ART FIND: Western painter J.W. Benson

For this month’s Art Find, a reader submitted a painting by Western painter J.W. Benson. This large painting (5 x 7 feet) was given to the reader’s grandparents by a family dentist from Albuquerque in the 1950's. According to the story, there were times when the dentist would accept paintings in exchange for dental work, which is likely how this painting came into their family.

As an art appraiser, I often see Western paintings of the desert. There is something about the desert that has long-inspired artists – and artists like the American painter Georgia O’Keeffe’s most important work came only after she abandoned New York City for New Mexico –never to return from the desert.

J.W. Benson is certainly one of those painters who found inspiration in painting the vast, arid, and mysterious desert. For an artist like Benson, the abundant beauty and color that existed in the desert served as his greatest muse.

Jacob William Benson (1895-1958) was born in Thurmond, Iowa. As a young man, Benson moved West and began painting cowboy scenes in an around Wyoming. A painter and a muralist, Benson was commissioned by local ranchers to paint scenes of their homes and ranch buildings. He also produced sketches for postcards. Benson also traveled throughout the West, painting scenes of New Mexico, Arizon, and Utah.

This painting of New Mexico’s San Esteban Del Rey Mission at the Acoma Pueblo outside of Albuquerque, likely came from these travels. The Mission completed during the 1600's, but the Pueblo itself was established during the 12th-century. Interestingly, our reader’s ancestors originally emigrated from Spain and settled in New Mexico.

With bold colors and loose, sweeping brushstrokes – Benson depicts the Mission dwarfed by the large, undulating desert cliffs in the foreground. Like the 19th-century Romantic painters Benson’s appears to be interested in the humbling power of nature over man. He depicts and earth-toned Mission contrasted by magnificent monumental desert bluffs and sky.

In my appraisal research, I found that few auction records and galleries could be located for Benson’s paintings. Some of his postcard images have sold for minimal values. Unfortunately, without strong market comparables it is difficult to establish an appraisal of value on artworks. While the technique and quality of Benson’s "San Esteban Del Rey Mission” is highly accomplished, the lack of auction records would make auction houses hesitant to place a high estimate on selling price. The Auction Replacement Value* of this painting would likely be estimated between $800-$1,000 based on it’s large size, quality, subject, and condition. If this type of painting were by an artist with stronger auction records and/or galleries, it would be expected to sell for much more.

* Auction Replacement Value is defined as “a reasonable amount in terms of US dollars which would be required to replace a property with another of similar age, quality, origin, appearance, provenance and condition within a reasonable length of time in an appropriate and relevant auction market.” (Appraisers Association of America)

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Alissa Anderson Campbell is an art appraiser for Anderson Shea Art Appraisals. She specializes in appraising European and American art for insurance, resale value, estate, tax, and charitable donation. Campbell is a member of the Appraisers Association of America (USPAP-compliant). Ph. 805.616.2781/www.andersonshea-artappraisals.com

ART FIND: Mid-Century California Painter

Herb Kornfeld "Boats" Oil on board

(Originally published in Coastal View News, September 29, 2011)

When we asked readers to submit artworks to ART FIND, we got a great entry from Carpinteria, California resident and Coastal View News publisher Michael VanStry. As an art appraiser, I have special interest in mid-century paintings done in Santa Barbara and the Central Coast. When I saw Mr. VanStry’s painting by California artist Herb Kornfeld, it was a perfect example of California modernism.

Mr. VanStry acquired the painting approximately five years ago at a silent auction held at the Casa Pacifica Wine & Food Festival in Oxnard, CA. He noticed it right away -- but the opening bid was more than he could afford. After the auction ended Mr. VanStry decided to ask the organizers how much they would take for the unsold painting. He purchased it for $300.

The artist Herbert Kornfeld was born in Great Falls, Montana in 1915. After moving to Los Angeles as a young man, he attended the Chouinard School of Art under the mentorship of artist Palmer Schoppe. Like many artists of the period, Kornfeld traveled to Europe where he was exposed to the modern art movement going on in France, England, and throughout Europe.

Upon returning to California, Kornfeld settled in the Los Angeles area. He often painted the California coast including seascapes, boats, and scenes of everyday life in Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara, and elsewhere. Kornfeld also painted in China, Mexico, and throughout the U.S.

Kornfeld's paintings can be found in private and public collections throughout the world. He has exhibited at the Long Beach Museum of Art, The Downey Museum of Art, The U. S. Navy Museum, Charles M. Russell Museum, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, and The American Academy of Arts.

