At the height of the Depression, a well-known Bucks County impressionist took a collection of his paintings to schools, gave talks, and sometimes sold them his works.
In the early '30s, a school group used money raised at a "gala" bridge party in the Lansdowne High School gym to buy a snow-covered landscape scene and present it to the school.
The oil painting, by Walter Emerson Baum, was hung in the building's front hallway, joining a collection of sports trophies and the portrait of a district dignitary.
The name of the artist and the work's origins were eventually forgotten.
Recently, it was rediscovered at the school, now named Penn Wood High, and last month the cash-strapped William Penn School District decided to sell the 40-by-50-inch painting, hoping to bring in at least $20,000.
Superintendent Joseph Bruni said the district was unable to properly care for the painting. "We felt that it would be better to put it in the hands of someone who values and understands it," he said.
For those who dream of finding a valuable artwork hiding in plain sight at a yard sale or flea market, the rediscovery of the painting could give hope.
The tale of how the landscape was acquired also provides a glimpse into how the artist, who devoted a large portion of his life to educating children, brought his work to students during hard times while making money for himself.
In the late 1940s, the lifelong Sellersville resident, who died in 1956, helped create the Bucks County Traveling Art Gallery. It started out with 17 paintings donated by him and 53 from others; today it has more than 350 pieces. The program, now called Art on the Move and run by the county Intermediate Unit, takes paintings to area schools.
Baum "was very passionate about developing art appreciation in students," said Adrienne Romano, director of education for the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, which worked with the Intermediate Unit to revive the art program. "He wanted to make art accessible to all."
A revival of interest in Baum and his art is under way in some area schools.
Bucks County's Quakertown Community School District put its collection of eight Baum paintings into a permanent exhibit at its high school last year.
Souderton put its dozen paintings on display as the centerpiece of a fund-raiser that brought in thousands of dollars and is planning a display space at its high school.
In the Pennridge School District, where Baum lived and was a local school board member for decades, the education foundation is exploring how it might best display its collection of more than a dozen paintings.
There are also 18 Baum oil paintings and six watercolors in a collection of more than 1,200 artworks owned by the Philadelphia School District. The district debated whether to sell some or all of the collection - which it valued at between $5 million and $30 million - but decided in 2007 not to dispose of it.
Rudy Ackerman, director of exhibitions and collections at Allentown's Baum School of Art, which the artist founded in 1926, said that other Baum paintings might also have slipped into obscurity. "There are some places that probably don't even know what they have; they might be sitting on top of a $50,000 painting," he said.
The Baum painting at Penn Wood, titled Late Afternoon, experienced that fate for many years, a seldom-noticed fixture in a hallway. At some point, after several students added their signatures to Baum's at the bottom, it was hoisted above the office doorway to remove it from easy reach.
About 10 years ago, local historian Matt Schultz identified it as Baum's work, but it attracted little notice.
Four years ago, Penn Wood art teacher Alyce Grunt saw a Baum painting at a Haverford College exhibition. "I thought: This painting looks a lot like the one hanging up over the door to the main office," she said recently. "The way it was painted - the trees, the snow, the water - it's similar."
Though Baum's signature on the painting was too high up to see, Grunt concluded it was his work.
2011年6月29日星期三
Gaithersburg Fine Arts Festival Draws Over 75 Artists
Artists from all over the East Coast gathered in the parking lot outside Macaroni Grill in the Washingtonian Center for the annual Gaithersburg Fine Arts Festival on June 25 and 26.
The festival featured over 75 booths with the work of painters, sculptors, metal workers, wood workers, glass artists, potters, photographers, fiber artists and jewelers from Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC, North Carolina, Florida and Vermont, among others.
"I drove 15 hours to get here," said Kimberlee Forney of Burlington, Vermont. She made the trip to visit a friend and participate in the art festival. Forney, whose mother grew up in Gaithersburg and whose grandfather was an astronomer employed at the historic Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory, counts over 500 original acrylic paintings in what she describes as a her signature style.
"As I was painting a realistic portrait of Janis Joplin, an abstracted image of musicians came to my head. Ever since, I have been painting musicians, sheep, cows and couples in this new style. It makes people smile and laugh," said the Burlington artist who makes prints and bags from her original acrylic paintings.
Baltimore-based film photographer Bill Wierzalis keeps a dying art alive. He shoots film on a 40-year-old camera and develops his photographs in a darkroom.
"It's about spending more time with my art to make it my own," he said. "I pretty much know what I want before I click the shutter. I really stress composition because there's no close editing in Photoshop with this process."
Wierzalis's wife is from Reggio, Italy, and the artist has traveled the country far and wide to capture quaint waterfronts, cobblestone alleys, outdoor markets and rolling landscapes in Venice, Rome, Siciliy and other picturesque destinations that tell their own story.
Another Baltimore artist, Christos J. Palios, pays homage to the burgeoning art of digital photography and digital manipulation. He composes fisheye panoramics of aging urban artifacts and contemporary structures printing them at large scales.
When asked about how he chooses his subject matter, Palios referenced serendipity.
"Whatever I was to see personally, that's what ends up making it into my photographs," said the artist who takes frequent outings in search of his next piece of urban cultural landscape. "Retro Bus," an image of an abandoned 1970s bus, emerged from a trip to a junkyard in his native Greece and required 387 individual photographs to piece together.
Edward Loedding of Vermont began his career as an oil painter and then took his work into the digital medium. For many years, he created giclee prints of work by other artists, but now he focuses primarily on his own prints. He photographs flowers close-up and prints digital limited editions on a printer modified to accomodate twelve colors and pure pigment.
"I am essentially printing with paint," said Loedding who has titled his collection "Visual Choreography." "It's all about the dance of lights and shadows."
His prints are crisp and vibrant, and he can replicate them at any size up to 120 inches. Loedding still prints digital reproductions of about twelve other Vermont artists, including Forney's work.
An infinitely popular subject for artists, flowers offer many creative avenues. Erica Eriksdotter of Reston, Virginia converts bridal bouquets into original artwork.
"They are great as anniversary or wedding gifts," said the artist who is preparing to drop off her painting of the Crown Princess's bridal bouquet at the Royal Palace in Sweden, her native country.
Creating a pastiche of light and shadow, Nihal Kececi of Bethesda, often uses just a palette knife to apply oil paint to the canvas. Whether painting whirling dervishes, dramatic landscapes, or impressionistic figures, Kececi masks the known with the unknown and explores the transcendental. She is currently showing recent work at the Blueberry Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia through July 2011.
Jacobe Noonan of Northern Virginia takes a more direct approach to his acrylic paintings.
"Mine is simple. I paint objects from everyday life. Things at my house or anything that inspires me," said the artist who renders anything from coffee cups to wine glasses and oranges and pears from a real-life perspective.
Archie Smith traveled from North Carolina to lure visitors into his tent full of hand-crafted musical instruments by demonstrating how to play a bowed psaltery, which according to the artist gives access to each note in one location along its taught strings. Smith will return to the local area on October 15 and 16 for the Bethesda Row Festival.
Robert Friedenberg of Roundhill, Virginia explores an imaginary world through pen and ink illustrations.
"Some have called my work techno-primitivism," said Friedenberg. "But it basically comes out of my imagination. I love putting smaller pictures inside of bigger ones."
Friedenberg calls his business Not Wolf Productions after his dog, which is a shepherd husky malamute mix. Featured in many of the artist's detailed and whimsical illustrations, his dog is often mistaken for a wolf by the general public.
Other artists from the Washington, DC metropolitan area in the festival included: Gary Carver, Carol Fogelsong, Ric Grossman, Kelvin Henderson, Stacey Krantz, Smadar Livne, Kirk Lutz, Xiong Tan and Kathy Thompson.
According to the organizer's website, Paragon Art Festivals offers artists and corporate sponsors the opportunity to showcase their work and expertise in the heart of densely-populated Montgomery County where the median income is $106,000 as of the 2007 census.
The Washingtonian Center, a vibrant hub of activity, provides access to 530,000 sq ft of retail and over 200,000 sq ft of entertainment uses.
Booth spaces for artists cost $375 and provide ample space to exhibit artwork of any size.
With central headquarters in Centerpoint, New York, Paragon Arts Festivals organizes fifteen major arts festivals up and down the East Coast. Upcoming in Maryland is the Silver Spring Arts Festival on September 17 and 18, 2011.
The festival featured over 75 booths with the work of painters, sculptors, metal workers, wood workers, glass artists, potters, photographers, fiber artists and jewelers from Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC, North Carolina, Florida and Vermont, among others.
"I drove 15 hours to get here," said Kimberlee Forney of Burlington, Vermont. She made the trip to visit a friend and participate in the art festival. Forney, whose mother grew up in Gaithersburg and whose grandfather was an astronomer employed at the historic Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory, counts over 500 original acrylic paintings in what she describes as a her signature style.
"As I was painting a realistic portrait of Janis Joplin, an abstracted image of musicians came to my head. Ever since, I have been painting musicians, sheep, cows and couples in this new style. It makes people smile and laugh," said the Burlington artist who makes prints and bags from her original acrylic paintings.
Baltimore-based film photographer Bill Wierzalis keeps a dying art alive. He shoots film on a 40-year-old camera and develops his photographs in a darkroom.
"It's about spending more time with my art to make it my own," he said. "I pretty much know what I want before I click the shutter. I really stress composition because there's no close editing in Photoshop with this process."
Wierzalis's wife is from Reggio, Italy, and the artist has traveled the country far and wide to capture quaint waterfronts, cobblestone alleys, outdoor markets and rolling landscapes in Venice, Rome, Siciliy and other picturesque destinations that tell their own story.
Another Baltimore artist, Christos J. Palios, pays homage to the burgeoning art of digital photography and digital manipulation. He composes fisheye panoramics of aging urban artifacts and contemporary structures printing them at large scales.
When asked about how he chooses his subject matter, Palios referenced serendipity.
"Whatever I was to see personally, that's what ends up making it into my photographs," said the artist who takes frequent outings in search of his next piece of urban cultural landscape. "Retro Bus," an image of an abandoned 1970s bus, emerged from a trip to a junkyard in his native Greece and required 387 individual photographs to piece together.
Edward Loedding of Vermont began his career as an oil painter and then took his work into the digital medium. For many years, he created giclee prints of work by other artists, but now he focuses primarily on his own prints. He photographs flowers close-up and prints digital limited editions on a printer modified to accomodate twelve colors and pure pigment.
"I am essentially printing with paint," said Loedding who has titled his collection "Visual Choreography." "It's all about the dance of lights and shadows."
His prints are crisp and vibrant, and he can replicate them at any size up to 120 inches. Loedding still prints digital reproductions of about twelve other Vermont artists, including Forney's work.
An infinitely popular subject for artists, flowers offer many creative avenues. Erica Eriksdotter of Reston, Virginia converts bridal bouquets into original artwork.
