Some things mellow with age; however, after 11 years, the Boston International Fine Art Show (BIFAS) continues with a hard cutting edge, evolving with the art market and getting better year after year. The mood was effervescent at this year’s fair where 37 dealers came together beneath the expansive dome of the 1884 Cyclorama Building of the Boston Center for the Arts. Lively color and bold line burst forth from each booth, spilling over and drawing in customers from the wide aisles that facilitated easy viewing.
Dealers reported strong sales, lots of residual interest and the acquisition of new clients, all of which they attribute to the management of show promoters Tony Fusco and Bob Four. The preview party, a benefit for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was a well-attended lively gala.
Spanierman Gallery occupied the front booth at BIFAS this year and the New York firm arrived with a mix of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century art for the delectation of any Boston palate. The double-size booth allowed a room-setting display that was impressive and multifaceted. The offerings ranged from Albert Bierstadt’s oil on paper “Mt Shasta, California” from about 1863, to the 4-by-8-inch graphite on paper coastal view by William Bradford inscribed, “Falmouth Harbor, 7th of May, Massachusetts, 1868.”
“Afternoon Glow at Pompton Plains” by George Inness, an 1891 oil on canvas, occupied a prominent spot in the booth. Other notable works included William Merritt Chase’s circa 1910 still life with fish, Albert Fuller Graves’ “The Green Fanlight” and John Singer Sargent’s oil on canvas portrait of “Mrs Jacob Wendell, 1888.”
Twentieth and Twenty-First Century works hung nearby and included Hayley Lever’s “Gloucester Harbor” from the 1920s; “Full Summer, Boston Public Garden” a circa 1920 oil by A.C. Goodwin; and the dazzling “A Big Jar of White Roses” by Yin Yong Chun, 2007. Bronzes by Colorado sculptor Dan Ostermiller included the 2006 “Breeze,” a 10½-by-9-by-14-inch figure of a personable bear; the 2002 luxuriating figure “Yawning Rabbit; and the 1994 “Chester,” a cat playing with a ball.
In a telephone interview several days after the show, Spanierman’s David Major reported strong interest in several major pieces. He said he was also surprised at the degree of interest in the 1974 untitled (Ocean Park) by Richard Diebenkorn.
Cooley Gallery showed “Early Moonrise over St Ives Bay” by Edward Emerson Simmons that showgoers admired. Simmons was a member of “The Ten.” Philip Russell Goodwin’s dramatic 1904 “A Narrow Escape,” an image of an ice skater pursued by a pack of snarling wolves, also compelled interest.
The gallery showed watercolors by Egbert Cadmus that have recently come to light. Renderings by the artist, who worked as a commercial lithographer, have gained new attention. Cooley offered the 1925 image of Cadmus’s son, “Paul Reading, Martha’s Vineyard,” “Gay Head” and “Summer Day, Martha’s Vineyard.” The American School still life “Strange Story Indeed” was intriguing. A watercolor view of the bluffs at Block Island by Dodge MacKnight, Enneking’s oil on board, “The Blue Dolphin” and the 1921 “Two Lights off Cape Elizabeth, Maine” all interested visitors. Jeff Cooley said after the show that the gallery did just fine and expects to return next year.
The booth of David Hall Fine Arts was a striking study in bifurcation, with contemporary work on one side and traditional paintings on the other. Vibrant abstract paintings by the artists Ralph Coburn, Robert Latkin, John Grillo, John McLoughlin, Ernest Dieringer and Roger Martin accounted for the contemporary sector. More representational work included Mary Weiss’s “A Summer Garden,” John Whorf’s watercolor “Sunlight and Shadow, Venice” and “Beach Scene” and the 1924 “Gloucester Overview” by William Meyerowitz.
Jason Samuel Fine Art showed the 1905 Antonio Jacobsen portrait of the steamer Aransas; Carl William Peters’ “Winter Farm” from the artist’s estate and Sally Michel’s “At the Beach.” The bronze “Eve” by Paul Manship sold, reported Jason Hackler, who also commented that the gallery had a “great” show.
Philadelphia’s venerable Newman Galleries tested the Boston market this year with its first showing at BIFAS. The gallery sold an important painting of lower Manhattan by Pennsylvania artist Fred Wagner. Four pictures by Charles Gifford of the Elizabeth Islands were also acquired from the gallery. Andy Newman stated the gallery acquired some new clients and had a good response to the art offered.
A selection of work by John Fulton Folinsbee, whose estate the Newman Galleries represents, stirred interest, along with Edward Redfield’s beautiful impressionist “Rue de France” and a view of Gloucester Harbor by Fern Coppedge.
New this to the fair this year was the Charlestown Art Gallery and its selection of art focused on paintings by area artists who depicted Rhode Island scenes. David Witbeck’s colorful paintings of fishermen and fish centered around the local fishing industry. Rhode Island artist Penelope Manzella was represented by her oil on canvas painting “Blackstone Mill” and a portrait of a female with butterfly wings in a fountain. H. Gray Parks paints evocative coastal Rhode Island scenes as seen in his “Fall Morning” and “Coastal View.” The gallery reported the sale of five paintings and was pleased with several new clients gained.
The Flow of Art Gallery, Norwalk, Conn., was another new exhibitor to the show this year and some compelling pieces were offered. A selection of oil on copper, oil on steel and oil on aluminum works by David Dunlop from his “Inside New York” series depicted the kinetic energy of commuters in Grand Central Station. Carbon Carbro prints by English photographer Clint Eley were also a strong draw. The artist uses a medium format camera and prints on aluminum, which give the images extraordinary depth and microscopic detail. Images on view were of Georgia and Ireland.
