Thursday 18 October 2012

Art Auctions For Sculptures




Art auctions for sculptures are a great way to find new art for your home or office. I like to peruse the online auction sites for nice sculptures. I have found some very interesting items when I’ve looked.





There was a sculpture sold on eBay recently that was entitled Love. The art auction for this sculpture went above the estimated value. The piece was red and blue and made of polychrome aluminum. The French artist’s name was Robert Indiana. The art auction listed the item as six feet tall, six feet wide and three feet deep.





I liked a hall stand that was carved from wood that I found in an online art auction. The carving depicted a playful bear climbing a fir tree. There was a young bear cub carved into one of the branches. The branches were there to serve as garment hooks and there was even a mirror on the piece in a carved oak leaf designed frame.





There was an exquisite sculpture by a Russian artist that was sold recently in an art auction. The subject of the sculpture was a Bar Mitzvah boy and the medium was marble. I think that marble statues seem so timeless and elegant. It is an excellent medium for a sculpture.





The wife of artist Yitzhak Danziger signed a certificate for the brass sculpture her husband completed in 1969. Danziger is an Israeli artist. The piece looked very abstract to me. It did not do very well in the art auction and sold for less than it’s estimated worth.





I found a lot of bronze sculptures in the online art auctions. Most of them were of people, but the ones I liked best were abstract. My absolute favorite was a Harry Bertoia bronze sculpture called Bush. This piece is also known as a Brain or Coral. The bidding for this piece of art in the art auction was started at thirty nine thousand dollars. It didn’t get a bidder.





I saw little interest in the bronze sculpture art auctions for animal figures. I’m not sure if the reasons they didn’t get bidders were because of subject matter or because of price. Bronze is an expensive medium for an artist to work in and it takes a lot of training to be proficient.





I have a favorite glass sculptor. His work goes for so much in online art auctions that I will probably never own a piece of his work. Dale Chihuly is magnificent. There are permanent installations of his tremendous work all over the world.





Crystal sculptures look more like paperweights to me. Online art auctions for glass representations of animals and sea life are really neat. My favorite art auction recently was for a hand blown glass jellyfish. It was magical.





I liked another online art auction for optical crystal that had been turned into a work of art by artist Christopher Ries. The piece was small and called Lotus. It would look so pretty in a well lit display case.





I’m jealous of the buyer that gets to call this sculpture their own. They won the piece in the art auction for just under a thousand dollars. This artist uses blocks of pure, clear lead crystal cast from Schott Glass Technologies of Duryea, Pennsylvania. It is truly amazing art. His work is prominently displayed in numerous galleries and even in the Columbus airport in Columbus, Ohio.


Breweriana at Art Auctions




My father-in-law is very interest in beer art. Breweriana is the special name for beer related artifacts. I’ve been watching for special pieces to add to his collection at art auctions I’ve been attending.





The first breweriana piece that I acquired for my father-in-law was a 1940s Lone Star Beer sign. He was so happy with this find at the art auction that he asked me to keep finding him interesting pieces of beer history. I think that finding breweriana at art auctions is definitely a commentary on today’s society.





I found another really old piece of breweriana at the very next art auction I attended. It was another sign and it was from the 1930s for Ziegler Beer. I was at an art auction in Wisconsin and had to ship that sign to my father-in-law by freight.





My quest for breweriana has taken me to some art auctions that I would not have ordinarily attended and I’ve met people that I don’t ordinarily meet. I got into a bidding war with a Cajun man over a Jax Beer sign from the 1930s. The auctioneer said that it was a piece of New Orleans history.





The Cajun outbid me at every opportunity. I had a limit that had been set by my father-in-law and we were closing in on it when he finally stopped bidding. I won that piece of breweriana at the art auction for eight hundred dollars.





The porcelain breweriana signs are showing up at art auctions all over the country. I found another one from the 1930s for Supreme Beer that was double sided and oval. I was really pleased when I was able to present that one to my father-in-law.





The tin breweriana signs are actually not showing up as often at art auctions. I felt fortunate when I found one from the 1930s for Washington Beer. The ceramic breweriana signs are much more commonplace.





After my first few purchases of breweriana for my father-in-law he decided that his taste really did run to items from the 1930s and 1940s. I’ve tried to keep this in mind when I find new acquisitions.





I usually stay away from neon or illuminating breweriana. I just don’t think it fits in with the feeling of my father-in-law’s collection. The antique feel of everything is nice. He has taken up beer making as a hobby since his wife passed away, so it is not a far leap to beer art collecting.





The Goetz Country Club Beer sign that I won at an art auction in Indiana was a little more chipped than the other pieces I’ve gotten. I was intent on winning this sign because Goetz was my father-in-law’s mother’s maiden name. He was so happy with this old piece of breweriana because of the name on it that it instantly became the centerpiece of his collection.





I found two pieces of cardboard breweriana at an art auction in Ohio. I decided that they were going to sell so cheaply that I could buy them and frame them for the collection. I’m glad I went to that art auction.





I won a sign for Velvet Beer and another one for Stratford Beer. They both were from the 1930s and they were more colorful than tin breweriana signs that I’d purchased at other art auctions. The framer that I used framed both pieces for fifty dollars.





The art auction that I attended in Rochester, New York turned out to be very fruitful for my father-in-law’s breweriana collection. There was a Standard Dry Ale reverse painted glass sign up for auction. The sign had hung in a bar until the 1960s when the bar closed down.





The most recent piece of breweriana that I bought at an art auction was an original prohibition era Miller High Life Brew sign. The red and black sign looked great on the wall with the other signs in the collection. My father-in-law plans to build an old-fashioned bar in his home, at least the decorating is complete!


Wednesday 17 October 2012

Native American Art Auctions: Art Antiques




Whether traditional or contemporary, Native American artwork is both highly collectible and universally appealing. Native American art forms the basis of many exemplary public as well as private art collections. People that collect Native American artwork can be very passionate about their collections.





Older, more traditional Native American artwork and cultural artifacts are not merely revered and / or emulated by modern artists, they are also held dear as parts of art collections the world over.





Fine Native American art done by well known American Indian artists, such as Nampeyo, the Hopi potter, can raise the caliber of a private or public art collection quite significantly. Iris Nampeyo lived on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona. She made a good income making pots and selling them at local trading posts.





A remarkable aspect of Nampeyo’s work is that over time she became more ad more interested in making pots according to ancient ways, as opposed to the modern pottery that was being made by people at the time. The quality of her work, as well as her interest and use of ancient pottery techniques certainly add to the demand and high price tags of her work.





If you find yourself in the market for Native American art antiques, be prepared to pay the price. Particularly with Native American art, availability doesn’t correlate to demand or cost, as is the case with many other highly collectible art types.





Items such as early Plains beadwork or late nineteenth century basketry are certainly examples of what would be considered extremely rare finds in the world of Native American art auctions.





When choosing from various art pieces, compare styles, read and research. This is really the only way to educate oneself about the various types of American Indian art. Then it’s time to shop around. Just like anything else, you won’t know what’s available unless you take the time to comparison shop.





During the 1900s many of the Native American art and crafts that other peoples associate with American Indians began to be commercially produced, especially by Asian nations. These Native American fakes became so widely purchased that several millions of dollars were taken from the American Indian artists in the form of cheap imitation Native American art.





Before purchasing Native American art antiques it’s a good idea to perform additional research has to the authenticity of the piece or pieces. Unless you’re highly knowledgeable on the topic and have experience spotting fakes, this type of art can be extremely hard to verify by inexperienced sight alone.





All in all, collecting American Indian art antiques is just like collecting any other antique, the definitive and primary timeframe is anything that is pre-1950s. Although a name that is well known can seriously increase the value of an object, condition, workmanship and prevalence are factors that are just as important.





Increasingly, even seasoned art dealers that deal in American Indian art find it difficult to discern authentic art antiques from imitation pieces. For this reason, it is particularly important to opt for dealing with reputable sources. In order to ensure that your perfect Native American art antique is the real deal it’s worth taking the time to locate such a well known art dealer or museum.





There are specialized art museums and dealers that offer Native American art pieces. These organizations generally are most interested in promoting Native art and cultures. The better of these institutions and organizations directly invest many of the profits gained from the sale of art pieces back into the Native American community.





