Baltimore Show 2011

Do you want your antiques news of shows, auctions, coming events, people making news, museum and gallery notes, etc Every Week or Every Day antiquesandthearts.com Subscribe today and receive a FREE FOUR WEEKS Just mention “ FOUR WEEKS ” Call 203-426-3141 or subscribe online antiquesandthearts .com 52 issues (print edition) for only $82 including electronic edition online every day (electronic edition) for only $55 yr. (FREE SAMPLE ON REQUEST) Antiques News As It Happens The Bee Publishing Company, 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown, Connecticut, 06470 - 203-426-3141 56 B Y S TEPHEN M AY PHILADELPHIA,PENN.—One of the important but often overlookedpioneerpainters of theAmericanWest, Alfred JacobMiller (1810–1874) was the first artist to traverse the Oregon Trail,to travel beyond the front range of theRockyMountains and to record the opera- tionof theWestern fur trade. Reflecting Nineteenth Century fascination among Easterners and visitors to this country,Miller depicted the vast landscape,exotic wildlife,rugged mountain men,hardyhuntersandexplorersandNativeAmericans he observed during trips into the uncharted “FarWest” in the late1830s. Adapting hisEuropean art training to thewonders of this new region,Millermixed factwith fancy,recording life in theWest as itwas— and as itwas thought to be. His animated and expressive but romanticized images helped shape public imagination about life on the fron- tier.“As a greenhorn from theEast,Miller captured life in theWest with wide-eyed admiration,depicting the landscape inacaptivatingway,”saysPhiladelphiaMuse- um ofArt curatorKathleenA.Foster. Miller createdhismost importantbodyofwork in1837 when he accompanied an adventurous Scottish hunter, CaptainWilliamDrummond Stewart,fromMissouri to Wyoming along the future Oregon Trail.Thirty rarely seen watercolors from that trip form the nucleus of “Romancing theWest:AlfredJacobMiller in theBankof AmericaCollection,”on view at thePhiladelphiaMuse- um of Art through September 18.Organized byMar- garetC.Conrads,senior curator ofAmerican art at the Nelson-AtkinsMuseumofArt,where ithasalreadybeen seen,the display offers educational and entertaining glimpses into the early stages ofAmerica’s greatwest- wardmovement. The two significant artists who preceded Miller out West,George Catlin and Swiss painter Karl Bodmer, were motivated by “a deep concern for scientific inquiry…a passion for describing and cataloguing the salient characteristics of the numerous tribes they encountered,”writes SmithsonianAmericanArtMuse- um curatorWilliamH.Truettner in the exhibition cata- log.Their ethnographically oriented pictures and field noteswere turned into illustrated publications,making theirobservationsavailable toawideaudience. Miller,by contrast,was not concerned with scientific accuracy,norwas his patronStewart interested in pub- lishing their adventures.In truth,Miller’s views of mountains and plains are of little topographical value, norare theyaccuratereflectionsof Indian life.“Theyare, above all,”DenverArtMuseum’s JoanCarpenterTroc- coli has observed,“idealized images of Stewart’sWest, viewed through the lens ofMiller’s romantic style.”If Catlin andBodmer’smotiveswere scientific and ethno- logic,Miller’swerepoeticandexpressive. Born and raised in Baltimore,Miller studied with Philadelphia portraitist Thomas Sully,known for his astuteuseof colorand lucidbrushwork,andat theÉcole desBeauxArts inParis,wherehe received rigorousaca- demic training.The young American studied the Old Mastersat theLouvreand in Italyandbecamea skilled copyist. Hewasparticularlydrawn to theworkofFrenchartists EugeneDelacroixandRomanticstalwartHoraceVernet, whoseanimated imagesofhorsesprovidedpossiblemod- els for “On theWarpath— Running Fight”and “War Path”in the exhibition.Miller’s sensual portrayal of a young Snake tribewoman resting under a tree,“Snake Female Reposing,”was likely inspired by paintings of Middle Eastern odalisques he saw in the Louvre, 1833–1834. Returning toAmerica,Miller found littlesuccesswitha portrait studio inBaltimore,andmoved toNewOrleans in1837.TherehemetStewart,aScottisharistocratwho had servedwithdistinction in