Quidley & Company, the Nantucket gallery that was also a first-timer this year, brought paintings with Nantucket connections. The gallery showed Michael Keane’s “Off Boston Harbor,” a view from a marsh with the city in the far distance. English maritime artist Tim Thompson’s painting of the 1937 race between the J class yachts, the English Endeavor and the American Ranger appealed to many visitors, as did John Swan’s “Tide Pool,” a view of children gleaning in the tidal leavings on a sun-swept beach. Another island view was Thomas R. Dunlay’s “Quince Street.”
Boston dealer Martha Richardson has exhibited at BIFAS since the beginning, first as Richardson-Clarke, in partnership with Peter Clarke, and now on her own as Martha Richardson Fine Art. Her offerings spanned the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Several days after the show she reported strong sales and positive follow-up. An Albert Fuller Graves work was among the gallery’s sales, going to a couple, new clients that expressed interest in other works in the gallery. The backdrop of the booth was Max Kuehne’s remarkable four-panel folding screen in tempera with silver leaf on incised and gesso wood, “Floral and Leaf Arrangement.”
Richardson also saw interest in the Laura Coombs Hills pastels on paper board, “Still Life with Zinnias” and “Peonies and Glass,” as well as an oil on canvas by John Ferguson Weir titled “Peonies.”
Orleans, Mass., gallery Tree’s Place was back for the second year. The gallery made some sales during the preview and attracted interest in such works by Cape artists as William R. Davis’s “Fishermen off Highland Light,” Jeff Larson’s “Gathering Light” and Michael Whelan’s “Kairos.” It also showed the work of Boston artist Sam Vokey: “Lilies with Yellow and Blue,” “Boston Light” and “Home Game.” Speaking after the show, dealer Donna Steele stated that many new contacts were made during the show and that she looks forward to returning next year.
Arcadia Fine Arts of New York City displayed four cityscapes by contemporary artist Francis Livingston, the provocative “Skeleton at Window” by Daniel Sprick and works by Donald Jurney and Malcolm T. Liepke. Dealer Steven Diamant described the show as one “that keeps on giving.” He said that a couple who saw a painting in his booth turned up at his gallery and purchased it in the days following the show.
Boston’s Vose Galleries, founded in 1841, has traditionally offered the work of living artists, but gave up the practice about 45 years ago. In 2001 the gallery resumed the representing contemporary artists and this year’s presentations included an intriguing assortment of realism paintings such as the 2007 oil on wood panel trompe l’oeil by Michael Theise, “Madame X Desk Blotter,” a play on the Sargent portrait. Other Theise works included the 2005 oil on panel “Jefferson’s Niches,” depicting a Jefferson nickel inside a box of dominoes; and the oil on wood panel “Joker’s Wild Dart Board,” depicting a well used dartboard with currency and a joker playing card.
Bronzes at Vose included Elliot Offner’s “Pig,” 2005, to “Double Bass 1.” Joel Babb’s realistic portrayals of Boston and Nantucket scenes were on view. Vose also showed the uproarious egg tempera “Sweet Betsy from Pike,” a 1948 scene of a harridan whipping a team of oxen in disarray by Roger Medearis, whose work will be the subject of a show at the gallery next fall.
Principle Gallery of Alexandria, Va., displayed the compelling “The Blind Painter” by Hans-Peter Szameit that attracted much attention. The gallery also featured work by Lynn Boggess, whose naturalistic West Virginia landscapes were dated rather than titled. Several sold during the preview.
Adelaide Fine Art of New Canaan, Conn., presented two stellar oil on board pictures by Guy C. Wiggins, “St Paul’s Church” and “Winter in Central Park.” Hayley Lever’s 1925 oil on artist’s board, “The Drawbridge,” and the vibrant “Rhapsody in Red” by Spanish artist Jose Antonio Valverde-Alcalde were also attracting interest.
Questroyal Fine Art came from New York with an array of important pictures. Included was Milton Avery’s “Seated Nude,” 1953, George Bellows’ “Black Mood (Tang of the Sea),” 1913, and Alfred Thompson Bricher’s “Morning at Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island,” 1873. A Childe Hassam watercolor, “Sailing Ship Locked in Ice,” was signed and dated, and the chill effect was heightened by Frederick J. Mulhaupt’s “Moving Ice, Gloucester.”
Blue Heron Fine Art of Cohasset, Mass., showed Cape Ann pictures such as Jacob Greenleaf’s “Fishing Boats, Gloucester,” Edmund Quincy’s Impressionistic “Quiet Cove,” “The Schooner” by Morris Hall Pancoast and Max Kuehne’s elegant “Quiet Harbor.” The gallery offered Aldro Thompson’s “Vermont Farm in Winter” and “Late Afternoon, A Winter Day,” by William Preston Phelps.
Falmouth, Maine, gallery Port ‘n Starboard featured an oil on canvas ship’s portrait by Elisha Taylor Baker of the schooner Ellsley, as well as a depiction of the fort Castle Williams at Governor’s Island in New York Harbor. Four pictures were sold over the course of the fair.
In addition to producing a seamless show, Bob Four and Tony Fusco also exhibited work of the artists they represent. Their booth was a riot of color and line. Fusco and Four represent the estate of Karl Hagedorn, whose paintings were on view, and they also displayed Sam Stetson’s “In My Studio,” along with “One of These Days” and “Good Morning” from about 1970, which have not been seen in more than a quarter of a century.
Fusco and Four’s next production is AD20/21, a show devoted to the art and design of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries April 3‶ at the Boston Center for the Arts. For information, 617-363-0405.