The painting, “Boats” by Herb Kornfeld is a quintessential representation of his coastal subjects. With bold use of color and loose, flat brushstrokes -- Kornfeld’s uniquely modernist aesthetic transforms simple boats into geometric, cubist forms. The painting appears in good condition with no signs of damage.

In my appraisal research, I found that a recent auction records for a comparable Kornfeld painting sold for $950. Multiple galleries sell his work, with large paintings selling for as much as $6,300. A growing demand exists for artworks by California modernists -- and the style, technique, and brushwork of Kornfeld’s “Boats” make it a desirable subject for collectors of California modernism.

Fair Market Value is defined as “the price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to by or to sell and both having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts.”

If this painting was to be sold in a gallery, it would likely be priced between $4,000-$5,000.

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Please submit your painting, drawing, or sculpture for next month’s The Art Appraiser. Email us a photo and brief description.

Alissa Anderson Campbell is an art appraiser for Anderson Shea Art Appraisals. She specializes in appraising European and American art for insurance, resale value, estate, tax, and charitable donation. Campbell is a member of the Appraisers Association of America (USPAP-compliant). Ph. 805.616.2781/www.andersonshea-artappraisals.com


©2011 Alissa Anderson Campbell, Santa Barbara, California. All Rights Reserved. This is not an appraisal. Authenticity is not guaranteed. This article is for educational purposes only. None of the contents of this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanic, photocopy, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Anderson Shea Art Appraisals, and the appraiser’s signature. )

California Modernist Painter - Ed Reep

Ed Reep "Black Rose" (circa 1950-60)

This month's ART FIND submission is an exceptional painting by California artist Edward Reep. As an art appraiser, I have a particular interest in California Modernist artists. There was a school of artists working in Los Angeles during the mid-century who were made up of an innovative group of painters, printmakers, and sculptors.

Ed Reep, along with artists like Bentley Schaad, Henry Lee McFee, Edgar Ewing, Richard Haines, Francis De Erdely, was experimenting with line, color, and form to develop a unique modernist aesthetic. Unlike many artists on the East Coast who had fully abandon representational painting, the West Coast modernists were utilizing elements of cubism and abstraction to depict modern still-lifes, landscapes, and figures. This painting entitled "Black Rose" by Ed Reep is a signature example of mid-century modernism by a Southern California artist.

Edward Arnold Reep (1918 - ) was born in Brooklyn, NY. As a young boy, his family moved to Huntington Beach, California where Reep gained his arts training at the Art Center School in Los Angeles. As a pupil of California watercolorist Barse Miller, Reep began painting in a regionalist style favored during the period. Reep also studied with California artists like Stanley Reckless, Willard Nash, and Emil Bistram.

During the onset of WWII, Reep enlisted as an artist-correspondent in Africa and Italy. Honing his skills as an artist Reep, was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship after the War was over. He soon began teaching at a number of southern California schools such as the Art Center School of Los Angeles, Bistram School of Art, and Chouinard Art School. After moving to Greenville, NC to teach at East Carolina University, Reep returned to Bakersfield, CA.

Ed Reep is best known for his modernist aesthetic utilitizing elements of abstraction, and cubism. Reep was interested exploring color and form but as a means of representational painting -- before he began only painting abstract works.

The collector who submitted this artwork to The Art Appraiser, acquired it through an auction. In doing my appraisal research, I found that after purchasing the painting, the collector was contacted by the auction house through which he bought the painting. They said Ed Reep himself had contacted them in order to get in touch with the person who had bought his painting.

Reep, now age 94, said he had some memory of it and thought he painted it in the 1950s-1960s. The fact that it was framed and labeled by Reep indicates that he considered it a worthy work at the time (Reep noted he would not have framed had he not considered it worthy). Reep remembered painting a number of "experimental paintings" like this and thought a black rose would be something interesting to paint.

That painting may have some restoration done to it-- which would slightly decrease value. According to my appraisal research, there is a growing market for works by California artists like Reep. Galleries and auction houses sell his work, which indicates a demand. While it is a strong painting, Reep's noteriety as an artist remains limited to a small collector base.

As in every art appraisal, art appraisers base value of the painting is based on age, condition, rarity, artistic merit, technical workmanship, current trends and availability. A painting of this quality, subject, size, and provenance would be on the high end of Reep's market.

The highest price paid at auction for the artist's work was $2,600. Gallery pricing is higher. If Ed Reep's "Black Rose" were to be listed for sale in a gallery, it would likely be priced between $4,000-$5,000.

Please submit your painting, drawing, or sculpture for next month’s Art Find. Email Us a photo and brief description.

