Art Find of the Month - Francis De Erdely

When I asked readers to submit artworks for this month’s ART FIND Art Appraisal of the Month, I got a piece by one of my favorites. As a American art appraiser, people often ask me who my favorite artist is. . . and this month’s entry happens to be my California artist of choice.

I have a long list of favorites, but Los Angeles mid-century artist Francis De Erdely is always at the my top of my list. In fact, I wrote my M.A. thesis on his social realist figurative work done in Los Angeles during the 1940s and 1950s.

Our Utah reader inherited this De Erdely painting entitled, “Lavandera” from her grandmother. She also discovered a Christmas card from the artist himself, indicating her grandmother bought the painting directly from Francis De Erdely in 1957. What this means, is that aside from her family, the public has ever seen this remarkable example of De Erdely’s work!

Francis De Erdely (1904 - 1959) was born in Hungary as Ferenc Erdelyi. De The artist fled Europe during the 1930s, as Fascism was gaining power. After a brief stint in New York City and Chicago, De Erdely finally made his way to Southern California. Here, he became one of mid-century California’s most influential modern painters and teachers.

De Erdely was a classically trained artist committed to painting the figure. Having traveled throughout Spain, De Erdely became influenced by the sinuous, elongated bodies of El Greco. De Erdely almost always painted the figure, a genre not often associated with modernism. Interestingly, his portraits were painted not out of nostalgia for the past, but as a reflection of the human condition on the West Coast.

With a likeness to Thomas Hart Benton’s powerful everyday Americans, De Erdely created some of the most striking figurative paintings in American art -- and his work remains poignant today. De Erdely has been included in more than twenty books about Los Angeles painters of the mid-century but there is no major monograph of his work.

De Erdely was known for his paintings of the modern figure as a way of addressing issues of race, immigration, labor, and social inequality in Los Angeles. The painting “Lavandera” demonstrates De Erdely’s ability to depict the simple yet graceful power of an everyday laundry lady. The cubist qualities represent De Erdely’s interest in a modernist aesthetic. The artist paints the woman’s face with severe angles that seem to mirror that of her laundry bucket. With a quiet power, the painting represents the complexity of one woman’s struggles and positions her as symbol as every woman.

From the photograph provided, the painting appears to be in good condition. A growing demand exists for Francis De Erdely’s work. The painting's style, technique, and brushwork are representative of his Los Angeles period, making it desirable to California modernist art collectors. The painting is well-executed and has a strong subject and composition, placing my art appraisal in the middle of the art market for De Erdely.

In the current art market, at auction this painting would be estimated to sell between $2,500-$3,500. A treasure indeed. . .

©2010 Alissa J. Anderson, Santa Barbara, California. All Rights Reserved. None of the contents of this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanic, photocopy, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Anderson Shea Art Appraisals, and the appraiser’s signature.)

Art as Investment

When advising my appraisal clients who want to buy art as an investment, I often stress the risks involved. The first rule is always to buy art you love. Buying art that you have an emotional connection to - is the safest way to invest in art. This is the single, most important element of collecting because if a painting loses its market value, there is still a personal attachment to it.

Building an art collection from a investment standpoint can be very lucrative, but one must also take into account the risks. As we saw in the pre-2008 economic bubble -- art investment was as mercurial and volatile as stocks.

Economists like William Goetzmann, David Kusin, and Michael Moses have conducted studies to evaluate the financial gain of collectors who bought art as their main investment. These economists compared the gain of stocks versus that of art. By analyzing works of art that sold more than once at auction in  2005, Goetzmann suggests the rate of return for art exceeded the rate of inflation. (2)

Moses suggests collectors buy lower-priced art, with more room for growth, rather than million-dollar masterpieces. Contemporary art is risky because of its reliance on ever-changing trends. Kusin suggests American and English furniture as a solid investment. Goetzmann says prewar and postwar art is a good investment because the genre swings both upward and downward in value with great magnitude. It is risky but has great potential for profit. As an art appraiser, I happen to love California art and see it as an undervalued market. Living in Santa Barbara, I see alot of great paintings by West Coast artists selling for much less than their East Coast contemporaries.

