Indholdsfortegnelse for April 8 2020 i Kovels Antique Trader

NEW YORK – Corey Serrant is the newest member of the African-American Fine Art Department at Swann Auction Galleries. He shares with us some personal insights. Question: What brought you into the world of art? Serrant: My first foray into art came by accident. I enrolled in a 400-level art history course at Penn State not realizing that I had skipped the surveys. The course was Pioneers of Modern Architecture led by the department head, Dr. Craig Zabel. He focused on the Prussian master architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, and encapsulated Germanic art and architecture movements from the early nineteenth century to the Berlin Bauhaus. Iit opened my eyes to the beauty of art, architecture and design in practical and theoretical applications. From that course, my love of the visual arts…

SALINAS, Calif. — Popular coffee shop owners in Salinas are saving the antiques shop on the corner of Main and Gabilan streets; they are now the new owners. Ernest Rodriguez, Eric Del Real and Michael Del Real opened the Beerded Bean coffee shop in May 2019. When they found out Old Town Antiques was going to close, they bought the store. They are learning a lot about the antiques business through their love of coffee and what they've learned from the community from operating the Beerded Bean. When the men aren't selling coffee, beer or enjoying live music they're next door, revamping their newly bought Old Town Antiques shop. “It's literally and figuratively a cornerstone in our entire community. It’s how we tell people where we are, we try to…

The famous French poet, Charles Baudelaire, who wrote essays about the major caricaturists and illustrators of his day, said that French artist J. J. Grandville frightened him. In an essay published in Écrits sur l’art in 1857, Baudelaire wrote, “There are superficial people whom Grandville amuses, but as for me, he frightens me. When I enter into Grandville’s work, I feel a certain discomfort, like in an apartment where disorder is systematically organized, where bizarre cornices rest on the floor, where paintings seem distorted by an optic lens, where objects are deformed by being shoved together at odd angles, where furniture has its feet in the air, and where drawers push in instead of pulling out.” But all of that is precisely why Grandville, an illustrator and lithographer known for…

ARE YOU A, GULP, hoarder? Vintage stove collector Christina Champion asks herself that very question in a self-deprecating and fun read starting on page 24. Champion has five vintage stoves, including a beautiful Glenwood kitchen stove she’s been using daily for the past 30 years. While five stoves may not seem like a lot, it’s all the other vintage-stove related stuff Champion has on her 65-acre home in picturesque Red Creek, New York – tucked between Rochester to the west and Syracuse to the east and just a snowball toss from Lake Ontario – that’s a bit concerning. Champion has advertising signs, cast iron cook pans, yardsticks, trade cards, cast iron turtles, match safes, match holders, cookie cutters, biscuit cutters, frogs, beaver paperweights, miniature fry pans, calendars, stove polish, pot…

DENVER, Penn. – Highlighted by the Violano-Virtuoso, hailed as “one of the greatest scientific inventions of its age,” arguably the finest collection of coin-operated mechanical music machines to pass through Morphy Auctions’ doors comes to market April 25-26. The two-day event also boasts vending and gambling machines as well as an impressive lineup of antique advertising items, Dan Morphy, founder and president of Morphy Auctions, said. First released by the Mills Novelty Co. circa 1905, the Violano-Virtuoso features two mechanical violins with accompanying piano performing whatever music roll is selected by a customer. The piece is “in a league of its own” according to Morphy Auctions Coin-Op, Gambling & Mechanical Music Specialist Tom Tolworthy. An incredible entertainer with rich and stirring sound, the Violano-Virtuoso, meticulously restored by Robert Loeffler to…

One of the things many collectors adore about costume jewelry is the opportunity to combine their hobby with making a unique personal statement. Whether shooting for the “advanced style” look dressing head to toe in vintage, or simply the desire to own accessories reaching beyond the ordinary, you’ll find lots of options with collectible costume jewelry. What makes it even better? You can often get the same look for much less than what you’d pay shopping retail. Here are some spring trends to watch for when you’re out thrifting and combing your favorite flea markets for baubles this spring or shopping online. Wood, Nuts, Shells, Leather, Bone and Horn Styles reviving the ’80s are back in a big way. This includes jewelry fashioned from natural elements like wood, leather, horn,…

Berenice Abbott once had no ambition other than to be a good darkroom assistant, but her artistic instinct and natural talent behind the camera propelled her well beyond that to become one of the most respected and pioneering photographers of the twentieth century. Abbott is best known for her documentary series “Changing New York” (1936-1938), which captured the architecture and shifting social landscape of the city during the Great Depression as a part of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project. Abbott also took famous portraits of author James Joyce and other writers and artists, and developed a new kind of scientific photography that made her technical images of bouncing balls to depict gravity and the geometry of soap bubbles also function as fine art. “A photograph is not a…

