Man’s Best Friend Alive and Barking in This Week’s LiveAuctionTalk.com Column

Santa Fe –  Of all the domesticated animals dogs have had the longest and most intimate relationship with people.  When you think about your own dog, if you have one, you understand why.

Devotion.  Pure and simple.

If we could only be the noble beings our dogs think we are.  If we could only get our spouses to love us the way they do.  Life would be perfect.

Collecting dog art is not much different than collecting other art.  Major considerations include the quality of the work.  How well is it executed?  Who is the artist?  Is he listed in biographical reference books?  Is the painting signed and what’s the condition?

William Harnden Foster was an avid hunter, artist, writer and fan of pointers.  In an era when setters were preferred for grouse hunting, he stuck with pointers.  Foster is credited along with several associates for developing “skeet shooting” a method for practicing shooting a moving object.

In 1937 he painted an oil on canvas of a pointer in the woods, as you might expect “On Point”.  The painting sold in the Dogs in Art Auction at Doyle Galleries, New York on March 24 for $16,250.

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Photo courtesy of Doyle Galleries.

Buffalo Bill and the Wild West of Our Imagination

Photograph; Wild Bill, Texas Jack,
Buffalo Bill, from negative first
taken in New York in 1873; copy;
circa 1900; boudoir-sized; $2,990.
Photo courtesy of Cowan’s.

Buffalo Bill and the Wild West of Our Imagination

Santa Fe, Sept. 15, 2008 — Picture if you will, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. The year is 1902. The Star Spangled Banner is playing. The doors of the arena open and out gallops four horses lugging a stagecoach.

The Indians race in behind the coach and the chase is on around the showground. They fire their guns — whooping and yelling as their war bonnets stream behind them.

Next Annie Oakley’s sharp shooting act comes out followed by a U.S. Artillery drill and Pony Express riders. Throw in the ten-gallon hats, lots of buckskin, gleaming spurs, and rodeo rough riders and you have three hours of action-packed Wild West drama.

The West had traveled east complete with Buffalo Bill prancing out on his white charger.

The effect was immediate and electric. Cody was a master at creating the Wild West of our imagination.

Half truth, half fiction, Buffalo Bill Cody loved playing the Western scout on stage. It was one place in life where happy endings were a guarantee and the applause — it was so sweet.

“Buffalo Bill was one of the world’s great men. I don’t mean wise, but I do mean great. His heart was as big as his show tent;” said fatherless boy and American artist Dan Muller who Cody took in and raised.

Cody even talked Wild Bill Hickok into joining the troupe. Then there was cowboy-scout Texas Jack who was the first performer to introduce roping acts to the American stage.

In terms of Western collectibles, Buffalo Bill is big. Anything he owned or laid his hands on is going to command top dollar. Solid documentation to prove the connection is a must. Provenance is everything.

On June 5, Cowan’s in Cincinnati, Ohio, featured a selection of vintage Cody photos, cabinet cards, programs and letters in its Western and Historic Americana sale.

A cabinet card photo of Wild West Show cohort Annie Oakley with a single shot rifle in hand sold for $4,600.

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Rosemary McKittrick brings history to life in her weekly column.

Copyright 2008.  All Rights Reserved.

Marilyn Monroe as Popular in Death as in Life

Black-and-white photo; reprinted

print; circa 1952; sold for $144.

Photo courtesy of Bonhams & Butterfields.

LiveAuctionTalk.com Showcases Marilyn Monroe

Santa Fe, Sept. 7, 2008 — If Marilyn Monroe were alive today she would be 82-years-old.  It’s hard to believe.

Monroe is as controversial in death as she was in life.

Who was Monroe really?  Was she the innocent kid, glamour queen, sex pot, eternal icon, fading star, dumb blonde, frenzied manipulator or lost soul?  All of these adjectives have been used to describe her at one time or another.

“There are always two sides to a story,” she said of herself.  In her case there were more.

When celebrity photographer and author George Barris asked Monroe in 1962 what she wanted most out of life she said, “I feel I’m just getting started.”

She was in great spirits, full of life, he said.

The blonde bombshell was found dead shortly after in the bedroom of her Brentwood, Calif., home from an overdose of pills.

Her sudden death shocked Barris and everyone else.

Barris shot some of the last photographs ever taken of her.  He had been assigned by Cosmopolitan Magazine to interview and photograph Monroe on the movie set of her final film “Something’s Got to Give.”

In terms of collecting celebrities, Monroe ranks right there at the top along with Elvis.  Collectors born long after she died are as excited about Monroe and her “stuff” as those who collected the star during her lifetime.

Popularity for Monroe doesn’t seem to be waning either.

On June 16, Bonhams & Butterfields, Los Angeles, featured a number of Monroe items in its Entertainment Memorabilia auction.

