ArtPourri

Artwork Auctioned – Bloomsbury Auctions recently held a sale titled “Capture the Imagination:  Original Illustration & Fine Illustrated Books.”  Fetching the highest prices were Tom Feelings’ (1933-2003) original artwork for Soul Looks Back in Wonder—15 mixed media pieces consisting of original watercolor, charcoal, pen, ink and wash figural drawings over painted cut-paper collage - $15,000; William Steig’s (1907-2003) watercolor, ink and pencil preliminary illustration for Sylvester and the Magic Pebble—$14,000; and Aubrey Beardsley’s (1872-1898) pen and ink cover design for circular advertising, Keynote Series of Novels and Short Stories - $9,500.

Milestones – David Levine, artist/caricaturist, has died in Manhattan at the age of 83.  Levine’s drawings of politicians, celebrities and others appeared in The New York Review of Books for more than 40 years and also The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated and other publications.—Art Clokey, who for more than 50 years worked with clay to produce works of art that form a catalog of “firsts” in the medium of film, has died in California at the age of 89.  A major part of his legacy is everyone’s favorite clay character, Gumby. –Abstract painter Kenneth Noland has died in Maine at age 85.  A major figure in American art, he was known for his color field style of painting.

Paintings Lost & Found – Sometime between Dec. 30 and 31 a pastel by Edgar Degas was stolen from the Cantini Museum in Marseille, France.  “The Chorus” was on loan from the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. – A painting by Monet that was stolen from the National Museum in Poznan, Poland, 10 years ago has been recovered.  A suspect with “Beach in Pourville” in his possession has been arrested.

Stamp News – The U. S. Postal Service has issued the third of 12 stamps in its Celebrating Lunar New Year series, which began in 2008.  The Year of the Tiger begins on Feb. 14 and ends on Feb. 2, 2011.  In commemoration, art director Ethel Kessler and illustrator Kam Mak chose narcissus flowers, considered auspicious at any time of year and thus especially appropriate at this time of renewed hope for the future.  The illustration was originally created using oil paints on a fiberboard panel.  People born during this year are said to be courageous and to possess hidden reserves of strength and are also thought of as candid yet mysterious!

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 20 No. 4 — February 2010