10TH ANNUAL WOODSTOCK FINE ART AUCTION EXPANDS TO INCLUDE ART FROM POP CULTURE
Staff | August 30, 2012 | CommentWoodstock, “the most famous small town in the world”, is immediately associated with pop culture. So it is fitting that, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its annual Woodstock Fine Art Auction, the Woodstock Artists Association and Museum (WAAM) has expanded this year’s offering to include American pop culture icons. Works by Andy Warhol highlight a group of books, vintage posters and artifacts from the 1950’s through the late-20th century which will be available for bidders at the WAAM on Sunday, September 2, 2012 starting at 1 pm sharp.
Josephine Bloodgood, executive director of the WAAM noted that “bidders looking for exceptional offerings of historic Woodstock art won’t be disappointed.” The auction includes two striking oil paintings and several exquisite pieces created in gouache by pioneer abstract artist Rolph Scarlett. Other Woodstock notables include Charles Rosen, George Bellows, William Schumacher, Ethel Magafan, Allen Cochran, Doris Lee, Marion Greenwood, Eugene Speicher, and Jehudith Sobel. Sculpture by Woodstock artists Hannah Small and Edward Chavez will be offered as well as marble pieces by Anthony Gennarelli, whose work is always popular at the September sale. Contemporary Woodstockers include Milton Glaser, Norman Bacon, Bobby Blitzer, John Kleinhans and Jeff Milstein. There are also interesting gems of Woodstock artist memorabilia including a 1930’s Wheary Luggage Company suitcase once belonging to Yasuo Kuniyoshi.
Another auction highlight is a hand blown monumental “Macchia” form bowl by Dale Chihuly, signed and dated 1987, a gift from the artist to designer Milton Glaser who commissioned Chihuly to create a blown glass installation for the now lost Windows on the World restaurant.
20th-century Italian master Gustavo Foppiani is represented by a compelling oil painting. Mid- and early 20th-century fine prints are also well represented including a woodblock print by artist Paul Jacoulet entitled “Eating Soup”. Jacoulet was extraordinary in many ways. Born in France, he lived in Japan (even through World War II) and mastered Ukiyo-e, the best known type of Japanese woodblock printing. Other printmakers include John Sloan, Susuma Sato, Reginald Marsh and Lucile Blanch. Contemporary prints are also featured, including work by Robert Indiana, Louise Nevelson, R.B. Kitaj, Enrico Baj, Fritz Scholder, Joan Snyder and Peter Max.
Folk art is well represented too, James Cox of the James Cox Gallery at Woodstock observed. The Labor Day weekend event’s co-sponsor referred to a carved wooden airplane, two Tibetan tankas, an African mask and a hand-carved wooden horse from Cambodia. “Each year we have expanded our sale from what was originally dominated by paintings and prints by Woodstock artists, to a vast array of work from around the world,” Cox added.
Highlighting some of the pop culture items in the sale, Cox pointed to wall paper (“double repetitions”) designed by Warhol (issued by MOMA and the Warhol Foundation) as among the most exciting. The three rolls in the auction separately depict Andy Warhol himself, one of his famous cow images and the Washington Monument.
Rare books include a signed first edition of Jack Kerouac’s classic “Visions of Cody, 1959-1960” and Volume I of Bob Dylan’s memoir “Chronicles”, first published in 1971 and reprinted in 2004, also signed. Full sheet vintage movie posters advertising “Jet Over the Atlantic” (1959), “Grease” (1978) and “Godzilla vs. Megalon” (1976) are also included in the sale. Cox commented that the Godzilla poster is especially engrossing because the monster is battling Megalon atop the World Trade Center.
The auction, held at the WAAM, 28 Tinker Street in Woodstock , will begin at 1 p.m. sharp Sunday September 2, 2012. To view the catalog visit www.woodstockart.org or www.jamescoxgallery.com. Preview from August 24 – September 2. Friday and Saturday 12-6pm, Sunday-Thursday 12-5pm, Sunday September 2 (the day of the auction) 10am – 12 noon