First steps in a distinguished career in American art with Ellery Kurtz

Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemiszra
Madrid, Spain

THE THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA COLLECTION WAS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTIONS OF PAINTINGS OF THE 20^THCENTURY AND ITS HISTORY IS A FASCINATING ONE. ALTHOUGH ORIGINALLY A PRIVATE COLLECTION, TODAY IT BELONGS TO THE SPANISH PUBLIC AFTER ITS ACQUISITION BY THE GOVERNMENT IN 1993, JUST A YEAR AFTER THE MUSEUM OPENED. IN 2004, A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE CARMEN THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA COLLECTION WAS ADDED TO IT; A COLLECTION OF OVER TWO HUNDRED WORKS THAT ADD TO THE EXAMPLES OF ARTISTIC STYLES AND GENRES OF THE PERMANENT COLLECTION.

THE ADDITION OF THE THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA MUSEUM CREATED ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CONCENTRATIONS OF ART IN THE WORLD IN THE VERY HEART OF MADRID; WITH THE PRADO MUSEUM AND THE MUSEO REINA SOFÍA, THE “ART TRIANGLE” WAS FORMED. THE COLLECTION OF INTERNATIONAL PAINTINGS IN THE THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA COLLECTION PERFECTLY COMPLEMENTED THE OLD MASTERS IN THE PRADO MUSEUM AND THE MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY PAINTINGS FOUND IN THE MUSEO REINA SOFÍA.

Childe Hassam
Fifth Avenue at Washington Square, New York
1891
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bonemisza, Madrid

BARON HANS HEINRICH THYSSEN WAS A RARE AND VORACIOUS EUROPEAN COLLECTOR WHOSE RESPECT AND INTEREST IN THE ART OF AMERICAN 18th AND 19th CENTURY NORTH AMERICAN PAINTINGS WAS UNIQUE AT THE TIME. THE MUSEUM  ALSO OFFERS AN EXCELLENT SAMPLING OF 19^TH CENTURY AMERICAN PAINTINGS, WHICH HAD BEEN ALL BUT ABSENT FROM EUROPEAN MUSEUMS, ARTISTS SUCH AS JOHN COPLEY, WINSLOW HOMER, CHILDE HASSAM AND JOHN SINGER SARGENT.

ELLERY, IT MUST  HAVE BEEN VERY EXCITING TO SHARE IN THE MOMENTUM OF THE AMERICAN ART MARKET WHEN YOU STARTED AT KENNEDY GALLERIES AND THEN WORKED AS THE REGISTRAR AT ANDREW CRISPO, A GALLERY THAT WORKS CLOSELY WITH BARON VON THYSSEN AND HIS PASSIONATE ACQUSITION OF AMERICAN ART.

John Peto
Books, Mug, Pipe and Violin
Museum Thyssen-Borenmiszra, Madrid

WHAT WERE THE HIGHLIGHTS OF YOUR EXPERIENCE AT KENNEDY GALLERIES? WHAT DO YOU THINK WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS YOU LEARNED?

With no formal art education or training I was a sponge.  One great painting after another passed before me and I continued to listen and learn…and most importantly to see.  Two people in particular I think of as my mentors…legendary dealers Rudy Wunderlich and Larry Fleischman.  I am thankful to them both for taking time to discuss art and for their interest in me. I remember the first sale I ever made of a pair of paintings by Francis A. Silva.  Marvelous coastal scenes that were extremely detailed and luminist.  It was an exhilarating moment for me, one that was to repeat itself many times.

Francis A. Silva (1835-1886
On the Coast, Cohasset, Massachusetts

WHAT WAS YOUR  NEXT POSITION?