When it comes to collecting Native American art antiques or any other type of art, don’t buy it unless you absolutely love it. Your best pieces are going to cost a pretty penny. If you don’t fall in love with a piece, chances are you’re not going to like it any better once it’s on your wall. So hold out for the perfect piece, you’ll be glad you did.


Tuesday 16 October 2012

Finding Vintage Disneyana




Vintage Disneyana has become a personal passion of mine. I’ve been searching for it for years now. I attend art auctions regularly, but usually only find vintage Disneyana at a small percentage of them.





I found a darling 1938 Knickerbocker Mickey Mouse dressed in a Santa suit at an art auction a few years ago. This was an extraordinary vintage Disneyana find. There was some very fine crazing to the face, but no flakes in the paint.





I did some research after the art auction and it turns out that my vintage Disneyana has quite a history. This toy was a one of a kind Mickey Mouse toy made by Knickerbocker for a department store at Christmas and was given away for a contest. I was happy that the beard was real wool fur.





I searched for several years at art auctions until I found a Mad Hatter china teapot. This vintage Disneyana was made in 1951 by Regal for Disney. I always loved Alice in Wonderland and this teapot was very special to me.





My love of vintage Disneyana runs through lots of mediums. I buy figurines and paintings and anything else that strikes me as special while I’m at art auctions. If something is really rare or unusual and still has a whimsical feel to it, I’ll try to win it.





I found a painting that I fell in love with. It fit with my love of vintage Disneyana. The painting was created in 1949 and depicted the Cinderella castle. It was originally created for a Disney holiday card. I won the painting for four thousand dollars and felt like I had gotten a great deal.





The old Disneyland maps have become very expensive pieces of vintage Disneyana. I have been finding more of the old maps at art auctions, but they are usually not in good shape. The nicest map I’ve found was from 1958, which is also the year I was born.





The 1958 map of Disneyland was the first one that was made poster sized. The art auction I found this piece of vintage Disneyana at had numerous Disney lots up for auction that day. I had not expected to find such a great item. This map had been stored rolled and had never been folded. I paid two thousand dollars for it and it was worth every penny.





Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was my little sister’s favorite movie when we were kids. I look for vintage Disneyana that features it when I am art auctions. The best item I’ve found for her was figurines from the 1950s that were of Snow White and six of the seven dwarfs. There was one figurine missing, Sneezy.





My daughter has fallen in love with Bambi. She had me buy her the DVD and she has watched it over and over again. I was at an art auction and found a nice Bambi figurine while they were auctioning off vintage Disneyana. I gave it to her for her last birthday and she says that it is her most prized possession!





I was shocked at an art auction that I attended that had a wonderful 1930s Mickey Mouse lamp and lampshade. The art auction had not even advertised that they were auctioning vintage Disneyana. If they had advertised this item, I know that more people would have come to the auction. I won the lamp for five hundred dollars because I had no competition.





The most common vintage Disneyana that I find at art auctions is watches. I don’t like watches. I never buy any of the Disney watches. I am usually disappointed when an art auction advertises vintage Disneyana and all they have up for auction is watches.





I bought an autographed Fantasia album at a vintage Disneyana sale. The art auction had a lot of signed and autographed items and Disney items were among them. The signatures on my vintage Disneyana included Walt Disney, Leopold Stokowski (the conductor) and both of the original animators, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson. This was a fantastic find for my collection.


Monday 15 October 2012

Art Auctions: Vintage Photography




Vintage photography gives us a glimpse into the past, and helps to allow people to gain some understanding of the world before us. Unlike many of the collections that are considered the staples of art collection, vintage photographs are truly a unique exploration of the recent past, and many eras of the current civilization have come to contribute their share of what makes up vintage photography. Though not the largest grouping of auctioned materials of artistic value, they are still valued for their recollections of past events, and even items relating to vintage modes of photography are included in the auctioning of these things.





Cameras and equipment, photographic books and photo postcards before 1940, and even Viewmaster reels are acceptable pieces of auctioning material. All these things have contributed to the overall history on film, and even as the motion picture took on a predominant role in culture, the photograph has still been a staple of this system forming the basis for it all. Much of what seems to have the most value are those photographs that come from eras predating this revolution in film, and even further back to those images captured years just after the invention of the camera. Some are standards to which we have become accustomed to considering is merely part of our past, and we have to know that these things also have worth.





It is with this in mind that one can better grasp the innate worth of the photographs that might have caught their eye, and to be most prepared for an art auction with vintage photographs as the focus a bit of research is in order, especially if you wish to get the most out of your money for a proposed purchase. Much as any other auction, the buying and selling of vintage photographs can done in a variety of places, and that even includes through the Internet. Today, the markets are wide open with many different examples from previous eras, and finding that photograph that can really capture your attention can be a difficult process well worth the effort.





There are many organized auction houses that conduct business every day, which could perhaps be of service for you and your needs for the art you choose to become more aware of, and you can learn much by consulting experts on such matters. For the most part, buying and selling art through auctions can be an easy process with the right amount of time and money spent in the right places, and you can always go back to your research when you happen to feel overwhelmed by how complex the bidding can get with these types of experience in life.





It is when you are considering the value of a piece that you already own, that consultation with an appraiser can be of much help, and the more professional ones will go out of their way to get you the best total for your items. When concentrating on just what you want, you be better adapted to finding those needs met more adequately, and you will have no need for fearing the system of rules when it comes to the art auction. The more research that you commit yourself to, the more worth your time it becomes, and the more you can have your money work for you.


Looking for Collectible Postcards




I’ve found that the best place to find collectible postcards is at art auctions. I was at an art auction in Eastlake, Ohio looking for stained glass and found them auctioning a lot of vintage collectible postcards. I bought the lot at the art auction and it contained almost three thousand beautiful collectible postcards.





About thirty percent of the collectible postcards were pre-linen. These are postcards that were all made before 1930. The linen collectible postcards were made from 1930 to 1945 and the lot I won at the art auction had thirty percent linen cards as well.





Forty percent of the lot I won at the art auction was for early chrome collectible postcards. Most of them were from the fifties and sixties. There were also collectible postcards from the British museum series from the seventies.





The collectible postcards that are my favorite are all turn of the century and were sent for holidays. Valentine’s Day collectible postcards from the early 1900s are very romantic. The Christmas postcards have some really nice artwork. I was really fortunate with the purchase at the art auction because the assortment was so varied.





My collection of collectible postcards contains many different themes. I like the non-US card. I found an art auction that had a shoebox full of these postcards and they were from places like Bermuda, Zurich, Rio de Janeiro, Dresden, Germany, Ireland and even Istanbul. I had never owned a collectible postcard from Niger before that art auction.





People who do not collect vintage collectible postcards just don’t understand their value. They are usually not even mentioned as being part of an art auction. I go to art auctions every other weekend on the off chance that there will be collectible postcards on the auction block.





I am always so pleased when I find linen ere collectible postcards at an art auction. The auctioneer at most art auctions does not even announce the lot as linen postcards; he usually just announces it as vintage or old collectible postcards. His lack of knowledge of the subject almost always works to my advantage.





I have various collections of collectible postcards within the main collection. I tried for awhile to complete a set of state views in all linen era postcards. I can’t even count how many art auctions I attended before I even had thirty of the forty eight states. I know that I finally tired of the pursuit and have just put it on the back burner.





The holiday collectible postcards go to collectors of more than just postcards. I’ve seen people buy holiday collectible postcards at an art auction just to frame and decorate with them during certain holidays. I actually found five really nice vintage Christmas collectible postcards at an art auction and had them framed for my mother as a Christmas gift.





I went to an art auction and estate sale of a man whose grandfather had been a colonel army officer. The collectible postcards that I found there were fantastic. The officer had amassed 353 different postcards from India. It was amazing. They had been tucked into an album and never used and were in perfect condition.





For awhile, I thought that I wanted to collect postcards from soldiers in WWI. I found a two hundred piece lot of this type of collectible postcards at an art auction in New Haven. The mix of cards was British, French and German. It was interesting because some of the collectible postcards were censored. I’ve never seen censored collectible postcards before.