One must keep in mind, the cost of selling (or flipping) artworks is high. It is important to have an art appraisal done before selling artworks. This way collectors can be certain they know the fair market value of a painting, before going to a gallery or auction house.

If an art collector decides to sell it through a gallery, the gallery will take a commission.  Auctions also take commission and are often volitile marketplaces. Art is not a liquid asset. Unlike a stock, that reflects the value determined by a large group of people, art is determined by individual taste. The selling price of a piece at auction is determined by the mood or taste of one or two, individual bidders --- rather than thousands of shareholders.

In her article “Art as an Investment,” Wendy Cromwell discusses the difference between traditional collectors and those who use art as investment. She says, “Individual collectors are driven by passion, . . . informed about auction history, and they consider provenance and condition as important variables in determining what to pay for a work of art, whether privately or at auction.” Collectors are usually well versed in the artists they collect. They do not base decisions on simple speculation or profits, but typically take into account a variety of factors when acquiring art.

Many art investment funds believe in diversifying their collection in a similar format as a stock portfolio. This model has worked for funds like the British Rail Pension Fund who made a profit of almost 12% in 2005 by slowly selling off work from a variety of genres. (3) Other investment groups, such as the Fine Art Fund, followed the same model. Many hedge funds and private individuals have used their art collections as collateral for a loan from companies like Art Capital Group Inc.

Investment funds often try to collect iconic works by famous collectors, rather than building a cohesive collection based on style, movement, or genre.  But, as Cromwell suggests, the provenance of a thoughtful collector’s vision often adds value to its marketability. A random selection of paintings that is sitting in a vault might be viewed by future buyers as arbitrary, as commodities rather than unique pieces.

Although appraisers like myself research auction records through a database like the Mei/Moses Index, finding adequate data for art appraisals can be difficult. Moses says, “The S&P 500 and the Dow 30 are broad measures of how those markets are doing. We need the same thing for art.” While auction records post sales prices, galleries do not report such data, meaning the art market is much less documented than the stock market.

Art collecting can be highly rewarding both financially and personally. As an art appraiser I meet collectors everyday, who love the art they bought, inherited, or found. It seems that the traditional model of art collecting still functions best. Collectors should buy what they love and do their research  if they're looking to use it as an investment. Art can be a portion of an investment portfolio but more importantly, enjoyed.

(1) Landon Thomas Jr. and Carol Vogel. “A New Prince of Wall Street Uses His Riches to Buy Up Art.” The New York Times, March 3, 2005

(2) Jori Finkel. “Painting by Numbers.” Art and Auction, April 2004. Pp. 77 - 83

(3) Wendy Cromwell. “Art as an Investment.” Art on Paper, March/April 2005

APPRAISAL of the MONTH

(Once a month our appraiser, Alissa J. Anderson, does an online art appraisal for our readers. Submit your art!)

For this month's Art Appraisal of the Month I was thrilled to see a James Swinnerton (1875 - 1974) painting submitted. As an art appraiser for Anderson Shea Art Appraisals in Santa Barbara, I often appraise Western and California paintings -- and there is just something about the desert that has long-inspired artists. In fact, the great American painter Georgia O’Keeffe’s most important work came only after she abandoned New York for New Mexico –never to return from the desert. 

James (Jimmy) Swinnerton is certainly one of those painters who found their happiness in this vast,  arid, and bewildering desert. For many artists, like Conrad Buff, Maynard Dixon, Clyde Forsythe, Fernand Lungren, Robert Rishell -- the desert inspired artistic enlightenment. The abundant beauty that existed in the quiet of the desert became their muse.