Moon Over Miami (1941) Prior to his notable work for Esquire magazine, legendary glamour-girl illustrator Alberto Vargas found commissions where he could glamorize “the most beautiful girls in the world,” first for Florenz Siegfeld, then for various magazine covers and occasional film publicity. Though hired by Fox to create the entire campaign for the Betty Grable musical film Moon Over Miami, less than a handful of posters ended up with his work unadulterated, with this insert poster best encapsulating Vargas’s airbrushed, streamlined interpretation of Grable’s assets. Barbarella (1968) Japanese “Barbarella, psychedela, there’s a kind of cockleshell about you . . .” So goes the theme song to an iconic film of the psychedelic era, starring none other than Hollywood royalty turned starlet, turned Vietnam war protester, turned workout guru, Jane…

DALLAS – Following a tradition that has grown for more than 20 years, Heritage Auctions has awarded a $10,000 auction credit to client Steven Wilson through a drawing among collectors who participated in the firm’s annual numismatic survey. The Pennsylvania resident’s interest in collecting was born out of a childhood curiosity about the hobby shared by his father and uncle. “My father had a retail business, and so did my uncle, about 50 years ago,” Wilson said. “My uncle saved silver dollars, and my dad had a huge jar of pennies. So I’d look through it, and the Indian heads and old Lincolns started fascinating me. My grandfather, in the 1930s, bought gold coins from people rather than letting them get sent to the government, and I ended up being…

WICHITA — Several thousand dollars worth of antiques and gift shop items were recently stolen from the Kansas Firefighters Museum, Wichita police said. The items, including antique extinguishers, nozzles and sprinkler heads, were in a storage area that was burglarized sometime between March 10-17, Wichita police Officer Kevin Wheeler said. “Some scumbag broke into the Kansas Fire Museum’s storage container and stole everything, so keep your eye out for people selling brass nozzles, sprinkler heads, antique extinguishers and if it’s fishy, contact the police.” the museum said in a Facebook post. “Also, if you see someone melting down said items or trying to unload large amounts of brass, contact the police or the museum. Extremely sad, the retired guys that run the Kansas Fire Museum work their butts off to…

You know how it is right? How one thing leads to another and another and another? And then ... you look around and HOLY COW! Where did all this stuff come from? And then you ask yourself, “Am I a hoarder?” A hoarder? A HOARDER!!! OH NOOOOOOO! Well, if you’re anything like me, you don’t worry about silly things like: All my friends think I have way too much stuff! (HOARDER) I’m running out of room in every room in the house AND the barns! (HOARDER) I’ll never live long enough to sell it all! (HOARDER) How many different topics do I collect? (HOARDER) Well, maybe I am, but so what? I’m not ready for the Funny Farm yet! We all have to do something with our time. Right? RIGHT?!!…

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Etsy, Inc., which operates two-sided online marketplaces that connect millions of passionate and creative buyers and sellers around the world, recently announced financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2019. “Last March, we laid out a multi-year growth strategy for Etsy, including an ambitious product, marketing, and technology roadmap, which deepen our Right to Win and serve as the foundation for our five-year growth targets through 2023,” said Josh Silverman, Etsy chief executive officer. “We’re off to a great start with our 2019 performance, by staying focused on the fewest things that can make the greatest impact for buyers and sellers, including new initiatives that will further our competitive advantages and meaningfully contribute to future results. All of the work we've done…

Artfact Live Auctions, www.Artfact.com/LiveAuctions, the online marketplace for premier art, antiques, collectibles, and estate auctions worldwide. DealersMarketUSA.com, www.DealersMarketUSA.com, Buy & Sell art and antiques. Sundays. Heritage Weekly Internet-Only Comics Auction, www.ha.com/comics, 6pm CT Sundays. Heritage Weekly Internet-Only Comics Auction, www.ha.com/comics, 6pm CT Sundays. Heritage Weekly Internet-Only Movie Poster Auction, www.ha.com/Posters, 6pm CT Sundays & Tuesdays. Heritage Weekly Internet-Only US Coin Auction, www.ha.com/Coins, 7pm CT Tuesdays. Heritage Weekly Internet-Only Currency Auction, www.ha.com/Currency, 7pm CT Thursdays. Heritage Weekly Internet-Only Nature & Science Auction, www.ha.com/NatureAndScience, 10pm CT Thursdays. Heritage Weekly Internet-only World Coins Auction, www.ha.com/WorldCoins, 8pm CT First Thursday of each month. Heritage Monthly Internet-Only Wine Auction, www.ha.com/Wine, 10pm CT Last Sunday of each month. Heritage Monthly Internet-Only World Coin Auction, www.ha.com/WorldCoins, 8pm CT ARIZONA Weekly Online Auctions, J. Levine Auction & Appraisal,…