Ed Ruscha: "Made In California", a current exhibition at the Amon Carter Museum.

Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1937 and raised in Oklahoma City, working artist Ed Ruscha (pronounced 'Rou-shāy') has experimented with a diverse range of media and styles throughout his career and is best known for his images depicting single words ostensibly suspended in space.  His works have portrayed everything from gas stations, hordes of flies and boiling blood, to the scenery of downtown Los Angeles where he moved in 1956 and currently lives and works.

With the intention of becoming a commercial artist, Ruscha enrolled at Chouinard Art Institute, now Cal Arts.  He worked as a printer's assistant where he set type by hand, pulled proofs and cleaned the presses and workshop.  This experience of working with texts, of physically handling letters and arranging words, intrigued Ruscha.

In1969, after garnering some attention and fame for his Pop Art style and approach, Ruscha was invited to work at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop, which was established in L.A. in an attempt to resurrect the practice of fine art lithography.  Ruscha embraced lithography as a means to explore recurring themes from his earlier original and serigraph works, exploring the artificial culture of Hollywood and the visual representations of words and language.

This particular exhibit of lithographs draws from his time in California as he worked with Tamarind.  Single words and phrases, called his "liquid words," are placed against a solid backdrop or dull landscape.  The words seems to float and lay flat simultaneously and the background is both stoic and infinite; both solid behind the word and expanding beyond it.  This competition between the visual and the verbal makes perception and interpretation particularly engaging.  Ruscha presents the word itself as an object.

The artist's interest in typography ultimately provided the primary subject of his paintings, prints and photographs.  As a graphic artist, he felt confined by the rudimentary rules of fonts and lettering.  He was able to break away from and solve his typographical angst by inventing his liquid words, seeing the words and phrases used in commercial art and advertising as able to collide with, and be integrated into, the world of pictures.

Ruscha's choice of words is a constant question for the audience as they view his works.

Why Anchovy in watery letters? 

Why Air against a yellow background?

Why City?

Ruscha explains the words he chooses are all, "things that somehow personally affect me, that I find amusing, or ironic, or something."

The most famous pieces in the show are his series of lithographs of the Hollywood sign.  Ruscha claims the sign, "...always had a surreal quality... It represents such a huge fantasy, and those giant letters make what is a very undistinguishable hill look magical (sic)."  These monochromatic prints seem to downplay the glamour evoked by those huge white letters. The works are small.  Their diminutive  scale pulls the viewer in.  The print above, "Hollywood in the Rain," is a colorless, drab rectangular blur from afar.  The viewer has to get close to see the streaks across the print are meant to be rain.

Ruscha first used the sign as subject matter in 1967, and since then the image has reappeared in many of his works.  The recurrence of those bold letters reinforces Ruscha's infatuation with celebrity culture and cinema as a whole.  All the prints in the "Hollywood" series emphasize the horizontal, pointing to the panoramic proportions of the big-screen.

See "Hollywood With Observatory, 1969" below.  The print is 6 ½ inches tall by 32 inches long.

A work that stands out in the show is "Sin, 1969."  The three-dimensional words depicted in a trompe l'oeil technique made to look like ribbons of folded paper is another motif often used by Ruscha.  The word "Sin" stands tall and each letter casts a shadow against a gray and white background while a lone olive sits in the lower right corner.

Everything is in grayscale besides the olive, which is bright green and orange and casts a shadow of its own.  These two subjects seem to be making a commentary on the Hollywood lifestyle.  It is a dark print, the word "Sin" evoking dark connotations, but the colorful olive adds a whimsical element that is almost carefree, that is very Hollywood.

The exhibit opened January 15th and runs through July 21st. Great show, great museum, absolutely free.

-M.P. Callender

Improving your Connoisseurship of Paintings

Knowledge will make you a better collector

While staffing the fine art appraisers table at a charitable appraisal day recently, I had the sad duty to inform more than one hopeful participant that the “Rembrandt” or “Remington” painting they had brought for assessment was actually not a painting, but a print transfer and, as such, was not worth very much at all.   I also had the great privilege of identifying a few pieces as the work of well-known, collectible artists.  The owners of those paintings were often stunned by their values. Both the disappointed and the elated kept asking the same series of questions.  “Well, how do you know it is /is not real?”   “How can I do some research on my own?”   This primer to painting connoisseurship is a great place to start for the beginner and may offer a few tips for the advanced collector.

