January 2013

I am very happy to announce that one of the most amazing auctions for printmaking will be happening on January 29th at Christie’s New York auction house. This will be the work from Albrecht Durer. The auction house has this to say about the sale:

This private collection of 61 lots represents the one of the finest selection of prints by Albrecht Dürer to appear at auction for many years. Meticulously assembled over the course of almost half a century by a connoisseur with an unparalleled eye for quality, this auction features Dürer’s masterworks, including Adam and Eve and Melencolia I. Estimates start at $3000.

Honestly, this is an understatement.  The collection of work is really just beautiful, showing a master at his craft. As a fellow printmaker, I can only tell how long it takes to make one block to print from, no matter if it is a wood cut or lithograph.  It really is no easy task to accomplish. Then with the beauty that Durer put into his art is really breath-taking.  If a buyer were looking to start or expand his/her collection on medieval art or in print making, this is, without a doubt the must auction of the year.

For Durer’s work, the pricing is prime. What I mean by this is simply that it is right in the average range for prints, especially if they are earlier on the print count.  What you are looking for on these are the early prints.  Since printmaking is designed strictly to make duplicates, even to be printed after the artist’s, the early series or runs you can find of prints by an artist is key. For instance, Most of these prints that I have looked at from the Christie’s website for the sale were made during Durer’s life, which is excellent. Not only does this mean that the buyer will be getting an early print, but also means that chances are that Durer himself could have made the prints.

To see more on this sale, please view the Christie’s Website. I put major emphasis in this auction as could be a once in a long while before the world sees such a collection of Durer’s work of this quality being sold at one time.  The details are perfect on all of the pieces.  It is a must for any collector of prints and medieval art.

On a separate note, I would like to take this time to announce that my own printmaking work will be up for exhibition coming later this year in Portland OR. The pieces will be for sale at the exhibition. From the information that I currently have, the show will be at the Screaming Sky Gallery from May-June and a possibility of another show in Pittsburgh PA in September. More details will be posted as time grows closer.

July 2012

On July 25th, 2012, at 10am and 2pm, at  Rockefeller Plaza in New York, Christie’s Inc will be auctioning off a collection of Prints & Multiples that I am very excited about. There will be amazing pieces going up for sale, including etchings by none other than Rembrandt (4 pieces that are AMAZING), Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henry Moore, Henri Matisse, and the one I’m most excited about, Albrecht Durer.  The reason why I am excited about the Durer piece is because of the fact his work, like Rembrandt’s work, is BEAUTIFUL. Durer is a very special artist. He IS the print maker of the Northern Renaissance.  Amazing, just everything he has done that I have seen is just BEAUTIFUL.  Yes his work were “mass produced” as prints, even during his time (Heck, he was a print maker, what else is the work supposed to be there for in that time? There was no “commercial market” at that time like there is today), but really, if you as a reader have the chance to buy a piece of his work, I would say yes.  If you have a chance to see his work, do it.  Remember Durer lived from 1471-1528, during the Protestant Reformation which was initiated by Martin Luther, the time that the Protestants broke away from the Catholic church and outlawed art works depicting people in all religious settings as they thought it was worshiping false idols (Please note, art work was still allowed outside of church which is why Durer was still able to do his craft, is they were not Protestant, but it just it was just SO much more different than what there was in the south or Italian Renaissance).  SO with all of this going around him religiously and everything that was going on in the art world around him, his ability to create works like this one and that they are still in good condition today, just wow, look for yourself. And remember, this was all hand done or hand chiseled.

Albrecht Durer’s “Ecce homo from the large Passion”

The craftsmanship that Durer put into this is just beautiful.  The details are perfect and it is everything that basically the 1400s-1500s art work was supposed to be about, the subject manner, the characters, the perspective, everthing just works here, as it does with all of Durer’s work.  The estimated sales price for this work from Christie’s is $2,000-$3,000, which I think is EXTREMELY low, no matter how many works are still available of Durer is still out there or not.  I would at least double if not triple that price, if not just for the artist creativity of the work but also the historical stand point, knowing the time in which it was created, this is a must buy.

To view this and all of the works in this sale, please visit the Christie’s Website.