NEW YORK CITY – A stellar looking selection of art in a widevariety of mediums and price ranges was offered at the 67th StreetArmory during Sanford Smith’s recent Works on Paper show. Openingfor a four-day run with a well-attended gala preview on March 2,the show featured works that ranged from Old Masters tocutting-edge contemporary.   The show was impressive looking with a good mixture of materials,  but as the name implies, all were works on paper. Works on  canvas, wood, fabric or metal are all frowned upon at this show.  Accordingly there were paper sculptures, prints, watercolors,  gouaches, oils, lithographs, silkscreens, photographic images,  illustrated books, posters and much, much more.   Show manager Sandy Smith, who started the show 17 years ago, was  pleased with the appearance and the depth of the fair. “Doesn’t  it look great?” he queried just prior to the show opening for  preview. “Everything here is quality material, there are no  reproductions on the floor and,” he stated, “you can buy things  for as little as $250 or spend as much as $800,000.”   As patrons entered the show they were greeted by the fronts-booth  of Hirschl & Adler Galleries and its stunning assortment of  art. Occupying the front wall of Hirschl & Adler’s display  was an Edward Hopper watercolor titled “South Truro Post Office  II,” 1930, offered with price on request. Other artists  represented in the booth included William Henry Johnson’s  silkscreen titled “Deep South,” $80,000, two Josef Albers  woodcuts at $10,000 each, a Charles Demuth watercolor, “Garden  Flowers,” that was price on request, and a Robert Frederick Blum  watercolor “The Wishing Well; Portrait of Alice Louise Drake” at  $70,000.   Across the aisle, Simon Capstick-Dale Fine Arts featured an  attractive and colorful Fer-nand Leger gouache on paper titled  “Femme a la Rose” that was priced at $195,000, while next to it  hung a still life gouache by Henri Hayden at $65,000. Two Camille  Pissario gouaches were highlighted in the booth with “Gardeuse de  Vache, Cotes des Groutes,” and “Payysannes Assises Gardant Des  Vaches” each stickered in excess of $500,000. The star attraction  the booth, however, was Pablo Picasso’s “Nue Couchee,” that was  priced at $1,250,000.   A superb selection of art was offered by Manhattan dealer Bernard  Goldberg Fine Arts including two drawings by Thomas Hart Benton  and William Glackens. “Colonial Post,” a pencil on paper by  Benton, was priced at $85,000, while the Glackens, a charcoal,  gouache and chalk titled “Village Disturbance,” was $55,000. A  selection of watercolors by William Zorach filled one entire wall  of the stand with prices ranging from $24,000 for “In the  Sierras,” 1920, to $65,000 for “Landscape,” a larger watercolor  and pencil on paper from 1917. Other artists included Oscar  Bluemner, Charles Burchfield, George Bellows, Guy Pene du Bois,  Max Weber and several pieces by John Marin, including “Small  Point, Maine,” a watercolor from 1915 that carried a $175,000  asking price.   Farmington, Maine, dealer Tom Veilleux offered an attractive  assortment of art including several Carl Sprinhorn watercolors,  Rockwell Kent prints and watercolors by both William and  Marguerite Zorach. One of the featured items in the booth was a  John Singer Sargent 17-by-22-inch study drawing for “The Chimera”  that was priced at $45,000. Manhattan dealers James Graham and Sons offered up awonderful assortment of Modernist works with a varied selection ofKarel Appel mixed media on paper pieces on view. Abstract artexecuted in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Norman Bluhm was alsofeatured.   Valley House Gallery, Dallas, had an interesting display that  featured one of only three dimensional objects on the floor as it  offered “Kimono,” a mixed media on paper life-size kimono. The  piece, by Miguel Zapata, was executed in 2004 and was priced at  $18,000. Alongside it hung Robert Smithson’s 1957 gouache on  paper, “untitled (Monster)” that measured 15 by 421/8 inches and  was priced at $150,000.   “Extinct Forever” was an interesting series of large watercolor  on paper works that depicted extinct birds in the booth of Sigrid  Freundorfer Fine Art. After hearing the phrase “Gone the way of  the Dodo,” artist Scott Kelly decided to seek out an image of the  Dodo and was surprised to learn that there were none. Based on  drawings by sailors, Kelly recreated the Dodo and numerous other  extinct birds in a series executed in 2004/2005.   