Incollect Magazine - Issue 10

Incollect Magazine 69 Lobel recalls at a certain point descriptions of works and other information started coming in more frequently. “In the end my pestering of Kelvin I think paid off.” After a few years, he had given Lobel personal recollections about 70 to 80 works which he printed out and assembled in a binder. Lobel incorporated many of these testimonials into the book, and they offer rare, precious insights into how and why the pieces exist. “The work is so intellectual. People think that they are these random, beautiful works of art. The amount of research, experimentation, thought, and purpose that underpins every part of these works is mind-blowing.” Kelvin’s testimonials about his work were critical to the completion of the publication. The LaVernes closed their gallery showroom at 46 East 57th Street in New York in the 1980s, and most of their material — the original design drawings, archival photographs, letters, original sale invoices, and other artifacts — was moved into storage, where unfortunately it was destroyed in a fire. Kelvin kept some irreplaceable documents in his studio, including photographs of unique pieces not sold or published in catalogs, and an original sketch for the pierced bronze painting Good And Evil, which is illustrated in the book along with the finished work. “Thank goodness he retained those photos because even though the quality was poor we had a visual reference and could piece together a timeline,” Lobel says. At first, Lobel thought the book would be about 100 pages — something short. Next, he thought it would be at most 200 pages. But once he began discussing with Kelvin the reasons behind each piece and incorporated the many testimonials on the pieces into his writing it became closer to 300 pages with over 200 images (many of them never before seen) as the full Left: Male and Female Torso table lamps in Hydro-Stone plaster that have been patinated by hand to resemble ancient sculptures with patinated bronze bases. Created in the 1970s, these lamps are an homage to classical Greco-Roman torso sculptures. Provenance: The Collection of Kelvin LaVerne. Right: Hellenic Memories, a unique collage in patinated and engraved bronze, copper, and pewter was created in the 1970s. There is also a coffee table in this series. Kelvin LaVerne explained: “We wanted to evoke the feeling of an archeological find, a piece of something perhaps broken and shaped by time, capturing time past: history.” Evan Lobel with Kelvin LaVerne.