"They are great as anniversary or wedding gifts," said the artist who is preparing to drop off her painting of the Crown Princess's bridal bouquet at the Royal Palace in Sweden, her native country.
Creating a pastiche of light and shadow, Nihal Kececi of Bethesda, often uses just a palette knife to apply oil paint to the canvas. Whether painting whirling dervishes, dramatic landscapes, or impressionistic figures, Kececi masks the known with the unknown and explores the transcendental. She is currently showing recent work at the Blueberry Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia through July 2011.
Jacobe Noonan of Northern Virginia takes a more direct approach to his acrylic paintings.
"Mine is simple. I paint objects from everyday life. Things at my house or anything that inspires me," said the artist who renders anything from coffee cups to wine glasses and oranges and pears from a real-life perspective.
Archie Smith traveled from North Carolina to lure visitors into his tent full of hand-crafted musical instruments by demonstrating how to play a bowed psaltery, which according to the artist gives access to each note in one location along its taught strings. Smith will return to the local area on October 15 and 16 for the Bethesda Row Festival.
Robert Friedenberg of Roundhill, Virginia explores an imaginary world through pen and ink illustrations.
"Some have called my work techno-primitivism," said Friedenberg. "But it basically comes out of my imagination. I love putting smaller pictures inside of bigger ones."
Friedenberg calls his business Not Wolf Productions after his dog, which is a shepherd husky malamute mix. Featured in many of the artist's detailed and whimsical illustrations, his dog is often mistaken for a wolf by the general public.
Other artists from the Washington, DC metropolitan area in the festival included: Gary Carver, Carol Fogelsong, Ric Grossman, Kelvin Henderson, Stacey Krantz, Smadar Livne, Kirk Lutz, Xiong Tan and Kathy Thompson.
According to the organizer's website, Paragon Art Festivals offers artists and corporate sponsors the opportunity to showcase their work and expertise in the heart of densely-populated Montgomery County where the median income is $106,000 as of the 2007 census.
The Washingtonian Center, a vibrant hub of activity, provides access to 530,000 sq ft of retail and over 200,000 sq ft of entertainment uses.
Booth spaces for artists cost $375 and provide ample space to exhibit artwork of any size.
With central headquarters in Centerpoint, New York, Paragon Arts Festivals organizes fifteen major arts festivals up and down the East Coast. Upcoming in Maryland is the Silver Spring Arts Festival on September 17 and 18, 2011.
2011年6月26日星期日
Locals and Artists Get Together for Second Del Rey Art Walk
Artists opened their homes and studios Saturday for the second Del Rey Art Walk, and the only thing in common among the wildly varying types of artwork was the Del Rey neighborhood used as the backdrop for the event.
Artists from amateur to professional showed their artwork that varied in style from religious-themed oil paintings to psychedelic abstract photography and fantastical sculpture to tribal-looking objects. There was a style for every type of art lover.
After the relative success of the first art walk, organizer and artist Charlotte DeMeo said the response was amazing, I was looking forward to visiting this art walk to discover the artists I didn’t get to meet last time and to revisit the artists I had met to see what they added to their portfolios in the last six months.
First stop was at The Teale Street Sculpture Studio, a newcomer to the roster for this art walk.
The warehouse space is impressive. It’s a giant warehouse made over like a white-washed studio of the gods with dozens of models of human body parts lining one wall.
Students were just wrapping their clay pieces in wet towels and plastic to preserve them for the next session, and art-student-turned part-owner of the studio, Robin Thayer, offered to show me around the space.
Thayer introduced me to photographer Dennis Sylvester who rents a studio on the periphery of the main studio space.
Sylvester was showing his collection of photography, mostly of nature, mostly abstract, which often times he enhances on a computer to bring colors to their most psychedelic, acid-trippy state.
A must-see is “Frida’s Vision,” an extreme close up of an abalone shell he photographed while touring Frida Kahlo’s estate. Neon pinks and blues melt together in a composition that looks like something you would see under the lens of a microscope.
Sylvester has traveled all over the world to photograph his subjects. Two photos from his water collection include abstract images of boats’ reflections on the Nile in Cairo, Egypt, called “Africa Ablaze,” and the reflections of floating island gardens in Xochimilco, Mexico, called “Painted Water.”
“I try and catch things in transformation, going from one state to another,” Sylvester said. “From either physically into a spiritual realm or physically into an abstraction.”
His interpretation of Big Ben in London, which won first place in a California State University, Dominguez Hills art contest, is ominous with heavy shadows and also light with vibrant colors fighting for space against the dark.
I then stepped outside into the rock garden where students Sarah Danays and Dan Sakoda were carving their stone pieces.
Danays, a professional artist, also takes classes and uses the studio to execute her goth-fantasy sculptures that involve sculpted seashells, human anatomy and sometimes blood.
She was working on carving the lower body of a woman out of white alabaster for her next creation.
Sakoda creates animals out of various types of stone. He had a penguin, fish and bear on display, and he was working on a frog. Sakoda reduces the forms to smooth, minimal lines.
Next, I traveled a few blocks over to see art walk organizer Charlotte DeMeo at her house on Juniette Street. She was showing her artwork–floral watercolor paintings and must-see sculptures she carves out of gourds and weaves from pine needles. The creations are adorned with beads and feathers and found objects like branches, all leading to a tribal-esque creation that is unique and eye-catching.
Since the last art walk in December, DeMeo also began experimenting with burning and drawing on leather, which lends itself to a Native-American feel.
DeMeo talked about the outpouring of positive feedback from the first art walk.
“The reaction that I was really pleased about was that the artists wanted to do it again,” DeMeo said. “It was the feeling that they got with people coming in and praising their work. Even if they didn’t buy anything, hearing that positive response encourages you enough to want to do it.”
The second Del Rey Art Walk was sponsored by the Del Rey Neighborhood Council and the Del Rey Homeowner and Neighbors Association.
DeMeo’s home also showcased her long-time friend, Kirk Robinson, a former resident of Juniette Street, who has since relocated to Nevada.
Robinson was displaying his photos of wildlife from his adventures in Africa, as well as animals on his ranch in Nevada.
My favorite was a stirring close-up of the profile of a horse. Robinson is so close to his subject, you can see his reflection in the horse’s eye.
Artists from amateur to professional showed their artwork that varied in style from religious-themed oil paintings to psychedelic abstract photography and fantastical sculpture to tribal-looking objects. There was a style for every type of art lover.
After the relative success of the first art walk, organizer and artist Charlotte DeMeo said the response was amazing, I was looking forward to visiting this art walk to discover the artists I didn’t get to meet last time and to revisit the artists I had met to see what they added to their portfolios in the last six months.
First stop was at The Teale Street Sculpture Studio, a newcomer to the roster for this art walk.
The warehouse space is impressive. It’s a giant warehouse made over like a white-washed studio of the gods with dozens of models of human body parts lining one wall.
Students were just wrapping their clay pieces in wet towels and plastic to preserve them for the next session, and art-student-turned part-owner of the studio, Robin Thayer, offered to show me around the space.
Thayer introduced me to photographer Dennis Sylvester who rents a studio on the periphery of the main studio space.
Sylvester was showing his collection of photography, mostly of nature, mostly abstract, which often times he enhances on a computer to bring colors to their most psychedelic, acid-trippy state.
A must-see is “Frida’s Vision,” an extreme close up of an abalone shell he photographed while touring Frida Kahlo’s estate. Neon pinks and blues melt together in a composition that looks like something you would see under the lens of a microscope.
Sylvester has traveled all over the world to photograph his subjects. Two photos from his water collection include abstract images of boats’ reflections on the Nile in Cairo, Egypt, called “Africa Ablaze,” and the reflections of floating island gardens in Xochimilco, Mexico, called “Painted Water.”
“I try and catch things in transformation, going from one state to another,” Sylvester said. “From either physically into a spiritual realm or physically into an abstraction.”
His interpretation of Big Ben in London, which won first place in a California State University, Dominguez Hills art contest, is ominous with heavy shadows and also light with vibrant colors fighting for space against the dark.
I then stepped outside into the rock garden where students Sarah Danays and Dan Sakoda were carving their stone pieces.
Danays, a professional artist, also takes classes and uses the studio to execute her goth-fantasy sculptures that involve sculpted seashells, human anatomy and sometimes blood.
She was working on carving the lower body of a woman out of white alabaster for her next creation.
Sakoda creates animals out of various types of stone. He had a penguin, fish and bear on display, and he was working on a frog. Sakoda reduces the forms to smooth, minimal lines.
Next, I traveled a few blocks over to see art walk organizer Charlotte DeMeo at her house on Juniette Street. She was showing her artwork–floral watercolor paintings and must-see sculptures she carves out of gourds and weaves from pine needles. The creations are adorned with beads and feathers and found objects like branches, all leading to a tribal-esque creation that is unique and eye-catching.
Since the last art walk in December, DeMeo also began experimenting with burning and drawing on leather, which lends itself to a Native-American feel.
DeMeo talked about the outpouring of positive feedback from the first art walk.
“The reaction that I was really pleased about was that the artists wanted to do it again,” DeMeo said. “It was the feeling that they got with people coming in and praising their work. Even if they didn’t buy anything, hearing that positive response encourages you enough to want to do it.”
The second Del Rey Art Walk was sponsored by the Del Rey Neighborhood Council and the Del Rey Homeowner and Neighbors Association.
DeMeo’s home also showcased her long-time friend, Kirk Robinson, a former resident of Juniette Street, who has since relocated to Nevada.
Robinson was displaying his photos of wildlife from his adventures in Africa, as well as animals on his ranch in Nevada.
My favorite was a stirring close-up of the profile of a horse. Robinson is so close to his subject, you can see his reflection in the horse’s eye.
paintings on display
The June exhibit at the Back Mountain Memorial Library’s Art Display Wall is a collection of artwork by Gary Bucchalter, of Trucksville.
Bucchalter has enjoyed art since his childhood and has continued his enthusiasm for art by receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Pratt Institute. He also earned his Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Brooklyn College.
Bucchalter’s exhibit will include oil paintings, charcoal and pencil drawings as well as Pen and ink drawings. He is also “introducing” a young artist of whom he is especially proud, his 12-year-old son, Lorenzo, and has included one of Lorenzo’s pieces in his exhibit.
Bucchalter explains that his artwork offers him “peace of mind” and describes his favorite piece in this exhibit: an oil painting titled “John’s Place,” featuring a scene of John Lennon.
Bucchalter has enjoyed art since his childhood and has continued his enthusiasm for art by receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Pratt Institute. He also earned his Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Brooklyn College.
Bucchalter’s exhibit will include oil paintings, charcoal and pencil drawings as well as Pen and ink drawings. He is also “introducing” a young artist of whom he is especially proud, his 12-year-old son, Lorenzo, and has included one of Lorenzo’s pieces in his exhibit.