Chicago dealer Valerie Cranberry Gallery displayed a large  selection of John Storr woodcuts, circa 1918. Among the offering  was “Coming From the Bath,” “Embracing Couple” and “Spirit of  Walt Whitman.”   William McWillie Chambers had a varied assortment of art  including a nice Milton Avery watercolor and gouache titled “Pink  and Mustard Rocks” that was an early seller from the stand. Also  offered was a Max Beckmann charcoal and ink on paper titled “Park  in Boulder” that was stickered at $150,000, while a Raoul Duffy  ink on paper, “La Course,” depicting a harbor scene, was priced  at $75,000.   Ramare Beardon collages were offered in the booth of Franklin  Riehlman and Megan Moynihan with a 1976 work titled “The Visitor”  and “Liza in High Cotton,” that Beardon had inscribed on the  verso, “I couldn’t play with her today. Her grandmother said she  was in the fields.” Also offered from the booth was a Charles  Burchfield watercolor titled “Dancing Sunlight,” 1916, and a Jan  Matulka gouache abstract, 1923.   An offering of works from the estate of Jan Matulka was featured  by Chicago dealer Thomas McCormick. Matulka emigrated with his  family to the United States in 1907 and by age 15 was studying  art. The artist was the subject of several early shows in Europe,  and later worked in a modernist style at the Art Students League,  where he became friendly with Stuart Davis, Arshile Gorky and  John Graham. Pieces from the stand included “Bridge on the Sienne  – Paris,” an India ink and crayon on paper, 1921, priced at  $7,500; “Buildings and Boats,” gouache, 1930, $10,000; and an  untitled gouache, 1930s, that was priced at $25,000 .   Michael Borghi Fine Art featured several artists in his stand  with a watercolor by Maurice Prendegast titled “Boston Public  Gardens,” 10 by 181/4 inches, attracting quite a bit of  attention. The rare piece was marked $525,000. Other traditional  artists represented included Laura Combs Hills with two pastels  titled “Daffodils” and “Apple Blossoms” priced at $55,000 and  $48,000, respectively. Contemporary art by the likes of Robert  Motherwell was also displayed with several acrylic on paper  pieces from the “Basque Series” selling in the $65,000 range.   Pieces such as Andy Warhol’s 1967 “Marilyn” and David Hockney’s  1979 ink on paper “Raymond Foys” were featured in the booth of  Mary Ryan Gallery. The dealer also had a small corner of her  booth devoted to children’s art. Included in the display was a  selection of “Babar” watercolors by Laurnet de Brunhoff from  Meet Babar and his Family, and also a watercolor by Ludwig  Bemelmans from Madeline in London.   “Wild Things” drawings by Maurice Sendak were highlighted in the  stand of Battledore Ltd, Kingston, N.Y. Included among the works  offered was a pair of ink and watercolor drawings of “Moshe” and  “Lady” that were priced at $80,000, while a watercolor drawing of  a plump chef executed for a magazine cover was priced at  $225,000. Another Sendak offering was a watercolor cover  illustration for Rolling Stone, 1976, that depicted two  small children decorating “Moshe” with pine boughs and Christmas  ornaments. The rare piece was priced at $450,000.   London dealer Ian McKenzie offered an unusual assortment of  materials for the fair this year. Included were photocompositions  of Andy Warhol and fittingly an enamel, crayon and graphite  collage over a photograph by the artist that is all the rage in  Manhattan these days, Christo. The piece, titled “Umbrellas,  Joint Project for Japan and USA,” was getting more than a few  looks from collectors and was priced at $75,000. Old Masters pieces were seen in several booths including NewYork City dealers C&J Goodfriend who offered what they termed”one of the gems of the fair.” The rare Sixteenth Century drawingin brown ink and wash was by Luca Cambiaso. “You generally don’tsee them in that size, quality and condition,” stated CarolGoodfriend.   R.S. Johnson was again present at the show and once again the  dealer offered a wonderful selection of Old Master prints and  drawings including a Paolo Farinati pen and ink, “The Triumph of  Constantine,” circa 1556. Also displayed was Pablo Picasso’s ink  wash on paper “Nu avec deux Personnages,” executed in 1967.   The Works on Paper preview party was a grand success, a benefit  for the Citizens’ Committee for Children (CCC), it raised roughly  $500,000 for the charity. Sanford Smith and Associates will  return to the Park Avenue Armory for the Antiquarian Book Fair,  April 28-May 1. The Print Fair will take place November 3-6,  followed by Art 20, November 18-21. Sanford Smith &  Associates can be reached at 212-777-5218.          
 
    



 
						