theBattleofWaterloo two decades earlier and had come toAmerica to experience the challenges ofhunting in theWest,to observe rugged fur trappersand traderswhomade their living thereand observe the nomadic Indianswho roamed its expansive spaces. WhenheencounteredMiller,Stewartwaspreparing for his fifth trekWest,specifically toattend theannual ren- NewsstandRate$1.50 OutsideCT$1.75 INDEXESON PAGES66&67 July15,2011 PublishedbyTheBeePublishingCompany,Newtown,Connecticut (continued onpage30) Whilehe likelyneverwitnessed Indianwarfare,Millerheardenough tales inhis travels tocompose the theatrical “WarPath,”showingan intrepidwar- riorwho,by clinging to the neck of his horse,shields himself from foes.Characteristically,the horse charges ahead at full tilt,all four legs off the ground,hismaneand tail flying in thewind. ‘RomancingTheWest:Alfred JacobMiller InTheBankOfAmericaCollection ’ B Y F RANCES M C Q UEENEY -J ONES M ASCOLO WINTERTHUR,DEL.—Most any old object provokes qustions:What is it?Whomade it?When andwhy?What is itmade of? Is itauthentic?Otherquestionsariseas to conditionandpossible restoration.The answers have long been found in tradtonal resources,such as research, documentedhistory,family lore,examinationand comparisonwith similar objects. Each of thee resources has great value,but none is precise.Rcent advances in technology,however,nowpermitmuchmoreaccurateassessmentsand eeper understanding ofmaterial and culture.State-of-the-art scientific conser- vation facilities have sprung up atmuseums around theworld.One such site is the Scientific Research and Analysis Laboratory (SRAL) atWinterthur. It is a sereniitous convergence inwhich science and art havemet atWinterthur,Henry Francis du Pont’s Nine- teenth Century country estate in the Brndywine Valley.Back in the 1930s,du Pont’s family’s cor- poratio,DuPont,advertised itself with the NewsstandRate $1.50 OutsideCT $1.75 INDEXESON PAGES66&67 July 1, 2011 PublishedbyTheBeePublishingCompany,Newtown,Connecticut (continued onpage40) A rareWindsor sack back settee made by Ebenezer Tracy Sr of Norwich, Conn.,and painted in gen- erations of green paint was chosen for study because of its rare form and its extensive finish history.A sampleno larger than the period at the end of a sentence was exam- ined using the electron microscope and the Raman spectrometer for elemental and molecular analysis on each finish generation,allowing con- servation scientists to understand the evolution of painted finish technolo- gies from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Cen- turies. Collection Win- terthurMuseum. ConfocalXRFwasused toanalyzeanN.C.Wyeth study fora familyportrait, top.Analysis revealed thatWyethhad reused the canvas,painting overhis dramaticillustration of “The Mildest Mannered Man,”bottom, that appeared in a 1919 edition of Everybody’sMagazine. DrMass reports that roughly one in ten canvases has another painting beneath the surface image. Winterthur’s ScientificResearch AndAnalysisLaboratory XRF analysis of a rare Amelung beakerwas conducted and revealed a highpotassiumandhighmanganese content,and theabsenceof lead.Dr Mass saidbecauseof the rarityofAmelungpieces,keepersof collections allover the countryare interested inauthenticity. Unmasking Forge ies And Fraud B Y S TEPHEN M AY MORRISPLAINS,N.J.—Step- ping inside Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Farms home is akin to enteringanotherworld—nir- vana fordevoteesof theArtsand Crafts Movement.This expan- sive log structure,whose centen- nial is marked this year,is an enduringshowcase for theastute designer,savvy industrialist and visionary thinker. Stickley’s simplified furniture and designs and dissemination of environmental and lifestyle ideas inhis TheCraftsman mag- azine influenced American tastes for furnishings and archi- tectureat the turnof theTwenti- ethCenturyandeverafter. More than a century ago,the prescient Stickley bemoaned that “we have wasted andmis- used so many of our natural resources,”contending that peo- ple should be “living simple nat- ural livesclose to thesoiland full of the interest and pleasure which comes from the kinship withNature.”As he lived up to those ideals at Craftsman