Original painting or a reproduction?

First, we need to start with separating real paintings from reproductions.   If you find a piece or two in Grandma’s attic that clearly bear Picasso’s or Monet’s signature, we hope that it is an original, but what are the clues that separate the original from the reproduction?  Here are some of them:

• Is it behind glass?  Although works on paper by important artists can be highly collectible, the largest number of reproductions are also on paper.   Chances are, if your recognizably famous piece is on paper, it’s because it is a printed copy or reproduction of a well-known original in another medium.
• If it is not behind glass, look at the front surface in raking light.  Raking light is the light that skims across the surface as we turn a piece somewhat to the side.  This view shows us the surface levels of the paint, peaks and valleys.   If the piece appears flat, it is a reproduction (or a drawing).   If the piece appears to have a regular swirled pattern, it is probably also a reproduction.  This swirled surface is created by the application of a clear gel substance that mimics paintbrush strokes.   If the piece appears to have peaks of paint that correspond to the image detail of the painting, it is likely an original painting. Hint: White is a thicker paint and is usually applied with less glazing medium.   The white or light areas of the painting are great for this type of inspection.
• If you have access to a jeweler’s loupe, examine the surface under magnification.  A reproductive print will have a regular pattern of dots when examined this way, while an original will show the brushstrokes closer.

• Now, look at the support.  Flip the piece over, and inspect the verso, the back surface.  If the piece is on cardboard, it is likely a reproduction. For centuries, artists have produced paintings on wooden panels and on canvases stretched over wooden frames (stretchers).  In the 20^th century, companies began to provide “canvas-boards,” canvas that has been glued to a flat art board.  These will be clearly marked with manufacturer’s name and size.   However, if you see plain, brown cardboard, you are likely looking at a mass-produced reproduction.
• If the piece is on canvas and the stretchers are thin (1 x 2”), light-color wood and the canvas appears to be new, light in color, machine woven, this is a clue that dates it to the last ½ of the 20^th century.

  

  It might be a recently produced oil or acrylic original. Or it might be a print-transfer of a well-known piece.  A print-transfer is a photomechanical reproduction print of an original in another medium (oil or watercolor, for instance) that has been glued another surface.  Prints can be applied to a wide variety of surfaces, including cardboard and canvas.

• Also check the verso for labels.  Many reproductions bear printed labels or inventory numbers on the verso that give away their history as mass-produced commercial products.    Originals are often signed and titled on the verso.  You might also find dealer’s stamps that tell you who handled the piece in the past.

Identifying Authorship

After you have set aside the reproductions, you can begin to look closely at the paintings for important clues to authorship, age/date and condition, three of the important determinates of value. Authorship or attribution is an important element of value.   Two paintings may look very much alike, but if one is by Picasso and the other is by P. Kasso, their values will be worlds apart.   Sometimes a piece bears a signature.  If so, does the signature on your painting match a known signature?  This can be researched at a good art library.   There are many source-books that have photocopies of the most important artists’ signatures.  One of my favorite sources  for signature matching is a series of books by John Castagno published by Scarecrow Press.   If the signature looks good, look at the overall style of the piece.   Does it match a known style for the artist, known subject matter, known medium?

Keep in mind that not every signed piece is by the hand of a well-known artist.   We all have weekend painters in our families and most of them prominently sign their paintings.  When you find a signed painting, you will need to research the artist’s biography.  Was he/she someone important in the history of art?  What was his/her contribution?  What are they best known for?     This type of research is also best conducted in a good art library.   There are many sources for biographies.  You will have to pinpoint the country of origin for the artist, since biographical sources are grouped in this way.  Benezit’s Dictionary of Artists, for instance, is a fourteen-volume, French language dictionary of European artists from the 16^th c. to 1960.  Falk’s Who Was Who in American Art is a wonderful, three-volume set covering American artists up to 1970.

