Baltimore Show 2010

B Y A NDREA V ALLUZZO NE W YO R K C ITY — Th ink o fC hine seporcelain and the nam e ofRalph M .C h aitG aller ies im m ediately com es to m ind. Th e ga lle ry is ce lebr atin g its ce nten ary this m o nth w ith a s pecial e xhi- bitio n dur ing AsiaW ee k. “T he H undre dA nt iques :O n eH un dre dY ears of Dealing in Chin ese A rt ”i s on view at its galler y at 7 24 F ifth A ven ue M arc h 20 –26. A com m emo ra tive , illu strat ed ca talog accom p anies th e ex hibition . The ex hib itio n sh are s th e c om pany’ s hist ory in a photograph ic re tro- spec tive; a swe ll, it is a sellin g d ispla y of su blim e Ch in ese porcela in an d a rt, th e lik es o fw hic h bu ye rs ha ve becom e ac custom e d to se eing o ffe re d h ere throu gh out the yea rs . T he r an ge of objects to be offer ed inc l u de arc h a ic bro nze , p ottery , porcelain, s c h ola r’ s o bje cts an d Chin ese Export silve r. The gallery wa s founde d by R alph C hait, w ho c ame into the field a t the age o f 18 ,n ew ly arrived from L ond on a s well as new to C hin ese art. “U n dau nted a nd w ith a rem a rkable int ellec t an d inna te sense of tast e and quality , h e tau gh t h im self and q u ic k ly b ecam e a know ledg eable , respected an d tru ste d d ealer and aut ho rit y in th e fie ld, ” said his son, A llan C hait, wh o h as been th e c om pa ny ’ s presiden t sin ce 19 75 , when R alphdied. The galler y has alw a ys b een a family business , a nd , t oda y , Allan is st ill at theh elm , a longwith h is son s, A n dre w a nd Steven C hait ,w h oh oldkey posit ions in th e gallery : And re w, i n adm in istrat ion ,a nd S teven in re sea rc h an d c lien t relat ions . A llan ’s s ister , M arion C h aitH ow e, wa s an in te gr al part of t he busine ss fr om t he 1940 su nt ilhe rdea th in 19 97. A id ed by a cou sin in the e arly da ys ,w h oh ad an antiques busine ss t hat inc l u ded Chin ese art, Ralph Ch ait o pen ed h is o wn gallery on Eas t 4 1st Stree t. T he ga lle ry later m o ved to the Ea st 5 0s , whe re ithashad several NewsstandRate $1.50 OutsideCT$1.75 INDEXESON PAGES66&67 March19,2010 PublishedbyTheBeePublishingCompany,Newtown,Connecticut (continued onpage40) ACenturyOfTheSublime Pictured at this antiquedesk— amainstay of the gallery’sprivate office in various locations over the years since almost the beginning— are gallery president Allan Chait,seated,andhis sons,Steven,left,andAndrew.Manya collectorhas satat this very desk,discussing a potential purchase,including President Herbert Hoover, who once spied a window display of blue and white porcelain here.He told the Chaitshewould take “it,”andwhen they askedwhichpiecehemeant,he indicated hewanted thewholedisplay. Thisphotographdepicts thegallerywhen itwas locatedat12East 56thStreet in1962. Ralph M. Chait Galleries Do you want your antiques news of shows, auctions, coming events, people making news, museum and gallery notes, etc Every Week or Every Day antiquesandthearts .com Subscribe today and receive a FREE FOUR WEEKS Just mention “ FOUR WEEKS ” Call 203-426-3141 or subscribe online antiquesandthearts .com 52 issues (print edition) for only $81 including electronic edition online every day (electronic edition) for only $50 yr. (FREE SAMPLE ON REQUEST) Antiques News As It Happens The Bee Publishing Company, 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown, Connecticut, 06470 - 203-426-3141 56 issues B Y S TEPHEN M AY S A N D I E G O ,C AL IF .