After four plus years, in 1975  I moved on to my next position as Registrar at Andrew Crispo Gallery. My education expanded, working with a stable of contemporary artists as well as masterpieces of 19^thand 20^thcentury American Art.  The gallery was putting together one of the great collections of American Art at that time for Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemiza.  Everything from colonial to contemporary art was passing through our hands there for possible acquisition by The Baron and indeed The Baron bought again and again making multiple purchases with each visit. It was a heady time.  The paintings that the Baron acquired then, now comprise most of the collection which is housed and exhibited in The Museo-Nacional Thyssen-Bornemiza in Madrid.  

John Singer Sargent
Portrait of Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

DID YOU CONTINUE TO PURSUE YOUR OWN WORK AS AN ARTIST WHEN YOU AT CRISPO?

While working at the Andrew Crispo Gallery I was also pursuing my own career as an artist and when Andrew saw my paintings I was invited to put up my first one-man show, which was extremely successful.  It was followed by a second successful show a few years later.  However in 1985 the gallery closed due to a scandalous homicide that was committed by another employee and in which Andrew Crispo was implicated. 

WE MET WHEN YOU WERE A DIRECTOR AT SPANIERMAN GALLERY. IRA SPANIERMAN WAS LEGENDARY IN HIS COMMITMENT AND PASSION FOR AMERICAN ART AND EDUCATING BOTH AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN COLLECTORS IN THIS FIELD. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MAJOR COLLECTIONS YOU WORKED ON?

John Twachtman
Snow Scene
Museum Thyssen-Borenmiszra, Madrid

In 1986, I joined Spanierman Gallery as their Registrar.  The American Art world was on fire with paintings coming out of the woodwork and new collectors, as well as established collectors acquiring paintings on a regular basis.  One of the collections I helped build was for a very quiet but astute gentleman who acquired wonderful Impressionist and modernist paintings by artists such as Winslow Homer, Theodore Robinson, Willard Metcalf, Childe Hassam, Edward Hopper and many others.  Every 8 to 12 months a new work was added to his walls.  Another quiet but diligent collector was buying luminist paintings of the Hudson River School.  Both of these collections are of the highest caliber.

Edward Hopper
Hotel Room
Museum Thyssen-Borenamisza, Madrid

IN OUR NEXT POST, THE LRFA BLOG LOOKS FORWARD TO FOLLOWING ELLERY’S PATH IN THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLD OF THE MOST CELEBRATED MASTERS OF AMERICAN ART.

PLEASE JOIN US!

Shifting tastes: the market for American art with expert Debra Force of Debra Force Fine Art

AT THE AMERICAN ART AUCTIONS, FINE PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER ARE OFFERED FROM THE COLONIAL TO THE POST-WAR PERIOD, INCLUDING WORKS BY THE HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL, THE AMERICAN IMPRESSIONISTS AND THE ASH CAN SCHOOL. OVER THE PAST DECADE, THE AMERICAN ART DEPARTMENT AT CHRISTIE’S STATES THAT IT HAS SET MORE THAN 100 WORLD RECORDS, ACHIEVING RECORD PRICES FOR IMPORTANT NAMES SUCH AS EDWARD HOPPER, ANDREW WYETH AND GEORGIA O’KEEFFE. HOWEVER, BOTH THE AUCTION HOUSES AND GALLERIES SPECIALIZING IN THIS AREA HAVE SEEN A DOWNTURN IN THIS MARKET.

https://www.christies.com/departments/American-Art-3-1.aspx

ONE OF THE EXCEPTIONS WAS THE CHRISTIE’S SALE OF THE EXTRAORDINARY DAVID AND PEGGY ROCKEFELLER COLLECTION THAT REPRESENTED ONE OF THE BEST SINGLE OWNER COLLECTIONS TO COME TO MARKET. HIGHLIGHTS OF AN AMERICAN ART COLLECTION DESCRIBED AS “VIRTUALLY ENCYCLOPAEDIC” INCLUDED EDWARD HOPPER’S CAPE ANN GRANITE, PAINTED IN THE SUMMER OF 1928 ($8.4m), GEORGIA O’KEEFFE’S NEAR ABIQUIU, NEW MEXICO ($8.4m) and MILTON AVERY’S WOMEN WITH REBOZA ($2.5m). THIS SALE, HOWEVER, WAS AN EXCEPTION TO THE GENERAL CLIMATE OF THE AMERICAN MARKET.

