Stellar Selection of Art At Works On Paper

NEW YORK CITY - A stellar looking selection of art in a wide variety of mediums and price ranges was offered at the 67th Street Armory during Sanford Smith's recent Works on Paper show. Opening for a four-day run with a well-attended gala preview on March 2, the show featured works that ranged from Old Masters to cutting-edge contemporary.

The show was impressive looking with a good mixture of materials, but as the name implies, all were works on paper. Works on canvas, wood, fabric or metal are all frowned upon at this show. Accordingly there were paper sculptures, prints, watercolors, gouaches, oils, lithographs, silkscreens, photographic images, illustrated books, posters and much, much more.

Show manager Sandy Smith, who started the show 17 years ago, was pleased with the appearance and the depth of the fair. "Doesn't it look great?" he queried just prior to the show opening for preview. "Everything here is quality material, there are no reproductions on the floor and," he stated, "you can buy things for as little as $250 or spend as much as $800,000."

As patrons entered the show they were greeted by the fronts-booth of Hirschl & Adler Galleries and its stunning assortment of art. Occupying the front wall of Hirschl & Adler's display was an Edward Hopper watercolor titled "South Truro Post Office II," 1930, offered with price on request. Other artists represented in the booth included William Henry Johnson's silkscreen titled "Deep South," $80,000, two Josef Albers woodcuts at $10,000 each, a Charles Demuth watercolor, "Garden Flowers," that was price on request, and a Robert Frederick Blum watercolor "The Wishing Well; Portrait of Alice Louise Drake" at $70,000.

Across the aisle, Simon Capstick-Dale Fine Arts featured an attractive and colorful Fer-nand Leger gouache on paper titled "Femme a la Rose" that was priced at $195,000, while next to it hung a still life gouache by Henri Hayden at $65,000. Two Camille Pissario gouaches were highlighted in the booth with "Gardeuse de Vache, Cotes des Groutes," and "Payysannes Assises Gardant Des Vaches" each stickered in excess of $500,000. The star attraction the booth, however, was Pablo Picasso's "Nue Couchee," that was priced at $1,250,000.

A superb selection of art was offered by Manhattan dealer Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts including two drawings by Thomas Hart Benton and William Glackens. "Colonial Post," a pencil on paper by Benton, was priced at $85,000, while the Glackens, a charcoal, gouache and chalk titled "Village Disturbance," was $55,000. A selection of watercolors by William Zorach filled one entire wall of the stand with prices ranging from $24,000 for "In the Sierras," 1920, to $65,000 for "Landscape," a larger watercolor and pencil on paper from 1917. Other artists included Oscar Bluemner, Charles Burchfield, George Bellows, Guy Pene du Bois, Max Weber and several pieces by John Marin, including "Small Point, Maine," a watercolor from 1915 that carried a $175,000 asking price.

Farmington, Maine, dealer Tom Veilleux offered an attractive assortment of art including several Carl Sprinhorn watercolors, Rockwell Kent prints and watercolors by both William and Marguerite Zorach. One of the featured items in the booth was a John Singer Sargent 17-by-22-inch study drawing for "The Chimera" that was priced at $45,000.

Manhattan dealers James Graham and Sons offered up a wonderful assortment of Modernist works with a varied selection of Karel Appel mixed media on paper pieces on view. Abstract art executed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Norman Bluhm was also featured.

Valley House Gallery, Dallas, had an interesting display that featured one of only three dimensional objects on the floor as it offered "Kimono," a mixed media on paper life-size kimono. The piece, by Miguel Zapata, was executed in 2004 and was priced at $18,000. Alongside it hung Robert Smithson's 1957 gouache on paper, "untitled (Monster)" that measured 15 by 421/8 inches and was priced at $150,000.

"Extinct Forever" was an interesting series of large watercolor on paper works that depicted extinct birds in the booth of Sigrid Freundorfer Fine Art. After hearing the phrase "Gone the way of the Dodo," artist Scott Kelly decided to seek out an image of the Dodo and was surprised to learn that there were none. Based on drawings by sailors, Kelly recreated the Dodo and numerous other extinct birds in a series executed in 2004/2005.

Chicago dealer Valerie Cranberry Gallery displayed a large selection of John Storr woodcuts, circa 1918. Among the offering was "Coming From the Bath," "Embracing Couple" and "Spirit of Walt Whitman."