If you find biographical information on the artist and some information on working style, you will be better able to compare your painting to the overall work of the artist.  If, however, you do some research and come up empty-handed, your painting might be the treasured piece by great uncle Ned.   Uncle Ned’s painting might not bring much in the open market, but it could be a wonderful connection to your family’s history.

Determining Age

The date or age of a painting is another important determinate of value.   Of course, it is simple if the piece is dated along with the signature.   Then, you can just make sure that the date is within the known lifetime of the artist.   However, if the piece is not dated, physical examination can help determine a time frame and country of origin.   Is it 19^th century British School or 18^th C. Italian school, for instance?  This is a little trickier, and may require the input of a professional.  But, here is a list of clues to help train your eye to make this sort of determination on your own:

• Social/ historical cues –

  

  • What is the dress/ attire of the people depicted?   If they are wearing powdered white wigs that might lead to a conclusion that a piece was created in the late 18^th C., or later in the style of the 18^th century.   If the women are wearing mini-skirts, the piece must have been done from 1960 or later.
  • What mechanical objects or other objects are depicted?  What is the means of transportation?  Horse-drawn carriages, trains, automobiles, etc.
  • Are there country-of-origin cues?  flags flying, court dress, well-known buildings or monuments, distinctive landscape details

• Art Historical Cues—
• Knowing your “isms” can be very handy.

Having some background in art history is a big plus.  But even without this, you can arrive at some conclusions by comparison of styles on your own.

• Is the piece done in a traditional, historic style or a loose, interpretive style?
• What is the color palette?
• How is the paint applied—thin layers of glazes or thick brushy strokes?
• Physical cues /Examine the canvas itself—
• Construction of the stretchers—this can suggest date and country of origin
• Craquelure on the image—Craquelure is an overall network of fine cracks that tends to develop in oil paintings of a certain age.  It is caused chiefly by the shrinkage of the paint film or varnish over the years.  Craquelure is a sure sign of some age.  Older pieces tend to have a finer, smaller network of craquelure.
• The wood color of the stretchers or panel –Stretchers and painting panels are left unvarnished and the color naturally darkens over time.   A bright, light wood tone means a newer piece.

Considering Condition

Condition is another important element of value.  The condition of a painting is somewhat subjective.  One cannot expect an 18^th C. canvas to be in the same condition as a 20^th C. canvas.   The 200 year difference would mean that the older piece might have been sent for conservation one or more times.     In an older piece, you should expect to see a re-lined canvas.  Re-lining is the term for adding another back support to a canvas that has grown weak and unstable.    Canvases that have been re-lined properly will have a newer, tighter-weave canvas (or linen) applied to the back of the older support.  The most accepted method of application is with a wax substance.   It will appear somewhat darker than raw canvas and have a waxy feel on the verso when touched lightly.   Re-lining also allows the conservator to lay the paint layer back onto the support and prevent flaking of paint.

Another element that you might see in an older canvas is in-painting.  In-painting is done by a conservator after the piece is re-lined.  The conservator fills bare spots left by flaked paint and attempts to match the surrounding painted areas.  There are several ways to spot in-painting.  Older in-painting may have changed color and no longer match the surrounding paint.   In-painting can sometimes be spotted with an inspection in strong raking light.   Another method is the use of a black light.  Most professionals, dealers and appraisers, own and use a black light.  Interpretation of what is seen under black light examination can be subtle and may require the input of a professional.

When a piece comes to a conservator for restoration, often the paint has already begun to actively flake from the surface.   The amount and location of the in-painting is important to the value of a piece.   If there is a small amount of in-painting and it is located in less “important” areas of the image, the background of a portrait, for instance, this would have little to no effect on the value.  However, if most of the image has been lost and in-painted, this could negatively affect the value of the piece.

Active cupping and flaking of paint are, of course, condition problems and should be taken into account when considering the sale or purchase of a painting.  These can often be successfully addressed by a conservator, however, this will add expense to the purchase.   The tautness of the canvas on the support and the overall strength of the canvas are issues to consider.  If the canvas is bowing, sagging or torn, this needs to be addressed immediately.  Ignoring these problems will lead to loss of the paint surface and degradation of value.