A pearl-gray 1950s wool sweater with short sleeves, collar and three buttons at the neck estimated to bring $600-$800, sold for $6,000.

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Rosemary McKittrick celebrates the bits and pieces of history that come up for sale at auction in her weekly column. Do you know one or two people who should be receiving these updates? Please let them know and encourage them to visit the site and sign up.

Rosemary McKittrick
info@liveauctiontalk.com

Copyright 2008. All Rights Reserved.

LiveAuctionTalk.com Highlights Kachina Legends

Hopi; depicting young woman
in traditional attire; attached
tags reads “Hopi Doll, Tom
Pavatea; 12 ¾ inches high;
sold for $12,000. Photo courtesy
of Bonhams & Butterfields.

LiveAuctionTalk.com Highlights Kachina Legends

Aug. 27, 2008 — The kiva has been at the heart of Hopi tradition for more than 1,000 years. Like churches, the round ceremonial chambers are holy sites.

The Hopis believe life began in the kivas. The first humans, they say, left their dark home in the earth’s interior and climbed upward toward the light and the present world through a hole in the floor of the kiva. They also believe they will return to the underworld when they die.

The kachinas were the spiritual beings who taught the Hopis how to live on earth after their emergence. The kachina dolls are religious icons. They represent the spirit essence of everything in the real world. They’re like statues of saints.

In Hopi, the word Kachina (Katsina or Qatsina) means “life bringer”. Among the Pueblos Indian tribes like the Zuni and Hopi, the kachina, or rain deity, is a supernatural being responsible for the tribe’s very survival.

Without its help, the rivers won’t flow and the crops don’t grow.

Kachina dolls are carved from cottonwood root and painted to represent figures from Hopi mythology. Genuine kachina dolls are made by only a small number of Hopi carvers who have dedicated their lives to the art–it takes years of practice and religious study to master.

It’s an ancient tradition. As far back as the 1500s, the Spanish wrote about seeing bizarre images of the devil, most likely kachina dolls, hanging in pueblo homes.

It’s impossible to have a complete collection of all the kachinas made because the art form is continually changing. The carvers who make them also do so out of their own perception of what the kachina looks like.

On June 9, Bonhams & Butterfields featured a selection of kachina dolls in its Native American and Pre-Columbian Art auction.

A Hopi figure depicting a young woman in traditional attire; attached tags read “Hopi Doll, Tom Pavatea; 12 ¾ inches high sold for $12,000.

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Rosemary McKittrick celebrates the bits and pieces of history that come up for sale at auction in her weekly column. Do you know one or two people who should be receiving these updates? Please let them know and encourage them to visit the site and sign up.

Rosemary McKittrick
info@liveauctiontalk.com

Copyright 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Oceanliner Memorabilia Brings Back Opulent Time in History for Collectors

Empress of Britain; color

lithographic poster; in 1931;

36 inches by 24 inches; sold

for $3,120. Photo courtesy of

Swann Auction Galleries.

Oceanliner Memorabilia Brings Back Opulent Time in History

Santa Fe, Aug. 19. — Designed for luxury, the “Empress of Britain” was a giant ocean liner full of seagoing splendor and surprises as she prepared for her inaugural launch on June 11, 1930.

Decorated by artists of the British Royal Academy, the ship was an interesting mix of cross-cultural tradition and art deco glamour. Upright and imposing, the Empress was a floating city complete with swimming pool and tennis courts.

A Chinese motif rounded out her smoking room. Her “Mayfair” lounge was Renaissance in design, her card room had a Spanish motif, and the first class dining room was contemporary.

The ship’s accommodations ranged from extravagant suites to tiny inside cabins. Two of the largest suites even had their own balconies. All of the cabins had a washbasin and some were equipped with full bathrooms.

Pale blue columns with coral pink curtains surrounded the ballroom. An oval-shaped ceiling, picturing plenty of blue sky and white stars dangled above the dance floor.

The officers and crew almost always outnumbered her passengers. Service was the key ingredient on this luxury cruises. The Empress even had a gym equipped with bicycling machines, electric horses and punch balls.

Opulence is the magic behind ocean liner memorabilia for today’s collector. These floating cities were larger-then-life, decorated like scenes out of French oil paintings.

Replaced by jet travel, they ultimately became a thing of the past.

On May 22, Swann Galleries, New York, featured oceanliner memorabilia from the Frank O. Braynard Collection at auction. An Empress of Britain color lithographic poster; in 1931; 36 inches by 24 inches; sold for $3,120.

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Cigar Store Carvings as Popular Now as Ever

Punch Cigar Store Figure;

attributed to the shop of

carver Samuel Robb; 75 inches

high; late-19th century sold

for $187,200. Photo courtesy of

Pook & Pook.