Bucchalter explains that his artwork offers him “peace of mind” and describes his favorite piece in this exhibit: an oil painting titled “John’s Place,” featuring a scene of John Lennon.
2011年6月22日星期三
arizona's painted-gravel landscaping losing its appeal
Long before xeriscaping, the low-maintenance landscaping of choice for many Arizonans involved a different kind of green movement.
Thousands of homeowners from Sun City to Mesa spread generous blankets of pea gravel on their yards, glued it down and painted it green to look like lawns - at least from an airplane.
But green-rock landscaping is going the way of disco, polyester and avocado-green kitchen appliances.
"It's becoming a lost art," Valley landscaper Kevin Parker said. "I'm kind of unique. Now, nobody can find anybody who does this anymore. That's kind of good for me."
Even so, he receives only a few calls a year.
While xeriscaping - which emphasizes low water-use native plants and shade - can actually cool the landscape down, green gravel yards tend to soak in the heat and can contribute to the so-called "urban heat-island effect," which could explain some of the decline in popularity.
But there are still those who prefer the no-muss, no-fuss of glued-down gravel.
On a recent sunny day, Parker sprayed Lorraine Bradney's gravel yard with a healthy dose of clear glue, allowed it to dry and then painted everything green except her rock outlines of the Land of Lincoln and the Sooner State.
Like an oil painting, the piece is meant to be permanent.
"You don't want the rocks to get strewn about, causing the paint to chip," Parker said. "You can walk on it, but you shouldn't drive on it."
Among admiring neighbors, it is a perfect fit along Bradney's street in Sunland Village, a seniors-only community in Mesa where front yards, like the weekly bridge games, get thorough attention to detail.
"Lots of people come and look at the yard and ask if they can take pictures," said Bradney, a former physical-education teacher.
That's not surprising to Terry Mikel, a retired University of Arizona horticulturist, who remembers well his first encounter with painting a rock yard.
"I was 5 or 6 years old and was with my dad at a hardware store," he said. "The salesman said that if he used this gravel and painted it green it would look just like grass from an airplane. As a kid, it made a lot of sense, but later I wondered why anyone would want their yard to impress somebody in an airplane.
"In Sun City, it was kind of an art form," Mikel said. "They used painted rocks with different colors. There was room for creativity."
Sun City was one of the Valley's first communities to have painted yards. The phenomenon was documented in a famous 1960s vintage National Geographic photo by award-winning photojournalist James P. Blair.
But the trend is vanishing there, too.
"We're seeing less and less of it," said Paul Herrmann, executive director of the Sun City Visitors Center. "It was one of those goofy things that was fashionable back then. . . . Most people coming in are doing remodeling and going in with natural landscaping. The green, glued-down painted rock doesn't fit."
But they still can be found.
"A house across the street from my rental home was built in 1962, and it has had a green-gravel lawn since then," Herrmann said. "I used to get a kick out of seeing him hosing off the rock because of the dust."
Rusty Bowers, a former state senator and Arizona Rock Products Association executive, said he remembers green-rock lawns proliferating in the mid-to-late 1970s.
Home construction was booming, and Bowers was working for Dreamland Villa, one of the East Valley's first major retirement communities of conventional housing.
"There seemed to be hundreds of painted lawns in the Valley but pretty boring colors by today's standards," he said. "It was tough when we had to dig water lines or footers to make it look the same, and that's where the budding artist came in, making it (the rock) blend together."
Although gravel lawns are commonly associated with homes in the desert, Greg Pierceall, a Purdue University emeritus professor and landscape architect, believes the trend started in the Midwest, where residents have been known to paint their dormant grass green in winter.
As early as the late 1960s, Pierceall said, common washed river gravel could be coated with a pigment and sold in a rainbow of colors as garden accents and surfaces. He said the green-gravel trend took on new shapes and colors as Americans sought visual impact and contrast in their yards and gardens, but in retrospect it had all the sensibilities of the "aluminum Christmas tree."
He recalled a client at the time who wanted him to design a gravel landscape with a berm that resembled a big rice crispy bar - all of it held together with an epoxy material, he said.
"Oh what we do when we're young and adventurous," Pierceall said.
At the height of the trend, demand was so great that one company even began producing a special, rock-adhesive paint.
"They called it Rock Lock," said David Cash, plant manager at Ladehoff Paints in Mesa.
"People talk about it when they come in," he said. "We still have some customers ask for it.
"It was an acrylic paint," Cash said. "It wasn't like it had some exotic chemicals in it, and I don't know why more paint retailers didn't carry it."
The paint is no longer manufactured, but there are still those who like to look out the window of their home to a yard with curb appeal and little demand for maintenance.
"You can sweep the dirt off of it," said Charlotte Rosenberry, who lives in the same retirement community as Bradney. "I've lived here about 19 years, and the yard was already done like this before I moved in. I had it repainted one time."
Thousands of homeowners from Sun City to Mesa spread generous blankets of pea gravel on their yards, glued it down and painted it green to look like lawns - at least from an airplane.
But green-rock landscaping is going the way of disco, polyester and avocado-green kitchen appliances.
"It's becoming a lost art," Valley landscaper Kevin Parker said. "I'm kind of unique. Now, nobody can find anybody who does this anymore. That's kind of good for me."
Even so, he receives only a few calls a year.
While xeriscaping - which emphasizes low water-use native plants and shade - can actually cool the landscape down, green gravel yards tend to soak in the heat and can contribute to the so-called "urban heat-island effect," which could explain some of the decline in popularity.
But there are still those who prefer the no-muss, no-fuss of glued-down gravel.
On a recent sunny day, Parker sprayed Lorraine Bradney's gravel yard with a healthy dose of clear glue, allowed it to dry and then painted everything green except her rock outlines of the Land of Lincoln and the Sooner State.
Like an oil painting, the piece is meant to be permanent.
"You don't want the rocks to get strewn about, causing the paint to chip," Parker said. "You can walk on it, but you shouldn't drive on it."
Among admiring neighbors, it is a perfect fit along Bradney's street in Sunland Village, a seniors-only community in Mesa where front yards, like the weekly bridge games, get thorough attention to detail.
"Lots of people come and look at the yard and ask if they can take pictures," said Bradney, a former physical-education teacher.
That's not surprising to Terry Mikel, a retired University of Arizona horticulturist, who remembers well his first encounter with painting a rock yard.
"I was 5 or 6 years old and was with my dad at a hardware store," he said. "The salesman said that if he used this gravel and painted it green it would look just like grass from an airplane. As a kid, it made a lot of sense, but later I wondered why anyone would want their yard to impress somebody in an airplane.
"In Sun City, it was kind of an art form," Mikel said. "They used painted rocks with different colors. There was room for creativity."
Sun City was one of the Valley's first communities to have painted yards. The phenomenon was documented in a famous 1960s vintage National Geographic photo by award-winning photojournalist James P. Blair.
But the trend is vanishing there, too.
"We're seeing less and less of it," said Paul Herrmann, executive director of the Sun City Visitors Center. "It was one of those goofy things that was fashionable back then. . . . Most people coming in are doing remodeling and going in with natural landscaping. The green, glued-down painted rock doesn't fit."
But they still can be found.
"A house across the street from my rental home was built in 1962, and it has had a green-gravel lawn since then," Herrmann said. "I used to get a kick out of seeing him hosing off the rock because of the dust."
Rusty Bowers, a former state senator and Arizona Rock Products Association executive, said he remembers green-rock lawns proliferating in the mid-to-late 1970s.
Home construction was booming, and Bowers was working for Dreamland Villa, one of the East Valley's first major retirement communities of conventional housing.
"There seemed to be hundreds of painted lawns in the Valley but pretty boring colors by today's standards," he said. "It was tough when we had to dig water lines or footers to make it look the same, and that's where the budding artist came in, making it (the rock) blend together."
Although gravel lawns are commonly associated with homes in the desert, Greg Pierceall, a Purdue University emeritus professor and landscape architect, believes the trend started in the Midwest, where residents have been known to paint their dormant grass green in winter.
As early as the late 1960s, Pierceall said, common washed river gravel could be coated with a pigment and sold in a rainbow of colors as garden accents and surfaces. He said the green-gravel trend took on new shapes and colors as Americans sought visual impact and contrast in their yards and gardens, but in retrospect it had all the sensibilities of the "aluminum Christmas tree."
He recalled a client at the time who wanted him to design a gravel landscape with a berm that resembled a big rice crispy bar - all of it held together with an epoxy material, he said.
"Oh what we do when we're young and adventurous," Pierceall said.
At the height of the trend, demand was so great that one company even began producing a special, rock-adhesive paint.
"They called it Rock Lock," said David Cash, plant manager at Ladehoff Paints in Mesa.
"People talk about it when they come in," he said. "We still have some customers ask for it.
"It was an acrylic paint," Cash said. "It wasn't like it had some exotic chemicals in it, and I don't know why more paint retailers didn't carry it."
The paint is no longer manufactured, but there are still those who like to look out the window of their home to a yard with curb appeal and little demand for maintenance.
"You can sweep the dirt off of it," said Charlotte Rosenberry, who lives in the same retirement community as Bradney. "I've lived here about 19 years, and the yard was already done like this before I moved in. I had it repainted one time."
International artist opens his local studio to the public
To see a work of professional art in person, most art lovers visit a museum or a gallery. But landscape artist John Modesitt is offering another option through July 20: He's inviting the public to come to his Solana Beach studio and home to view his latest impressionistic paintings.
What makes this a rare opportunity is the caliber of the artist. Modesitt is an international painter whose works are in the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut and the Butler Museum of Art in Ohio, as well as private collections around the world. His work has also been auctioned at Christie's in L.A., London and Paris.
Last year, he invited friends and neighbors to his home to view a series of oil paintings depicting scenes of California (this time the work is of his months in Amboise, France, on the Loire River). He was surprised by the enthusiastic response.
"These were people we just invited, but the house filled up," he recalled. "It felt like the whole neighborhood was there. It was a good experience."
Modesitt feels firmly rooted in Solana Beach. It's been his home base for several decades and where he and his wife raised their daughter. So while he travels extensively for his painting, he always returns to Solana Beach. He likes to enjoy his works before shipping them off to be sold. An event like this allows him that time before they are dispersed.
It also allows people the opportunity to ask him questions about the work and it's the only time he can show his collection together as a group before its broken up and sold by the piece at auction (his Loire series will be sent to Paris and London next month for Christie's Impressionist auction).
"I open my studio and I find that people are always curious about my process," he said. "I have a large variety of paintings in the studio plus works hung in two or three of the rooms inside the house. I set up the interior like a museum. Having the works in a house is nice because it gives people a place to sit, not just a hard bench."
The event is quite informal. People can come and go at most daytime hours. They can call ahead to let him know they're coming as well.
