Art-NY Gallery

13September2016

Hi friends, 

With my new web-site still building, I have an unusually keen interest in the New York art market, where ‘billions’ change hands every year.  I guess this deception hit the news, because Alec Baldwin, a theatrical mega-star, who thought he snagged a bargain, was swindled.  Alec Baldwin paid $190,000.00 including commission, a mere ‘pittance’ when compared to other sales this year at “Sotheby’s”, “Christies”, “Swann Auction Galleries” and “Phillips”. 

Following is the story that ran yesterday in the “New York Daily News”.

September 2016, New York City

Art Forgery

  Daily News 12September2016

  Baldwin, 57, expressed his admiration for that painting   in 2010 when he bought another Bleckner painting from     Mary Boone.

  He says in court papers that Boone told him she could     get the original from an estate in California and she could snag it for him for $175,000 plus a reduced commission of $15,000 — “to make this a friendly deal.”

  The painting arrived looking brighter and smelling       fresher than expected, Baldwin says, but Boone told him   that was because the former owner was a heavy smoker and she had the painting cleaned before Alec Baldwin,57, expressed his admiration for that artwork in 2010 when he bought another Bleckner painting from Boone.

  He says in court papers that Boone told him she could get the original from an estate in California and she could snag it for him for $175,000 plus a reduced commission of $15,000 — “to make this a friendly deal.”

  The painting arrived looking brighter and smelling       fresher than expected, Baldwin says, but Boone told him that was because the former owner was a heavy smoker and she had the painting cleaned before sending it.

  Mary Boone owns art galleries in Midtown and Chelsea.

  Baldwin says he didn’t think he’d been snookered until May 2016, when he attended an event at the Marianne Boesky Gallery in Manhattan.

  Baldwin, 57, expressed his admiration for that artwork in 2010 when he bought another Bleckner painting from Mary Boone.

  He says in court papers that Mary Boone told him she could get the original from an estate in California and she could snag it for him for $175,000 plus a reduced commission of $15,000 — “to make this a friendly deal.”

  The painting arrived looking brighter and smelling       fresher than expected, Baldwin says, but Mary Boone told him that was because the former owner was a heavy smoker and she had the painting cleaned before sending it.

  Several art experts there told him that no gallery owner would clean a painting before sending it without first getting permission from the purchaser, just in case the cleaning process damaged the artwork.

  Baldwin says he subsequently had the painting examined by experts at Sotheby’s, who told him that his painting was not the original Bleckner work painted in 1996.

  The actor insists that Boone intentionally defrauded him — even stamping her inventory number on the back of the canvas to match the inventory number on the original.

  Boone’s attorney, Ted Poretz, denied that charge,         saying the actor was made aware from the start that he was not getting the original.

  “Mr. Baldwin’s effort to intimidate Ms. Boone does not   change the fact that his claims are false,” Poretz said in a statement. “Ms. Boone has no interest in misleading clients and we are confident that this frivolous and vindictive lawsuit will be dismissed.”

  The gallery has offered a full refund, he said.

  “Sadly, Mr. Baldwin’s decision to continue this           personal attack is not surprising given his history of lashing out against anyone he believes is beneath him,”   he added.

  The original “Sea and Mirror” has become more valuable since 2010 because it was painted at the height of Bleckner’s career, according to Baldwin.

  He’s suing for the difference in the value of the two     paintings and for attorney fees.

  That price “will come out at trial” based on art expert   testimony, said Baldwin’s lawyer, John Hueston.

  “What we know is that (the copy) is worth far less,” he said. 

– ∞ –

Now 67, Ross Bleckner, the artist is more famous than ever.  Yea!!!

Marvin

PS:  My Comment:

While at “Pratt Institute” I participated in ‘Art History Workshops’.  Within those workshops we learned to ‘think’ like artists who reflected a thinking process that produced ‘styles’ and ‘schools’, like “The Bauhaus”, “Dadaism”, “Impressionism”, “Cubism”, “Pointillism”, “Expressionism”, “Futurism”, plus many more.   When we the students, learned  to think as pratitioners of various styles did, our work evolved and gradually resembled theirs.  So, we in those art history workshops produced ‘honest’ contemporary work that didn’t ape styles of past schools, because we truly became contemporary practitioners of former schools of art.   Thus, Mr. Bleckner’s paintings which remind me of Monet’s water lilies will continue to resemble one another till Mr. Bleckner develops a new logic, which ‘will’ change the look of his future work.  Monet very magnificently painted water lilies that resembled each other, yet each were honest individual works of art.  Throughout Monet’s senior life, he created a series of iconic water lilly paintings that obviously reflect steady thinking he maintained,  yielding the look and style for which he is acclaimed.   

Grandma Moses 

 (September 7, 1860 – December 13, 1961).  Grandma Moseses created a school of Naive art and produced about 2,000 works within her lifetime, but she only began painting at age 67, because arthritis made sewing embroidered pictures too difficult. 

The paintings of Piet Mondrian, who died in 1943 gradually changed stylistically, because his thinking changed… as you can see by looking at representations of his work, below.

Farm Near Duivendrecht