WE ARE FORTUNATE TO HAVE DEBRA FORCE, OF DEBRA FORCE FINE ART, A SEASONED EXPERT IN AMERICAN ART OF EVERY PERIOD, PROVIDE HER ANALYSIS OF THE PRESENT AND FUTURE MARKET IN AMERICAN ART.

http://www.debraforce.com/

DEBRA, HOW DO YOU VIEW THE AMERICAN MARKET AT THE PRESENT TIME AND HOW HAS IT CHANGED IN THE LAST DECADE?

The traditional American art market is stable.  It had been at its height up to 2008, but became much softer after that date.  As collectors become older, they are no longer buying as much and younger people do not seem to have an interest in this aspect of Fine Art.  Thus, we are dealing with a more limited market base and of course, do not have international interest in this area. 

Prices for many things are much reduced from what they were over ten years ago, particularly for early and historical material, genre painting, Hudson River painting, and Ashcan artists.  However, we are seeing some revitalization with certain artists in these areas as well as with the American Impressionists.  For those looking for this type of material, there are more reasonable prices and, in some cases, bargains to be had.  Museums are finding that they can now buy artists on their wish lists that fall into these categories. 

Joseph Stella
The Red Pitcher
Oil on canvas

American Modernism and Regionalism, as well as works by African-American and women artists, are very hot, while Surrealism and Magic Realism are rising in popularity. Many of the post-war second- and third-tier Abstract Expressionists are also coming under the umbrella of traditional American art as we move more solidly into the 21^st Century.

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN ART MARKET? DO YOU FEEL THAT SOME OF THE LESSER KNOWN ARTISTS WHO WERE WILDLY COLLECTED BY THE LAST GENERATION WILL REBOUND IN TERMS OF PRESENCE AND PRICE?

It is my hope that younger people will turn to and revere traditional American art, which suffers somewhat like the American furniture and decorative arts market, as time marches on.  To do so, American history needs to be taught at both secondary and college levels, museums need to exhibit this type of art and not just focus upon what is “sexy” or of the moment, and auction houses and galleries need to embrace it, rather than shying away from it. 

Milton Avery
Woman with Rebozo, 1946
Christie’s sale, David Rockefeller Collection

Much of the material that is less collectible today does not receive adequate recognition in the marketplace and is routinely relegated to lesser sales or online auctions rather than in the mainstream or in prominent sales.  [Certainly, although the provenance had added cache to the works sold at the Rockefeller sale at Christie’s, the overwhelming exposure did wonders to attract buyers to much of the 19^th-century material that sold for double or more what they had been making.]  The validity of the past that has much to teach us in understanding the world today as well as the evolution of Contemporary art, needs to be made apparent to younger generations. 

Georgia O’Keeffe
New Mexico – near Taos 1929
Christie’s sale, David Rockefeller Collection

The other challenge is garnering international interest in American art, as we head toward a more global society.  This is already happening to a degree as the Terra Foundation and others sponsor exhibitions of American art abroad that have been well received to the audiences there; hopefully, this will translate into the market as well. 

As older collectors divest their collections, more major works of art will presumably enter the market and therefore, should generate renewed interest among known buyers as well as attracting new ones.

Presently, buyers are more attracted to well-known artists rather than those less renowned.  Until the market for traditional American art is more buoyant overall, I fear that more minor artists will continue to be neglected.  The only departure from this state is the collectability of lesser Modernist and Post-War artists who are now embraced, as prices for the more blue-chip works from this era are escalating.

DEBRA, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE, EXPERTISE AND ANALYSIS OF AMERICAN ART.

