Are you looking at a work of art, but can’t decide whether you’re looking at an original painting or a reproduction? Don’t panic. To bust the vast majority of repros all you need to do is look closely.

Ask yourself if there a reason the work looks suspicious? Maybe the colors look a little off, like an old Kodachrome slide or that faded poster that used to hang in your dorm room? Maybe the texture of the surface seems wrong; it looks like the paint is applied with heavy impasto (meaning thick, loose, brushstrokes) but the surface is flat as a pancake?… Read More

Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983) Plate (Auction 3140B, Lot 75, Estimate: $2,500-3,500)

Joan Miró is best known as a painter of Surrealistic figures that dance across flat surfaces like alien cartoon creatures searching for a party. Wise collectors know that he was also a skilled and prolific printmaker, working in lithography and intaglio techniques for much of his career. He began experimenting with printmaking in the 1920s, but it wasn’t until later in life that he pursued it vigorously.… Read More

George Bellows (American, 1882-1925) Preliminaries, alternatively titled Preliminaries to the Big Bout, 1916, edition of 67 (Lot 13, Estimate: $15,000 – 25,000)

One of the youngest of the Ashcan School artists, George Wesley Bellows began making prints in 1916. Like his paintings, his lithographs incorporated a wide breadth of subject matter, depicted in realistic, often gritty, detail that signified American city life in the early 20th century in all of its vast varieties.… Read More

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973) Femme au char triomphal, 1949 (Lot 100, Estimate: $40,000-60,000)

Pablo Picasso was a dynamic, creative force. He was intrigued by and experimented with countless media throughout the course of his long and illustrious career. Picasso’s Cubist oil paintings – some incorporating collage – of the 1910s changed the world of Western Art forever.  He worked in crayon, pencil, and pastel and was a prolific printmaker as well.… Read More

I get asked this question more than any other.  The short answer:  Everyone.

A single word isn’t much of a blog post, so let me give you the longer version. Skinner auctions are public auctions.  Absolutely anybody who loves art or antiques is welcome to attend. The previews are a time for potential bidders to come into the gallery and view lots first-hand; to examine the condition of a Wayne Thiebaud woodcut, or the construction of a card table or to feel the heft of a piece of Wedgwood.… Read More

Joyce Stillman-Myers (American, b. 1943) Cut Rocks (Lot 458, Estimate $2,500-$3,500)

Photorealism arose in the 1960’s in part as a counterpoint to the Abstract Expressionist movement. The rejection of all representation by Abstract Expressionist artists of the 1940’s was meant to allow the viewer to focus purely on emotion and expression without the need for a deep cultural knowledge. It was intended to remove elitism from art.… Read More

[Detail] Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987) Flowers/A Portfolio of Ten Works, Suite of 10 screenprints 1970 (Lot 70, $400,000-$600,000)

This article is featured in the Journal of the Print World, January 2016 issue.

“Andy Warhol is best known for his iconic subject matter: Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, and Elvis Presley. His paintings marry these motifs with screenprinting to express the commercial nature of his work; its manufacture over its customized production.… Read More

Agnes Martin (Canadian/American, 1912-2004) Blue Flower, 1962 (Lot 397, Estimate $1,500,000-$2,000,000)

Highlights of Skinner’s May 29th  Fine Paintings and Sculpture auction included three works by modern artists that each exemplify important aspects of mid-20th century art. The artist’s international origins—Canada, Russia, and Venezuela—are fittingly emblematic of the global nature of today’s art market.… Read More

Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987) Northwest Coast Mask, from COWBOYS AND INDIANS, 1986, edition of 250 plus proofs (Sold for: $13,530)

Highlights of Skinner’s May 29th auction of fine prints and photographs included a number of pop art prints that speak to the trends in collecting in this increasingly popular area. Three examples highlight the diversity of artists and images that are included in the category of pop art.

Pop art takes its name from the integration of popular culture and art, and is most closely associated with the New York art scene starting in the late 1950s.… Read More

Isaac Witkin’s Jacob’s Dream, 1986, (figure 1)

I have a confession to make.  When you’re not shoveling it or raking it off your roof, the snow is actually beautiful. You may think I have an acute case of cabin fever, but let me explain before you deem me to be a total nut job.

I grabbed two young friends and my snow shoes and headed to the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum on a snowy Thursday.  Many of the smaller works near the museum’s entrance were buried beneath mountains of the white stuff, but there was still plenty to see, and all of it was transformed. … Read More