Cigar Store Carvings as Popular Now as Ever

Santa Fe, Aug. 10 — Standing vigil outside tobacco shops in towns and villages all over America in the 19^th century was Samuel A. Robb’s cigar store Indians.

Like barber shop poles, these silent fixtures, fashioned mostly out of white pine from the odds-and-ends of ship spars or recycled railroad ties–are the art work of the everyday man. Today we call them folk artists.

Robb opened his Canal Street wood-carving shop in 1886 just across the street from what is now Chinatown in Manhattan, the largest shop of its kind in New York.

The first floor of his two-story building was a long room with dirt floors mixed with deep deposits of wood chips. Wooden squaws and unpainted baseball players lined the wall.

Paper and cardboard patterns were scattered around the floor and signs of shaping, carving and painting were everywhere. From the rafters upstairs hung a pulley built especially for raising and lowering dozens of wood advertising creations.

The cigar store Indian and the “Punch” figure are two examples of the types of advertising carvings chiseled each month. These sidewalk figures were made to catch the attention of passersby and let them know tobacco was sold inside. The Punch figure with his raised forefinger and dirty-old-men leer coaxed you into the store.

The average cigar smoker in America in the late-1800s couldn’t read the words smoke shop or, for that matter, any other signage. So these cigar store figures pointed the way.

On April 18, Pook & Pook Auctioneers in Downingtown, Pa., offered a Punch cigar store figure attributed to the shop of Samuel Robb in its antique auction.

The 75 inch high polychromed decorated figure sat on its original base inscribed “Cigars Tobacco/Havana Cigars/Smoker’s Articles”. The late-19^th century Punch was in remarkably untouched condition and sold for $187,200.

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Copyright 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Pittsburgh Baseball Legend Lives on in History

Signed Photograph; Roberto Clemente making
his 3000th hit; 1972; 8 inches by 10 inches;
sold for $8,750. Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s
& SCP Auctions.

Pittsburgh Pirate Baseball Legend Lives on in History

July 16, 2008 — I grew up in Pittsburgh during the baseball reign of Roberto Clemente. On long muggy afternoons, Bob Prince, the radio voice for the Pittsburgh Pirates could be heard squealing through my transistor radio as the right fielder gracefully dove for a deep high fly ball.

I use the word grace because that’s the best word I can think of to describe how the man played baseball. When it counted most, Clemente was right there with a lightening fast arm, a winning hit, or a seemingly impossible catch that would clinch the game.

“Clemente could field the ball in New York and throw out a guy in Pennsylvania,” broadcaster Vin Scully once said.

“He’s the strangest hitter in baseball, figure him one way and he’ll kill you another,” said Sandy Koufax, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher.

If there was ever as perfect player Clemente was it. Fans lined up at the gates of Forbes Field to get in and watch him play when he was in town. Clemente had heart and made all of us in the rust belt city feel a little bit better about ourselves.

The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Clemente in 1955 and he started as their right fielder. By 1960, he was a powerhouse player in the major leagues. He also helped lead the Pirates to win both the National League pennant and the World Series.

“I would be lost without baseball. I don’t think I could stand being away from it as long as I was alive,” he said.

Clemente, 38, died in a plane crash Dec. 31, 1972.

On April 24, Sotheby’s and SCP Auctions featured a selection of Clemente items in its Sports Memorabilia auction. A game-worn batting helmet; caught by fan in box seats; circa 1960s; sold for $32,200.

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Copyright 2008

Bronze Beauties Honor Female Form

Leotard; kneeling beauty; bronze and
ivory sculpture on onyx plinth base;
19 ¾ inches high; sold for $84,000.
Photo courtesy of Leslie Hindman.

Bronze Beauties Honor Female Form

Santa Fe, July 11, 2008 — To look at a Demetre Chiparus sculpture is to know the artist loved women. It would be impossible to sculpt the way he ddid without real passion for his subject.

Intimate, timeless, beauty came to life through his hands. The Art Deco sculptor specialized in dancers and captured their willowy, elegant form like few others.

He was active in the 1920s and today is regarded as a master of Art Deco bronzes. If you wanted to understand the fashions of the day, Chiparus sculptures are a place to look.

The close-fitting caps, pendant earrings, skin-tight garb, flowing fabrics-all wrapped around these slim, exotic beauties. He was fascinated by the ddancers in Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes who entertained the cafe society in Paris. He was also mesmerized by the performers in Parisian nightclubs.

In real life I imagine Chiparus in the middle of the dance floor spinning these sweet-smelling beauties around. They possess the kind of beauty and lighthearted sensibility that could stop a room full of people in their tracks.

