Art Forgery and Love

"Graphite Grid, Panel #8"; 2014-17, 16" x 16", Hay Embedded in Latex Paint on Wooden Panel
James Thatcher  ©  2017

I understand.   The wealthy want the best and an investment level artwork is bought to be re-sold at a profit; hence galleries, auction houses and private dealers market the works of grand masters.  Who has time to pursue their own investments, because time constraints, expertise and even fear can come into play in their choices?

Perhaps they hire researchers and then make informed choices.  You’ve got to trust your market analyst, your investment counselors, your interior designer; the galleries, critics, museums…

If investors are quick to research, does this zeal translate to their other interests?

"Hypar with Analytic Function"; 2013-17, 88" x 66", Acrylic & Hay Embedded in Latex Paint on Canvas
James Thatcher   ©  2017

Alas.  Few are passionate enough about visual art to make their own inquiries; but these are the ones who generate movement in the art industry.  And perhaps they send in their people to look, to edit choices and recommend the next purchases…it seems practical, no?

"Hypar Z"; 2015-17, 18" x 24", Acrylic on Canvas
James Thatcher  ©  2017

Buyer beware.  The recent art forgery scandal has made many fools.   Wouldn’t it be better to be surrounded by your own choices, by what you’ve discovered and love; as opposed to being sold a false bill of goods?

Why not come to know the keen disappointment of a day spent going from gallery to gallery, seeing nothing of interest?  Eventually you’ll realize the one place that really does have stimulating work…this is your dealer.  You will know that you are intrigued, you think about that artwork when you’re not there, and you’ll know that you must have it.

"Hyperbolic Paraboloid", 2017, 18", Welded Steel
James Thatcher  ©  2017

 In the end, if your passions change or you were merely infatuated with works that weren’t what you once thought, you can donate them to a hospital, a university, or a charity auction receiving full credit of your purchase price as a tax deduction.  So much the wiser.

Come on out and play ball!  Artists want to do good work; they want to sell it and be able to do what they love.  Every collector who gets their nose dirty by actually collecting broadens our industry and stimulates great activity.  Make jobs, have a great time, and change lives—buy your own art!

Study; 2017, 48", Pine
James Thatcher  ©  2017

http://jtnwdc.wixsite.com/jamesthatcherarts



A Painting of a Painting

When good stuff happens, you've got to pursue it. 

The Damsel March--A Taste of My Family History

My great grandfather, Edwin Damsel (1887-1913) was a professional musician in Columbus, Ohio.  He wrote “The Damsel March” to celebrate the birth of my grandfather, William Damsel, in 1911. 

 

One hundred years after his death in the Great Ohio Flood of 1913, his march was performed for the first time by an orchestra, the Northport (MI) Community Band on the evening of Saturday, August 31, 2013.

The music has passed through 4 generations without ever being written down.  My younger brother, Joe, converted it through the computer program, “Sibelius” into written piano music which found its way into the hands of Mr. Kenneth Bloomquist.

Ken is the retired Department Head of the Michigan State University School of Music and a resident of Northport, MI.  Over the past year he arranged the piece for orchestra as a gift to my aunt, Sharon Hall and presented it during an evening of Sousa marches last week.

It pretty well rocks--Thanks Ken!

Studio Footage: The Funnest Painting Ever!

This is the first painting of the rest of my life--

Stay tuned for future updates...this will be interesting!

###

As of early September, 2013:
The decision has been made to paint the background of this painting red with a transparent glaze of Alizarin Crimson.  Going over these gray-greens will darken the ground considerably and make the figure stand out. 

 

Next, a spin off project:  Create a painting using this painting as subject matter.  I'm going to use a couple of the hay canvases...See the post entitled, "A Painting of a Painting."

 

###

 

Today I attempted to flip the dried hay mat painting--OMG!

 

 SUCCESS!
And the finished product is not very heavy--the grommets embedded along the top edge should be able to hold the suspended work...the next experiment.  I'll let it dry for a few more days with this side up and then see about hoisting it up!

 

I couldn't be more pleased with the success of this project.  More are on the way!

 



 

Studio Footage: The Origins of Large Scale Abstract Art

 

The beginnings of new multi-panel paintings

 

 

Here's the next step in the process:

 

 

More to follow!

 

 

A Favorite Book, "CVJ: Nicknames of Maite D's and Other Excerpts from Life" by Julian Schnabel, 1987

This book is FUNNY!  Julian Schnabel's early autobiography is full of laughs:  his conversations with art critic, Clement Greenburg are hysterical; his comments during a Q&A concerning 3rd generation Abstract Expressionist, Jules Olitsky, late night sessions in the studio and the beginning of the famed plate paintings are surprising and delightful.

Young Schnabel's surfing experience in Texas re-surfaces in the seemingly non sequitur imagery of his early movie, "Basquiat".  Seen through the perspective of his own personal history, footage of the surfer depicts the stages of his friend Jean-Michel Basquiat's career in a touching and chilling manner:  dropping into a great breaking wave...later riding it, then wiping out, and finally  late in the movie the empty waves roll in....

Richly illustrated with the good, the bad and ugly it is also a fun read, being blog-like in its brevity and humor.

This is "Portrait of God" by Julian Schnabel, oil and wax on tarpaulin, 9' x 12', 1981 from the series, "Mutant King Paintings", one of my favorites from the book.  It's just so weird...I never noticed, but it looks like a cross image at the bottom of the left hand figure....

I bought this book second hand in Washington, DC in 1988 for $20.   Amazon wouldn't let me write a review so I thought I'd put it up on jamesthatcherarts.   It makes me miss the '80's. 

Taking It When It Happens

I come home after dark from fishing, clean my catch and then it hits me: 
 
The painting that I’ve been chipping away at doesn’t need the whites re-worked; the darks need to be pushed!  It’s already 10:30 pm, but it was clear what to do and how to do it.  Into the night I pressed.

It was nothing heated, nothing spontaneous (except the vision while cleaning fish), and nothing passionate (except seizing the moment); just working the darks.  This brought definition to the image and broadened the tonal range.

Then I re-worked the whites.

I was in bed by 1:30 am and pleased.  Feeling like an artist again—not because of the hour (well, maybe...), not because of the results (possibly...) but because of seeing what to do and doing it.  I love having a studio at home because you don’t know when art is going to strike.

This morning I studiously avoided looking at last night’s work as I turned on the lights and straightened up.  Then…

 

YES!  It isn’t done, but it’s so much cleaner.  The next few steps are set, again clarifying the whites (bottom left corner)—who knows from there?



A Little Background

This painting is on top of a canvas from 1980--you can see some of the original painting in the right breast area (an eye).  In 1998 I took primer over the background to block out the figure, and rendered the dress in furnace cement. 

15 years later I added the border--while repainting the white last night, I noticed how good the blue painters tape looked with the warm palette.  I imagine using blue oil pastels to draw that line around the border.

<