The most I’ve ever spent on collectible postcards at an art auction was $530 for four postcards. They were all from 1904 and they depicted automobile racing. They were in pristine condition. I doubt that I will ever find any more even remotely like this the rest of my life. They were exceptional.





The lot of collectible postcards I found last weekend was really fun to look through. The art auction had a lot of things from a family that had emigrated here from Serbia. The postcards were all from either Serbia or Belgrade. This was a good lot and it went for the opening bid.


Sunday 14 October 2012

Art auction: contemporary art



It really is a wonderful thing, considering how much we receive from our appreciation of art is that it speaks about our own culture and the cultures which make up the world beyond our own volumes. It is very modern to understand something of what art is, how he tries to reinterpret our own scope of the world at an artistic level and still reveals all of the human nature behind his creation. Artistic spirit of today is no different in the fruit of reflections on a canvas surface, and some are obsessed with the same qualities that these works of art are considered classics have had previously.




In particular, there is that a unique perspective comes from much contemporary art, or if the label appears to include works of contemporary art, with uncertainties, due to the lack of a dominant School of thought or ideology. More modern art begins the direction in the 1960s, most of the illustrations, could easily be defined by specifics before that, and there were trends in these circles for the date itself through the 1980s. After the period modernist art was confirmed, much of the direction was to be quite uneven in periods of social and political change, and many distinctions within the art loosened considerably.




With a few critical opinions denouncing the current of modern art must be 'true beauty', critical Donald Kuspit was known to say that art had left the Studio and found his ' path in the street and it may not be that much worse with a blur of many lines at this time. " Today, contemporary art seems to take into account that these issues are that the world is facing, and to focus on policy seems to have intensified recently. Shift the drawing of ideal beauty and purity of a completely contradictory force of inspiration for art with a social vocation and often the appropriate cross-media limits.




Even though this is where the argument stops and the conjecture begins as artists and critics the two clash of opinion where the line lies between the different types of tanks, and he was beaten all other movements art is again in a similar way, to find the place that crosses between art, artist and the public and create a way for each of them to share space in the overall concept of the artwork. Make holes in the points between art and life less and create new ways to understand how the things that we see around us.




Exciting with impact on what the limits of perception through relevant issues shape the world as we know, and there are many schools and studios of modern art that seeks to help shape the mass culture of the practice of contemporary art which will result in the future, for us to see introspective in the thoughts of the artist. Create educational institutions that defies and defines what love and life can continue to limit, to analyze and further defined as multiple devices in a totally different from the sum of its 'parts."




When considering all these information can seem overwhelming at first, but art is not impossible to understand, if you focus on the understanding of what your tastes are. When these things do not think, it is easy to forget the value of what you buy and you may be able to get most of what you want to use. There are some lessons to be learnt, involving not something explanatory self-expression, we need closer to what appeals to them with a frugal yet open state of mind, it may be much easier to find a good deal with this state of mind at your finger tips.




Timing may sometimes need to be much more lucrative for the buyer, and with some auctions of art, it can be difficult to find some reasons to start the auction. However, with studious attention his film what you want your final goal should be, and you have found a way to acquire at least a type of fax to show for your efforts. Depending on how deeply you want yourself get involved in such activities as local screenings of work by contemporary artists and perhaps you would even find a way to see the stirrings of the creativity of Interior, befriended with local artists and networked.


Saturday 13 October 2012

Quilts from Art Auctions




I’ve been traveling throughout California attending art auctions looking for unique quilts. I have had a lot of success. I have found so many quilts that you could tell were filled with thousands of hours of careful planning and stitching.





I was attending at art auction in Orange and found a wonderful quilt. The quilt was from the Civil War era and was made in the design of Blazing Stars. There was a wonderful appliqued red and green swag-like border. The center of the quilt has a feathered heart hand quilted.





The art auction that I went to in San Bruno had a fabulous quilt that was made in the 1860s. The quilt was hand appliqued using cheddar, red and green cotton solid fabrics. The background was white and the border has a meandering flowering vine. It was truly special.





I found a great quilt that was made in 1894 while I was at an art auction in Rancho Cucamonga. The style of the quilt was really fun. It was called a Victorian Crazy Quilt. There was so much elaborate hand embroidery over every seam and within the blocks, it was magnificent.





I was on vacation in Napa and attended an art auction that had several really nice quilts. The one that I won was made in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and was completed in the 1870s. I like the design called Ocean Waves. The chain had earth green and chocolate brown triangles that were pieced with exceedingly fine skill and precision. The border and background color was warm, cadmium orange.





The quilt I found at an art auction in Paradise was an 1840's thin, cotton Quaker quilt, which measures 108" x 88" and had 10 stitches per inch. It was a Quaker cotton wedding quilt. The top border, near the pillows, had a blue print and each side and the bottom had wide borders with North Carolina Quilt blocks in each corner. There were two rows of North Carolina Lilies in the center, and one row on each side facing outward.





The quilt made its way into the art auction because someone made the decision to sell some of the great historic heirlooms that were passed down through her family to her. I was very fortunate to acquire this heirloom that had passed through the many generations of Quaker families. Now I own one of the great Pennsylvania Quaker masterpieces.





Log cabin quilts are a design that I have always liked. My grandmother made a quilt using this design for me when I was twelve. I found one made in a similar fashion at an art auction Los Gatos. The quilt was made in the 1870s and was made by Mennonites.





I was lucky to find the art auction, it was difficult to find. The quilt is just fantastic. The light and dark design of this quilt has a red center on one side with two green bars, two cinnamon bars and two blue bars and then two red bars and on the other side of the red square in the center are two yellows, two black and white stripe, two lovely Lancaster blue bars, and two peppermint stripe bars.





There was an art auction in Huntington Beach that advertised quilts and I was really happy with the pieces that I found there. The quilt that I bought had a pictorial motif, like an album quilt, with a lot of interesting designs. Each block was quite different and special.


Art Auctions: Grotesque Art




That there is an overwhelming number of pieces that represent this particular grouping of artwork seems false to believe, but this is happens to be on the rise as we get further into the new millennium, and realize the shedding of our culture’s skins time and again. Grotesque artwork pulls us back into the human forms we have been born into, and truly seems to give us a reaffirming sense of who we are. There are many artists, though part of other artistic movements, which have proven to fill the criteria for this grouping of concepts.





Grotesque art from the past ranges from varying degrees of mood and theme, but always seem to draw from those factors that are widely considered by most to be taboo or dark in nature, adhering to some of the most brutal and thought-provoking events in history. All these things have come together to create a body of works that jump between particular eras, but seem interrelated in the subject matter that they portray, creating works that define the morbid attentions that we seem to take from our history as a whole.





Through the works of such famed artists as Picasso and Goya, the light within the darkness of our own human condition can be revealed to us, and these reflections of our culture are seeds to the future as the culture has evolved. Many differing movements each seem to donate their own unique spin when considering these peculiar models of work, and the theme of horror and terror can be interpreted by my different people many differing ways, no matter whether today or some era further behind us. For some cultures, it is a way to evacuate fear, and express it without harm to one’s emotional health.





Though morals may seem to be too constrictive today, there are still points where society converges on points that break past the emotional barriers that many people construct, and this art is very much a mirror for evoking an honest reaction at the reflection that stares back, a response that cannot be replicated any other way. These images more than affect the rest of the present day world, as can be heard in many recent dimensions in music, and related themes can even be found in today’s popular attraction towards the horror films and novels which sell more than ever now.





It is when you consider the works of artists possessed by a certain vision, one that evokes pain as well as passion along with the other contradictions in life, and it is then that historic works like those of Hieronymus Bosch and even modern designs of H. R. Giger can be learned in equal measure of value. Their predilections towards breaking the taboos enforced by their surroundings, has helped to guide us steps into the future of our own acceptance and appreciation for our world, and the layers of depth can be revealed when one takes the time to find those elements that appeal to the sense of artistic worth.





To take control of your knowledge of this kind of artwork can better equip you for finding the particular works that you would be most enthusiastic to own, and though most of the more famous works can only be bought as prints, there are still many artists today who practice a style that intrudes upon that thin layer on the surface that reveals the most visceral layers underneath that. When looking for the right work to suit your tastes, a good deal respect must be given to those that attempt to translate their thoughts onto canvas, and you can come to better understand this category of art when approached with an open mind.