James (Jimmy) Swinnerton was born in Eureka, California in 1875. Swinnerton was raised in Santa Clara and studied art at the San Francisco School of Design. As a young artist he became an illustrator for the San Francisco Examiner. While he briefly worked in New York, Swinnerton returned to Palo Alto, California. In the 1920s, he began traveling throughout the Southwest -- painting desert scenes in Arizona, New Mexico, and California. He made frequent trips to the Navajo country, painting the Colorado River, dramatic desert buttes, and iconic big skies. He loved the four great North American deserts including the Great Basin, Sonoran, Mojave, and Chihuahuan -- but also painted in Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, and throughout the West.

Artist like James Swinnerton made it his mission to explore America’s deserts through art. Just as the Hudson River School discovered spirituality in the Hudson River Valley and the California impressionist painters were inspired by the landscapes of the Pacific Coast, some artists found beauty in the desert.

Using a variety of techniques and styles, these painters explore the unseen virtues of the desert. Swinnerton's contemporary, Conrad Buff (1886 - 1975), a modernist, often painted Zion National Park, transforming desert buttes into geometrical, cubist forms. With a bold use of color and loose, sweeping brushstrokes – Buff’s purple rocks and pink cliffs depict the desert in a way not typically seen. Clyde Forsythe’s New Mexcio painting capture the minimalist shapes and earthen tones of parched land, cliff, and sky. Maynard Dixon’s depicitons of Tehachapi people and cattle are dwarfed by the ominous, thunderous sky and rolling hills.

This month's art appraisal is a oil sketch by James Swinnerton, entitled "Smoke Tree, Palm Springs." Before beginning a painting, Swinnerton would complete a sketch in oil, in order to layout his composition. His finished works utilize ad photo-realist technique, whereas his sketches are much less detailed. In "Smoke Tree, Palm Springs," Swinnerton juxtaposes the striking irony of the desert, depicting a parched tree swallowed by arid, rocky landscapes. Paintings like this are imbued with a certain loneliness and isolation, something inherent to the desert. The desert is a vast, hot, and often inhospitable place -- but subtle beauty as well.

Like the 19th century Romantic painters interested in the humbling power of nature over man, Swinnerton's desert scenes rarely depict people . His paintings capture the expansive, alluring, and often mysterious qualities of a seemingly dry wasteland. He depicts the magnificence of monumental desert bluffs, quintessential desert skies, dramatic shadows cast upon an endless landscape, and the decorative radiance of simple sand and brush.
 

In as a California art appraiser, I've found that collectors of Swinnerton’s paintings prefer his highly detailed desert landscapes -- but the skill of Swinnerton’s work still makes this oil sketch of some value

While the canvas appears to have some dirt and dust, "Smoke Tree, Palm Springs" is in good condition. A competitive demand exists for James Swinnerton's paintings and this artwork is well painted, composed, and executed – placing my appraisal of the painting in the mid-range of Swinnerton’s market.

The Fair Market Value* of this painting would be estimated between $2,000-$3,000. A treasure indeed!

Please submit your painting, drawing, or sculpture for next month’s ART FIND appraisal. To be considered, mail a photo and brief description to: artsappraiser@gmail.com.

*©2010 Alissa J. Anderson. All Rights Reserved. None of the contents of this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanic, photocopy, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Anderson Shea Art Appraisals, and the appraiser’s signature.)

Milford Zornes, California Style

As the Guest Curator of the Wildling Art Museum’s current exhibition, "Milford Zornes: An American Artist,” I was excited to take a break from my usual stint as an art appraiser and delve into the remarkable career of one of California’s most notable artists, Milford Zornes.With the assistance of scholar Gordon McClelland, the exhibition consists of Zornes’ paintings borrowed from private collections throughout the country.

An innovator of the California Style of watercolor painting, Milford Zornes gained international acclaim for his expansive brushstrokes, vividly colored and abstract representations of the American landscape. In appraising art throughout California, I often come upon Zornes work. He was a  prolific artist, having lived to age of 100 and working for nearly 80 years. He was known to paint an entire painting in a few hours.