"We had one person who stayed for three hours," he remembered. "My wife and I talked to him and he wanted to know what I do. This kind of thing is the public side of what I do. I can't talk to people when I'm painting. Both sides ---- the public side and the painting side ---- are ingredients in my career."
Visitors tend to ask about his inspiration, the area that he was painting, why he paints in oil and how he decided on the palette. They often end up telling him stories about their lives. Modesitt loves the reaction.
"They often say they want to be in my paintings, and I agree with them," he said. "That's how I feel as well. Sometimes people are shy to come over, but that's the point of doing this ---- to invite people in. That's why we make it so welcoming."
What makes this a rare opportunity is the caliber of the artist. Modesitt is an international painter whose works are in the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut and the Butler Museum of Art in Ohio, as well as private collections around the world. His work has also been auctioned at Christie's in L.A., London and Paris.
Last year, he invited friends and neighbors to his home to view a series of oil paintings depicting scenes of California (this time the work is of his months in Amboise, France, on the Loire River). He was surprised by the enthusiastic response.
"These were people we just invited, but the house filled up," he recalled. "It felt like the whole neighborhood was there. It was a good experience."
Modesitt feels firmly rooted in Solana Beach. It's been his home base for several decades and where he and his wife raised their daughter. So while he travels extensively for his painting, he always returns to Solana Beach. He likes to enjoy his works before shipping them off to be sold. An event like this allows him that time before they are dispersed.
It also allows people the opportunity to ask him questions about the work and it's the only time he can show his collection together as a group before its broken up and sold by the piece at auction (his Loire series will be sent to Paris and London next month for Christie's Impressionist auction).
"I open my studio and I find that people are always curious about my process," he said. "I have a large variety of paintings in the studio plus works hung in two or three of the rooms inside the house. I set up the interior like a museum. Having the works in a house is nice because it gives people a place to sit, not just a hard bench."
The event is quite informal. People can come and go at most daytime hours. They can call ahead to let him know they're coming as well.
"We had one person who stayed for three hours," he remembered. "My wife and I talked to him and he wanted to know what I do. This kind of thing is the public side of what I do. I can't talk to people when I'm painting. Both sides ---- the public side and the painting side ---- are ingredients in my career."
Visitors tend to ask about his inspiration, the area that he was painting, why he paints in oil and how he decided on the palette. They often end up telling him stories about their lives. Modesitt loves the reaction.
"They often say they want to be in my paintings, and I agree with them," he said. "That's how I feel as well. Sometimes people are shy to come over, but that's the point of doing this ---- to invite people in. That's why we make it so welcoming."
2011年6月20日星期一
Is this really a fake Monet painting?
Imagine being convinced you own an old master, but repeatedly being told it's a fake.
That is what art collector David Joel says has happened to him and he has spent nearly two decades trying to get his Monet accepted as genuine.
It looks authentic and carries Claude Monet's signature on the bottom right hand corner.
But Mr Joel could never put it up for auction because officially it is a fake - but he is convinced otherwise.
Now aged 82, he can still recall the day he first saw the painting and fell in love with it - although initially it was well beyond his price range.
He said: "I first saw it in a sale room in Norwich. I couldn't possibly afford it because it was supposed to go for £500,000. I really loved it but there was nothing I could do about it.
"Two years later I heard there was a possibility I could buy it from the owner and I bought it for £40,000."
Missing Monet
Mr Joel believed the painting Bords de la Seine a Argenteuil was a missing Monet. It shows a scene identified as close to the painter's home on the Seine outside Paris. A note on the frame suggests it was painted in 1875.
However his exhaustive attempts to get accredited have so far failed.
The final word on whether it is genuine rests with a handful of individuals in a billionaire family of art collectors, dealers and art scholars - the Wildensteins.
The Wildensteins have, since the early 20th Century, been considered one of the world's leading authorities on painting, particularly the work of the Impressionists.
Without their approval, any scientific claim about the validity of the painting is worthless.
They adjudicate on all claims over Monet paintings. Their decision is final and there is no right of appeal.
Mr Joel has exchanged dozens of letters with the Wildensteins but without success.
"I have been trying for 18 years now to get Wildenstein to accept it for his catalogue. It is a long haul but I shall win in the end I think."
Art dealer and Antiques Roadshow expert Philip Mould said if the painting could be authenticated it would be worth a great deal more than £40,000.
"If it were included in the book it would be a very different picture. People would look at it differently, people would value it differently. It could be worth over £1m."
Long process
Mr Mould believes there are many other pictures out there with a greatness yet to be fully realised.
That is what art collector David Joel says has happened to him and he has spent nearly two decades trying to get his Monet accepted as genuine.
It looks authentic and carries Claude Monet's signature on the bottom right hand corner.
But Mr Joel could never put it up for auction because officially it is a fake - but he is convinced otherwise.
Now aged 82, he can still recall the day he first saw the painting and fell in love with it - although initially it was well beyond his price range.
He said: "I first saw it in a sale room in Norwich. I couldn't possibly afford it because it was supposed to go for £500,000. I really loved it but there was nothing I could do about it.
"Two years later I heard there was a possibility I could buy it from the owner and I bought it for £40,000."
Missing Monet
Mr Joel believed the painting Bords de la Seine a Argenteuil was a missing Monet. It shows a scene identified as close to the painter's home on the Seine outside Paris. A note on the frame suggests it was painted in 1875.
However his exhaustive attempts to get accredited have so far failed.
The final word on whether it is genuine rests with a handful of individuals in a billionaire family of art collectors, dealers and art scholars - the Wildensteins.
The Wildensteins have, since the early 20th Century, been considered one of the world's leading authorities on painting, particularly the work of the Impressionists.
Without their approval, any scientific claim about the validity of the painting is worthless.
They adjudicate on all claims over Monet paintings. Their decision is final and there is no right of appeal.
Mr Joel has exchanged dozens of letters with the Wildensteins but without success.
"I have been trying for 18 years now to get Wildenstein to accept it for his catalogue. It is a long haul but I shall win in the end I think."
Art dealer and Antiques Roadshow expert Philip Mould said if the painting could be authenticated it would be worth a great deal more than £40,000.
"If it were included in the book it would be a very different picture. People would look at it differently, people would value it differently. It could be worth over £1m."
Long process
Mr Mould believes there are many other pictures out there with a greatness yet to be fully realised.
Terminator-like: Molding metal as if plastic
It's hard to beat the versatility of plastic on a production line. Melt and inject it into molds, let it cool and harden, and out comes an endless variety of parts at high speeds.
Metals can't always compete - except, perhaps, in the movie "Terminator 2," where an evil android can promptly transform molten metal into whatever shape is needed to challenge Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But now, off screen in a laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, researchers have found an ingenious way to coax metal alloys to solidify into a range of shapes as though they were plastics being molded - and thus create stronger products. And, as such, molded metal might someday be useful as structural components or as casings to protect laptops and smart phones, for example.
In the May 13 issue of Science, William L. Johnson, a professor of engineering and applied science at Caltech in Pasadena, along with colleagues, published a new, ultrafast method for heating and injecting a metallic alloy into a mold to create shapes.
"We use the method to create precision parts," he said. "The alloy can be squeezed into just about any shape you want, and it will be far stronger and stiffer than plastic."
Johnson and a co-author, Marios D. Demetriou, a senior research fellow at Caltech, have formed a company, Glassimetal Technology, and are setting up an engineering and prototype center in Pasadena to demonstrate the process, Johnson said.
The name "Glassimetal" refers to the alloys called metallic glasses or glassy metals that the company uses in its new manufacturing process. These metallic glasses were invented at Caltech just over 50 years ago, said A. Lindsay Greer, a professor of materials science at the University of Cambridge in England.
"Metallic glasses are materials with striking properties," he said. "They are quite hard, but also rather formable like plastics - an attractive combination."
Greer says the alloys have the disorderly atomic structure of glass, rather than the orderly one of conventional metals. This microstructure means that the alloys can do what glass does - congeal into a solid without crystallizing first, a property that gives both glass and these glassy alloys great inherent strength.
One company using glassy metals for its products is Metglas Inc., a unit of Hitachi Metals America, in Conway, S.C. Metglas supplies ribbon made of metallic glass used inside distribution transformers for electrical utilities, and within anti-theft devices placed on goods to set off an alarm at store exits, said Ryusuke Hasegawa, vice president for research.
Johnson's new method should make it possible to use the alloys to create a huge variety of shapes, Hasegawa said. "There will be many applications," he said. "With this process, you can make structural parts that are strong and hard."
Greer of Cambridge said metallic glasses like the zirconium-based one used by Johnson might raise the cost of manufacturing. "Because the alloys are expensive," Greer said, "these materials will probably be used mainly in niche applications where the benefits of the properties give you sufficiently better performance to justify the expense." But the manufacturing method Johnson has created could be economical enough to chip away at some of this extra expense, he said.
This manufacturing process overcomes a drawback of metallic glasses: They crystallize quickly when heated, losing the microstructure that makes them so strong. But Johnson's method is so quick that it circumvents the problem. The entire process of shaping and cooling takes two-hundredths of a second, so fast that the material turns viscous and can be molded without crystallization.
The rapid heating is done by passing an electric current through the alloy. "Nature has been kind here," Greer said of the process. "If you tried passing an electric current through most other materials besides metallic glasses, it probably wouldn't work."
Metals can't always compete - except, perhaps, in the movie "Terminator 2," where an evil android can promptly transform molten metal into whatever shape is needed to challenge Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But now, off screen in a laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, researchers have found an ingenious way to coax metal alloys to solidify into a range of shapes as though they were plastics being molded - and thus create stronger products. And, as such, molded metal might someday be useful as structural components or as casings to protect laptops and smart phones, for example.
In the May 13 issue of Science, William L. Johnson, a professor of engineering and applied science at Caltech in Pasadena, along with colleagues, published a new, ultrafast method for heating and injecting a metallic alloy into a mold to create shapes.
"We use the method to create precision parts," he said. "The alloy can be squeezed into just about any shape you want, and it will be far stronger and stiffer than plastic."
Johnson and a co-author, Marios D. Demetriou, a senior research fellow at Caltech, have formed a company, Glassimetal Technology, and are setting up an engineering and prototype center in Pasadena to demonstrate the process, Johnson said.
The name "Glassimetal" refers to the alloys called metallic glasses or glassy metals that the company uses in its new manufacturing process. These metallic glasses were invented at Caltech just over 50 years ago, said A. Lindsay Greer, a professor of materials science at the University of Cambridge in England.
"Metallic glasses are materials with striking properties," he said. "They are quite hard, but also rather formable like plastics - an attractive combination."
Greer says the alloys have the disorderly atomic structure of glass, rather than the orderly one of conventional metals. This microstructure means that the alloys can do what glass does - congeal into a solid without crystallizing first, a property that gives both glass and these glassy alloys great inherent strength.