IN OUR NEXT LRFA BLOG, I AM HONORED TO INTRODUCE WENDY CROMWELL, WHO SERVES ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL ART ADVISORS (APAA), AN OUTSTANDING NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION MADE UP OF LEADING ART ADVISORS, CURATORS AND CORPORATE ART MANAGERS. APAA IS DEDICATED TO ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING THE HIGHEST PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES FOR ACQUIRING, MAINTAINING AND SELLING ART.

PLEASE JOIN US!

 

Hirschl and Adler’s Eric Baumgartner on the American art market

 

Edward Hopper
Hirschl and Adler Galleries
New York

OVER THE PAST DECADE, AMERICAN ART HAS COMMANDED OVER 100 WORLD RECORDS AT AUCTION. AT THE SOTHEBY’S SALE OF AMERICAN ART LAST NOVEMBER,  GEORGIA O’KEEFFE’S EXQUISITE JIMSON WEED, WHITE FLOWER NO. 1 SOLD FOR $44.4 MILLION, BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD FOR A FEMALE ARTIST AT AUCTION. http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/sotheby-s-at-large/2014/11/female-artist-record-iconic-okeeffe-flower-painting.html AT CHRISTIE’S IN DECEMBER 2013, THE DEPARTMENT SET A NEW WORLD RECORD FOR EDWARD HOPPER WITH THE SALE OF EAST WIND OVER WEEHAWKEN AT $40,485,000 MILLION. http://www.cnbc.com/id/101249817#.

AMERICAN ART HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE MARKET FOR MANY YEARS AND HAD GAINED A PRONOUNCED UPTICK IN RECENT YEARS. IT IS AN EXTREMELY SELECTIVE MARKET AND THE DEPARTMENTS AT BOTH AUCTION HOUSES ARE REAPING THE REWARDS OF CAREFUL EDITING OF THE WORKS FOR SALE AND EQUALLY JUDICIOUS ESTIMATES. THERE HAVE BEEN A “HANDFUL OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES, WHICH IS VERY EXCITING”,  ACCORDING TO ELIZABETH GOLDBERG WHO HEADS SOTHEBY’S AMERICAN ART DEPARTMENT. FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, THERE IS DEFINITELY  CYCLICAL INTEREST IN DIFFERENT PERIODS OF AMERICAN ART. OF LATE, AMERICAN IMPRESSIONIST MASTERS SUCH AS WILLIAM MERRITT CHASE AND CHILDE HASSAM HAVE TAKEN A BACKSEAT TO THE ENERGY AND MORE AVANT-GARDE SPIRIT OF THE AMERICAN MODERNIST MASTERS.

OF COURSE, QUALITY IS THE NORTH STAR OF ALL COLLECTING.

THE  LRFA BLOG IS VERY PLEASED TO HAVE AMERICAN ART EXPERT, ERIC BAUMGARTNER OF HIRSCHL AND ADLER GALLERIES SHARE HIS ASTUTE KNOWLEDGE OF THE AMERICAN ART MARKET.  THE GALLERY IS LOCATED AT THE CROWN BUILDING ON 57th AND FIFTH IN NEW YORK, THE EXHIBITIONS REFLECT THE GALLERY’S EXTENSIVE HISTORY, KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE OF AMERICAN ART AND FURNITURE.  http://www.hirschlandadler.com/

ERIC, DO YOU SEE AN EBB AND FLOW OF INTEREST IN DIFFERENT MOVEMENTS AND AREAS OF COLLECTING OF AMERICAN ART AND, IF SO, IN WHAT WAYS?

As far as American art is concerned, most definitely! For instance, middle-range 19th-century American paintings are more challenging to sell today, while on the other hand, interest in a broad spectrum of American modernism is growing. Collectors of modernism are moving beyond the core group of artists associated with Alfred Stieglitz’s gallery stable—Demuth, Hartley, Marin, O’Keeffe, Sheeler—and embracing surrealism (John Atherton, Charles Howard, Kay Sage) and early abstraction (Howard again, Henry Fitch Taylor).

