items from his illustrious career at Julien's Auctions Gallery in Beverly Hills on September 17th, 2011. A portion of the proceeds from the auction will benefit Shiloh Horse Rescue, a charitable organization founded by Jill and Tony Curtis that rescues and rehabilitates abused, neglected and slaughter-bound horses of all types

Among Curtis’ most memorable films were 1959’s “Some Like It Hot” 1960’s “Spartacus,” 1953’s “Houdini” 1952’s “Son of Ali Baba”, 1957’s “Sweet Smell of Success,” 1965’s The Great Race and of course 1968’s “The Boston Strangler,” often noted as his most serious part. He earned an Oscar nomination for the 1958 crime drama “The Defiant Ones.” The film “Some Like It Hot” in which he acted with icon Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon has been called the funniest film in history by the American Film Institute.

He also acted with such greats as Burt Lancaster in “Sweet Smell of Success” and Cary Grant in “Operation Petticoat.” Curtis was often noted for his impeccable comedic timing. Off screen Curtis earned even more attention for his personal life which was filled with great turmoil and change. He married five times, his first and most famous to actress Janet Leigh.

The Curtis Estate auction features property spanning from his World War II Naval stint through the first decade of the 21st century. Fine art highlights coming to the block include the Andy Warhol Some Like it Hot Shoe, given to Curtis as a gift by the artist, (est $20,000/30,000), three drawings by Balthus (two est $25,000/35,000 and one est $30,000/40,000), a Maurice Denis oil on canvas study for the Baptism of Christ Mosaic at the Church of Saint Paul in Geneva, Les Ondes, (est $20,000/30,000), ceramics and prints by Picasso, Braque, and Chagall, a fine collection of 20th century American, British, and European paintings, and many selections from Tony Curtis's own secondary career as an artist, including paintings, drawings, prints, ceramic vases, and a tapestry. Also available for the first time are a selection of assemblage shadowboxes, a type of artwork very personal to Curtis and never before exhibited or sold to the public, although these items were occasionally bestowed as gifts upon friends and family.

Tony Curtis was an inveterate collector with a discerning eye. His treasures, collected from his travels all over the world, range from Faberge objets de vertu ( a 14k gold cigarette case, est $4,500/$6,500; and a trefoil dish inset with Russian coin, est $3,000/5,000), to fine watches (including an 18k gold Audemars Piguet Chronograoh wristwatch, est $6,000/8,000), to fine furniture (a Chinese Chippendale expanding writing desk, est $4,000/6,000), to boxes that he personalized with found objects, trinkets and mementos, preserved as he left them (numerous lots with estimates between $200 and $1,000).

Choice memorabilia items from Curtis’ acting career include a yachtsman’s jacket from the famous shipboard kissing scene with Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot (est $10,000/15,000), a beautiful rosewood Rudall and Carte flute given to Curtis by Frank Sinatra (est $3,000/4,000), his Photoplay 14k gold medal award for Most Popular Male Star won in 1958 (est $3,500/4,500), and Hanna/Barbera’s own depiction of Stoney Curtis in an animated cel from an appearance on the Flintstones (est $1,200/1,800).

This auction also proudly showcases awards, mementos, photographs, letters, clothing, and personal effects from all phases of Curtis’ life and career and reflecting his many interests and talents. A full list of items for auction can be viewed at the Julien Auctions website. This is indeed a unique opportunity to see the lifestyle of one of the world’s most talked about actors whose iconic twists beyond his roles still talked about in many circles.

The Exhibition of The Estate of Tony Curtis presented by Julien’s Auctions, Beverly Hills is designed by Rush Jenkins and Klaus Baer of WRJ Design Associates, who have designed exhibits for The Collection of Michael Jackson, The Estate of Johnny Cash, The Collection of Cher and more recently The Collection of Barbra Streisand.

Vinyl Factory Exclusive Art Edition by Grace Jones & Chris Levine

Written by Heather Grooms Thursday, 09 February 2012 20:19

LONDON.- The collaboration between pop icon Grace Jones and light artist Chris Levine continues with a stunning art & vinyl edition and a series of limited edition prints, which will be released by The Vinyl Factory. The Vinyl Factory, which is hosting Grace’s first ever London art exhibition, will be taking preorders for the bespoke art & vinyl edition, which includes the Hurricane LP, Grace’s first album of new material in nineteen years. 'Stillness at the Speed of Light,' which opens to the public at The Vinyl Factory in Soho on 30th April, will showcase the extraordinary alchemy between this iconic individual and leading cutting-edge artist.

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Kunsthalle Bielefeld Revisits the 80s with Exhibition from Bischofberger Collection

Written by Kristine Gruber Thursday, 09 February 2012 20:17

BIELEFELD, GERMANY - “Of course, the 1980s was an important period in art history—something that we are just beginning to realize. It is only now that we are really starting to understand the beauty, power, and special aspects of these paintings. This kind of art juggles a great deal, all at once, being oriented toward a variety of things. Many artists referred to earlier epochs, not merely to so-called Modernism alone. Suddenly, there were long traditions again. Minimalism and Conceptual art foresaw that painting would come to an end at some point, so from this viewpoint, it was quite astonishing for something like this to happen around 1980.” The exhibition 'The 80s Revisited' will run from 21 March to 20 June 2010.

Read more: [Kunsthalle Bielefeld Revisits the 80s with Exhibition from Bischofberger Collection]