James Milford Zornes (1908-2008) was born in Camargo, Oklahoma. With the onset of the Great Depression, the Zornes family moved to Southern California, where Milford would ultimately settle as an artist and teacher. At a young age, Zornes pursued a career in journalism and moved to Santa Barbara County where he enrolled in Allan Hancock College (known as Santa Maria Junior College). Upon moving back to the Los Angeles area, he abandoned writing and pursued an art career.

While attending Scripps College in Claremont, Zornes became a pupil of Millard Sheets. Working alongside Sheets as well as Rex Brandt, George Post, Phil Dyke, other of California artists of the time -- Zornes began depicting regional Los Angeles. No longer able to afford the expense of oil paints during the Depression, the versatility and cost of watercolors enabled Zornes and his fellow artists to transport their materials to paint outside. “Arguably, watercolor was the most important medium sustained by American painters struggling with the new demands and untried possibilities of Modernism in the first half of the 20th century,” said Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times. The quick drying qualities of the medium required artists to use expedient, expressionist brushstrokes.

Zornes excelled in the medium and was soon commissioned to paint for the WPA's Federal Arts Project, and began to gain artistic prominence. Just as the Regionalist and American Scene styles of painting championed scenes of the everyday people, Zornes’ early works depicted cityscapes and life in Depression-era America. With the U.S. joining WWII, Zornes enrolled in the U.S. Army as a War Artist and traveled to China, Burma, and India -- where he began depicting exotic landscapes.

Upon returning to Claremont, California after the war, Zornes began teaching art. In his continued efforts to master watercolor, Zornes experimented with a looser, abstract style. With the movement of Post-War modern art gaining momentum, Zornes explored line, form, and color rather than purely representation scenes. “I think in terms of big abstract concern and I think of detail as an embellishment. I keep constantly in mind that while embellishment is important, still when you begin this process of embellishment, you can also begin the process of deterioration” said Zornes in "Milford Zornes: An American Artist" by McClelland.

Still, he never gave up representational painting. Instead of attempting to capture purely realistic landscapes, Zornes attempted to highlight the striking colors and shapes of an alternative American scene. In paintings such as “Zion in the Summer,” Zornes subtlety hints at form in order to capture the essence of a scene. With a few simple strokes, Zornes imbues a simple seascape with nuance, atmosphere, and vibrance.

Zornes worked for nearly 100 years documenting the beauty and evolution of California’s landscape as well as that of South America, Hawaii, Mexico, Alaska, and Europe. Zornes was also an influential teacher, helping instruct young artists at schools such as UCSB, Pomona College, Otis Art Institute, and Riverside Art Center.

Zornes’ work captures the surreal beauty of the American landscape. Still, his paintings are very much about the process of painting. The current exhibition at the Wildling Art Museum attempts to chronicle Zornes' achievement as an artist, exhibiting nearly 30 artworks done between the years of 1955-1985. The artist, not only, developed alternative methods of interpreting the natural world, but captured the American landscape with a distinctive voice and poignancy unique to few artists.

©2010 Alissa J. Anderson. All Rights Reserved. None of the contents or images in this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanic, photocopy, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Anderson Shea Art Appraisals, and the appraiser’s signature.) IMAGE: Courtesy of Wildling Art Museum

Art in The Home

The art we choose to put in our homes lives with us, inspires us, comforts us, and challenges us. As an art appraiser, I am constantly discovering the diversity of the art people choose to put in their homes. Some art collectors choose a cohesive collecting theme surrounding a particular style, genre, or subject. A recent art appraisal in Santa Barbara brought me to a collector fascinated by trees. Every artwork in his home, including photographs, paintings, and sculptures -- depicted the beauty of trees. Other art collectors compile works based on their personal or family ties to the artists, or because the pieces had been inherited from generation to generation. In each case, art collectors are intensely passionate and enthusiastic about the art with which they choose to live.