CHARLES HOUGHTON HOWARD
Bouquet, 1932
Oil on canvas
31 x 41 inches

Another branch of modernism that is seeing market growth is Regionalism. As great works by the core Regionalists Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood have gotten nearly impossible to find, deserving attention is being paid to artists who, in their day, didn’t break through to a national audience: Marvin Cone of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Alexandre Hogue of West Texas; Joe Jones of Saint Louis, Missouri; and John Rogers Cox of Indiana come to mind.

 

THOMAS COLE
An Italian Autumn
Oil on canvas
32 x 48 inches

Having said that, however, we still feel that there is a viable and competitive audience for blue-chip works by such 19th-century artists as Thomas Cole, Sanford Robinson Gifford, Martin Johnson Heade, and Winslow Homer; it’s an example that buying into real quality never goes out of fashion.
WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE GALLERY SYSTEM? IS EVERYONE ON STAFF AN EXPERT IN A PARTICULAR AREA AND HOW DOES THE CURATORIAL/EXHIBITION CALENDAR EVOLVE? DO INDIVIDUAL STAFF MEMBERS PROPOSE EXHIBITIONS OR DO YOU HAVE A CURATORIAL TEAM?

Hirschl & Adler Galleries is organized by department: American art, European art, American furniture and decorative arts, and contemporary art. I head the American department, Gregory Hedberg leads our European department, Stuart and Liz Feld head our decorative-arts program, and Shelly Farmer runs our contemporary division, Hirschl & Adler Modern. However, none of us are pigeonholed; for example, I can bring in European paintings on consignment for sale, and have done so on many occasions. Of course, the entire sales staff has full access to our extraordinarily large and diverse inventory, so when it comes time to offering—and, we hope, selling—each sales person can tap into works from any department to meet the needs and interests of our clients. Our gallery exhibition calendar is generally established on a six to nine-month lead, and anyone on our very talented staff can propose and curate an exhibition that fits our program. In fact, two of our more popular and successful summer exhibitions—Duets (2013) and Our American Life (2014)—were organized and curated by our support staff.

DO YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR PERIOD OF ART THAT RESONATES THE MOST WITH YOU?

My love of Hudson River School landscape paintings began in my college years when I wrote my senior honors thesis on John Frederick Kensett’s luminist pictures. Kensett painted many traditional landscapes—scenic views of the Catskills, White Mountains, and Adirondacks—in a picturesque style that prevailed at mid-century, but when he hit the New England coast, particularly the coast of Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, his compositions turned remarkably spare. I find this dichotomy in his work utterly fascinating, and have often wondered what drove him to adopt such a different style. Kensett, one of the most traditional pictorialists in the Hudson River School, quite suddenly switched to a revolutionary compositional technique of expansive sky, open horizon lines, and an accentuated awareness of atmosphere. Kensett was not alone, of course, as his contemporaries Sanford Robinson Gifford, Martin Johnson Heade, Fitz Henry Lane, and occasionally William Trost Richards, also embraced this compositional formula that we today call luminism.

WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS
Along the Shore, New Jersey, 1870
Oil on canvas
14 3/8 x 26 3/8 inches

DO YOU AND YOUR WIFE, ALSO A KNOWLEDGEABLE AND DEDICATED AMERICAN ART GALLERIST, COLLECT?

My wife, Katherine, and I collect New England furniture from the first half of the 18th century, the so-called William and Mary era. “Collect” is perhaps too generous a term. We own a handful of pieces and enjoy living with them. I personally love photography—I have been pursuing photography myself in a serious way since about 1972—and hope to one day collect vintage photographs. At the moment, our vintage photography collection numbers a grand total of one: a black-and-white photograph of the Norfolk & Western railroad by O. Winston Link. I suppose it’s a start!

IN OUR NEXT LRFA BLOG, ERIC BAUMGARTNER WILL INTRODUCE US TO HIRSCHL AND ADLER MODERN. WE WELCOME ALL COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS, AND APPRECIATE YOUR CONTINUED READERSHIP AND PARTICIPATION!