— S pu r red b y t h e lur eo f t h eu n k n ow n a n d th ep oten t ia l o fu n fo re se en tr ea su r es , c o n vin c ed t ha t itw as A m e rica ’s M a nifes t De sti n y to t a m e th e la n d t o t he P ac if icO c ean ,a llm a nn er o f pe op le p ar ti cip a te d in th e n a ti o n ’s w es tw a rd ex p a n sio n . T h eA m e r ic an W est w as d ra m at ica ll y t ran sf or m ed in th e eigh td ec ade s be tw e en t hea nn ex a tion o fT exa s in 18 4 5 ,t h e o u tb rea k of w a rw ith M e xic o in 1 84 6 an d th e p ass ag e o f th e I n dian C it iz en s hip Ac t in 1 92 4. F o rt uitou sly ,t h en ew vis u - a l te ch no lo gyo fp h otog r ap h y, fi rst in tr o d uc ed i n 18 39 ,m a de p oss ibl eap erm an e n t re cor do f th ew es tw a rd m ove m en t — an d of th e pe opl e i n vol ved in it. I n d ee d, m o re th an an y j ou r n a lis tic , l i ter a ry ora r tis tic m ed iu m ,p h oto gr ap h y w as ab le t o co n vey th e ex p lor ati on ,s e t t lem e n tan d re pr e sen t atio n o f th e ne w l and s. A n in tri gu i n g ex am in a tio n of th e se ttl in g o f th e W est thr o ug h p h otog r ap hs of th e m en a n dw o m en w h oh e lp ed de fin e th i se r a iso ffere d in “F ac es o f th e Fr on t ie r: P h o to gr ap h icP or tr ait so f th e A m e ric an W e st, 18 45 –1 92 4, ” o n vi ew a t th eS a n D ie go H i sto rica lS ocie ty th r o ug h J u n e6 . I t co m pris es s o m e 1 0 0 p or tra i t p h o togr ap h s, d ra w n fro m t h eN a t io n alP ortr ait G all er y’ s ou t sta n din g colle c tio n a nd ot h erso u rc es .A s Ma rtin S ulli va n ,d ir ec to ro f th e N a tion a lP o rtra it G al lery ,o bse rv es ,“ T h e sto ri eso f th e A m e rica n W e s t, bo th m y th ic alan d fac tu a l, are th e st o rie s th at co ntin u e to fa sci na te o u rna tio n .” O rg a n ize d by F ran k H .G oo dy ea r II I, th e N a tio nal Po r trai tG a ll e ry ’s a s so ci ate cu ra t or o fph o to gr ap h s, th e e xh ib itio n fo llo ws fou r ge n er al th e m e s: L a n d ,E x p lo ra ti on ,D isc o rd a n dP os s ib ili tie s. “ U n der s ta n d in g t h ese h is t or ic fig u res i n re la- tion s h ip t o… [ th e fou r t hem es ] p ro v id e s a l ar ge r c on te xt fo r t h eir in di vid u a l a ch ie ve m en ts ,… . [an d ] su g ge sts th e ric h NewsstandRate$1.50 OutsideCT$1.75 IND E XES O N P A GE S 6 6 &67 March26,2010 PublishedbyTheBeePublishingCompany,Newtown,Connecticut Famedphotographer of Indians of theWest,EdwardS.Curtis lookspositively jaunty inhat,turtleneck sweaterandbeard inan 1899 self-portrait.His 20-volume series, TheNorthAmerican Indian ,published 1907–1930,featured selections fromhis40,000 imagesofNativeAmericans.NationalPortraitGallery. One of themost intriguing figures of the era, CarrieNation (1846–1911) looksmore like the housewife she was than the temperance cru- saderwho stormed intoKansas saloonswield- ing a hatchet to break liquor bottles and dis- rupt business.As Goodrich notes, “Often arrested and fined,she attracted national attention to the temperance cause.”WhiteStu- dio,about1903.NationalPortraitGallery. Posedwith rifle andawary expression,Apache leader Geronimo looks every inch the fierce adversary he had become.For more than 30 years,he fought toprotecthis traditionalwayof life and removal to a reservation.His legendary status lives on to this day.Photo by A.Frank Randall,circa1887.NationalPortraitGallery. Faces Of The Frontier PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS FROMTHEAMERICANWEST, 1845–1924 (continued onpage40) B Y S TEPHEN M AY NE W B RIT A IN , C ON N . —Of the threem ajorAme rican trom pe l’oeilpainters of th eNineteen thCentury , W illiam M . H arn ett (1848–1892), J o h n F . P eto (1854–1907) and J ohnHaberle (1856–193 3), the leastwell known— an d inm an y w a ys , themost interesting— is H aberle . All thre e com bin ed m asterful tec h nique with images of objects of everyda y life to create precise , i llusion istic p aintin gs of suc h aston is hing de tail and accura cy that the ite ms represented lo ok real. They carriedona trad itiondatingbac k to theF ifteenth C entury , w hic h w as especially pop ular in Seventeenth Ce nturyDutc hpain ting . In theU nitedStates , the realist strainw a snotably co ntin ued byC harlesW illso nP eale’ s “Stairca seG roup ” of1795andsonRaph aelle in “ A fter the Bath, ” circa 