Today, some works by the artist Joe Coleman have more recently pushed the boundaries further back, and smashed a lot of preconceptions of artistic will. His approach includes the use a single horse hair brush, and detailing so fine that many layers can be found after viewing the paintings and prints dozens of times over, creating a new perspective on it with each consecutive viewing of the work. It is these layered degrees that artists strive for time and again to reveal insights into the nature of what it is to be human, and allow us to get in touch with sides of ourselves previously unknown or held back.


Friday 12 October 2012

Stained Glass Art Auctions




I have found some really beautiful pieces of artistic stained glass at art auctions. The worship committee at my church asked me to find some church window stained glass when I went to an art auction last fall. I found an excellent piece for them that was framed and 73” X 38.5”. The congregation loved it.





I found some wonderful stained glass at an art auction for a client that was trying to complete his new kitchen. The three windows I won were exactly right for him. The stained glass had a Victorian star design in shades of blue. The borders were all beveled and the piece was hand cut and soldered.





The modern stained glass windows sometimes come sandwiched between two pieces of tempered glass to protect them for years of use. The windows I bought at the art auction were framed in vinyl. Each of the stained glass windows was 30” X 30”.





Stained glass art auctions always include lampshades. I went through a period of time where I purchased every stained glass lampshade I would find at an art auction. I am a little more discerning, now. I found a stained glass lampshade not long ago that I purchased for my mother.





My mother just redecorated her bedroom in green and mauve. The stained glass lampshade that I found for her only had variations of those two colors running through it. It was perfect for her and she really liked it when I gave it to her.





I had a call from a client last week that asked me to find a piece of stained glass to hang in a picture window. She always had a curtain hanging over that window, so I had trouble picturing what it looked like. I stopped by her house and chatted with her before I went to the art auction so that I could get better idea of what would delight her.





I talked with this client for awhile and found out that she used to grow roses competitively, but that since her arthritis had gotten worse, she was no longer able to garden. She had a curtain hanging over that window so that she wouldn’t have to look into her bare backyard. I instantly knew exactly what kind of stained glass art piece she needed.





The art auction was a lot of fun and I found a large oval stained glass piece to hang over the picture window for my client. It was almost three feet tall and just under two feet wide. The red roses done in stained glass were just magnificent. She was so happy after the stained glass was delivered; she thanked me with coffee and bagels.





She hired me again to find a special piece for her bedroom window. She liked the idea of replacing the curtains in her home with stained glass pieces of art that I could find for her at art auctions. I looked at the way her bedroom was decorated taking special notice of the colors she used.





I found a fantastic stained glass piece for her at the art auction of a peacock with lavender in the background. It fit really well with her existing decorating. She hired my son to hang this piece for her. She was pleased with his work and has promised him future jobs that require more strength than she possesses.





I was asked by a friend of mine to find a special piece of stained glass for his office. I went to three art auctions before I could find something that felt right. His taste and furnishings run the direction of more contemporary than most pieces of stained glass usually represent.





The third art auction I attended had a contemporary piece of stained glass art that depicted a landmark in Anchorage, Alaska. I did not know it at the time, but my friend had family in Alaska and was actually familiar with this landmark. I purchased it because I liked the style and the coloring, but it turned out to be an even better choice because of its subject matter.


Thursday 11 October 2012

Art auctions: Art Deco



Within the contemporary art plays a role of sumptuous grand and impressive art deco. The bright colours and of scanning curves audacity of the trademark art deco of the loan which expresses much of the progress made and the modern advancements of the 20th century. Auctions of art from around the world still move several pieces of art deco of different kinds. If you are interested in the art deco, many auctions of art, collection online and off that deal mainly art deco style.




In the 20th century converged the Arts Décoratifs in what is called the art deco movement, which has grown to influence the architecture, fashion, design and Visual Arts. The term "art deco" was derived from a universal exhibition held in Paris in France, called international Decorative Arts and modern industrial exhibition in 1925.




Although the movement and the term comes from the international exhibition of Decorative Arts and modern industry, the term was not widely used until the end of the 1960s. Especially before the first world war the European art deco influence, although many cultures have influenced and was influenced by this artistic movement. A large part of the world has experienced similar shifts in technological advances modern.




Most of the art deco movement was led and inspired by the rapid advances in the technological and social aspects of the beginning of the twentieth century. As culture answered that these change over time, art deco movement was a consequence of these modern phenomena.




Art deco is considered as being generally a type eclectic decorative modernism, which was influenced by a number of artists and art in particular forms. Art deco include furniture, sculptures, clocks, glassware and monitors as well as paintings and other works of art.




Art deco style is known for its industry of luxury and Epicurean flairs, attributed to the culture of sobriety the war-induced world i. patterns and 'BOLD' colors and shapes have been used, have been many special designs are applied universally.




Artist: Sunburst, for example, used in all areas of Radio City Music Hall auditorium, images ladies Shoes, the arrow of the Chrysler Building and several other pieces of art, architecture and design. Other ubiquitous motifs in the art deco style has been stepped shapes, zig - zag, herringbone and curves.




In the West, art deco has lost its steam around the second world war, but continued to be used in the 1960s in developing colonies such as the India, where he served as a bridge to modernism. In art deco of the 1980s then made a comeback in graphic design. Association Art deco and the 1930s film noir has led to its use in advertisements of fashion and jewellery.




Today, art deco is revered by many and dismissed as old news and too flashy by others. Although he undoubtedly played a major role in the history of art, as in most arts, individual tastes encloses the individual interpretation and similar or analogous non-art deco styles.




Art deco is one of the best-known art movements. It is mainly because of its wide range of influences and influenced art forms and cultures. Since a large part of the world know good number same advances in technology and mass production, had the same ideas and relevant symbols in different parts of the world.


Wednesday 10 October 2012

Art Auctions: Greco-Roman Statuary




The ancient civilizations that have come before this present period of time have always left behind some truly unique pieces to others after them to gain some insight as to what that society may have been like. We learn much from the artifacts collected by archeologists, and their attempts throughout the Mediterranean region of the world, where the peoples of Greece and Rome had originally found their home. Though much of these items are priceless works that cannot be just bought and sold, there are versions of some famous works that can be much cheaper for the casual shopper to purchase.





Many pieces of the genuine article are sometimes found wherever the Greco-Roman styling of things has been prominently featured in architecture or artwork, and there are very many varieties that you might consider as being included in the category with statuary, such as ornately crafted vases and busts. Some of these aspects are certainly more common than many other varieties of this kind of work, with replicas of all of these items is much more common then one may think before coming to understand the rarity of these things, and that genuine articles will be priceless artifacts in some cases.





With the auctioning of statuary from an era previous, though, you can expect the pricing to be an obvious obstacle. Unless adequate replicas can be found in someone’s catalog for a much cheaper price, then the buying of these curious grouping of items should be left to those with skill to know what they are getting. Though this opinion may seem conceited, a person determined to find and retain a piece of Greek statuary should never feel as though it is out of their grasp to do so, and one should always know the rules when coming to realize what it can take to get such a wonderfully preserved piece of work.





In this light, replicas can be a much cheaper and functional means of finding the many differently appealing styled pieces to complete your collection of Greco Roman objects, and there are many prints of Greco Roman artwork for sale to be had for those art collectors thinking within a budget. The actual pieces can be too much for any collector to reasonably purchase, as many pieces of that nature are housed within established places like museums, and exclusively linked to one association or another of experts that collectively buys and cares for the pieces.





For some of the smaller pieces from the age have been passed between collectors for many, many years, and still retain some hint of the past that created them. Art auctioning has the flavor for some peoples’ tastes in the expensive, but the point of an art auction does not have to exclude anyone excited by the items put up for sale, anyone that feels an urge to acquire pieces from an ancient past should be able to participate with a little research into auctioning. Though it may seem overwhelming at first, the experience of an art auction can be a truly special event, and the pricing should never spoil an art auction for those new to it.





With statuary of as historic a nature as the Greco-Roman period, and you consider the history behind some of the pieces, you will better understand somewhat the reminders that float through to us from history’s fingers. Much of what know of their culture has been passed down for many thousands of years, and it is remarkable to see how the themes and subject matter has evolved as it relates to the centuries gone by, as all manner of time period has broken down into our own present day settings. Greco Roman statues give us a literal model of how they perceived the world around them, and though similar and plausible for making comparisons against our own culture, those cultures from a distant past can be great reminders for us to look to for inspiration.


