Another small round of what’s caught my eye amongst the offerings in Art on Ebay lately:
Maybe I’m just a sucker for paintings of birch trees, but that issue aside, this is a fantastic early 20th century New England painting – the use of light is superbly rendered, and the subject matter of landscape with creek and cattle is charming. Hamilton is an artist without extensive auction records, but his auction record of $912 in 2002 was for a painting that, in my opinion, was only about 1/2 the painting that this is. At the opening bid of $500, it is a beautiful bargain.
I wasn’t at all familiar with this contemporary artist when I first saw this piece. The seller does a very thorough job though, in his description, of including pertinent information and links to the artist’s work, so I caught up quickly. Wow! Portraits from an alternate universe indeed! So delicately rendered in the anachronistic style of the Victorian daguerrotype, but his subject matter is so weird…….I love the juxtaposition. Reminds me of one of my very favorite artists of the 20th century, Frank Holt. Looks like Louie’s similar pieces are selling in galleries in the 2-4k range. This is a rare opportunity to purchase one on the secondary market.
Maurice Tanner is one of those artists that, if you’ve seen and noticed one of his paintings, you’ll be able to spot another one from across a crowded room. He had a very distinctive style, and his subject matter almost never changed. I imagine that he had a permanent post on one particular peak in the Smoky Mountains for the bulk of his career (the painting is listed as Brown County, but it is indeed Tennessee). But that shouldn’t diminish the individual paintings themselves, they are, without exception (from among those I’ve seen), beautiful. They are the kind of paintings that are a pleasure to look at – muted colors, strong use of light, but always a slight haze. As of now, Tanner is an artist without auction records. But I do predict a day wherein it will be hard to believe that a sizeable painting of his could be had on Ebay for a mere $150. There seems to be no slowdown in the market for 20th century Southern art – snap it up before the market catches up!