Now that you have learned to differentiate paintings from reproductions and the essential elements of value—authorship, age and condition, your connoisseurship of fine paintings will grow each time you use these skills.   Look, look, look!  Your eye improves as you train it.   Talk to reputable dealers who handle the artists in which you are interested.  Begin to follow the careers of a few artists and compare their work from different time periods.  Buy what you love from reputable sources and you will never be disappointed.

By Brenda Simonson-Mohle, ISA CAPP

Improving your Connoisseurship of Prints: Knowledge will make you a better collector

One of the more exciting and varied types of pieces that I am called on to appraise, buy and sell for clients is prints.  This is a broad category.  So that we are on the same page, let’s start with some definitions.

Print Defined

A print is a piece of paper on which an image is imprinted from a matrix.  With the exception of monoprints, print matrixes are created to produce several copies of the same image.  The matrix is a piece of wood, stone or metal on which the original image is created. This image can be created by an individual artist, a craftsmen working under the direction of the artist / studio director or, by photographic transfer.   Generally, those prints which are produced by photomechanical means are considered reproduction prints and are not collectible.

Prints fall into three general categories, defined by the type of matrix from which they are pulled.  The categories are relief, intaglio and planographic.  

Relief: Woodcut, Linocut, Wood Engraving

In a relief print, the image is transferred from the raised surface of the matrix.  The artist cuts away what he or she doesn’t want printed.  If you think about the potato prints you may have done in art classes or the rubber stamps you have played with, you will get the picture.  Within this category are woodcuts, linocuts and wood engravings.  (See Fig. 1 above)

Intaglio: Engraving, Etching, Drypoint, Mezzotint, Aquatint

In an intaglio (pronounced ‘in-tall-e-o’) print, the lower surfaces, the recessed areas, are what transfer the image.  In this type of printmaking, the ink is applied across the plate, and the top surfaces are wiped clean. Damp paper is pulled through a high-impact press that forces the paper down into the recesses where the ink sits.  One easy way to spot an intaglio print is to look for the platemark, an indented outer edge left when the size of the plate is smaller than the size of the paper.  Within this category are engravings, etchings, drypoints, mezzotints and aquatints. (See Fig. 2 below)

Planographic Lithograph, Serigraph: Reproduction print methods (halftone, xerography, collotype, photo-offset lithography, giclee)

As the name implies, planographic prints are created “at the plane” or surface of the paper.   The matrix for a lithograph is a thick Bavarian limestone.  The image is drawn onto the stone with a waxy substance and is chemically set into the stone.  The stone is inked and paper laid on it and pressed.  A stone will be used for hundreds of different prints.  After an edition is pulled, the image is ground off and the stone is ready to be used again. (See Fig. 3)

A serigraph (also called silk screen) is created with a screen or series of screens that sit just above the paper.  Each screen has the shape the artist wants printed in one color open and the rest of the screen blocked.  The artist puts the ink on the screen and pushes it through with a squeegee. Serigraphy is additive.  Each new screen adds another color, until the artist’s concept is complete. (See Fig. 4)

Most reproduction prints are photomechanical and are technically planographic since the plates are flat.  Most are not collectible. These are photomechanical reproductions of an artist’s work done in another medium. They are printed in very high quantities and are sold cheaply.   There is, however, a small group of prints in this category that have become collectible because of the popularity of the artist.  Even though the editions are high, a secondary (resale) market does exist for a few artist’s prints.  Some of the names that spring to mind are G. Harvey, Bev Doolittle, Robert Bateman and Paul Calle. When you run across an offset print and wonder whether the artist is collectible, it is easy to check the name and see if he/she falls into this category.

Spotting Reproductions

You will take a huge step forward in your connoisseurship of prints by learning to spot reproduction prints.   There are basically two types, photomechanical offset lithographs and a printing method developed in the 1990’s commonly called gicleé.   The first is easy to spot, and the second is a lot trickier.   Offset printing was developed in the early part of the 20^th century.  This is the method of printing most high-volume, color printing that is done today.  The paper is usually flat, not much tooth, and somewhat glossy.   The image could be anything that can be photographed.   If the image looks like an oil but is on paper and is flat, you are looking at an offset print.   A simple tool, a jewelers’ loupe, will nail your identification.  Under magnification, you can see that these images are made up of a mechanical dot pattern of red, yellow, blue and black dots.   See Fig 5.

