Prints & Wall Art

Photo Credit: fineestates

1956 Bernard Buffet Lithograph Print – St. Martin Canal

Asking Price: $100 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)

Pros:

-This vintage 1956 Bernard Buffet lithograph print titled “St. Martin Canal” features a skyline of the famous Parisian canal in an Expressionist style.

-This vintage print measures 29 inches (74 cm) wide by 21.5 inches (55 cm) tall (including margins), with the image itself being 22.5 inches (57 cm) wide by 14.5 inches (37 cm) tall.

-The French artist Bernard Buffet was born in 1928 and died in 1999.  He studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (National School of the Fine Arts) in Paris, France in the 1940s before briefly working as an apprentice to the painter Eugène Narbonne.

-Original prints are much more readily available at lower prices than paintings, making this Bernard Buffet lithograph the perfect piece of décor for art lovers on a tight budget.

-Bernard Buffet was a prolific artist during his 50-plus year career, creating an estimated 8,000 paintings, prints, and watercolors.

-This Bernard Buffet print was rendered in an Expressionist style, with his typical emphasis on geometry and grids.  But the artist is perhaps best known for his work in the Miserabilist style, which was often characterized by portraits with haunting, angular faces.

-The subject of this landscape – the St. Martin Canal – is located in the heart of Paris, just adjacent to the Seine River.  Napoleon ordered its construction in 1802, which was finally completed in 1825.  Today it is a popular tourist destination in the City of Lights.

-This signed and dated Bernard Buffet lithograph print is a very approachable, wonderfully affordable example of post-World War II contemporary art by a known artist.

-Bernard Buffet revisited the St. Martin Canal in his work several times throughout his career, making several different print versions of the subject.

-I find it stunning that you can pick up an original Mid-Century print from a renowned 20th century French artist for only a single C-note.  This shows just how beaten down the low end of the art market is right now.  But if the market is going to be irrational, I say take advantage of it!

-This Bernard Buffet lithograph print is larger in size, making it an excellent candidate for hanging in a living room or great room as a centerpiece work.

-Why pay $40 or $50 for a reproduction art print (which will never have any collector’s value) when you can invest in this original 1950s Bernard Buffet lithograph print for only $100?

Cons:

-This print does not come with a frame.  So before you can hang it on your wall, you will need to pay another $100 to $250 to have it properly mounted.  I find it ironic that fine art is so cheap these days that the framing will cost you more than the work itself!

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Photo Credit: LEAVES-OF-OLD

Illuminated Book of Hours Leaf from Rouen, Circa 1470

Buy It Now Price: $499 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)

Pros:

-This vibrant French illuminated Book of Hours leaf was sumptuously hand-scribed in the medieval city of Rouen sometime between the years 1470 and 1490 AD.

-This medieval manuscript leaf measures 178 mm (7 inches) tall by 125 mm (4.9 inches) wide.  This is a good size for an illuminated Book of Hours leaf, which tended to be fairly small compared to modern books.

-A Book of Hours was a medieval prayer book intended for personal worship at home.  Only the very wealthiest families could afford to commission a Book of Hours, which – like all medieval manuscripts – were completely handmade.  It could take a specialized monastery or manuscript factory more than a year of exacting work to complete a single copy.

-Rouen is a city in the Normandy region of France, situated on the lower reaches of the Seine River.  It was one of the most important cities of medieval France, with a population of about 40,000 inhabitants in the late 15th century.

-This illuminated Book of Hours leaf is richly decorated with red, blue, green and gold pigments, and includes an elaborate floral border on both the verso and recto.  It is an incredibly fine example of late medieval art, yet remains within financial reach for the average person.

-In the late 15th century, France was still a patchwork of feudal duchies and counties.  However, the end of the Hundred Years’ War in 1453 saw the English definitively expelled from all French territory (except for Calais), laying the groundwork for the modern French State.

-The text of this illuminated Book of Hours leaf is written in Latin, which was the lingua franca of medieval Europe.

–Medieval illuminated manuscripts are one of today’s most underappreciated alternative investments.  They are quintessential examples of medieval European art, complete with vivid colors, Gothic script and hand-drawn illuminations.  But fine specimens can still be purchased for only a few hundred dollars each – a mind-blowingly low price in a world filled with $10 cappuccinos and $100 a month gym memberships.

-I believe the buy-it-now price of $499 is quite reasonable for an illuminated Book of Hours leaf of this caliber, especially considering the stunning aesthetics of the piece.  It would look great mounted on the wall in your study, bedroom or living room.

Cons:

-Expect to pay an extra $100 to $200 to have this medieval masterpiece properly framed with acid-free, archival-quality matting and UV-resistant glass.  However, I consider this is a small price to pay to protect such a wonderful manuscript in perpetuity.

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Photo Credit: Fred Silberman

Edward Winter Mid-Century Modern Enamel Panel

Buy It Now Price: $1,000 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)

Pros:

-The artist Edward Winter crafted this beautifully abstract Mid-Century Modern artwork from opaque gold and white enamel layered over a steel base.

-This vintage 1950s enamel panel measures 14 inches (35.6 cm) wide by 14 inches (35.6 cm) tall, an impressive size for a piece of enamel wall art.

-American artist Edward Winter was active from 1932 to until his death in 1976.  He graduated from the Cleveland School of Art in 1931 before traveling to Vienna for a year to study European enamel, ceramic and metalworking techniques.

-Edward Winter’s primary medium was enamel, where he made groundbreaking enamel artwork that was sometimes on the scale of conventional paintings and prints.

-Enamel is glass that has been melted onto metal, forming a permanent bond.  Enamelwork is a very demanding artistic endeavor because of the high firing temperatures needed (usually between 750 and 850 °C or 1,380 and 1,560 °F) and the process’ sensitivity to any mistakes.

-Industrial enameling for signs, appliances, sinks and other manufactured items was fairly common during the middle of the 20th century, but eventually died out as cheaper materials (like plastics) were adopted.  Although enamel-centric artists like Edward Winter were often associated with the enameling industry, the works these virtuosos created were pure art.

-I love the contrasting use of disparate textures, shapes and colors on this enamel panel.  The vertical white enamel stripes boldly set the orientation of the work while the gold enamelwork really pops against the exposed steel substrate.

-Edward Winter, along with his contemporary enamellist Kay Whitcomb, is a forgotten artistic master of the 20th century.  It is dumbfounding to me that one of his important works is available for so little money!

-Given that this abstract masterpiece perfectly encapsulates the zeitgeist of Mid-Century Modern style, I find the asking price of $1,000 to be fair.  I also firmly believe this gorgeous piece would be a smart investment for the aspiring tangible asset investor.

Cons:

-It is possible to find other works by Edward Winter for substantially less money, but these will often be enameled bowls, boxes or other smaller pieces.  This abstract Mid-Century Modern enamel panel stands above them all in terms of scale.  It is also important to remember that good art – especially good one-of-a-kind art – is always expensive.

Read more fascinating Antique Sage prints & wall art spotlight posts here.

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