One company using glassy metals for its products is Metglas Inc., a unit of Hitachi Metals America, in Conway, S.C. Metglas supplies ribbon made of metallic glass used inside distribution transformers for electrical utilities, and within anti-theft devices placed on goods to set off an alarm at store exits, said Ryusuke Hasegawa, vice president for research.
Johnson's new method should make it possible to use the alloys to create a huge variety of shapes, Hasegawa said. "There will be many applications," he said. "With this process, you can make structural parts that are strong and hard."
Greer of Cambridge said metallic glasses like the zirconium-based one used by Johnson might raise the cost of manufacturing. "Because the alloys are expensive," Greer said, "these materials will probably be used mainly in niche applications where the benefits of the properties give you sufficiently better performance to justify the expense." But the manufacturing method Johnson has created could be economical enough to chip away at some of this extra expense, he said.
This manufacturing process overcomes a drawback of metallic glasses: They crystallize quickly when heated, losing the microstructure that makes them so strong. But Johnson's method is so quick that it circumvents the problem. The entire process of shaping and cooling takes two-hundredths of a second, so fast that the material turns viscous and can be molded without crystallization.
The rapid heating is done by passing an electric current through the alloy. "Nature has been kind here," Greer said of the process. "If you tried passing an electric current through most other materials besides metallic glasses, it probably wouldn't work."
2011年6月15日星期三
Not the Ideal Business Partners
MANHATTAN (CN) - An art broker claims antique dealers tricked him into paying more than $20 million for bogus antiques and paintings - including phony paintings supposedly by Manet, Renoir and Monet - and stole $10 million worth of valuables from his office.
In his complaint in New York County Court, Alexander Komolov claims defendants David Segal and Mohamed Serry "were actively pursuing Komolov to utilize his reputation and connections among the buyers of art worldwide."
Komolov also sued Segal and Serry's shell companies Artique Multinational, Artique International and Segal & Segal Holding.
Komolov filed a similar complaint against Segal, Serry and several companies in November 2010.
According to the new complaint, Segal and Serry, who shared an office with Komolov, "represented to plaintiff that they had access to genuine and authentic paintings and antiques acquired through private and estate sales and auctions."
Komolov says that in the autumn of 2009 he paid $15 million for two oil paintings the defendants passed off as a genuine Manet and a Renoir.
He claims that Segal and Serry assured him that "The House of the Artist," supposedly by Edouard Manet, and "Girl in the Garden," attributed to Pierre-Augustine Renoir, were "original, genuine and authentic works by the respective artists."
(Renoir's original "Young Girl in the Garden at Mezy" and Manet's "The House at Rueil" were painted in the late 19th century. "The House at Rueil" is displayed at the National Gallery of Victoria, in Melbourne, Australia.)
Komolov claims that "in order to entice Komolov to purchase the paintings, Segal and Serry produced the paintings and the certificates of authenticity, both dated September 1998 ('certificates'), which were purportedly signed by Mr. Eduard Sebline from the Wildenstein Institute in Paris, a world-renowned art research center."
But an expert in Impressionist art told him the certificates were forged and the paintings not authentic, Komolov says.
He claims Segal and Serry had the signature and letterhead of a New York gallery forged, and used a forged certificate of authenticity to sell him what they called a Monet, for more than $4 million.
"The fraud was discovered when Komolov was reviewing the Christies' auction house November 2007 catalog, where the painting was identified as the artwork of another artist," the complaint states.
"Upon information and belief, this painting was the work of Ferdinand du Puigaudeau and was purchased by Serry from Sotheby's in November of 2007 for $51,400."
Komolov adds: "On or about March 2011, Komolov learned from Mr. Selvyn Paz, a former personal assistant to Serry, who swore in his affidavit that documents, such as certificates of authenticity, were prepared and concocted 'in-house' by Segal and Serry on a regular basis."
Komolov says he paid Segal and Serry another $1.5 million for fake Russian antiques, through Komolov's company High Value Trading, a co-plaintiff.
And after discovering that the paintings and antiques were fake, Segal and Serry refused to return his money, Komolov says.
To top it all, Komolov says, in March 2010, Segal and Serry took several valuable items from his office, including a sapphire ring, an emerald necklace, and two genuine paintings, by Picasso and Maurice Vlaminck, worth close to $10 million.
And he says Segal and Serry bought a condominium from his other co-plaintiff company, Alskom Realty, but failed to pay the balance of $4,059,000 due at closing.
In his complaint in New York County Court, Alexander Komolov claims defendants David Segal and Mohamed Serry "were actively pursuing Komolov to utilize his reputation and connections among the buyers of art worldwide."
Komolov also sued Segal and Serry's shell companies Artique Multinational, Artique International and Segal & Segal Holding.
Komolov filed a similar complaint against Segal, Serry and several companies in November 2010.
According to the new complaint, Segal and Serry, who shared an office with Komolov, "represented to plaintiff that they had access to genuine and authentic paintings and antiques acquired through private and estate sales and auctions."
Komolov says that in the autumn of 2009 he paid $15 million for two oil paintings the defendants passed off as a genuine Manet and a Renoir.
He claims that Segal and Serry assured him that "The House of the Artist," supposedly by Edouard Manet, and "Girl in the Garden," attributed to Pierre-Augustine Renoir, were "original, genuine and authentic works by the respective artists."
(Renoir's original "Young Girl in the Garden at Mezy" and Manet's "The House at Rueil" were painted in the late 19th century. "The House at Rueil" is displayed at the National Gallery of Victoria, in Melbourne, Australia.)
Komolov claims that "in order to entice Komolov to purchase the paintings, Segal and Serry produced the paintings and the certificates of authenticity, both dated September 1998 ('certificates'), which were purportedly signed by Mr. Eduard Sebline from the Wildenstein Institute in Paris, a world-renowned art research center."
But an expert in Impressionist art told him the certificates were forged and the paintings not authentic, Komolov says.
He claims Segal and Serry had the signature and letterhead of a New York gallery forged, and used a forged certificate of authenticity to sell him what they called a Monet, for more than $4 million.
"The fraud was discovered when Komolov was reviewing the Christies' auction house November 2007 catalog, where the painting was identified as the artwork of another artist," the complaint states.
"Upon information and belief, this painting was the work of Ferdinand du Puigaudeau and was purchased by Serry from Sotheby's in November of 2007 for $51,400."
Komolov adds: "On or about March 2011, Komolov learned from Mr. Selvyn Paz, a former personal assistant to Serry, who swore in his affidavit that documents, such as certificates of authenticity, were prepared and concocted 'in-house' by Segal and Serry on a regular basis."
Komolov says he paid Segal and Serry another $1.5 million for fake Russian antiques, through Komolov's company High Value Trading, a co-plaintiff.
And after discovering that the paintings and antiques were fake, Segal and Serry refused to return his money, Komolov says.
To top it all, Komolov says, in March 2010, Segal and Serry took several valuable items from his office, including a sapphire ring, an emerald necklace, and two genuine paintings, by Picasso and Maurice Vlaminck, worth close to $10 million.
And he says Segal and Serry bought a condominium from his other co-plaintiff company, Alskom Realty, but failed to pay the balance of $4,059,000 due at closing.
Czech art goes international
The days of Czech modern art being a quiet discovery on the international art market seemed to end quite definitively on June 13 following the auction of the Hascoe Family Collection at Sotheby’s in London. Initial estimates of around £5 million were shattered by overall sales of over £11.1 million. Tessa Kostrzewa, deputy director of European paintings at Sotheby’s in London, spoke to Czech Position about the milestone auction and the particular artists involved.
“The market for Czech art has really appreciated over the last year,” Kostrzewa said, adding that the quality and comprehensiveness of the Hascoe collection played a major role in the auction’s remarkable success. “Collections like this are very rare. You will have collections like this in the Czech Republic, but they are unlikely to come onto the international market.”
Since the auction Kostrzewa says that Sotheby’s has already been approached by owners of Czech art that likely were not previously aware of the value of the works in their possession. She says this is particularly the case for people outside the Czech Republic that might have inherited a painting by Kupka or Filla and have no idea that the nice painting on their wall is actually worth a fortune. “They don’t realize the value of Czech art and that the market has moved on,” she said.
Market movement
Not only was his work the headline sale in the auction, but Kostrzewa says that František Kupka was the key artist in the sale. There was a major price difference between the £1.5 million paid for “Movement” and a wide range of other Kupka works sold — a difference that comes down to the medium the artist worked in.
“From a collector’s point of view you have a vast difference between oil and works on paper,” Kostrzewa said. Then there are differences between varieties of works on paper, a drawing tending to be worth less than a pastel, for example. Then the question of the work’s condition comes into play as well. According to Kostrzewa, collectors of works on paper insist on very good condition.
Another artist whose works sold for considerably higher amounts than the estimates was Emil Filla, though Kostrzewa says this was less of a surprise than the record-high prices achieved in sales of paintings by Josef Čapek, whose works are extremely hard to come by on the international market.
A bright spot was Sotheby’s first time sale of works by František Foltýn, whose two top-selling paintings were estimated at between £120,000 and £180,000. In the end Foltýn’s “Imperialism” sold for £433,250 and his “Portrait of Dostoevsky” sold for £337,250.
Bohumír Matal’s painting “The Lovers” was estimated to sell at between £12,000 and £18,000, but ended up going for over £100,000. According to Kostrzewa there was no question of underestimating the artistic value of the painting, particularly considering the scarcity of his work available to collectors, but the lower estimate was due to the size of the canvas itself.
“As a rule of thumb with a four-meter long painting you are worried about finding a buyer with the necessary space to hang it in their home,” Kostrzewa said.
Another significant feature of the auction was the composition of buyers both in the room and on the phones. While a strong Czech element can be expected when a collection of this caliber like this becomes available Kostrzewa found the widespread international interest a vital signpost to how Czech art is looked at these days.
“There were a lot of Czech-speaking people in the room, but not only. It was truly international, at about 50/50. In a way it’s a landmark sale because it put Czech art in a very international setting” Kostrzewa said.
“The market for Czech art has really appreciated over the last year,” Kostrzewa said, adding that the quality and comprehensiveness of the Hascoe collection played a major role in the auction’s remarkable success. “Collections like this are very rare. You will have collections like this in the Czech Republic, but they are unlikely to come onto the international market.”
Since the auction Kostrzewa says that Sotheby’s has already been approached by owners of Czech art that likely were not previously aware of the value of the works in their possession. She says this is particularly the case for people outside the Czech Republic that might have inherited a painting by Kupka or Filla and have no idea that the nice painting on their wall is actually worth a fortune. “They don’t realize the value of Czech art and that the market has moved on,” she said.
Market movement
Not only was his work the headline sale in the auction, but Kostrzewa says that František Kupka was the key artist in the sale. There was a major price difference between the £1.5 million paid for “Movement” and a wide range of other Kupka works sold — a difference that comes down to the medium the artist worked in.