As an appraiser in Santa Barbara, many of the collections I encounter are that of Western and California art. The artists Lockwood DeForest, Douglass Parshall, Ray Strong, and Millard Sheets are among the artists I see over and over. What interests me about California art from this period that artists from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were interested in capturing the American landscape while also innovating modernist thought, aesthetics, and visual narratives. While paintings by some of my favorite California artists Belle Baranceanu, James Swinnerton, Milford Zornes, and Francis De Erdely cannot be classified as specifically modern -- their work has a modernist sensibility. Whether it composition, color, or style, these paintings and drawings explore notions of modernity unique to life in California and the West.

Early 20th century California landscape painting began as an offshoot of the European plein-air Impressionist style. Celebrating the natural, picturesque beauty of the American landscape, these artists had a recognizable style and palette. Beginning in the 1930s with the onset of the Great Depression, many artists began exploring different styles and media. No longer able to afford oil paint, artists like Milford Zornes, Hubert Buel, and Millard Sheets began using watercolors. The quick-drying quality of the medium required the artists to use quick, expressionist brushstrokes. Such a practice evolved into an entire movement of art in the United States. Implementing bolder colors and styles, the artists developed alternative methods of interpreting the natural world.

After the Great Depression many artists explored the American landscape from an alternative, modern approach. Milford Zornes’ Desert Rainstorm (now on exhibit at the Wildling Art Museum) represents a shift in artistic pursuits. Instead of attempting to capture pure realism, his paintings emphasize the striking form, color, and shape of an alternative American landscape. Almost entirely abstract, the flatness and simplicity is achieved by breaking down objects into their most basic shape and color.

Influenced by the movement of modern art happening in Europe, many artists began implementing a visual dialog connected to Fauvism, Cubism, and Expressionism. They were more interested exploring line and form, rebelling against the pastel palette of the California Impressionist tradition.

As an art appraiser, I am constantly investigating the ingredients of a truly great painting. For each collector, that is different. For some it is a tree and for others it is a single painting that captures the unworldly beauty of the American landscape, but is also the process of painting and its ability to transcend the natural world.

©2010 Alissa J. Anderson. All Rights Reserved. None of the contents or images in this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanic, photocopy, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Anderson Shea Art Appraisals, and the appraiser’s signature.)

ART APPRAISAL of the MONTH

(Once a month our appraiser, Alissa J. Anderson, does an online art appraisal for one of our readers. Submit your art.)

When we asked readers for submissions for this month’s ART FIND art appraisal of the month, we got some interesting artworks. As an art appraiser in Santa Barbara, I have special interest in appraising California art of the mid-century. So when I was asked to help appraise this 1949 painting by California landscape painter Robert Rishell, here's what I found….

Our reader acquired this Rishell painting, “Birds on the Horizon” from a California friend who was traveling through Texas 15 years ago. He traded the painting to her as payment for a project, and told her it was similar one his father had owned in San Anselmo, California.

Robert Clifford Rishell was an artist born in Oakland, California in 1917 and spent much of his career in the Bay Area. As a young artist, he won a scholarship to the California College of Arts and Crafts. Rishell studied technique and color, and his early paintings consisted of meticulously painted still-lifes. While at art school, Rishell became a pupil of Mexican muralist Xavier Martinez, someone whose work would profoundly influence Rishell throughout his life.

Robert Rishell became an important California artist. He helped organize the first showing of the Society of Western Artists at the California Garden and Home Exposition. Robert Rishell was also instrumental in founding the Oakland Art Museum in the Bay Area.His paintings are held in a number of private and public collections, including the University of Chicago, Oakland Public Library World Trade Center, SF; Oakland Museum; Bank of California, Oakland; Palm Springs Desert Museum; UC Berkeley.

In his 20s, Robert Rishell began traveling beyond California to paint the landscapes of Texas, Utah, and New Mexico. While exploring the deserts of the Southwest, the allure of the nature entranced Rishell. Like many artists of the period such as James Swinnerton, Lockwood DeForest, and Peter Ellenshaw, Rishell became fascinated by the magnificence of monumental sweeping big skies, desert bluffs, and dramatic shadows.