Farms,visitors today can take away lessons pertinent to the plexities and environmental problems of the Twenty-First Century. The international Arts and Crafts Movement was jump- started in the mid-Nineteenth Century by the passionatewrit- ings of JohnRuskin denouncing England’sexpanding factorysys- tem and the poor quality of machine-made products.Advo- cating a return to practices of medieval craft guilds,Ruskin contended that “a visibly hand- made object had beauty because its irregularities betokened the freedomof theartisanwhomade it,”according toStickleyauthori- tyDavidCathers. Ruskin’s reform ideaswere put into practice byWilliamMorris, whose company turned outwell- designed and largely handmade furniture, textiles, wallpapers and stained glass.A talented writer and speaker, Morris attractedmany adherents to his efforts to revive traditional handcrafts,effectively launching theArtsandCraftsMovement. Building on these British antecedents late in the Nine- teenthCentury,the form,propor- NewsstandRate $1.50 OutsideCT$1.75 INDEXESON PAGES66&67 July 8, 2011 PublishedbyTheBeePublishingCompany,Newtown,Connecticut (continued onpage 30) ACentennial Celebration At Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Farms Theexteriorof thehomebuiltbyGustavStickleyatCraftsmanFarms. In the living room atCraftsman Farms is a copper hooded fireplace;aGrueby lamp sits atopahexagonal leather top tableandbeside itaMorris chair. We Are As Close To ‘Breaking News’ As You Can Get B Y F RANCES M C Q UEENEY -J ONES M ASCOLO TARPONSPRINGS,FLA.—Coming toAmericameansmany dif- ferent things tomany people.WhenRodolfoCiccarello arrived on its shores fromRome in1968,his career trajectoryappeared tobe diplomatic,beginning inBostonat the Italian consulate. The young man’s interests took him elsewhere,however.In Bostonhe enrolled firstatBostonUniversitywherehe earned abachelorofartsdegree,and then toNortheasternUniversi- ty’s School ofPharmacywhere hewas awarded a bachelor of science degree.FromBoston he headed to Florida to a job at the Jack Eckerd Corporation,at the time the largestUSpharmacy chain,and forwhichhedevelopeda home infusion service.Three years later,he founded Florida InfusionServices,thegreat success ofwhichhas brought him numerous distinctions and awards.It has also allowed him to pursue his collecting passion:the AmericanArtsandCraftsMovement. Ciccarello followeda circuitous route fromhis youth in Italy,where he attended a classical high school,ran track and field,played volleyball and loved American music and movies,to his role as keeper of a uniquely Americanart form. Although hewas not new to antiques,having had early exposure in Italy accompanying his parents to auctions and galleries,Ciccarello first came face to face with his ideal in 1997 in a dusty antiques shop near his Florida home.Takenwith the line,the architectural form,the con- structionand the textureof theoak inabookcaseunder con- struction in theshop,hewas,ashewrites in the introduction to The American Arts& CraftsHome 1900–1915, “hooked.” The bookcasewas a craftsman’s reproduction of an example madebyGustavStickley in the early1900s. Ciccarello began acquainting himself with the movement, studying catalogs and books,visiting collections,galleries and auctions around theUnitedStates.Hewas an apt student.His collection beganwith furniture by suchmakers asGustavStick- ley,CharlesRohlfs,theRoycrofters,theartistsofByrdcliffe andGreeneandGreene,but ithas grown to includemajor icons of each art form,ranging fromArts andCrafts pot- tery tometalwork.He hasmade it a practice to buy only thebestof thebestofeveryaspectofArtsandCraftswork. It tookno time at all forCiccarello’s collecting to exceed the space limita- tions ofmosthomes,his included,andhemovdmuch of it to a secure warehouse.Around the same time,in 2004,he setuphis foundation, theTwoRedRosesFoundation (TRRF),which he has endowedwith much ofhis collection.The ame isderived from theWilliamMorris poem “Two Red Rses Across theMoon.”A leaded glass window made between 1900 and 1910 by an unknown artist illustrates thepoemand exemplifies the focus of the foundation. Ciccarello established his foundation with several goals