Art and Artifacts: Stories.

Prologue. I have tried to recall in the following some of the stories relating to the acquisition of the more interesting items in our art and artifact collections. The Florida collection is from everywhere. The Wyoming collection mostly Western art.

I). Florida

A). Art.

1). George Romney. Portrait of prosperous English gentlemen William Walcott. Romney one of the most famous painters of his time. My father and mother purchased the portrait from Clawson’s antique store Cincinnati; one of their most favored possessions. (I had it appraised by the expert on Romney. He could not totally verify but said it certainly was done by him or his studio. Review his evaluation letter. The Huntington Museum in San Marino California has a large collection of Romney's and artists of the that peroid. That would be the place to donate or sell the painting.

2). Marcel Duchamp. Nude Descending a Staircase. Marcel Duchamp was a modernist artist to perpetrate decadence. . The particular painting demeans the female figure. (Must read Donald Kuspit's The End of Art). The purchase. My roommate at Princeton Rick Strom's aunt Jean was gorgeous. She was married to uncle Julian. Uncle Jed was a famous art dealer will during the 30s and 40s and 50s owned major art galleries Manhattan and in Paris. He knew personally Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali all of the major French and Spanish artist of the period. Truly one of the avant-garde. He would come visit us at Princeton, and once gave a lecture at the art department. When he died he left most of his collection to his sons. When aunt Jean died she left remaining items in the collection to Rick and to a foundation. Rick him him him him told me they were going to auction the collection for an estimate of $8 million:this was 1995 at an auction house in Paris. He showed me the catalog. There were four prints signed by Marcel Duchamp in the auction. I called Paris and bid 18,000 on the for the first one. It went for 19,000. Same with the second one and it went for 20,000. I told Eric put me in touch with the auctioneer. He asked (delightful Frenchman) what would you like to pay? I said 18,500. He said as a favor to Mr. Strom 18,500 it is.) Today is worth a multiple of that. Sam is in the know.

3). Oreland Joe. Oreland Joe is close associate of my other roommate Bill Ollman. Oreland is the only American Indian to have lifetime membership in Cowboy Artist of America. Bill has, for years helped him on the reservation which lives in northeastern Arizona. Oreland is noted for large sculptors. The painting in Sarasota and the two paintings in Jackson Hole are called Art It was an art form used by the Indians when the first white man came to the west. The settlers had ledgers paper that was lined. The Indians would use this to illustrate Indian warriors and heroes. Oreland Joe has done a series on these. Questions should be addressed to Bill Oelman. The art is most marketable in the Southwest.

4). Howard Chandler Christie. The Christie Girl. Howard Chandler Christie during the first world war created a series of posters. He was famous for his Christie Girls illustrations that appeared in magazines and advertisements etc. He also was famous for painting murals. One of his murals of the signing of the Declaration of Independence hangs in United States Capital. My Granddad Coppock commissioned him to paint a mural of the Treaty of Greenville. It hangs in the Ohio State Capital. The original prototype of the Treaty of Greenville is in the Garst Museum in Greenville. Granddad donated it. In 1945 Mr. Christie visited Granddad. I went to Granddad's house for breakfast and Mr. Christie took a piece of stationary and sketched The Christie Girl for me. I've always had it.

5). Tarpon. The Tarpon was created by a special process the Japanese use to "memorialize" huge fish catches. They would skin the fish dry the skin and then apply Ink and role the skin on special paper. In about 1989 I was staying in Boca Grande Florida. In the lobby of the Boca Grand Inn ,I saw a Tarpon like this one. I asked if it were for sale. They say no; Pres. George Bush owned it. I found out that the man who created the Tarpon was in Tampa. I went and met him. Fascinating German who had lived in Japan. He agreed to make the one you see. He explained in great detail the process that he had learned in Japan. There are a few of them around Florida.

6). Kenneth Riley. Man pushing boat into wave. Kenneth Riley famous Western artist, visited Portugal for a brief time in the 50s. Sally painted at this exact spot on one of her trips. At an auction in Jackson of Western art, I discovered the painting in a pile hard to review by the public. The painting was an add-on to the Western art and was one of the last paintings to be auctioned on the last day. Estimated price was $8000. Sally I agreed that we would go to $9000. The auctioneer went blah blah blah do I hear seven ;I hear eight ;do I hear nine blah blah do I hear 10; blah blah; do I hear 14? I made Sally throw upper sign and buy the piece. She freaked. When we went down to pay for the painting, ( as I knew), she looked at the bill and was shocked. It wasn't $14,000, it was $1400. Best deal we ever made.

7) Walter Lloyd Brown the small painting of the horse Willowdeen. Walter Lloyd Brown was a dear friend of my father's. I knew him as a boy very handsome and married one of the wealthiest women in Western Ohio and lived on a beautiful farm. He was the only person who painted the winner of best horse of the year for Tennessee Walking Horses. He did it every year. This was a present to dad. Many memories.

8). Two Samurai Warriors.. When Sam is living in downtown Manhattan I came across a little studio with some weird guy.. Pay quite a bit for these two. But had to have.

9). Vint Lawrence collection. Vint was in the Ivy.Club a year behind me; a good friend. He spent three years with CIA covert operations stationed undercover in the mountains of Cambodia in the early years of the Vietnam War. Quite a tour. When he returned to Washington we saw a lot of each other. He became a political Illustrator and did some work for Newsweek Washington Post, but mostly for the New Republic. I bought these pieces from him. Unfortunately he died at a rather young age.

10). C.Dommelshuizen. The painting of the ship leaving port was done in 1883. The artist father was famous Dutch painter as was his brother. Sally and I were in a second rate art shop in Annapolis Maryland. Someone had turned it in from their parents estate; it was hidden on the back wall. One of those paintings I had to have. No idea what it's worth.

11). Two sketches. One man standing on umbrella looks like a Mark Chagall. My mother brought them in the 20s when she was in New York at the New York Art league. I have no idea what they are.

12). Currier and Ives collection. Have a three or four of these. My dad had a large collection.