Alissa Anderson Campbell is an art appraiser for Anderson Shea Art Appraisals. She specializes in appraising American art and European art for insurance, resale value, estate, tax, and charitable donation. Campbell is a member of the Appraisers Association of America (USPAP-compliant). Ph. 805.616.2781/www.andersonshea-artappraisals.com

Art Find: Carpinteria Flea Market

(Originally published in Coastal View News, August 25, 2011)

When it comes to discovering great art you know digging around at a flea market, thrift store -- or even your garage -- might just be the next great treasure hunt!

What makes art valuable? The answer is this: it depends. Art appraisers base value on such factors as the artist’s notoriety, the condition of the artwork, art market trends, as well as authenticity, provenance, and subject. An art appraiser also has to consider whether the appraisal report is for insurance, resale, donation, or estate purposes.

When we asked readers to submit artworks for this month’s Art Find we discovered a great local Santa Barbara area find. Our Carpinteria resident went treasure hunting about a year ago at the Carpinteria flea market where she came upon a painting of a hawk. She did not recognize the artist and decided to move on. An admirer of hawks, she said she couldn’t stop thinking about it and decided to go back. She bought it for $20.

As an art appraiser, my first big clue was the signature on the lower right corner identifying it as painting by Ethelinda. After some research I discovered Ethelinda Robbins studied art at the University of the Pacific in California. After a traveling throughout the world, she worked as an illustrator in Hawaii and New York City. How this painting got to Santa Barbara we don't know.

Upon moving back to California in 1969, she stopped doing illustration and focused on painting. She also dropped her last name and went simply by Ethelinda. While working in Santa Fe, New Mexico Ethelinda became entranced by the allure of the Southwestern deserts. She painted portraits of Native Americans, wildlife, and horses.

In my art appraisal, I found that collectors of Ethelinda’s work tend to pay the highest amounts for her well-known horse paintings. Paintings currently listed for sale in galleries range from $8,500-$27,000. Auction records are lower, ranging from $2,000-$4,000. Still, the scarcity and size of Ethelinda’s work gives “Hawk Portrait” of a strong market value. While the painting appears to need cleaning, it is in good condition. A demand exists for Ethelinda’s paintings.

The Appraisers Association of America defines Auction Replacement Value as “a reasonable amount in terms of US dollars which would be required to replace a property with another of similar age, quality, origin, appearance, provenance and condition within a reasonable length of time in an appropriate and relevant auction market.”

At auction this painting would be estimated between $5,000-$7,000. A treasure indeed. . .

Please submit your painting, drawing, or sculpture for next month’s Art Find. Email Us a photo and brief description.

Alissa Anderson Campbell is an art appraiser for Anderson Shea Art Appraisals. She specializes in appraising American art and European art for insurance, resale value, estate, tax, and charitable donation. Campbell is a member of the Appraisers Association of America (USPAP-compliant). Ph. 805.616.2781/www.andersonshea-artappraisals.com

Peter Ellenshaw - Realism in California art

I recently completed an art appraisal on a Peter Ellenshaw (1913-2007) painting. Hailing from London, England,  Ellenshaw became one of California's most revered coastal landscape painters.

As a Santa Barbara art appraiser, I see many of Peter Ellenshaw's works in Santa Barbara, as he settled here during his final years. Ellenshaw is best known as a landscape artist, whose precise painting technique achieved a photorealist quality. Art collectors often think they are looking at a photograph rather than a painting.

(Courtesy R.W Norton Art Foundation)

One of Ellenshaw's earliest jobs as an artist was during an apprenticeship under W. Percy Day, a British film special effects artist and painter. After serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, Ellenshaw returned to the film industry as an artist for MGM. In the late 1940s, Walt Disney offered Ellenshaw a position in the studio as an artist.

In 1953, Ellenshaw moved his family to California where began his career as a Disney illustrator and stage designer at Disneyland. California's rich landscape bewitched Ellenshaw -- who became entranced by the ocean. The artist began spending weekends painting the waves and beaches of Santa Barbara, Laguna Beach, and the southern California coast.

He also began a lifelong association with the Hammer Galleries in New York. During the 1970s, Ellenshaw moved to Ireland, and he began painting the green landscapes and Irish coastline. He exhibited works at the American Embassy in Dublin. Ellenshaw traveled throughout Europe and traveled to Giverny, France where Monet painted his famous water lillies.

Ellenshaw also painted in the Mojave desert, capturing the arid landscapes of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and the San Bernardino area. Ellenshaw also painted the cityscapes of San Francisco -- but finally settled in Santa Barbara, California where he continued to paint his famous seascapes of the Central California coastline.