Tuesday 9 October 2012

Ventes aux enchères d'art : début art américain



There are many very good examples of what might be called early American work that has survived to our days, and as time past to create specific style movements all over the world, the basic ideas change with a change in regional settings and the time when it comes to individual artists and their vision bright. Each artist who no doubt contribute something to the overview of the world that he shapes and changes around them, it takes an artistic strong enough to transcend any particular era will communicate the feeling of the time in a compressed format, and the different forms that can take this illustration are many.




There are many styles and preservation of the environment from which to choose your vintage of the work piece, and when you do the appropriate amount of research on the subject, then you'll be better prepared to find the ideal painting or the work of an artist, you can easily relate to. American illustrations at the beginning, it can be much less time to find and acquire an engraving of the stone you want to possess, and this can also be a cost-effective way to get these works can best enjoy your taste in works of art and artist.




Early American art native American art to artists and modernist painters spectrum running, we see at the present time and their work all comes down in the category of the first of America art, creating a unique perspective on the American landscape. When you want to see a museum-quality piece in your own living room, there may be several ways to purchase ideal illustration that you find, and not all cost an arm or a leg. If you believe that the shopping experience must be animal and then you wrong wrong, but each piece of Museum can be considered to be invaluable in a few hands.




There are different ways to find compromises that responds to your needs, and it does not always affect you find a print and put a frame around it, worthy of many images may be a way around the Bill to try to buy one of these parts affordable constitutional tradition. If you happen to be careful about the purchase of a piece of dubious value, then maybe buy a poster of such works of art can make more value, and especially if you find yourself being a novice in the art scene. There are many places where you could find printed reproductions, and may have them purchased directly in the location space.




There is still much American illustrations are produced, which is quite relevant considerations on the State of things, because they are all the time, and regardless of the period, it certainly is a way to find an example of what you are looking for the artist happens to be involved in a particular gesture or otherwise at the time. There are many definitions, American art falls into depending on when the work was done, but only after the 19th century that the movements began to be launched at the United States, and it was then that artists like Jackson Pollack had the freedom to express themselves.




This leads to the expressionist abstract art, outgrowth COM devices of impacts between the illustrations Ashcan and European modernists like the Cubists and abstract painters's movement direction and appeared in the years following the second world war. In the spirit of this movement gave the discontinuation of the method of formal composition of programmes that focus on space and color to represent the physical act of painting on canvas and has created works based on instinct rather than the representation of real-world objects. These works would eventually affect the works of pop art that would come later in the century the reputation.


Folk Art Auctions




Folk art auctions feature a wide range of objects that reflect the artist’s craft traditions, and traditional social values. Folk art is generally produced by people who have little or no academic artistic training. Folk artists usually use established techniques and styles of a particular region or culture.





Folk art auctions include paintings, sculptures and other decorative art forms. Some artists also consider utilitarian objects such as tools and costumes as folk art. For the most part, the category of folk art auctions exclude works by professional artists.





It has been my experience that folk art auctions have something for just about anyone. I found a folk art painting of a cat in a peach tree that was done by the artist Tascha. The artist also noted on the folk art auction that they create unique ceramic tile art.





My mother purchased a blanket chest for me years ago that I listed recently in a folk art auction. The chest was made about two hundred hears ago and is very beautiful. The original painted decorations are still intact.





I found an interesting folk art auction for a carnival knock-down dummy in the shape of a large cat. It was made around 1930 and is twice the size of similar items. I researched the item on a non-auction site and found that it is worth a lot of money.





My heart is still swayed by Americana folk art auctions. I recently fell in love with a painting I found up for auction of Elvis on a Harley in front of a large American flag. It was spectacular! The stretched canvas was painted with acrylics.





I especially like the Halloween themed folk art auction I found that was offered by Sister Raya New Orleans Folk Art. The title of the painting was Little Spooky the Cat – Awaiting the Great Pumpkin. The painting was painted in classic vintage style and used gold maple, red sapphire, blue pearl, white, pumpkin orange, sable brown, amber rust and jet black. I would love to have this hanging on my wall all through the autumn months.





Another folk art auction that I found and was sad to bid up past my budget was a handmade set of miniature dominos. The set was in a folk art decorated maple case. The set dates from the mid to late 1800’s. It was really exquisite and I’m sorry that I missed out on it.





I really liked another folk art auction that I found for a modern fraktur. A fraktur is a specific kind of Pennsylvania German folk art. The fraktur I found was a watercolor of a marriage record. It was very colorful and looked like it held very special significance to its original owners.





I found a wood box from Maine in a folk art auction that really appealed to me. It was rather small, but was painted chrome yellow and was trimmed in forest green. The paint was crazed and worn and it was made in the late nineteenth century. There were no visible nails and the hardware was reported as looking original.





The folk art auction that I missed out on that was way out of my price range was for an Andrew Clemens sand bottle. The sand bottle was date 1887 and was covered in patriotic decorations. It was an apothecary style bottle with a stopper and it contained at least ten different colors of sand. The bottle ended up selling for eighty five hundred dollars. I’m sure that it has ended up in an excellent collection of folk art.





I found an amusing folk art auction for three wooden carvings. The name of the piece was Three Articulating Folk Art Whimseys and were all made by the same artist. The carvings were accented with sheet metal neckties. The first carving in the folk art auction was of a cobbler, a blacksmith and a gentleman with a donkey. The second carving was a diminutive soldier and the third was a cobbler smoking a pipe. I think that this piece of Americana was purchased at a low price of three thousand dollars and was worth much more.


Monday 8 October 2012

Art Auctions for Vintage Posters




Vintage posters are always available at art auctions. I have found all kinds of vintage poster art auctions lately. I really liked a vintage poster I found that was from the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam. The poster is rare because it is one of the only 500 of the 10,000 printed that is in French.





Another vintage poster I found in an art auction was from 1917. It depicts French woman in war time performing various tasks. The poster celebrates the contribution of French women in the workforce. During war time, French women made up forty percent of the workforce.





I’m always a sucker for old vintage posters of rock bands. I look for them in art auctions all the time. I like ones that are autographed, like the one from The Who that I saw recently. I felt like the starting bid was a little high and so I didn’t try to win it.





I have been leaning more and more lately toward French vintage posters. I found a vintage poster for Orangina that was printed in 1970 at an art auction recently. I thought that the art auction would only get to one thousand dollars, but I was wrong. The vintage poster sold for twelve hundred dollars.





My older brother needed something interesting for the walls of his new apartment. I started looking for vintage posters in art auctions and found the perfect poster. The one that I found featured race cars and he loves race cars. The poster was from the 1965 Nurbergring Grosser Preis Von Deutschland and looked fantastic for being forty years old.





French advertisements seem to make the best vintage posters. I like finding art auctions for posters advertising products like Lu Biscuits. I found a great vintage poster for less than a thousand dollars and it looks great in my kitchen.





Vintage posters that relate to travel always get a lot of interest at an art auction. I saw a lovely poster that was advertising the English Lake District in France. The poster was produced in 1905. I like viewing them, but I do not personally collect posters in this style.





I found a vintage poster at an art auction that advertised shoe polish. This was a French poster that was made in the 1930’s. I framed it and put it in my dressing room. It fits in there perfectly and really adds to the feel of the room.





My sister married a man with a cycling shop. They have used a variety of cycling related items to decorate their home. My favorite piece is an old fashioned tricycle they keep in the formal living room. I found a vintage poster in an art auction that depicted an advertisement for Celtic Cycles and they loved it when I gave it to them.





I found set of vintage posters of The Beatles that were made in 1967. The posters were for sale an art auction I attended. I have seen vintage posters designed by Richard Avedon before and I really liked his vision of The Beatles. These vintage posters were well worth the two hundred dollars each I paid for them.





The vintage poster that I have my eye on right now is up for sale at an art auction coming up. It is an Andy Warhol advertisement for Chanel perfume. I want to win this vintage poster and frame it and hang it on the wall of my master bathroom. It would be perfect there and would absolutely complete the look I was going for.