Chiparus was probably the most talented of the Art Deco sculptors. He used ivory for his ladies faces, hands and bare flesh which gave the figures a more natural, lifelike look and exotic appeal.

His figurines were also known for their jewel-like costumes and fancy bases. Produced as multiples, the works were appreciated as small-scale decorative objects.

The secret to telling Chiparus period Chryselephantine (painted bronze with ivory) sculptures from reproductions–is in the details. Take the fingers as an example. A period Chiparus sculpture typically will have long, slim fingers so exact you can make out the fingernails.

On April 13 -14, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in Chicago featured two Chiparus bronzes in its Furniture and Decorative Arts auction.

Leotard; a kneeling beauty; bronze and ivory sculpture on onyx plinth base; foundry tag LN Paris JL on underside of base; 19 ¾ inches high; sold for $84,000.

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Copyright 2008

NativeAmerican Legacy Preserved Before Loss

Henry Farny; “Winter Encampment
of the Crow Indians”; watercolor and
gouache on paper; signed and dated
1882; 12 ¾ inches by 27 ¼ inches; sold
for $285,000. Photo courtesy of Cowan’s.

NATIVE AMERICAN LEGACY PRESERVED BEFORE LOSS

June 30, 2008 — Albert Bierstadt encouraged Henry Farny to travel west and capture Native Americans and their vanishing way of life on canvas. That’s exactly what Farny did in 1881 when he headed for the Dakota Territory.

In the early-19^th century, national leaders predicted it would take 500 years to settle the West. By the 1890s, most of the expansion was over.

Americans saw the West as boundless new living space. The land offered room to move, rich soil and a better way of life for the taking.

Railway lines began to stretch across the prairie. Farms and towns shot up everywhere. The open lands where the Native Americans once hunted Buffalo were fenced off. Only a few of the country’s bison remained.

The Old West had not vanished overnight but it sure seemed that way. The cost was the destruction of a way of life for Native Americans.

It was painters like Farny who saw what rapid settlement ultimately meant. It was painters like Farny who helped keep the Native American way of life alive–at least on canvas.

His renderings of Native Americans were subtle, compassionate and intelligent. His eyewitness accounts reveal an artist’s understanding of his subject’s dilemma–even though he never actually spent more than a few months out West.

On April 5, Cowan’s in Cincinnati, Ohio, featured two Farny paintings in its American Indian and Western Art Auction.

A watercolor and gouache on paper “Winter Encampment of the Crow Indians”; signed and dated 1882; strikingly similar in subject to Farny’s “Toilers of the Plains”; showing Northern Plains Indians’ daily life; 12 ¾ inches by 27 ¼ inches; sold for $285,000.

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Rosemary McKittrick’s website LiveAuctionTalk.com keeps readers up-to-date weekly on what’s happening at auction.

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copyright 2008

Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles” Returns to Earth in Big Way

“The Martian Chronicles”; first edition;
pictorial jacket; Garden City, NY: Doubleday,
1950 sold for $3,900. Photo courtesy of PBA
Galleries.

Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles” Returns to Earth in Big Way

Santa Fe, June 23, 2008 — Not long after Ray Bradbury’s book “The Martian Chronicles” was published in 1950 he ran into literary critic Christopher Isherwood in a bookstore. Not wanting to miss an opportunity, Bradbury took the book from the shelf and handed it to the critic.

Science fiction books were rarely taken seriously or reviewed at that time. Isherwood seemed less than eager to read it. He took the book home anyway and ended up loving Bradbury’s plot and metaphorical writing.

He wrote a rave review which helped make “The Martian Chronicles” a best-seller. He also boosted the whole science fiction genre with his attention to the book.

Bradbury had a way of leaving out all the dry, technical terms that bore readers. In its place was rich storytelling.

If space is the final frontier then Bradbury was clearly at the forefront of the early flight lore. “The Martian Chronicles” is about everyday characters you might meet at the dry cleaners with one exception. These people are fleeing a troubled earth and trying to colonize Mars

“We are shown normality, the permanent things in human nature, by the light of another world” Bradbury said.

The Mars Bradbury captured on paper was pure fantasy. His spaceships didn’t look like real ones and there is no breathable atmosphere on Mars. Science was just a vehicle for Bradbury’s storytelling.

He wasn’t trying to communicate scientific truthfulness. He was trying to entertain readers.

On April 3, PBA Galleries, San Francisco, offered a selection of Bradbury’s books for sale in its Fine Literature Beats, Bukowski & the Counter Culture, Sci-Fi, & Detective Fiction auction.

“The Martian Chronicles”; first edition; pictorial jacket; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1950; sold for $3,900.

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Rosemary McKittrick’s website LiveAuctionTalk.com is updated weekly and provides in-depth coverage of art and antique sales at auction.

Copyright 2008