William McWillie Chambers had a varied assortment of art including a nice Milton Avery watercolor and gouache titled "Pink and Mustard Rocks" that was an early seller from the stand. Also offered was a Max Beckmann charcoal and ink on paper titled "Park in Boulder" that was stickered at $150,000, while a Raoul Duffy ink on paper, "La Course," depicting a harbor scene, was priced at $75,000.

Ramare Beardon collages were offered in the booth of Franklin Riehlman and Megan Moynihan with a 1976 work titled "The Visitor" and "Liza in High Cotton," that Beardon had inscribed on the verso, "I couldn't play with her today. Her grandmother said she was in the fields." Also offered from the booth was a Charles Burchfield watercolor titled "Dancing Sunlight," 1916, and a Jan Matulka gouache abstract, 1923.

An offering of works from the estate of Jan Matulka was featured by Chicago dealer Thomas McCormick. Matulka emigrated with his family to the United States in 1907 and by age 15 was studying art. The artist was the subject of several early shows in Europe, and later worked in a modernist style at the Art Students League, where he became friendly with Stuart Davis, Arshile Gorky and John Graham. Pieces from the stand included "Bridge on the Sienne - Paris," an India ink and crayon on paper, 1921, priced at $7,500; "Buildings and Boats," gouache, 1930, $10,000; and an untitled gouache, 1930s, that was priced at $25,000 .

Michael Borghi Fine Art featured several artists in his stand with a watercolor by Maurice Prendegast titled "Boston Public Gardens," 10 by 181/4 inches, attracting quite a bit of attention. The rare piece was marked $525,000. Other traditional artists represented included Laura Combs Hills with two pastels titled "Daffodils" and "Apple Blossoms" priced at $55,000 and $48,000, respectively. Contemporary art by the likes of Robert Motherwell was also displayed with several acrylic on paper pieces from the "Basque Series" selling in the $65,000 range.

Pieces such as Andy Warhol's 1967 "Marilyn" and David Hockney's 1979 ink on paper "Raymond Foys" were featured in the booth of Mary Ryan Gallery. The dealer also had a small corner of her booth devoted to children's art. Included in the display was a selection of "Babar" watercolors by Laurnet de Brunhoff from Meet Babar and his Family, and also a watercolor by Ludwig Bemelmans from Madeline in London.

"Wild Things" drawings by Maurice Sendak were highlighted in the stand of Battledore Ltd, Kingston, N.Y. Included among the works offered was a pair of ink and watercolor drawings of "Moshe" and "Lady" that were priced at $80,000, while a watercolor drawing of a plump chef executed for a magazine cover was priced at $225,000. Another Sendak offering was a watercolor cover illustration for Rolling Stone, 1976, that depicted two small children decorating "Moshe" with pine boughs and Christmas ornaments. The rare piece was priced at $450,000.

London dealer Ian McKenzie offered an unusual assortment of materials for the fair this year. Included were photocompositions of Andy Warhol and fittingly an enamel, crayon and graphite collage over a photograph by the artist that is all the rage in Manhattan these days, Christo. The piece, titled "Umbrellas, Joint Project for Japan and USA," was getting more than a few looks from collectors and was priced at $75,000.

Old Masters pieces were seen in several booths including New York City dealers C&J Goodfriend who offered what they termed "one of the gems of the fair." The rare Sixteenth Century drawing in brown ink and wash was by Luca Cambiaso. "You generally don't see them in that size, quality and condition," stated Carol Goodfriend.

R.S. Johnson was again present at the show and once again the dealer offered a wonderful selection of Old Master prints and drawings including a Paolo Farinati pen and ink, "The Triumph of Constantine," circa 1556. Also displayed was Pablo Picasso's ink wash on paper "Nu avec deux Personnages," executed in 1967.

The Works on Paper preview party was a grand success, a benefit for the Citizens' Committee for Children (CCC), it raised roughly $500,000 for the charity. Sanford Smith and Associates will return to the Park Avenue Armory for the Antiquarian Book Fair, April 28-May 1. The Print Fair will take place November 3-6, followed by Art 20, November 18-21. Sanford Smith & Associates can be reached at 212-777-5218.