Sunday 7 October 2012

Art Glass Paperweights




I have a shop that sells art glass. My favorite art glass is paperweights. I have a lot of fun attending art auctions and buying art glass. I try to pay attention to what my friends and clients like and dislike.





I usually give people art glass paperweights that I find at art auctions for milestone birthdays and anniversaries. My grandmother turned eighty last October and I found a wonderful art glass paperweight for her.





The art glass paperweight that I found for my grandmother was made by Baccarat. I was extremely lucky that this was one of the last things auctioned. A lot of people had already left the art auction when this item went on the block. My grandmother appreciated the pansy design because the pansy is her favorite flower.





My cousin loves frogs. She has managed to decorate her home tastefully with her favorite item. I have been on the lookout for an art glass paperweight for her for years. I finally found one at an art auction I was at last year. The art glass paperweight featured a frog sitting on a lily pad and the frog was surrounded by blue water. It was really pretty and my cousin started using it on her desk immediately.





My aunt collects art glass paperweights. I have been asked by her on numerous occasions to find pretty art glass paperweights for her while I’m attending art auctions. Of all of the pieces I’ve won for her over the years, one memory sticks out in my memory more than any other.





By far the prettiest art glass paperweight I’ve ever won at an art auction has to be one that features a blue and gold Macaw. Rick Ayotte was the artist that created it and it was even featured in a book of his work. He has created many lovely art glass paperweights.





I have an art glass paperweight in my shop that just won’t sell. It has been in the store the longest and I think I may have it priced too high. I won the paperweight at an art auction several years ago for one thousand dollars. The paperweight was created by Paul Stankard and it should have easily sold for twice what I paid for it.





I have no trouble at all selling art glass paperweights that were made by Rick Ayotte. His work seems to draw the most interest. I try to win any auction I find for art glass paperweights he made. I won one not long ago that was pink roses. They looked so delicate and sweet. I know that this art glass paperweight will sell quickly.





There have been some inquiries at my shop for art glass paperweights by Richard Marquis. I haven’t found any in any of the art auctions I’ve attended recently. I looked at some of the pieces he’s made and I’m not especially impressed.





I will keep looking for the art glass paperweights at the art auctions I attend, but I will not be going way out of my way to track them down. I will just remember that Marquis is an artist that some of my clients are really interested in. I’m sure that I will find an art auction with one of his pieces in it at some point.





There were some inquiries about nautical themed art glass paperweights a couple of years ago and I found a fantastic artist that made them. I buy every art glass paperweight I can find that was made by Rick Satava. My favorite has to be the coral orange jellyfish that I found at an art auction an hour from my home. It was really pretty.





The coral orange jellyfish art glass paperweight was just the first Rick Satava piece that I’ve found at various art auctions. I’ve also found jellyfish in ruby and blue. They are beautiful by themselves or when they are put onto a black light stand that has been built especially for them.


Saturday 6 October 2012

Special Hummel Figurines




I find old Hummel figurines at art auctions all the time. I’ve been collecting them for my mother and her sister for a long time. They don’t have the time to go to art auctions, but they have the money to buy nice figurines.





The Apple Tree Boy Hummel figurine I found for my aunt last year was so cute. I attended an art auction about an hour away from my house and they had lots of decorative collectibles. I was able to find several items for my mother and also for my father.





My mother and her sister both want to have an Umbrella Boy Hummel figurine. I have only been able to find one at all of the art auctions I’ve attended. They share the piece equally while I’m looking for a second piece.





The whimsical Hummel figurine called Pleasant Journey is so cute. It was the first Hummel that mother and my aunt ever received. The scene is of two children pulling a third child in a wagon. My grandmother found it at an art auction and it reminded her of her children. She gave it to her two daughters on their shared birthday.





My dad sings in a barbershop quartet. My mother asked me to find an appropriate Hummel figurine at one of the art auctions I attend to give to him for his birthday. I actually was unable to find just the right item for over a year.





My mother was thrilled when I found the Harmony in Four Parts Hummel figurine at an art auction in our hometown. She presented it to him on his birthday and he really liked it. I think she may have liked it more, but that is okay with him. He has always been very supportive of my mother’s collecting.





My mother gave my son a Hummel figurine when he graduated from high school. I thought it was an odd gift to give a kid that had never expressed any interest in collecting them. She did choose a nice piece from her collection that I had purchased for her several years ago at an art auction. She gave him the Hummel figurine Little Fiddler because he plays the violin.





When my aunt went on a cruise, I decided to find her a nautical Hummel figurine. I had to attend four art auctions before I found one. I ended up purchasing the Hummel figurine called Land in Sight. She loved it.





Hummel figurine Let’s Tell The World was a special piece. It is really pretty and it depicts three children ringing a bell. My cousin has been going with me to art auctions looking for it. She thinks that we need to give it to our mothers to share like they do the Umbrella Boy.





I don’t usually collect Hummel figurines. I leave that to my mother and my aunt. The only exception to this is the “Can I Play?” Hummel figurine. I found it at an art auction and it reminded me of playing at my grandmother’s house when I was a child with my brother and my cousin.





The most expensive Hummel figurine that I’ve found at an art auction in the last couple of years was a vintage piece called School Girls. I got into a bidding frenzy with another collector and ended up spending a thousand dollars. The piece was celebrated with a party at my aunt’s house.


Friday 5 October 2012

Finding Maritime Items at Art Auctions




I find some really nice maritime items for my collection at art auctions. I went to an art auction in Charleston last month and found a pair of candle powered navigation lights that were used on ships in the 19th century. These types of candles were also used in lighthouse stairwells.





My collection also includes a maritime item that was made in 1891. It is a chronometer and it still keeps great time. It is very special because the broad arrow on it indicates that it was purchased by the British Navy and they are known to have only the best time pieces. I found this piece of my collection at an art auction in New Hampshire.





I have another chronometer in my collection that I found at an art auction in Dallas. It was sold to me in a wooden box from someone that had owned it for fifty years. They had kept this maritime relic in a closet. I plan to keep it on display.





I was at an art auction in Miami a couple of years ago and found a fantastic maritime item for my personal collection. The compass that I won was over 100 years old and was made in Persia. The compass face has all twelve signs of the zodiac engraved on it. I thought that this was a great find.





My kids thought I was crazy when I drove to an art auction is Hartford and drove back with three hundred pounds of maritime Navy anchors. I thought they’d look great in the yard. I like to have art in my yard, in the beds I made around my trees. No one wanted to help me unload them.





I found myself in a bidding war at an art auction in Mississippi over the original builder’s plate from the SS Contessa. It is truly a unique and wonderful maritime item. I have polished it and it gleams in the display case I bought for it.





Maritime items don’t seem to be in as much demand anymore. A few years ago, my collection got easier to add to for some reason. Art auctions everywhere I went started having really great things on the auction block.





The brass plaques from old ships have always been one of my favorite things to find up for sale at art auctions. One of my favorite maritime plaques came from a ship that was used in WWII. The ship that the plaque was on was called the Marechal Joffre and it was taken from the French in 1942. The Maritime Commission renamed the ship USS Rochambeau.





I had a friend of mine that was going to attend an art auction in Anchorage a couple of years ago bid on a bell for me. I had no idea how much the freight charge was going to end up being, but I wanted this maritime item in my collection. It was magnificent.





There is going to be a really nice maritime item at an art auction I intend to attend this weekend. Lighthouse items are of interest to me more and more lately. I have found that there is going to be an antique brass oil lamp up for auction and I plan to win it. The price will probably get up to fifteen hundred dollars, but I don’t care. I need this maritime item in my collection.


Decorative Collectibles at Art Auctions




I have found many decorative collectibles at art auctions over the years. I have a display cabinet filled with all of my finds. My favorite of all of the decorative collectibles are Pendelfin rabbits.





Pendelfin rabbits captivated my interest when I was a young girl. My dad was stationed in England and my mother bought me my first of many decorative collectibles at an art auction. The bookends that she bought for me are extremely rare and I recently had them appraised at more than fifteen hundred dollars.





I’ve been searching at art auctions in my area every time that decorative collectibles are advertised as being up for sale. My greatest hope is that I can find a Pendelfin item named The Shoe. I’ve been looking for this particular piece for about five years.