It was while traveling in 1949, I suspect Robert Rishell may have painted, “Birds on the Horizon.” This painting of wild marshlands has an illusive quality present in many of Rishell’s artworks. Rishell’s subjects often focuse on the exotic dichotomies of the natural world, a place where parched landscapes can coexist with thriving beauty. For Rishell, the simplicity of an elegant bird, a simple slice of sky, or an unadorned brush conveyed something simultaneously aloof, yet strikingly beautiful.

In my art appraisal, I found that collectors of Rishell’s paintings tend to pay higher amounts for his well-known California and Western desert landscapes -- but the scarcity of Rishell’s work still makes “Birds on the Horizon” of a high appraised value.

While the painting appears to need cleaning, the painting is in good condition. A competitive demand exists for Robert Rishell’s paintings and the painting’s quality, technique, and brushwork. This artwork is well painted, composed, and executed – making my appraisal of it in the mid-range of the market for Rishell’s work.

At auction this painting would be appraised to sell between $3,000-$4,000. A treasure indeed!

Please submit your painting, drawing, or sculpture for next month’s ART FIND appraisal. To be considered, mail a photo and brief description to: artsappraiser@gmail.com

©2010 Alissa J. Anderson. All Rights Reserved. None of the contents of this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanic, photocopy, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Anderson Shea Art Appraisals, and the appraiser’s signature.)

Power of the Portrait

As an art appraiser I am often asked to appraise portrait paintings. What's so interesting about portraiture is its ability to capture the very essence of a person, a time-period, and even an entire society.

At the turn of the 20th century, American portrait painters held a unique position in depicting American culture. Artists like John Singer Sargent, Thomas Eakins, and William Merritt Chase established themselves as American master painters – capturing portraits of the political and industrialist elite. With images of Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt, oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, and novelist Henry James, artists like John Singer Sargent depicted influential figures as icons of American progress. Bringing their European academic training to the U.S., these artists presented to the international art world that American society was bridging Old World traditions with a uniquely American experience.

Patrons of commissioned portraits had always played a significant role in supporting the long-held tradition of portraiture. European nobility, aristocrats, and the wealthy bourgeois had helped sustain the genre of painting for hundreds of years. During the Gilded Age of the 1880s, a new American industrialist elite used the tradition of portraiture to portray themselves as symbols of worldly power and strength. East Coast artist were commissioned to present such individuals as the figureheads of American culture.

Not only the wealthy gave patronage to the realm of early portraiture. Limning portraits were often commissioned by working-class families. These commissions by second-tier artists were less refined than the works of Sargent or Chase. Although these examples did not have the same level of aesthetic precision, technique, or refinement -- they were significant in representing all facets of the American experience.

On the West Coast, painters including Belle Baranceanu, Nicholas Brigante, Sueo Serisawa, Boris Deutsch, William Hesthal, Anton Refregier, continued the heritage of figurative painting, but used it in a modern way in order to make a social commentary. Francis De Erdely, a Hungarian émigré, who became one of California’s most notable modernists painted portraits in Europe, Detroit, and finally Los Angeles during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.

Francis De Erdely almost always painted figurative subjects, a genre not often associated with modernism. Francis De Erdely’s portraits were painted not out of nostalgia for the past, but as a reflection of the human condition on the West Coast of California. Francis De Erdely created some of the most striking figurative paintings in American art and his work remains poignant today.

Portrait and figurative painting continues to exist as an unparalleled genre of painting which serves as a compelling and accomplished articulation of the human experience. A portrait reveals a time, a place, and an individual. A successful portrait by a skilled artist reveals a uniquely intimate moment between an artist and sitter – one that is pure, unguarded, and candid.
(©2009 Alissa J. Anderson. All Rights Reserved. None of the contents of this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanic, photocopy, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Anderson Shea Art Appraisals, and the appraiser’s signature.)