“From a collector’s point of view you have a vast difference between oil and works on paper,” Kostrzewa said. Then there are differences between varieties of works on paper, a drawing tending to be worth less than a pastel, for example. Then the question of the work’s condition comes into play as well. According to Kostrzewa, collectors of works on paper insist on very good condition.
Another artist whose works sold for considerably higher amounts than the estimates was Emil Filla, though Kostrzewa says this was less of a surprise than the record-high prices achieved in sales of paintings by Josef Čapek, whose works are extremely hard to come by on the international market.
A bright spot was Sotheby’s first time sale of works by František Foltýn, whose two top-selling paintings were estimated at between £120,000 and £180,000. In the end Foltýn’s “Imperialism” sold for £433,250 and his “Portrait of Dostoevsky” sold for £337,250.
Bohumír Matal’s painting “The Lovers” was estimated to sell at between £12,000 and £18,000, but ended up going for over £100,000. According to Kostrzewa there was no question of underestimating the artistic value of the painting, particularly considering the scarcity of his work available to collectors, but the lower estimate was due to the size of the canvas itself.
“As a rule of thumb with a four-meter long painting you are worried about finding a buyer with the necessary space to hang it in their home,” Kostrzewa said.
Another significant feature of the auction was the composition of buyers both in the room and on the phones. While a strong Czech element can be expected when a collection of this caliber like this becomes available Kostrzewa found the widespread international interest a vital signpost to how Czech art is looked at these days.
“There were a lot of Czech-speaking people in the room, but not only. It was truly international, at about 50/50. In a way it’s a landmark sale because it put Czech art in a very international setting” Kostrzewa said.
2011年6月12日星期日
Dan Howard exhibitions showcase his drawings, new paintings
Dan Howard has long been one of Lincoln's top painters -- an artist who for more than five decades has explored line and abstraction, realism and color, in distinctive, dynamic works.
This summer, Howard has a pair of simultaneous Lincoln exhibitions along with one yet to open in Omaha.
"Decisive Line: Drawings by Dan Howard" at the Sheldon Museum of Art showcases 17 works on paper and monochromatic oil paintings that Howard considers to be as much drawing as painting.
"Dan Howard: New Paintings 2008-2011" at Kiechel Fine Art is composed of 34 pieces that Howard has completed since his last exhibition in 2007, including an impressive 2011 series of biomorphic abstractions titled "By the Numbers."
The two exhibitions are complementary in multiple ways, each informing the other to provide insight into Howard's vision and artistic process.
For example, the graphite drawings and monochromatic oil of the "Colorado Postcard" series at Sheldon are linked to a pair of color paintings from the same grouping at Kiechel.
In the small sketches, Howard's use of pencil to capture form and detail becomes clear. The large monochromatic oil demonstrates his mastery of shape and rhythm and his use of material, which includes throwing turpentine on the painted canvas to create drips that easily link Howard's work to abstract expressionism.
The paintings, however, also are realist, as the Kiechel works show with weeds popping up on one of the images and letters from "Colorado" on the edges of the canvases.
The Sheldon exhibition features works in graphite, charcoal, pen and ink and oil. Each medium stands out in and of itself with Howard's hand and technique intentionally apparent.
"I use media as I think it is intended to be used," Howard said. "My charcoal drawings I want to have a charcoal look. I don't want it to look like anything else."
So the tooth of the paper can be seen through a light charcoal field in "Abstract Drawing Two," as can eraser marks, heavy layering and lines both solid and strong and light and variable contributing to the shapes that were based on a Robert Capa photo.
The Kiechel show finds a painter exploring color and abstraction. That is particularly true in the "Color Quartet" series, which takes abstract drawings, then turns them into single color paintings, a study in mauves, oranges, browns and, most strikingly, greens. That also holds true for the "By the Numbers" series, which uses the single color technique and incorporates each of the digits, often hiding them in the swirls and curves of the deftly handled paint.
Howard will turn 80 in August, and while neither show is retrospective, he revisits series he has created in more than 50 years of painting and drawing.
That includes the explosive "Out of this World: The Sequel," a link to his last series of paintings based on astronomic observations; "Ramblin' Wreck," an abstract expressionist take on a wrecked car that dates back to a 1960s series; and the dynamic "Variazone de Caravaggio: Finale," a piece that Howard claims is his final exploration of pieces of paintings by Italian master Caravaggio, who I know didn't include a slash of bright green through the darkness in the original.
Howard is primarily an abstract artist who incorporates realistic elements, such as buildings, rocks and landscapes, in his paintings. But figures pop up in the work as well, eye-catchingly so. Three such pieces, two at Kiechel and one at Sheldon, are particularly of note.
With "American Gothic Revisited (Homage to Grant Wood and Jack Levine)," Howard pays tribute to the two painters who influenced him -- Wood, the regionalist from his native Iowa, and satiric social realist Jack Levine, who died last year.
He does so by blowing up the faces from Wood's iconic "American Gothic" then giving them the hydrocephalic heads associated with Levine's work, all painted with dynamic brushwork that adds a looseness and new power to the familiar image.
In "Hail to the Chiefs: Full Throttle," made during the 2008 presidential campaign, Howard combines John Quincy Adams' forehead, Abraham Lincoln's eyes, James Madison's nose, John F. Kennedy's mouth and teeth and Andrew Jackson's chin and costume into a vibrantly colored composite portrait.
The piece at Sheldon ties directly to another of Howard's interests -- comic art. An admirer of comic strip and comic book art from his childhood days, Howard collected originals by the early masters of the work, donating them to Sheldon.
For "My Life: The Comic Strip," Howard made his first pen-and-ink self-portrait, then created a small comic he titled "Artistico," borrowing the byline style from "Dick Tracy" creator Chester Gould and some of the text from Hamlet's soliloquy.
The piece has comic-like panels. But a few lines escape the boxes as Howard puts his twist on the form, continuing to explore line, motion and their ability to visually captivate -- the theme that unifies his continually impressive work, no matter the medium.
This summer, Howard has a pair of simultaneous Lincoln exhibitions along with one yet to open in Omaha.
"Decisive Line: Drawings by Dan Howard" at the Sheldon Museum of Art showcases 17 works on paper and monochromatic oil paintings that Howard considers to be as much drawing as painting.
"Dan Howard: New Paintings 2008-2011" at Kiechel Fine Art is composed of 34 pieces that Howard has completed since his last exhibition in 2007, including an impressive 2011 series of biomorphic abstractions titled "By the Numbers."
The two exhibitions are complementary in multiple ways, each informing the other to provide insight into Howard's vision and artistic process.
For example, the graphite drawings and monochromatic oil of the "Colorado Postcard" series at Sheldon are linked to a pair of color paintings from the same grouping at Kiechel.
In the small sketches, Howard's use of pencil to capture form and detail becomes clear. The large monochromatic oil demonstrates his mastery of shape and rhythm and his use of material, which includes throwing turpentine on the painted canvas to create drips that easily link Howard's work to abstract expressionism.
The paintings, however, also are realist, as the Kiechel works show with weeds popping up on one of the images and letters from "Colorado" on the edges of the canvases.
The Sheldon exhibition features works in graphite, charcoal, pen and ink and oil. Each medium stands out in and of itself with Howard's hand and technique intentionally apparent.
"I use media as I think it is intended to be used," Howard said. "My charcoal drawings I want to have a charcoal look. I don't want it to look like anything else."
So the tooth of the paper can be seen through a light charcoal field in "Abstract Drawing Two," as can eraser marks, heavy layering and lines both solid and strong and light and variable contributing to the shapes that were based on a Robert Capa photo.
The Kiechel show finds a painter exploring color and abstraction. That is particularly true in the "Color Quartet" series, which takes abstract drawings, then turns them into single color paintings, a study in mauves, oranges, browns and, most strikingly, greens. That also holds true for the "By the Numbers" series, which uses the single color technique and incorporates each of the digits, often hiding them in the swirls and curves of the deftly handled paint.
Howard will turn 80 in August, and while neither show is retrospective, he revisits series he has created in more than 50 years of painting and drawing.
That includes the explosive "Out of this World: The Sequel," a link to his last series of paintings based on astronomic observations; "Ramblin' Wreck," an abstract expressionist take on a wrecked car that dates back to a 1960s series; and the dynamic "Variazone de Caravaggio: Finale," a piece that Howard claims is his final exploration of pieces of paintings by Italian master Caravaggio, who I know didn't include a slash of bright green through the darkness in the original.
Howard is primarily an abstract artist who incorporates realistic elements, such as buildings, rocks and landscapes, in his paintings. But figures pop up in the work as well, eye-catchingly so. Three such pieces, two at Kiechel and one at Sheldon, are particularly of note.
With "American Gothic Revisited (Homage to Grant Wood and Jack Levine)," Howard pays tribute to the two painters who influenced him -- Wood, the regionalist from his native Iowa, and satiric social realist Jack Levine, who died last year.
He does so by blowing up the faces from Wood's iconic "American Gothic" then giving them the hydrocephalic heads associated with Levine's work, all painted with dynamic brushwork that adds a looseness and new power to the familiar image.
In "Hail to the Chiefs: Full Throttle," made during the 2008 presidential campaign, Howard combines John Quincy Adams' forehead, Abraham Lincoln's eyes, James Madison's nose, John F. Kennedy's mouth and teeth and Andrew Jackson's chin and costume into a vibrantly colored composite portrait.
The piece at Sheldon ties directly to another of Howard's interests -- comic art. An admirer of comic strip and comic book art from his childhood days, Howard collected originals by the early masters of the work, donating them to Sheldon.
For "My Life: The Comic Strip," Howard made his first pen-and-ink self-portrait, then created a small comic he titled "Artistico," borrowing the byline style from "Dick Tracy" creator Chester Gould and some of the text from Hamlet's soliloquy.
The piece has comic-like panels. But a few lines escape the boxes as Howard puts his twist on the form, continuing to explore line, motion and their ability to visually captivate -- the theme that unifies his continually impressive work, no matter the medium.
Palestinian artist unveils world's largest oil painting
Palestinian artist, Jamal Badwan unveiled the world's largest oil painting.
It was put on display in Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where Badwan has been living for the last twenty years.
The painting, twenty meters long and fifteen meters wide is expected to enter the Guinness Book of Records and to break the previous record, held by a Dutch Artist.
The painting, he says is trying to express the idea of equality of all people in the world.
One interesting point in this piece, which has gained much attention, is the paintings by children with different nationality.
The painting has cost the artist, four years of time, about $ 65,000 in cash and half a tone of oils.
The painting have already grabbed the headlines across the globe with many countries including Russia, Belarus, United Arab Emirate and Holland inviting Jamal Badwan to show the piece in their country.
It was put on display in Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where Badwan has been living for the last twenty years.
The painting, twenty meters long and fifteen meters wide is expected to enter the Guinness Book of Records and to break the previous record, held by a Dutch Artist.