The larger pieces of decorative collectibles seem to get really expensive really fast at an art auction. I’ve seen three people at once bidding up the Pendelfin rabbits to a point where the price is just out of my reach. I love these rabbits, but I have to stay on budget when I attend an art auction.





There is one Pendelfin item that I found at an art auction early in my collection that I spend a lot more money than I wanted to. I just had no idea how much a love of decorative collectibles could end up costing. The item I bought was a three inch by four inch little plaque with Robert the rabbit depicted.





I sell decorative collectibles with online art auctions. I find the items at art auctions and sales that I attend in person. I have never resold a piece of Pendelfin. I keep them in my own private collection. My husband bought me a Pendelfin figurine named Auctioneer. I love it.





Almost all of the rabbits produced by Pendelfin are small. These decorative collectibles have retained their value for a long time. Art auctions are a great place to hunt for really cool pieces that are larger and rare. I’ve been looking for one named Aunt Ruby for a couple of years, now.





Aunt Ruby is one of the large size rabbits. I already have Uncle Soames and Mother. These were actually some of the first pieces of decorative collectibles. I found them at an art auction I attended with my husband before we married.





There was an anniversary piece put out by Pendelfin. I don’t think that it is worth what I keep seeing it for new and in stores that sell decorative collectibles. I’ll just keep looking for it at a reasonable price at the art auctions I attend.





I was so excited when I found two big pieces of Pendelfin decorative collectibles at the last art auction I attended. I bought both the one named Toy Shop and the one named The Castle Tavern. They look great with all of the others that I’ve bought and won at auctions over the years.





My sister called me from an art auction last year to tell me that she had found a treasure trove of decorative collectibles. She said that there was one lot that contained nine Pendelfin pieces. I authorized her to pay up to four hundred dollars for the lot because some of the pieces were chipped. I was shocked when the lot went for eighty dollars, the opening bid.


Thursday 4 October 2012

Unique Faberge Eggs




Faberge Eggs have always been special to me. I’ve been searching them out at art auctions since I was in my early twenties. I did a term paper on the Faberge Company and their history of making eggs for the Russian Tsars between 1885 and 1917.





The first Faberge Egg that I ever found at an art auction was actually quite by chance. The Faberge Egg was not one of the advertised items and was actually a bottle topper. I instantly fell in love with it and took it home from the art auction for one hundred dollars.





I saw an advertisement for a tropical Faberge Egg from a collection St. Petersburg. It was set to be up for sale at an art auction in New York City. I knew that I was going to be unable to purchase it, but I wanted to see it in person and at least put in one of the lower bids.





The tropical Faberge Egg at that art auction in New York City ended up selling for over six thousand dollars. That is out of my price range, but I was happy just to have been in the same room with this masterpiece. The eggs themselves are just exciting to be near.





The first Faberge Egg was made in 1885. I know that it will never turn up in an art auction, but hopefully I will see it someday in an exhibit. The first one was commissioned by Tsar Alexander III and was given to his wife as an Easter present. The surprise inside the egg was a golden hen in a golden yolk. The hen was wearing a tiny crown with a ruby hanging inside.





The antique Russian Faberge Egg that I found at an art auction recently was so detailed. The silver enamel egg has rubies and eagles and is marked with Faberge hallmarks. I was able to win this egg because I was bidding with someone else’s money. The best eggs always end up with the richest people.





The piece that I want in my collection is a genuine Lillies of the Valley Faberge Egg. I found one at an art auction I went to ten years ago. I was unable to buy the one I saw, because I didn’t have the money at the time. I’ve been saving for the time that I see another one.





The Lillies of the Valley Faberge Egg is covered with pearls and pale pink enamel. The egg is on a stand that has legs of matte green-gold leaves with rose dewdrops. The gold-stemmed lilies of the valley have green enamelled leaves and pearl flowers. I will look for this egg at every art auction I ever attend.





This Faberge Egg is delightful. It is surmounted by an Imperial crown of rose crystals. There is a pearl knob that reveals the surprise of this egg. The surprise is portrait miniatures of Czar Nicholas II and his two oldest daughters. The portraits are framed in rose crystals and backed with gold panels. I have heard a rumor that one will be at an art auction next year in Miami.





The last art auction I attended I purchased a Faberge Egg called the Imperial Clover Egg. It was for my personal collection and I won it for under a thousand dollars. I felt like it was quite a steal at that price.





The Imperial Clover Faberge Egg was originally made with a four leaf clover inside of it that had portraits of the four daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra. The portraits went missing during the Russian Revolution. The egg that I bought at the art auction had a stem of clovers standing upright. Two clovers in green enamel and the third, a four leaf clover, was done in diamonds. The diamond four leaf clover is a pin that can be worn.


Wednesday 3 October 2012

Art Poster Auctions




Art poster auctions are very popular. Owning great pieces of art has gotten easier. A properly framed art poster can be as nice as owning an original painting and it is far less expensive.





I have found many different art styles in art poster auctions. The most expensive art poster in the abstract style sold recently on eBay was a 1959 Picasso entitled Les Menines. The poster sold for $560.00.





There was an original and authentic art poster auction recently in the art deco style that caught my eye. The poster was from 1961 and was for Breakfast at Tiffany. The poster sold for over three thousand dollars.





World’s Fair art poster auctions seem to do very well. I saw an auction for the 1939 New York World’s Fair that sold for more than fifteen hundred dollars. There was another art poster auction for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair that went for just under fifteen hundred dollars.





In the Asian art poster auction market, there seems to be some really odd things. I found a poster that depicted McDonald’s hamburgers invading Japan. The poster got fourteen bids from six different people and it closed at four hundred fifty five dollars.





In the category of Impressionist art poster auctions, I found one for the 2006 Jazz Festival in New Orleans that sold for over four hundred dollars. It was done by a Cajun artist named James Michalopulos and featured Fats Domino. The colors in the poster were brilliant.





I found that the category of Modern art posters seems to get the most auction listings. There is one art poster that keeps being re-listed because it just doesn’t sell. The poster is from the Elvis movie Love Me Tender. Apparently the owner of this poster has determined that it is worth one thousand dollars and will not take less than that. He hasn’t sold it yet, but I wish him luck.





There were another Modern art poster auctions that really did well as far as I could tell. They were Greyhound travel posters. There were a couple of art poster auctions that sold recently. They were both created in the 1950’s and both of the posters sold for around three hundred dollars each.





After researching so many art poster auctions, I have come to the conclusion that my parents and grandparents should have collected every piece of advertising they ever came across. They would be worth a small fortune by now!





The Sante Fe Railroad as a subject is prominently sold in art poster auctions. These must be highly collectable because they generate a lot of bids. If the art poster auction is for an old original poster of the Sante Fe Railroad, it will fetch upwards of four hundred dollars.





I found an art poster auction that was listed by the artist himself. He made a black ink drawing for the Pearl Jam concert in Rome in 1996. This original drawing was what the poster was made from.





Pop art poster auctions cover a lot of different topics. One of my favorites was a 7-up soda advertisement from 1970 that featured The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine. The item did not sell, but it was fun to look at.





In the style of Realism, art poster auctions abound. I found one that was an advertisement for United Airlines and depicted the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. This poster sold for over one hundred fifty dollars.





The most interesting art poster auctions I found were for rock concerts. I liked the one listed for at 1956 Rolling Stones concert and there was another one for a Grateful Dead concert in Hawaii. They sold for a combined total of over seven thousand dollars. The interest in these art poster auctions was overwhelming.





Advertising seems to be a big theme in the art poster auctions that I looked at. I found advertisements for just about everything. I liked the poster for Russian beer that was created in the late 1920’s. It would look fantastic framed in my neighborhood bar. The buyer of this particular poster bought it for $475.00.





Concert posters are fun to look through. Art poster auctions feature a lot of posters for concerts. I found one that was made by Jim Pollock for a Phish concert in 2000 in Hartford. I liked it, but I am not a fan of Phish and the three hundred dollars that it went for seemed a little pricey to me.


Tuesday 2 October 2012

Art Auctions for Drawings




Art auctions for drawings are categorized into antique, modern and contemporary. Antique drawings are any drawings that were produced before 1900. Modern drawings have to have been created between 1900 and 1949. Contemporary drawings are drawings that were created from 1950 until the present.





