Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
This will be an early Flickr as I’m taking a friend out for the day.
Had a bit of an unintentional adventure this week on the day I walked up to Sotheby’s. On my way home I wound up at the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, New Jersey which is 11 miles away from my house . Why did I go to the Willowbrook mall? That’s where you go when you go to the Port Authority bus terminal, walk up the stairs of the platform next to the one you want and then get on the bus that arrives without paying attention to where it’s going. How did I do that? Absolutely beats the hell out of me although in retrospect I realize I was distracted by a couple hesitating before walking up the steps. In 40 years of commuting this is the second time I’ve wound up on the wrong bus. The first time was close to 40 years ago in a terrible snowstorm when I took the wrong bus, and wound up trudging, probably a mile, through a foot of snow to get back to where I wanted to be. I’d say this was a senior moment but that would leave me with no excuse for the error 40 years ago. What I don’t understand is that I gave the driver a bus ticket for zone 3 and the Mall is zone 6 and he just accepted it. The drivers always ask riders where they’re going if their ticket doesn’t cover the fare so I don’t know if he was just being nice to me as I’m an old man or what he was thinking but I wish he had questioned me. Once at the mall I didn’t want to have to go back into the City and then return to NJ on the right bus and I knew there was a bus that would take me to my town. So I found the bus stop and checked the schedule which told me I had just missed the bus and the next one would be in an hour. I texted the bus stop number and it didn’t show my bus on the schedule which concerned me. So I used my cellphone to make a call to NJ Transit, the first call I’ve ever made, which was unsatisfactory for different reasons but she did tell me the bus would arrive. When I boarded the bus the driver asked me if I was the customer who had called and when I said yes, she told me I didn’t have to pay as the agent had spoken with her and told her I had taken the wrong bus. Using the cellphone wasn’t easy for me and I couldn’t figure out how to disconnect when the call ended. Later on I looked at the manual and it said there is an end call icon to click on which I did not see on my phone but that may have had something to do with the fact that I was outside and it was sunny. I was very happy to be home albeit two hours later than I expected.
Aside from that it was a successful morning as I saw a number of very nice things which I’ll discuss now.
These were the American auction previews at both houses and there were many familiar names.
Sotheby’s had 13 Norman Rockwell’s up for auction while Christie’s had three. I liked them all but I’ll just link to a few.
Tender Years: Mowing the Lawn – Of the three this was the one that went for the least but I thought it the most evocative.
https://tinyurl.com/yad23yqc BLACKSMITH’S BOY – This is one of the notorious paintings from the Berkshire museum which had to fight to be allowed to put it up for auction. I wrote about this last year.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/american-art-n09867/lot.43.html OVERHEARD LOVERS – Like Mowing the Lawn, this was a Saturday Evening Post cover.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/american-art-n09867/lot.58.html There were two sketches by Edward Hopper at the Sotheby’s auction preview and I didn’t really think that much of them being very rough sketches. But apparently they are very significant and Sotheby’s has a long essay on Hopper and how he influenced photography. The drawings are from the collection of Steve Martin. This is a link to the essay.
https://tinyurl.com/y9x6ma6e STUDY FOR 'SUMMER EVENING'
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/american-art-n09867/lot.10.html STUDY FOR 'A WOMAN IN THE SUN'
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/american-art-n09867/lot.12.html Frederic Edwin Church - VALLEY OF SANTA ISABEL, NEW GRANADA – Another Berkshire painting and I can’t believe the museum felt it could let this go as it’s a fabulous, “Edenic landscape suffused in warm light and imbued with tranquility.” Very atmospheric with the sun shining down and showing its reflection in the water. Probably the best painting in the auction in my estimation and I was stunned when I saw that it hadn't sold.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/american-art-n09867/lot.64.html Winslow Homer – BOYS FISHING, GLOUCESTER HARBOR - There were three lovely watercolors, I would be happy to see any of them hanging on my wall so I’ll just pick this one as I like what I take to be smoke from the chimney of the boat off in the distance.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/american-art-n09867/lot.33.html Albert Bierstadt – There were three at Christie’s and two at Sotheby’s, four being typical of his landscapes but the fifth was a style I had never seen before.