1822. Th ese P hiladelph ia p ainters set an e xam ple for Harnett and P eto , both from the C ity of BrotherlyLove . Harnett is recognized for th e precision of his com p osi- tions , P eto forhis inspireduse o f colorandH aberle , from N ew H a ven, C on n., for his inve ntiveness an d sense of hu m or . A sarthistorian Alfre dF rankensteinput it years ago , “ P eto is m ov ed by the p athos of used-up things . H aberle isw ry andw a c k y , full of bra vado , self-co ngratu- latin gvirtuosityan d sly flamboyance . [ H isw ork] ispoles aw ay from Harn ett’ s sump tu osity , careful balances and well-m odeled volume s , and isequ ally far fro mP eto’ s sen- sitivity inm atte rsof ton eandh ue . ” H aberle , trainedasan engra v er , is increasingly reg ard- edas th emost tec hn ically im pressiveof the three , asw ell as for aw it th at sets h im apart from his fellow still life artists . H aberle , f o r exam ple , w as well know n fo r sly , trom pe l’oeildepiction sof counterfeitbillsand ofan ew s- p ape r artic le about a m aster forger sough t by la w enforcem entauthoritie s. A rthistorianMilton W . B row n conc lu ded thatHaberle’ s “art lac ks the seriousg rande ur ofH arnettand the sensi- tive lyricism ofP e to , but itoffers aw aggish im agination. ” Informed, sop histicated, original, gifted an d fun ny , Haberle often inv oked com plex, in gen iousan d entertain- ingaspectsof contemp orarysocietyduringh isabbre viat- edbutbrilliant ca reer . All this makes p articularly welcom e the exh ibition “J oh nH aberle: Am ericanM aster of Illusion, ” on view at the New B ritain M u seum of American Art (NB M AA) throughM arc h11. Organizedby them useu m withguest cu rator and longtim eH aberle authorityG ertrudeGrace Sill, who wrote th e in formative catalog , the show com - prises about 20 p aintings an d dra win gs on loan from m useums across th e coun try . T ogether , they constitute the first comp rehe nsive stud ydevoted toH abe rle . “H aberle ’s w ork isaston ishing in its intensityan d in the startling c larity of his vision, ” w rites NBM AA directo r Dou glas K.S . H yland. “ A t firs t g lance , h is paintings , unlike th ose ofH arnett and P eto , strike the viewer as lac king in three-dimens ionaldepth, yet th e imm ediacyof this effect only serves to h eig hten the viewer’ s percep- tion. ” O bserves curator Sill, “W hile Harnett’ s com posi- tions dem anded the viewer’ s carefu l attention, H aberle’ s we reunique in th eirperson al, w ittydetails , oftencareful- lyh id den anddem and ing intense s cru tiny . ” H aberlew asborn in NewH a ven toG erma n imm igra nt parents; his fatherw asa tailorwitha shop on theG reen n ea r th eT a ft Hotel. H is son later recalled th at “In those NewsstandRate$1.50 OutsideCT$1.75 INDEXESON PAGES66&67 February12, 2010 PublishedbyTheBeePublishingCompany,Newtown,Connecticut (continued onpage 40) Ashiseyesightworsened,Haberlecreateda series,including “Torn-in-Transit,”1890–95,inwhichhe framedabroadlypainted landscapewith scrapsof wrapping paper,string and labels in the fool-the-eyemanner.Bymixing styles,he put less strain on his eyes,while retaining enough trompe l’oeil details toappeal tohis fans.BrandywineRiverMuseum. AMERICAN MASTER OF ILLUSION John Haberle B Y F RANCES M C Q UEENEY -J ONES M ASCOLO MONTREAL,QUEBEC,CANADA — When Art Nouveau swept theworld in the lateNineteenthandearlyTwentiethCen- turies,its first Canadian port of call was thatmost French of cities,Montreal.Paramount among theArtNouveau objects in collections across the elegant citywas a series of ecclesiastical leadedglasswindows commissioned fromLouisComfortTiffany for the1866AmericanPresbyterianChurch. Museum research revealed that 17 Tiffany windows were installed between 1897 and 1902 and an 18th example was addedaround1904 or1905.Two other ecclesiasticalwindows of lesser quality,not documented asTiffanyworks,were added in 1906 and 1918.In 1934,the