There are a lot of contemporary drawings listed in art auctions that never get a bidder. There are many reasons for this. One of the main reasons is that the starting bid is set so high that it discourages interest. There was an art auction for a drawing that was created in 2000 that depicted James Dean welcoming Elvis Presley into heaven. The starting price for this art auction was twelve million dollars. I am not surprised that it did not get a bidder.





I found another pen and ink drawing in an art auction that was listed for a lot more than it was worth. The original listing started at $825,000.00 and when it didn’t sell, the artist lowered the price to $545,000.00. He offers the copywrite to the design, which he thinks would translate well for prints, posters or greeting cards.





There was an art auction for a drawing that was purchased in 1971 London that did very well. The seller of the drawing inherited it from his grandfather, who was the original owner. He started the bidding at a reasonable $599.00 and the drawing ultimate sold in the art auction for over twelve thousand dollars. He did a great job describing and picturing the drawing.





Antique drawings in art auctions can garner a lot of interest. I saw a drawing of two men in the nude that was drawn in the 1800’s go for more than eleven thousand dollars. This drawing was pen and ink and had a brown wash and traces of charcoal on lines of black pencil.





I was very taken with an antique drawing made by Sir Francis Grant in 1832. The drawing in the art auction was of a woman and her daughter in Scotland. The drawing was a signed original and sold for two thousand dollars. I hope that it ends up framed and hanging in a collection of similar pieces. It was really nice.





Another reason that art auctions for drawings don’t sell is that they are listed in the wrong categories. I found several contemporary pieces that were listed in the antique category. With so much competition in art auctions, it is important to make sure every detail is noticed.





Modern drawings are by far my favorite art auctions. I wanted the stamped Degas I saw up for auction, but it was way out of my budget. I’m sure that the person that ended up with the highest bid at the art auction will love and treasure it.





Well known artist’s drawings can fetch a lot of money in online art auctions. If the title of the art auction contains the words original Picasso, for example, it is sure to go over two thousand dollars. If the item is signed, it can go for much more.





I really liked a drawing I found in an art auction from an artist that I was unfamiliar with. The artist was Patrick Caulfield and he titled his drawing Grapes. He used colored pencils on black paper in the late 1980’s. This drawing sold for the opening bid, $4,250.00.


Monday 1 October 2012

Art Auctions on eBay




I’ve been looking at art auctions on eBay all day today. I have found some wonderful things. I browsed the Art category and chose the subcategory of self-representing artists.





I like what I see for sale. Art auctions on eBay are a great way for an unknown or even a known artist to sell their paintings. I found some nice paintings in the featured section.





Since I was looking at art auctions on eBay, I used the option to just view the picture gallery. I’m glad I did that because I really just wanted to see the art, not the title of the auction. What immediately caught my eye was all of the bold colors.





On the first page of image results of art auctions on eBay, there was a beautiful painting of a martini. I think that martini images seem very classy to me. I can visualize this painting in the home of someone with a glass coffee table and a leather couch!





The virtual foot traffic that art auctions on eBay gets is incredible. The artist can get so much more exposure to so many more people than hanging their paintings in galleries. It is just such a good way to get discovered.





I did think it was a little funny when I saw art auctions on eBay listed for 99 million dollars. The artist wants to make history by breaking the world record for the most paid for a painting by a living artist. The record is currently forty million dollars.





There was another art auction on eBay that really caught my eye. The artist was Kelly Shanks and she lives in Boston. The painting that I saw was done in an impressionist style and called Neon Rain. It is part of her New Orleans series. I liked it a lot.





I found an art auction on eBay for a painting entitled The Egg Eaters. It was really odd and didn’t exactly suit me. I tried to imagine where it would end up hanging. I think that fantasy art just can’t hang everywhere. I can see this hanging in an upscale gaming store or in a bachelor pad.





The funniest art auction I saw on eBay was for a folk art rendition of a Jack Russell terrier. I can only imagine that a dog lover should own and display this. The dog looks like he is about to jump up on me!





I found a landscape that I really liked when I was looking through the art auctions on eBay. The piece was called Red Barn under Praire Clouds. I think that if this was hanging in my bedroom, I might never get out of bed. I love to watch clouds.





I guess I just don’t understand abstract art. I think if I understood it, I could appreciate it. I found an art auction on eBay for an original painting called Beige Dancelines #2. The artist says that it is an abstract dancing figure. I just can’t see anything but an oversized ear.





There were so many photos to look at when I was searching on eBay for art auctions. I think that my tastes really run to realism and landscapes. I especially liked a painting of Alaska by Hunter Jay. The blues in the picture were really nice; I’ll bet that this painting is wonderful in person.





My mother-in-law has been decorating her house slowly. I found a really nice art auction on eBay for her that would fit her likes. The painting depicts a tree at sunset and is just beautiful. The artist has a lot of auctions and I really hope that she sells a lot. She is very talented.





The only other art auction on eBay that I spent a lot of time looking at was a painting of red tulips against a yellow sky. I’m not sure why I was so taken by this painting. Tulips are my favorite flower. The tulips in this painting are just suspended in the center. They just seem to hang there magically. I really liked this depiction of my favorite flower.


American Indian art auctions: beadwork



American Indian art includes many types of Arts and crafts of beadwork and pottery, more traditionally and/or stereotypes of modern photography, paintings, sculptures and other native American art. There are many art auctions, both online and off, this form of native American art of the star.




In this article, we will discuss one of the most traditional and historically relevant American Indian art: beadwork. Peoples had native American beadwork and has both practical and decorative. utilitarian and highly symbolic importance.




Beadwork and beads make, is in itself a very old craft. Stone, beads, bone and shell (for example, turquoise and semi-precious stones) is still the same old way. Little affected by modern technology, the manufacture of the pearls still almost exactly the same way that people have made thousands of years.




Sea shell Pearl are among the items the most popular and well known of regional commercial significance for thousands of years. Almost all have seen works of native American art of beaded necklaces for handbags, belts and other.




The last decades have modern beadwork replicated in imported Oriental plants and very cheap. This makes it a factor of competitor against high quality pearls made by Indian craftsmen from America. Native American artisans have lost millions of dollars (a little more than a period of eight years in the 1980s) to these false native beads and pieces of beadwork.




Historically, pearls have been carved shell turtle, animal Horn and deer hooves. Often, they were used to make rattling or tinkling of parts used in the dance. Hunters often wore necklaces was merged with parts of animals that bear claws or claws of Wolf. They have developed a skill of Hunter. BONES and seeds were often steamed to soften their composition and/or for different forms of bending.




As an example of beadwork is used for a more practical application Iroqois League (Haudenosee) used white and strings of purple wampum made of shells of clams of freshwater to save the sacred ceremonies, treaties and songs. This practice has been applied before and after the arrival of European settlers.




Many types of agreements was recorded with these links to beadwork. They were much appreciated and have one of their owners. European settlers mistook this care and reverence for beads of wampum as a sign that guarded Pearl monetary importance. As a result they have wrongly assumed that the word 'wampum' said Silver when these important beads in reality was much more like very important original documents.




Necklace beads, native Americans used very fine shared animal sinew, which attach the beads for clothing, but plant rarely strong fibres Hide thongs or nettle has been used for these purposes.




Today, the Navajo as some pueblo people still the old type of beads called heishii. This is by far the most popular and high-volume type of beadwork, still today, as it was in antiquity. These collars are also called the necklaces of the history, because they can be used to tell stories, with each bead representing a character.




Beads and beadwork is a very important part of archaeological explorations of pre-European history. Beads have survived for thousands of years and tell many exciting stories about the times that we were not there to testify. This is particularly true as regards food shell beads. Old shell beads found thousands of miles from the ocean, which specifies the various trade routes and contacts between different groups of people.




Today artists create native American beadwork same digital design to help make parts of real beadwork. This allows complex patterns and parts tested on screen before the start of the project. It has no doubt added to the creative process for beadwork artists.




Kotchea Dolce Vita throughout history, both in ancient times and in modern computer technology of today. The most important aspect of beading, however, is not what can be sold or experience, but personal that parts only between family and friends. The real meanings behind these parts are private associations that are related to the vision, critical views and other things that a person wants to be remembered.