in mind.He recognized theneed to safeguard theseobjectsof the Arts and CraftsMovement for future generations through conservation.He is also aware of the importance ofmaking thematerial available to people wih a serious interest in Arts andCrafts objects.In addition,Ciccarello is interested in furthering study and research of th objects.Finally,he has charged the foundationwith the task of finding the col- lectionapermanenthme inTampa. Amuseum is n theplanning stages;the search fora site is underway.Ciccarello’s goal is to beable tomount a perma- nentexhibitionof theentire collection to illustrate itsexcep- tional depth and range.Galleries in themuseumwill allow the display of objects on loan from institutions and private collections. The Two Red Roses Foundation encompasss more tan 1,000 of the best examples of theArts andCraftsMovemet: furniture,lighting,tilesandarchitectural faience,metalwork, woodblocks,potteryand fineart,evenpicture frames.Over the course of its14years,the foundationhas occasionallymade the newswith theacquisitionofmajorpieces,usually thebestof the best,for the collection. There is the spectacular set of 1,200matte-glazedGrueby tiles rescued from a Cleveland,Ohio,bathroom thatwas undergoing renovations.Decorated with pond lilies and irises,Ciccarello acquired themwith the aim of conservation andpreservation.The tileswillbe reassembledanddisplayed in the foundation’smuseum once it is up and running.TRRF is also the owner of aGrueby tile fireplacemantel and surround fireplace,removed from the lobbyofabank inAuburn,Maine.Thedeepgreen tileshave as their focalpointa carrack,aFifteenthCenturyMediter- NewsstandRate$1.50 OutsideCT $1.75 INDEXESON PAGES66&67 August 5, 2011 Published yTheBeePublishingCompany,Newtown,Connecticut (continued onpage 30) The8-inch-tallearthenware jarwasdesigned and executed by Harriet Coulter Joor and potted by Joseph FortuneMeyer in 1904 at theNewcombPottery inNewOrleans,La. The 1904 linen press wasmade at Byrdcliffe in a strikingly grained oak with twopainted scenicpanels. The lotuschandelierbyGreeneandGreene,circa1908,wasmade for the RobertR.Blackerhouse inPasadena,Calif. RudyCiccarelloAndTheTwoRedRosesFoundation: PreservingTheAmericanArtsA dCraftsMovement NewsstandRate$1.50 OutsideCT$1.75 INDEXESON PAGES66&67 July 22, 2011 PublishedbyTheBeePublishingCompany,Newtown,Connecticut Aneveningviewof theCorningMuseumofGlasswith theGunnarBikerts-designedaddition thatwasconceived in1979andcreateda flowing seriesof gallerieswith the libraryat its core. CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS VxÄxuÜtàxá IC lxtÜá B Y D AVID S.S MITH CORNING,N.Y.—History has long beenmade in this small citynestledamid themountain ranges that run through the midwestern portion of this state. From the humble beginning of one ofAmerica’smost importantglass factories,theSteubenGlassWorks in 1903,to the foundation of the CorningMuseum of Glass in 1951 and to the recently developedCorning Incorporated product that is fitted to the finest flat- screen televisionson themarket today—affectionate- lyknownasGorillaGlass ® —Corning,thecity,muse- um and the company,has always been synonymous with theworld’smostexquisiteglass. Conceivedofasaneducational institutionand found- ed in 1950 by Corning GlassWorks (now Corning Incorporated),themuseumhasneverbeenashowcase for the company or itsproducts,but rather itexistsas anonprofit institution thatpreservesandexpands the world’sunderstandingofglass. When themuseum opened to the public in 1951,it containedasignificantcollectionofglass,glass-related books and documents;there were 2,000 objects,two staffmembersanda research library—allhoused in a low slung,glass-walledbuilding. Under its first director,Thomas S.Buechner,the museum continued to assemble a comprehensive col- lectionofglass fromaround theworld,and its library acquired rare books related to the history of glass- making.Thesummerof1972markeddisasterwhena nearbyriveroverflowed itsbanksandpoured5 feetof floodwater into themuseum.Themuseum reopened that sameyearamidextensive conservation,Buech- ner describing the flood as “possibly the greatest single catastrophe borneby anAmericanmuseum.” (continuedonpage50)