I have many obsessions, and some of them are legal (I just threw that in to scare you). Antique art has been a long-time obsession and I once had well over eighty-five original oil paintings, watercolors, and drawings in my collection.
I sold part of the collection when I lived in Texas and needed extra money. When I moved to Tennessee, three of my most valuable oil paintings mysteriously "disappeared".
I was never wealthy, and always purchased art frugally - but once in awhile I recklessly indulged.
Unfortunately, now that I live in a small place I have very little room to display my collection. Most of it is stored (piled up) in closets - gathering dust and mold, and being ravaged by moths and mice.
In recent years I've fallen far from the grace I once knew....
I've decided to give my captive audience (that's you) a (partial) tour of my treasures. I truly hope this doesn't sound like I'm boasting.
Heck, if I don't share this with you, the only other audience I have is the mice......
This is a prime example of frugality. I got this painting (above) at auction for only nine dollars. It's very large and done on masonite. I don't particularly like the frame, but I was intrigued by the deer in the snow. It's presently hanging near my dining room table.
The painting below is in my bedroom.
Heck. I like doggies, too. This painting of a feathered hat and two King Charles spaniels was originally done by British artist Sir Edwin Henry Landseer. The painting I have is a copy done by a German artist in the 1880s.
Most of these antique paintings darken with age and lose their luster. This (above) is an autumn harvest scene. I purchased this from the mayor of some city in New Jersey, but unfortunately I forgot the name of the city and the mayor.
This painting (above) was hanging over my bed when I lived in Texas. One night it mysteriously fell down and hit me in the head when I was sleeping.
I could have been killed. Death by Art,
This painting is large and extremely heavy. It's a beautiful 18th century copy of the Madonna della Sedia by Raphael. Bought it from an estate in Beverly Hills.
Thank goodness that wasn't hanging over my bed....
One of my favorites. An extremely large autumn scene (over five feet long), hanging in my living room (nowhere near a bed....).
Getting tired of the tour?
Please be patient. I'll only torture you with a few more.
Speaking of Italians, this painting of Venice at night is a very early work by Enrico Paulucci (1901 - 1999), who lived to be 98.
This is an intriguing painting of a woman walking down a lonely path towards the rising moon. It;s extremely old and in very poor condition. It's signed, but I can't read the signature. It also has a museum stamp on verso, which indicates it was once in a museum (unfortunately the stamp is too faded to read).
A delicious mystery....
This (above) is the very first antique painting I ever purchased and definitely the oldest. It's from Colonial America, painted on a board, signed and dated 1697. I have the information somewhere, but am too lazy to search for it.
Wake up! The tour is over!
I have a lot more paintings, but will save them for later.
Heck...if I was you I would line my walls, collage style and display all of that art since it makes you happy. I saw grey gardens too my times to learn mice will just let droppings on such works. It's a nice varied collection.
ReplyDeleteYour paintings are wonderful. If I was you, I would hang as many on the wall as I could to keep them safe from the mice. I have only one canvas painting done by a professional artist. It's a large landscape with a creek and oak trees. It looks so much like some property my parents owned where we spent time on weekends, that it shows an area where Mom and I planted peppermint plants from home. I guess there must be many places along creeks in oak woods that look the same.
ReplyDeleteI also have a couple of folk art paintings on canvas that I painted on the walls in my home.
Jon, have you ever tried your hand at painting?
That painting of the deer is striking for sure, and the Austrian alps have always been appealing. Hands down, my favorite is your autumnal scene.
ReplyDeleteMy former boss used to collect art work. Yet, because she couldn't decide what to hang where, she'd rotate them with the seasons. (Or, at least, as the mood struck.)
Thanks for the tour!
Jon, I am amongst those who VERY MUCH appreciate art in many forms. I have every single wall in my tiny house full of hanging art from MC Escher to mermaids, to cats - you name it they are my favorite pieces. I do not have near as many beautiful oaintings as you do, but you have to make your home FEEL like home where ever you live! Thank you for shring these beauties with us!!
ReplyDeleteThose are amazing. I especially love the landscapes. Most of my artwork was done by my older daughter. The poor dogs look terrified!
ReplyDeleteI'd plaster my walls with them! What the heck. Enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteWell, except over your bed maybe. ;)
Admittedly, I do not own a single piece of artwork, Jon, except for photos taken by myself and only a few of those have been framed and displayed on our apt walls. I agree with the previous comments in that if as obviously do enjoy your art collection, then it should be displayed where you can enjoy it and the mice and other varmints can't cause damage. I know you said your place is small, but perhaps you could rotate the displays from time to time if not all of them can be up at the same time. Thanks for sharing the photos and the backstory. When I read about the painting done by the mayor of a NJ town, I wondered IF you might mention the town name as it's my home state.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to comment somewhere to let you know that I really do enjoy your posts. Your stories of your country living days are interesting and entertaining. Sometimes I laugh about the things you have going on and sometimes I sympathize with how your day went. I enjoy seeing the woods that grow right outside your door. I wish I had a woods like that that I could see from my front porch. The old tree in our front yard died and the neighbor across the street has a beautiful red maple tree that is dying because some one set a car on fire in the street right next to it and when the various explosions from the car happened, it damaged the tree's bark severely. I do have trees in my back yard to look at--two persimmon trees and a big ginkgo tree.
ReplyDeleteYour piano playing is wonderful to listen to. I can't even imagine how many hours of practice it must have taken to learn to play like you do. I have a secret I will disclose now. When I was a young girl I wanted to play the accordion in the worst way. I took lessons and practiced and practiced, and really wanted to learn it. I did learn to play it, a little bit, in the worst way. To this day I like any Mexican band that has an accordion player in it.
Your cats are fun to see, and make me wonder how you keep them from jumping up and knocking down your antique dishes. My big Persian Max the Cat was like having a buffalo that kept trying to fly around inside my house. He was 17 when he passed on. For months after he died, my husband and I both would think we caught glimpses of him in the hallway in our house quite often. That was weird.
I very much enjoy the artwork you have collected and look at each painting by enlarging it on my computer.
It seemed like you are feeling low right now and I wanted to let you know some way that you have many readers here who enjoy your sense of humor and reading about the goings on at your house and what it is really like living in the woods. I hope you will feel better soon.
Take care.
Susie D.
Jon, these paintings are absolutely beautiful. I do have a caution though: from 1972 thru '77, I made my living as a restorer. Sometimes, after reversing the patina of time, I felt the paintings lost something. I went outdoors to think about it. I am still outdoors.
ReplyDeleteGuess what? I hate Biden as much as I hate Trump. But I wanted someone at the top who doesn't live on Twitter and call people names. You can remove this, of course. I figured if I went back far enough, I'd find a place to comment. I'm ornery like that.
ReplyDeleteDear Jon, I understand WHY you have disabled your comments for your recent posts, but, rest assured, I am one of your HONEST followers who KNOW exactly how you feel. I can not help but to have noticed one of your blog followers who hails from New Hope, PA (my own State) who would definitely disagree. That individual is so very embarassing to me as I have always supported the gay community as a whole. Common sense in my experience has completely evaded them! You are one of the very few individuals who have made ANY sense to me and I APPLAUD you, my friend! Please believe me when I tell you that you ARE correct!
ReplyDelete