Island in the Lake – This is typical and I love it for the lighting effects and the clouds and the water.
https://tinyurl.com/ycn8msjj VIEW OF NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS – This is just very different, manicured foliage, much more civilized, a marina rather than a wild untamed landscape. Lovely but very different.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/american-art-n09867/lot.71.html Thomas Moran - There were five at Christie’s and one at Sotheby’s. Several of the Christie’s were online auctions. All were excellent and it’s hard to choose so I’ll just pick two.
The Lagoon – Like others, this one is very much in the style of Turner.
https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/The-Lagoon--Venice/7DAA4714854649D3 A SHOWERY DAY, GRAND CANYON – This one more in the style of the Hudson River artists, a magnificent landscape.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/american-art-n09867/lot.50.html Andrew Wyeth – Six from Sotheby’s and two from Christie’s. I like them all so I’ll just pick this one.
PERPETUAL CARE – Always something eerie about a graveyard and the title seems to be mocking with the overgrown weeds and wilted flowers.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/american-art-n09867/lot.28.html A few artists new to me.
William Henry Lippincott - Nantucket Beach, Idle Hours – A simple tranquil beach scene of a type like Eugene Boudin, someone I enjoy, would paint.
https://tinyurl.com/ycjl5mjy William J. McCloskey - Wrapped Oranges – If you read the lot essay you will see that McCloskey was a student of Thomas Eakins who in his class would have advised, "Paint an orange. After you have it done, introduce a white thing...Take an egg or an orange, a piece of black cloth, and a piece of white paper and try to get the light and color." He really captures the paper and the texture of the fruit and the colorful orange is set off by the black background.
https://tinyurl.com/ydysnrat Lilian Westcott Hale - Portrait of a Woman – I was taken by this simple pencil and charcoal sketch and the lot essay says she was considered a consummate portraitist.
https://tinyurl.com/yd2qtbrn James Fairman - JERUSALEM FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES – The European auctions were held at the same time and while there were no blockbusters and really not a lot of well-known artists there were some things that I really enjoyed. Fairman was actually an American. I thought this a beautiful landscape that shone out from the sunlight on Jerusalem from the great distance.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/european-art-n09869/lot.55.html John Atkinson Grimshaw - OCTOBER GOLD – It’s not as apparent on the web but this painting had a wonderful glow as well and it’s such an intricate representation of the foliage.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/european-art-n09869/lot.37.html It was also Masters week and while there was really nothing of note from the U.S. auction there was a floor with a number of items from the London auction scheduled for July. This is a link to a slideshow where you can see many brilliant paintings.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/slideshows/2018/old-master-highlights-on-view.html#slideshow/2018.old-master-highlights-on-view/2 One of the paintings in the slide show is by Jacob Ochtervelt and this is another essay from Sotheby’s on the painting and he. I thought it marvelous, it very much reminded me of Gerard Ter Borch, another of the Dutch Masters I’m so fond of. My brother tells me that while Ochtervelt’s are as widespread in the United States there are many in Holland. This is a very good one.
Restituted Ochtervelt Masterpiece Makes Auction Debut in London
https://tinyurl.com/ycpquhmv This is a link to all the objects in the American auctions, Christie’s first followed by Sotheby’s, noting their realized sale prices.
https://tinyurl.com/ycyacr32http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2018/american-art-n09867.htmlNow if you still have a Flickr of interest let’s see what other pictures we found.
Andy G.
IMG_4608
https://www.flickr.com/photos/15392928@N00/22308382763/Susan with her dolly
https://www.flickr.com/photos/132609775@N03/17179255891/sissy maid at work
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sissymaid/41400940071/ You got me covered
https://www.flickr.com/photos/132909105@N08/27798100189/As a sexy bride last night at translivings event in Bournemouth
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ninajay/38783256971/in/Portrait of John Hunter in the J.C. Williamson presentation of The Kiwis, 1953(3)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/13026340@N00/24534538347/Rafia T
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rafiats/39837724524/Calli at Macy's
https://www.flickr.com/photos/51217754@N06/5322117600/Facial Expression ;-)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/amberjolake/26513537227/Why less is more
https://www.flickr.com/photos/20966733@N00/40564219015/
Betty's Pub 20.1
Topic: Can it be the Spring Flickr when there’s still snow on the ground? (Read 14677 times)