The painting, he says is trying to express the idea of equality of all people in the world.
One interesting point in this piece, which has gained much attention, is the paintings by children with different nationality.
The painting has cost the artist, four years of time, about $ 65,000 in cash and half a tone of oils.
The painting have already grabbed the headlines across the globe with many countries including Russia, Belarus, United Arab Emirate and Holland inviting Jamal Badwan to show the piece in their country.
2011年6月8日星期三
Fionna's oil painting...with a difference
The artist had to endure the rigours of an oil industry survival course before starting a series of portraits on various people who have played leading roles in the history of North Sea exploration.
The completed collection was yesterday being installed at the Scottish Parliament, where it is it being exhibited.
Energy: North Sea Portraits is a collaboration between the artist, the National Galleries of Scotland and the oil exploration company, Total.
The 24 subjects come from a variety of countries, backgrounds, disciplines and oil companies and range from geologists and platform workers to the doctor and clergyman who provide care to workers in the industry.
Canteen lady Jean Stephen, who served coffee and tea to staff at Total's Altens of?ce near Aberdeen for 29 years, is also depicted, and her portrait hangs alongside First Minister Alex Salmond and Lord Cullen, who chaired the inquiry following the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988.
Wick-born Carlisle, who famously painted Robin Cook in the months before his death in August 2005, took more than 18 months to complete the works, some of which were painted on offshore platforms.
The collection, which has since been exhibited in Total headquarters in Paris, the European Parliament in Brussels and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, is being show at the Scottish Parliament to mark the 50th anniversary of Spinal Injuries Scotland, of which Carlisle is a patron, and to highlight the work of the Juvenile Diabetes Defence Foundation.
Carlisle said: "I had to go through a four-day survival course because I was to spend five to six days offshore. It wasn't much fun, walking through fires and being thrown into the sea in a simulated helicopter crash.
"But it was a fantastic opportunity as I had always wanted to visit offshore. I was incredibly impressed by the people I met. I made connections with these people, there is always a bond you form with a sitter.
"I have never worked so fast in my life as there is limited time offshore. Some of the portraits were completed in a long weekend.
The completed collection was yesterday being installed at the Scottish Parliament, where it is it being exhibited.
Energy: North Sea Portraits is a collaboration between the artist, the National Galleries of Scotland and the oil exploration company, Total.
The 24 subjects come from a variety of countries, backgrounds, disciplines and oil companies and range from geologists and platform workers to the doctor and clergyman who provide care to workers in the industry.
Canteen lady Jean Stephen, who served coffee and tea to staff at Total's Altens of?ce near Aberdeen for 29 years, is also depicted, and her portrait hangs alongside First Minister Alex Salmond and Lord Cullen, who chaired the inquiry following the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988.
Wick-born Carlisle, who famously painted Robin Cook in the months before his death in August 2005, took more than 18 months to complete the works, some of which were painted on offshore platforms.
The collection, which has since been exhibited in Total headquarters in Paris, the European Parliament in Brussels and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, is being show at the Scottish Parliament to mark the 50th anniversary of Spinal Injuries Scotland, of which Carlisle is a patron, and to highlight the work of the Juvenile Diabetes Defence Foundation.
Carlisle said: "I had to go through a four-day survival course because I was to spend five to six days offshore. It wasn't much fun, walking through fires and being thrown into the sea in a simulated helicopter crash.
"But it was a fantastic opportunity as I had always wanted to visit offshore. I was incredibly impressed by the people I met. I made connections with these people, there is always a bond you form with a sitter.
"I have never worked so fast in my life as there is limited time offshore. Some of the portraits were completed in a long weekend.
Business Profile: Springsteel Gallery
Springsteel Art Gallery in Greenport exhibits original paintings and sculptures by owner Bernard Springsteel, with a guest artist or photographer featured every month.
“My watercolor and oil paintings reflect somewhat different themes, but nevertheless reflect the world as it is and particularly the way it was before us,” Mr. Springsteel said. “I particularly like to find old homes and watercraft that have seen the test of time and now make a statement of their antiquity. The light and shadow of these old structures really whet my appetite for their beauty of form. I have found that painting places I have traveled to has added a rich addition to my work and makes me part of a tradition of artists who traveled and painted.”
With a bachelor’s of fine arts degree from Pratt Institute and 30 years’ experience as an art director in magazine and book publishing, Mr. Springsteel began a fine arts career after many years of working with other artists and photographers. “This had given me a rich background in the arts, and I now devote my time to watercolors, oils and sculpture,” he said. “Having all this time to concentrate on these crafts is a gift of life, after so many years of working for publishing houses.”
The techniques of figurative sculpture and bas relief are thousands of years old, and are little changed except for the introduction of synthetics. “This and the fact that artists continue to pursue this form speaks for its reason to always be a legitimate art form,” said Mr. Springsteel. “Mankind does not become modern. He perpetuates as did early man. So too, figurative art is not an abstraction but a real mirror of the generations.
“The best description of my sculptural work is contemporary figurative and classical in scope, dealing with mythological and thematic figures, sometimes with humor,” he added. “The classical human form and the relationships between humans intrigue me. Having been to many museums in the world, I have always been struck with the figure and how it has come down chronicled by art through the ages.”
“My watercolor and oil paintings reflect somewhat different themes, but nevertheless reflect the world as it is and particularly the way it was before us,” Mr. Springsteel said. “I particularly like to find old homes and watercraft that have seen the test of time and now make a statement of their antiquity. The light and shadow of these old structures really whet my appetite for their beauty of form. I have found that painting places I have traveled to has added a rich addition to my work and makes me part of a tradition of artists who traveled and painted.”
With a bachelor’s of fine arts degree from Pratt Institute and 30 years’ experience as an art director in magazine and book publishing, Mr. Springsteel began a fine arts career after many years of working with other artists and photographers. “This had given me a rich background in the arts, and I now devote my time to watercolors, oils and sculpture,” he said. “Having all this time to concentrate on these crafts is a gift of life, after so many years of working for publishing houses.”
The techniques of figurative sculpture and bas relief are thousands of years old, and are little changed except for the introduction of synthetics. “This and the fact that artists continue to pursue this form speaks for its reason to always be a legitimate art form,” said Mr. Springsteel. “Mankind does not become modern. He perpetuates as did early man. So too, figurative art is not an abstraction but a real mirror of the generations.
“The best description of my sculptural work is contemporary figurative and classical in scope, dealing with mythological and thematic figures, sometimes with humor,” he added. “The classical human form and the relationships between humans intrigue me. Having been to many museums in the world, I have always been struck with the figure and how it has come down chronicled by art through the ages.”
2011年6月6日星期一
Sotheby's in London Sells a Group of Paintings by Vereschagin for $5.7 Million
Tonight, in Sotheby’s Evening Sale of Important Russian Paintings a group of works by renowned Russian master Vasily Vasilievich Vereschagin of Russian, Indian and Balkan scenes brought the well above-expectations combined total of £3.7 / $5.7 million (pre-sale estimate for the group: £1.2-1.9/$1.9-3.1 million). The top-selling lot of this group also set a new auction record for the artist.
Headlining the evening auction and this component of the sale was Vasily Vasilievich Vereschagin's oil on canvas The Taj Mahal, Evening, which is one of the most important works to have resulted from Vereschagin's trip to India from 1874 to 1876. This museum quality painting witnessed intense competition for several minutes from no fewer than four clients in the saleroom and on the telephone banks. Setting a new record for the artist at auction, the work finally sold to a round of applause for £2,281,250 ($3,749,919) to an anonymous buyer on the telephone.
Commenting on the sale of this remarkable offering, Jo Vickery, Senior Director and Head of the Russian Art Department , said: “It has been a huge privilege to bring to the market such a number of highly desirable and quality works by this renowned Russian Master, Vereschagin. The international competition for these works in this evening’s sale is enduring testament to this artist’s output and the quality of the works on offer, which saw huge interest pre-sale. We are also thrilled to have set a new record for the artist at auction with the £2.2 million price achieved for his The Taj Mahal, Evening.”
The second highest price of the group was paid for Vereschagin’s oil on canvas On Campaign realised 481,250 ($791,079) against an estimate of £400,000-600,000 and the artist’s oil on canvas The Chief Mosque in Futtehpore Sikri, far surpassed pre-sale expectations of £80,000-120,000, bringing £373,250 ($613,548).
Headlining the evening auction and this component of the sale was Vasily Vasilievich Vereschagin's oil on canvas The Taj Mahal, Evening, which is one of the most important works to have resulted from Vereschagin's trip to India from 1874 to 1876. This museum quality painting witnessed intense competition for several minutes from no fewer than four clients in the saleroom and on the telephone banks. Setting a new record for the artist at auction, the work finally sold to a round of applause for £2,281,250 ($3,749,919) to an anonymous buyer on the telephone.
Commenting on the sale of this remarkable offering, Jo Vickery, Senior Director and Head of the Russian Art Department , said: “It has been a huge privilege to bring to the market such a number of highly desirable and quality works by this renowned Russian Master, Vereschagin. The international competition for these works in this evening’s sale is enduring testament to this artist’s output and the quality of the works on offer, which saw huge interest pre-sale. We are also thrilled to have set a new record for the artist at auction with the £2.2 million price achieved for his The Taj Mahal, Evening.”
The second highest price of the group was paid for Vereschagin’s oil on canvas On Campaign realised 481,250 ($791,079) against an estimate of £400,000-600,000 and the artist’s oil on canvas The Chief Mosque in Futtehpore Sikri, far surpassed pre-sale expectations of £80,000-120,000, bringing £373,250 ($613,548).
Getting ventilation right
Despite huge advances in technology in the last 15 years, stockmen and women still have the most influence in determining the success or failure of ventilation systems in piggeries, Hugh Crabtree, managing director of Berkshire-based Farmex told a meeting of the Pig Veterinary Society at Newcastle Upon Tyne.
As an example, he showed the differences in energy use between four batches of pigs in a brand-new nursery house incorporating the latest building materials and ventilation systems. "Real-time monitoring showed that energy use varied between 10.2 kWh per pig to 3.7 kWh per pig giving a range in annual costs from £12,546 to £4,706, while CO2 output ranged from 77 to 28.9 tonnes per year," he said.
Mr Crabtree also highlighted the fact that global warming means that a typical UK ambient temperature design range of -5ºC- 24ºC is steadily becoming outdated. UK systems can operate across am ambient temperature range of -10ºC-14ºC but, as soon as it gets above 14ºC outside, systems will be out of control, unless facilities such as misters or evaporative cooling are used.
He also pointed out that, with rising energy costs, it would be reasonable to expect a revival in interest in ACNV (automatically controlled natural ventilation). But when it comes to efficient, sustainable pork production, taking into account the pig’s growth rate and feed conversion as well as low greenhouse gas emissions, a well-designed and monitored fan system holds sway.