At auction Peter Ellenshaw's paintings have sold for between $10,000-$30,000 depending on the  condition of the artwork, size, quality, authenticity, provenance, and style.

Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum - Home Show

Courtesy: Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum

Last week I decided to docent for Santa Barbara's contemporary art museum, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum (CAF) Home Show, Revisited.  The site-specific show breaks down to the notion of exhibiting work in a traditional white cube art museum  -- and, instead, displays art in people's homes. The curators of the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum invited 10 Los Angeles-based contemporary artists to "reconsider the societal and cultural notion of “home” by creating site-specific installations in residences throughout Santa Barbara."

The Home Show includes works by internationally-known artists Piero Golia, Evan Holloway, Bettina Hubby, Florian Morlat, Kori Newkirk, Jennifer Rochlin, Ry Rocklen, Kirsten Stoltmann, Stephanie Taylor, and Jennifer West. The exhibition has been reviewed in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the Santa Barbara Independent.

The exhibition is kind of like a treasure hunt, asking visitors to traverse homes in Santa Barbara all the way to Carpinteria to see artworks. The Home Show inhabitants must welcome visitors into their homes every weekend  from 11a.m. - 5p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through July 17.

As an art appraiser I'm often asked to visit private homes to appraise artworks, so I thought the exhibition was an interesting concept to invite strangers into peoples homes. By inviting the public into private homes, these ten artists explore concepts of privacy, voyeurism, and status.

I served as a docent in the home of art dealer Candice Assassi’s contemporary loft in Carpinteria, California.  Assasi's home looks out onto a beachfront campground populated by summertime campers.  Artist Kori Newkirk decided to play with the exchange of viewership and voyeurism.  Newkirk mounted a neon sign to a roof beam facing the campground that reads “No Visible Neurosis.” Written backwards, viewers must look at it with a mirror from the front porch.  While looking out toward the campers, the viewer must also look at oneself in the mirror, while viewing the the neon sign. The artpiece attempts to make a commentary on a visitor's judgement of a stranger's home -- and perhaps the person in the mirror as well.

Art appraisers often seen great paintings, sculpture, and drawings hidden away in private collections. While it's interesting to see art on museum walls it is magical to see how people live around art in their everyday lives. This exhibition is a great way of inviting visitors into the personal spaces of those who surround themselves with art.

Millard Sheets: California Watercolorist

Some of my favorite artists to appraise are those California artists who worked in and around Santa Barbara. Millard Sheets (1907-1989) who was born in Pomona, California and became one of the most prolific artists on the West Coast.

"Padua Olive Hills Drive" 1940 (Image Courtesy: Otis Art Institute)

Millard Sheets grew up on a ranch and developed a love for horses and the rustic life of Southern California. Sheets gained his art degree at the Chouinard Art School in Los Angeles (1925-29). As a young artist during the 1920s, he became familiar with the work of the American scene painters, Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood, who were part of a movement called American Regionalism. Wood and Benton were interested in painting American life. Sheets decided to focus on his native Los Angeles area.

As an art appraiser in Santa Barbara, I often come upon collectors of the California Watercolor school. Millard Sheets, Milford Zornes, Rex Brandt, Phil Dyke, George Post and others developed the California Watercolor style of painting. These artists used watercolor instead of oil to paint on-site and outdoors.

Depicting daily life of everyday people, laborers, and immigrants, Sheets captured the struggles and tribulations of Californians during the 1920s. The California Watercolorists found watercolor and paper a more versatile and easy medium to transport than oil. Up until the 1920s, watercolor had been seen simply as a sketching tool for artists, not a medium in itself. Sheets and his colleagues changed this.

Upon completing his schooling, Sheets decided to travel to Europe, where he became exposed to the modernist movements of the 1930s. Millard Sheets returned to California and began teaching at Chouinard. He also taught at Scripps College and Otis Art Institute, where he became an influential member of the art community. He was a member of the California Art Club; American Watercolor Society; Bohemian Club; National Academy.

During the Great Depression he began painting under the WPA as part of the team of muralist painters. Sheets painted more than 100 murals  and mosaics in and around Claremont, Pomona, and greater Los Angeles. While some have been destroyed many still remain.

With his signature style, his works depict the landscapes of Pomona, Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, and throughout California. Sheets eventually moved north to the Mendocino coast and painted throughout the Bay Area.

As an art appraiser, Millard Sheets paintings are among the most sought-after and valuable of the California Watercolorists. His unique aesthetic and prolific output place him as one of California's much beloved artists.