churchmerged with the Erskine Church and th windowsweremoved to thenew location of the Erskine and American Church.Over theyears,however,the windows achieved near invisibility inMontreal.When church membership dwindled,its next door neighbor on Sherbrooke Street,theMontrealMuseumofFineArts (MMFA),cquired e sanctuary in2006,giving thewindowsanew leaseon life. Museum staff was captivated by the design and color of the windows and undertook extenive research and restoration on thm.The renewed attention toTiffany’s ecclesiastical commis- sions and the techniques employed in xecuting the windows prompted themuseum to take a deeper look at theAmerican artist whose achievements were so xtraordinary and whose workwas so compelling. NathalieBondil,director and chief curator atMMFA,explains in her foreword in the exhibition catalog,“As the leaded-glass NewsstandRate $1.50 OutsideCT $1.75 IN D EX ES O N PA G ES 66 & 67 March 5, 2010 PublishedbyTheBeePublishingCompany,Newtown,Connecticut Tiffany Glass A PASSION FOR COLOR Exhibited at the 1900ParisExposition,this leaded glassmagnolia panelwas acquired by the StieglitzMuseumofDecorativeandAppliedArts inStPetersburg,Russia. B Y A NDREA V ALLUZZO B A L TIM ORE, MD . — Capturing a “m oment in time , ” theStephen W . F i sher Collection of J apanese c l oisonné enam els differs from m any collections in that it does not seek to represent the breadth and depth of an art form. Instead, it brings into sharp focusaperiod of rough- ly40yearsaround the turnof the Twenti- ethCenturyduring J apan’ s “Golden Age” ofdecorativeartsproduction, amovement fully bac ked by the Meiji government, whic h sa w the arts as aw a y of securing J apan’ s footingon theworld stage . At the turn of the century , the refined style of ancient Chinese c l oisonné w a s being transform ed in innovative w ay s in workshops in the cities of Nagoya, T okyo andK yoto , where exquisite , bril- liantly colored enam el works of art w ere being created bymaster artisans suc h as Nam ika w a Y asuyuki, Ando J ubei, Nam ika w a Sosuke and Hattori T a dasaburo . “J apanese Cloisonné Enamels from the Stephen W . F i sher Collection, ” on view though J une 13 at the W a lters ArtM use- um , presents nearly 130 sublim e works from the collection. The exhibition inc l udes intricate vases , urns , boxes and tra ys that ha ve beenw orked in gold, sil- verand coloredenam els . Of the exhibition’ s genesis , its curator RobertM intz said, “Itw asanopportunity to look at am oment in time and explore how different artists acted at the tim e in thism edium and explorewhat themedi- um coulddo . ” Mintz is themuseum’ s asso- ciate curator of Asian arts , a collection thatexceeds10,000objects . The collection has been evolving ever since F i sher pic ked up his first piece of c l oisonné , a colorful toothpic kholder , at a tag sale 40-som e years ago . Still in the collection toda y , that lone item ignited F i sher’ s passion for c l oisonné and so begana lifepursuit. Since then, hiscollec- tion has been honed to inc lude only the m ost artistic and m asterful exam ples from the brief period when c l oisonné enam elswere in their heyda y , an era cut short by J apan turning its attentions to dominating Asia andw ar erupting over- seas . J apan’ sw a r efforts severely limited the a vailability of copper , w hic hw as the foundation form ost c l oisonnéenamels . Cloisonnéhasbeenaroundsinceancient Rom e and G reece , and the W alters has quite a collection ofRussian and F renc h enam els and a growing assortment of J apaneseenamels , t hanks to thegeneros- ity ofF i sher , whohas gifted pieces to the museum over the years . Cloisonné w a s relatively rare in premodern J apan, but soon becam e a symbol ofModernism and equatedwith thebestofJ apanesedesign. “The works selected for this exhibition wereproducedat theverypeakof innova- tion and creativity for this art form ,” Mintzsaid. “W ith the feudal