"It is worth remembering that even in 2011, most pigs in the UK are finished in naturally-ventilated confinement systems and the majority of these are uncontrolled. How much longer this can be sustained in a volatile commodities market, remains to be seen," he said.
As an example, he showed the differences in energy use between four batches of pigs in a brand-new nursery house incorporating the latest building materials and ventilation systems. "Real-time monitoring showed that energy use varied between 10.2 kWh per pig to 3.7 kWh per pig giving a range in annual costs from £12,546 to £4,706, while CO2 output ranged from 77 to 28.9 tonnes per year," he said.
Mr Crabtree also highlighted the fact that global warming means that a typical UK ambient temperature design range of -5ºC- 24ºC is steadily becoming outdated. UK systems can operate across am ambient temperature range of -10ºC-14ºC but, as soon as it gets above 14ºC outside, systems will be out of control, unless facilities such as misters or evaporative cooling are used.
He also pointed out that, with rising energy costs, it would be reasonable to expect a revival in interest in ACNV (automatically controlled natural ventilation). But when it comes to efficient, sustainable pork production, taking into account the pig’s growth rate and feed conversion as well as low greenhouse gas emissions, a well-designed and monitored fan system holds sway.
"It is worth remembering that even in 2011, most pigs in the UK are finished in naturally-ventilated confinement systems and the majority of these are uncontrolled. How much longer this can be sustained in a volatile commodities market, remains to be seen," he said.
2011年6月1日星期三
Garden City High School and Waldorf School Students in 'An Artistic Discovery'
The Gallery at Adelphi University’s Ruth S. Harley University Center was filled with interesting characters on May 25.
Malcolm X was at the reception and so was Naomi Cho- in two dimensions.
“Malcolm X” quietly studied gallery-goers as they arrived at the show. Dakota Foca, an eleventh grader from Oceanside High School used pencil, his favorite medium, to draw an uncanny likeness of the advocate for African-American rights.
Cho drew a delightful “Self-Portrait” in charcoal. She’s a junior from G.W. Hewlett High School. She won second place with a $3,000 Adelphi scholarship.
Every year since 1998, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy hosts “An Artistic Discovery” show as part of the congressional art competition. Only three entrants per school in McCarthy’s 15 school districts are allowed to participate, so only the best of high school artists are displayed each May at Adelphi.
Garden City was represented with the work of Garden City High School students Kylie Mara, Tiffany Liang and Jia Stella Kelleher. At The Waldorf School of Garden City, the three artists were Elena Su, Danielle Herscho and Sophia Trikas.
Mara, a sophomore, entered the oil, “Bloom What You Planted.” Liang, also a tenth grader, submitted the acrylic, “The World Behind My Wall” with a self-portrait in the middle while Kelleher, a junior, sent in “Belle’s Colors,” a pastel.
Mara combined two reference photos to create her painting. She said, ”I love being in the show. There are lots of good pieces.”
Loreen McMahon, art teacher at the high school, has taught all three talented artists. “Kylie was in my sculpture class in the fall, in which she also excelled. She is a lovely young lady who spends much of her free time sketching and drawing ‘for the fun of it.’ Tiffany was also in my fall sculpture class. Very sweet and kind in disposition, she also did some beautiful work with a great eye and attention to detail. Jia is a junior in Art 3 with me currently. She likes to think outside the box and can be very creative. She has a painterly hand and is pursuing entrance to a summer pre-college art program at Alfred University,” she commented.
Art teacher Diane Veitch concurred: “These three girls are terrific students. They are determined and dedicated and they love what they do. That's what makes them so successful.”
Su, a junior at Waldorf School, entered “Paper Spiral,” which is reminiscent of Edward Ruscha while Herscho, a Waldorf senior, painted an acrylic on paper entitled “Solo in Red.” Trikas, a sophomore at Waldorf, drew “Butterfly” in pastel.
Richard Vaux, former director of exhibitions, congratulated everyone on the show “being one of the best." "Adelphi is a thriving university with a thriving art department.," he said. "We are selective in who comes here. We see 200 portfolios a year and only pick 45. It is an exceptional art program on Long Island.” He also acknowledged the art teachers and parents who contributed to the artists’ endeavors.
Shane Swords, a junior from Valley Stream South High School, won the grand prize - a $7,000 art scholarship to Adelphi - with “Check Me Out,” a unique digital collage, although his favorite medium is drawing. His work will travel to Washington, D.C. where it will remain on view in Congress for a year with grand prize winning pieces from other districts.
Alexa Pattek, a junior from H. Frank Carey High School, won the first place Award of Merit for “Blinded By Greed,” an excellent graphite drawing inspired by a class project with art teacher Gina Curiale on one of the seven deadly sins.
Second Award of Merit winner Emily DiDominica, a senior from Oceanside High School, won with her Photo-shopped digital photo entitled “Behind Closed Doors.” She won a $5,000 scholarship, which will come in handy as she starts at Adelphi this fall.
Other $3,000 Award of Achievement prize winners were: Taylor Fillipi, a sophomore at Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park, for “Hey!” and Casey Gioe, a junior at East Rockaway High School in East Rockaway, for “Portrait of Marcelo.”
“Overall, the annual event is a great venue for the students to display their artwork. It is sized so that it isn't too overwhelming…It is more personal with the students able to meet the college administrators, as well as Congresswoman McCarthy's representative. Professor Vaux is a celebrated artist in his own right and much loved professor at Adelphi University,” added McMahon, a former student of Vaux.
Malcolm X was at the reception and so was Naomi Cho- in two dimensions.
“Malcolm X” quietly studied gallery-goers as they arrived at the show. Dakota Foca, an eleventh grader from Oceanside High School used pencil, his favorite medium, to draw an uncanny likeness of the advocate for African-American rights.
Cho drew a delightful “Self-Portrait” in charcoal. She’s a junior from G.W. Hewlett High School. She won second place with a $3,000 Adelphi scholarship.
Every year since 1998, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy hosts “An Artistic Discovery” show as part of the congressional art competition. Only three entrants per school in McCarthy’s 15 school districts are allowed to participate, so only the best of high school artists are displayed each May at Adelphi.
Garden City was represented with the work of Garden City High School students Kylie Mara, Tiffany Liang and Jia Stella Kelleher. At The Waldorf School of Garden City, the three artists were Elena Su, Danielle Herscho and Sophia Trikas.
Mara, a sophomore, entered the oil, “Bloom What You Planted.” Liang, also a tenth grader, submitted the acrylic, “The World Behind My Wall” with a self-portrait in the middle while Kelleher, a junior, sent in “Belle’s Colors,” a pastel.
Mara combined two reference photos to create her painting. She said, ”I love being in the show. There are lots of good pieces.”
Loreen McMahon, art teacher at the high school, has taught all three talented artists. “Kylie was in my sculpture class in the fall, in which she also excelled. She is a lovely young lady who spends much of her free time sketching and drawing ‘for the fun of it.’ Tiffany was also in my fall sculpture class. Very sweet and kind in disposition, she also did some beautiful work with a great eye and attention to detail. Jia is a junior in Art 3 with me currently. She likes to think outside the box and can be very creative. She has a painterly hand and is pursuing entrance to a summer pre-college art program at Alfred University,” she commented.
Art teacher Diane Veitch concurred: “These three girls are terrific students. They are determined and dedicated and they love what they do. That's what makes them so successful.”
Su, a junior at Waldorf School, entered “Paper Spiral,” which is reminiscent of Edward Ruscha while Herscho, a Waldorf senior, painted an acrylic on paper entitled “Solo in Red.” Trikas, a sophomore at Waldorf, drew “Butterfly” in pastel.
Richard Vaux, former director of exhibitions, congratulated everyone on the show “being one of the best." "Adelphi is a thriving university with a thriving art department.," he said. "We are selective in who comes here. We see 200 portfolios a year and only pick 45. It is an exceptional art program on Long Island.” He also acknowledged the art teachers and parents who contributed to the artists’ endeavors.
Shane Swords, a junior from Valley Stream South High School, won the grand prize - a $7,000 art scholarship to Adelphi - with “Check Me Out,” a unique digital collage, although his favorite medium is drawing. His work will travel to Washington, D.C. where it will remain on view in Congress for a year with grand prize winning pieces from other districts.
Alexa Pattek, a junior from H. Frank Carey High School, won the first place Award of Merit for “Blinded By Greed,” an excellent graphite drawing inspired by a class project with art teacher Gina Curiale on one of the seven deadly sins.
Second Award of Merit winner Emily DiDominica, a senior from Oceanside High School, won with her Photo-shopped digital photo entitled “Behind Closed Doors.” She won a $5,000 scholarship, which will come in handy as she starts at Adelphi this fall.
Other $3,000 Award of Achievement prize winners were: Taylor Fillipi, a sophomore at Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park, for “Hey!” and Casey Gioe, a junior at East Rockaway High School in East Rockaway, for “Portrait of Marcelo.”
“Overall, the annual event is a great venue for the students to display their artwork. It is sized so that it isn't too overwhelming…It is more personal with the students able to meet the college administrators, as well as Congresswoman McCarthy's representative. Professor Vaux is a celebrated artist in his own right and much loved professor at Adelphi University,” added McMahon, a former student of Vaux.
Dane G. Hansen Memorial Museum to host oil painting workshop
The Dane G. Hansen Memorial Museum takes great pride in hosting a four day painting workshop with David Vollbracht.
Vollbracht will be instructing the class at the Dane G. Hansen Museum, 110 W. Main, Logan, Kansas. These classes will be held July 13 through 16, and will run from 9 a.m. till 4 p.m. with a one hour break for lunch.
The classes are sponsored through the Hansen Museum Continued Education Program and offered at reduced rates to the public. Cost of the workshop is $150.00 with discounts available for Hansen Museum members.
Intermediate and advanced artists may call it for more information or to register by phone.
Vollbracht is a representational landscape painter of the west. His work reflects the quality of light, nature and spirit drawn from the land. For many years he has made trips to various parts of the west to gather reference material for realistic impressions created primarily in oil.
He lives in Medicine Lodge, Kansas and has earned a degree in art from Fort Hays State University.
Vollbracht will be instructing the class at the Dane G. Hansen Museum, 110 W. Main, Logan, Kansas. These classes will be held July 13 through 16, and will run from 9 a.m. till 4 p.m. with a one hour break for lunch.
The classes are sponsored through the Hansen Museum Continued Education Program and offered at reduced rates to the public. Cost of the workshop is $150.00 with discounts available for Hansen Museum members.
Intermediate and advanced artists may call it for more information or to register by phone.
Vollbracht is a representational landscape painter of the west. His work reflects the quality of light, nature and spirit drawn from the land. For many years he has made trips to various parts of the west to gather reference material for realistic impressions created primarily in oil.
He lives in Medicine Lodge, Kansas and has earned a degree in art from Fort Hays State University.
订阅：
博文 (Atom)