Gary Germer & Assoc. Blog

Psst...We Can't Keep the Secret Anymore! Special Announcement!

 

We’ve been hard at work here at the Gary Germer & Associates headquarters.  We hinted that we had some exciting news to share and the time has come let you in on the secret…

Gary Germer & Associates Estate Gallery has received a makeover! 

Our new Estate Gallery has nearly doubled in size, which will accommodate more fine art displayed on our new walls, antique treasures in our showcase displays, as well a greatly expanded jewelry collection cultivated by world-renowned jewelry aficionado Sol Varon.

Sol Varon owned and operated Oregon Antique Jewelry on 3^rd and Alder, in Portland, OR for over 26 years.  Sol was the first person, in the Portland area, to have a business devoted soley to fine antique jewelry.  He was known for impeccable customer relations, often anticipating his clients’ needs and setting aside the perfect gift in advance.  Sol currently resides in Tel Aviv Israel but returns to Portland several times a year to run his business, which is now located at our Estate Gallery shop!  Sol is a legend in the jewelry world and we are pleased to partner with him in bringing you an amazing collection of antique jewelry. 

We’ve also expanded our hours of operation at the Estate Gallery, allowing more time for you to shop our frequently changing collections.  Although we are still putting on the finishing touches, we’ll have a soft opening of our shop in the coming weeks.  If you’re in the neighborhood please stop by and say hello!  Our GRAND REOPENING will coincide with the Pearl Districts First Thursday on June 7^th.  More details of this not-to-be-missed event are coming soon. 

We look forward to being the place you choose for fine art, antiques and jewelry!

 

Gorgeous György

Souvenir (1967)

We here at Gary Germer & Associates are taking a break from the efforts of remodeling our estate gallery to bring you this wonderful painting titled “Souvenir (1967)” from György Kepes (October 4, 1906 – December 29, 2001). It has been said, "Gyorgy Kepes was the greatest pioneer in the marriage of art and technology in America, if not the world. He was a visionary, a towering intellect and a breathtaking artist. He single-handedly created the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT and turned it into an internationally acclaimed program for the development of the finest in late 20th-century art. His work will endure for many centuries to come."

He was born in Hungary in 1906 and studied painting at the School of Arts in Budapest. In 1930 he went to Berlin, collaborating on film, stage and exhibitions, and graphic design with Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, one of the principals in the Bauhaus movement. Kepes came to the United States in 1937 as head of the Light and Color Department of the Institute of Design in Chicago, then known as the New Bauhaus. He joined MIT in 1946 as associate professor of visual design, becoming a full professor in 1949. He was appointed Institute Professor in 1970. Kepes founded the Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) in 1967 and served as its director until 1972.

Throughout his career, Kepes continued working as a designer, producing both small and large-scale works. His paintings are included in 30 permanent collections including the Brooklyn Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington and the Whitney Museum in New York City. The Kepes Prize is presented annually at MIT.

György Kepes

This 8’ X 14” oil on canvas painting from Kepes is currently available for purchase for $2950. It is mounted in a glowing gold leaf frame that measures 9.25” X 15.25”. Please contact us if you’d like more information. If you would like to add this piece to your collection, see our eBay listing here. As usual, watch this site for weekly updates regarding unique finds, musings, and tips on caring for your treasured items!

 

The Lady in Red

(26" x 32.50" visible dimensions)

What surprise do we have for you this week? How about an exquisite oil painting by Oswald Hornby Joseph Birley (March 31, 1880 – May 6, 1952)! Birley was a famous English portrait painter in the early part of the 20th century.

He painted this portrait of the stunning Clara Fargo Thomas in 1923 while she was attending a costume ball. Her costume was such a hit that she was asked to sit for a portrait. Clara came from the Wells Fargo family (Yes, that Wells Fargo!) of Fargo, North Dakota.  Although she lived her adult life as part of New York Society, she made her own mark for doing large, colorful and unusual murals. “I painted everything from cellar to ceiling”, she said, “and I learned by wanting to do it”.  Clara Thomas is known for painting ceilings, panels, screens and large murals, all with the common theme of telling a story, usually with historical references.

She married New York real estate developer J.B. Thomas in a society-style wedding in 1915.  In May of 1929, Mr. Thomas secured the Wanamaker Auditorium in New York to display an exhibition of her mural paintings, including 10 scale models of the murals and designs in important rooms in estate homes in such places as Tuxedo Park, New York, York Harbor, Maine, New Jersey and New York City. In addition, there were works done for commercial companies such as a huge map done for a steamship company, a set of maps designed for the office of Percy A. Rockefeller in the Cunard Building and offices in the Knickerbocker Building. 

Clara’s first major work was a  mural consisting of 14 panels that was commissioned by Mrs. Elizabeth Graham Lewis, more commonly know as the cosmetics icon Elizabeth Arden.  This artwork A Pageant of Beauty, honoring 125 women known through history for their beauty,  was first exhibited at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1935.  The exhibit toured other places in the U.S. including Chicago, Kansas City, Washington, D.C. and overseas in London.

Subsequent commissions for her included Freedom of the Press for the Chicago Tribune Building in 1936, a large decoration for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company’s Exhibition  and The World of Steel for the U.S. Steel Corporation’s Pavilion  at the New York World’s Fair of 1939 and decorated the Royal Suite in Grosvener House, London.  She also painted portraits, including one of Republican Nominee Wendell Wilkie and such notables as Elizabeth Arden, Elsa Maxwell, Eddy Duchin and Paul Draper.

Clara spent a great deal of time on Mt. Desert Island, Maine, painted murals in many of the homes and was active in getting a musical concert series started there.

A New York Times article wrote”…Mrs. Thomas is accomplishing something to-day that no other American woman has attempted in the way of mural and architectural decoration…”.  It is for this that she is remembered. This oil on canvas painting from Birley is currently available for purchase at our gallery for $15,000. Please contact us if you’d like more information or would like to add this piece to your collection. As usual, watch this site for weekly updates regarding unique finds, musings, and tips on caring for your treasured items, including next week's companion piece!

 

Come Sail Away with Me!

(27.50" x 45")

Happy New Year! We are extremely excited about our opportunities in 2011 and invite you along for the ride. This week, we have done it again! Your fabulous friends at Gary Germer and Associates bring you this original piece of artwork from the renowned American artist Solon Francis Montecello Badger (1873-1919). Badger is very well known for his popular paintings of sailing ships. This particular piece has descended through the owner’s family and has never been offered for sale outside of the family. That makes this piece, titled “Portrait of the Three-Masted Schooner ‘Joseph B. Thomas (1895)’”, highly desirable.

 

(close-up of background detail)

You will notice that an American Flag is flapping in the wind at the stern of the ship. The family that owns this painting also has in their possession the original 44 star American Flag that was flown on the “Joseph B. Thomas”! We are really excited about the provenance of this piece. The medium is oil on tin. The steel board that the ship is painted on allows the painting to appear brighter and can be credited with giving it its moody, translucent quality. The painting measures 27.5" by 45" (visible).

(close-up of flag detail)

Please contact us if you’d like more information and would like to add this piece to your collection. As usual, watch this site for weekly updates regarding unique finds, musings, and tips on caring for your treasured items!

(close-up of background detail)