Gicleé is the latest addition to the printmaking methods.  It was developed as capacity for modern color ink-jet printers to print on larger, more varied surfaces combined with the increased memory capacity of computers. The added memory translates into the ability to transfer more pixels per square inch.  A pixel is basically a digital ‘image packet.’  When the pixel count per square inch is raised, the resolution of the image is raised.   In giclee printing, a digital image can be transferred directly from the computer’s memory onto whatever surface the inkjet printer can handle.  As the name inkjet implies, the color inks are blown directly onto the printing surface, producing a continuous tone similar to a photographic image.   In the mid-1990’s, these printers had developed the ability to print onto virtually any surface, metal, watercolor paper, canvas, etc.  Since the resolution is quite high on these prints, it can make them difficult for a novice to spot.   If you suspect from other clues that the piece might have been produced in the late 20^th century, you must consider the possibility of gicleé.  Currently, gicleé printing is being used by most publishers of art for office environments.  It is also being used by some photographers and by computer graphics artists to print their work.  These prints can be printed on demand, meaning they do not have to be released in editions.  They can be printed at many different sizes and on quite varied surfaces.

So, why no Fig. 6? When viewed under magnification, there is no dot pattern to spot on a Gicleé print.  The pattern is a granular, all-over tone that is very close to the look of a photograph and some other printmaking forms.  These will be difficult for a novice to spot.  If you suspect gicleé printmaking, have a good print appraiser take a look.

Prejudice against prints?

So, there are the basics.  Now, I would like to discuss an odd phenomenon that I have noticed in the market —a real prejudice against prints among some dealers and collectors.  Since I am a print enthusiast, I have always found this attitude puzzling.  However, I understand some of the reasons that people shy away from prints.

Here’s the short list of objections and my responses to them:

• An original painting is easy to spot and identify. Whether the painting turns out to be oil or acrylic, the value is not affected much by mis-identification of the medium.  But the term print is a broad category that covers everything from the collectible pieces on down to very inexpensive reproductions.  To say that an item is a print is only the beginning of categorizing the piece by its medium.   So, it takes more study time to properly identify prints.  Without some hands-on experience and a guide, many people are intimidated by prints.  It is true that becoming familiar with prints takes more time and study than other areas.  There are more mediums to become familiar with and be able to spot.  But, that’s also what makes the field intriguing.
• Prints have been produced for many purposes and many different price ranges over the years.  One of the market niches that has been filled by prints is that of the inexpensive decorative item for the home.  With the advent of photomechanical printmaking in the late 19^th and early 20^th century, vast quantities of the same image can be easily and inexpensively reproduced.  The number of these cheap prints available far exceeds the number of collectible prints on the market and leaves a potential serious collector with the seemingly daunting task of separating the good from the bad.    Yes, there are lots of cheap prints out on the market.   But, there are also some incredible, collectible prints being offered at all levels of the market.    Armed with knowledge, a savvy collector can pick up great prints in resale markets like estate sales, auctions and the like for a fraction of their retail value.
• Prints just aren’t worth enough money to bother with.  Paintings are where the money is.  This is a fallacy.   While it is true that when an artist works in more than one medium, the one-of-a-kind pieces will generally be priced higher than prints, the overall price range of prints is quite broad.   A good print from a young, local artist might start as low as a few hundred dollars.  On the other hand, a great print by a well-known master or contemporary artist might easily sell for $ 30,000-60,000, or more.

  

• Condition is a major factor in the value of a given print.  Paper-born artwork is generally more fragile than paintings on canvas or panel.   And, collectors of prints can be very particular about condition.  So, it is just easier to look elsewhere.  Condition is important.  Print collectors like pieces as close to original condition as possible.  But, some damage can be corrected or minimized by a good paper conservationist. 

So, should you start or continue to build your print collection?  Are these pieces going to appreciate or languish in the market?  The answer is that well-chosen prints that are taken care of can be wonderful pieces of art that give you pleasure for years and can also be great investments.  How can we overcome the reticence to collect prints?  The short answer is knowledge.  The more you know about a given art medium the more fascinating you will find it and the better a collector you will become.

 By Brenda Simonson-Mohle, ISA CAPP