controlof the T okuga w a shogunate gradually losing its grip on society and seaports opening to foreign tradeat thebeginningof theM eiji period [1868–1912], J apanese enamelists pushed the limits of their craft both dom estically and internationally tom uc h acc laim. ” When c hoosing examples for the exhibi- tion, Mintz focused on quality and crafts- manship . T adasaburo is one of the artists w hom Mintz elected to displa y every example that F i sher ow ns . “ There are not that m any in the collection but they are extraordinary , ” Mintz said. J apan’ sMeijiperiodw as a time of great c h ange , and ceramic production centers that catered to domestic and W estern m arkets stepped up their game as new , internationalmarkets opened for J apan- eseproducts . As J apan began show ing its enamels on the international stage at expositions in V i enna, P aris , London, Chicago , Philadel- NewsstandRate $1.50 OutsideCT $1.75 INDEXESON PAGES66&67 February19,2010 PublishedbyTheBeePublishingCompany,Newtown,Connecticut (continued onpage 30) Japanese Cloisonné Enamels A T W A L T E R S A R T M U S E U M A pair of covered urns decorated with scenes ofMinamoto Yoritomo’s 1193 excursion to Mount Fuji (detail above), attributed toNamikawa Sosuke,standard cloisonné,enamel overmetalwithgoldand silverwireandbronzemounts. Namikawa Sosuke cardioid tray decoratedwith sparrow and plum blos- soms,enamel.—©2007RobertVisserphoto Teapot,creamer and covered bowl,attributed to Namikawa Yasuyuki, standard cloisonnéenamelwithgoldwiresovermetal. We Are As Close To ‘Breaking News’ As You Can Get B Y R EGINA K OLBE YONKERS,N.Y.— Bakelite,the grandfather of all synthetic plastics,began inspiring designers more than 100 years ago.Decoratively,ithas been in and out of fashion.Scientifically,it has been both neces- sity and nuisance.This year,factories worldwide will produce more than 10 million tons ofBakelite. Thismarriage ofBakelite as scien- tificmiracle and artisticmedium is the driving theme behind “Bake- lite in Yonkers:Pioneering in the Age of Plastics,”on view at the Hudson River Museum (HRM) through June 6. Organized by Bakelite collector ReindertGroot andHughKarrak- er,the great-grandson of Bakelite inventor Leo Baekeland,in partner- ship withHRM,the retrospective fea- tures more than 300 items from the 1910s to the earlyTwenty-FirstCentury. The items are drawn fromGroot’s “Ams- terdam Bakelite Collection,”arguably the largest collection of Bakelite items in private hands,as well as the holdings of Karraker,the Yonkers Historical Society and other private collections. AlthoughBakelite inspired aworldwide revo- lution in manufacturing,it is a uniquely American story that began in Yonkers, home of the Hudson River Museum. This is where Dr Leo Henricus Baekeland, a gifted Belgian chemist,brought his bride Céline to live.Soon after arriving in Yonkers,he established a compa- ny to manufacture his first invention, Velox photographic paper. In a brilliant business move,Baekeland sold his inven- tion and the company to George Eastman ofEastmanKodak. With his new fortune,Baekeland converted a barn on the property at 85HawthorneAvenue into a lab and began his search for a replacement for shellac.Reviewing the work that othershaddone on the subject,adjusting his experiments to overcome the flaws he detected in the literature,he produced suc- cesses of varying degrees.By 1907,“The NewsstandRate $1.50 OutsideCT $1.75 INDEXESON PAGES66&67 April 2,2010 PublishedbyTheBeePublishingCompany,Newtown,Connecticut (continued onpage40) Courtesyof theAmsterdamBakeliteCollection,thesephenolic rods,circa 1940s,demonstrate the remarkable colors that couldbe reproduced inBake- lite.(See this image in colora twww.antiquesandthearts.com.) BAKELITE IN YONKERS Pioneering In The Age Of Plastics Bakelitewas a favoritemedium for radio designers.From the 1920s throughmidcentury,it broadcast themessage inmore than oneway, circa1950.