Of great publicity, Martignette, Dr Pepper, Coins, Natural History. Or, How Heritage is planning on taking over the world…

May 15, 2009
Posted by Noah

There are so many things I would like to write about that come through the doors at Heritage, and so many potential things coming to auction that I can’t write about yet, but I can say this: The month of May has been a stellar one for humble little Heritage in terms of national and International PR. It’s actually the sort of extended run of coverage that adds up to an amazing string and a major boost for Heritage brand awareness. Forgive me if you can for using this soapbox to trumpet the achievement and the incredible hard work of HA staff across the board.

Consider this: Since the beginning of May, Heritage has been in the news – national or international – in one form or another, good, bad or indifferent, every day of the month, plus a few at the end of April. I would list all the links here to all the various stories, but that would be a list of more than 1100 hits, so just take my word for it.

It started with the auction of the 1804 $1 for $2.4 million at Central States at the end of last month. There was pre-auction coverage and post-auction coverage.

This was followed quickly by a Texas AP story on the much-debated Old Corner Drug Store ledger book with the “Dr. Peppers Pepsin Bitters” recipe in it, which set of a firestorm of coverage, interviews and speculation that spanned a full week of news cycles and ended up all over the world. It has to be noted that the ledger book failed to open at the minimum $25,000 bid in Wednesday’s Political & Americana Auction, which is no fun for us – though a private treaty sale is possibly in the works – but it did again get us another round of coverage in the national press.

On top of this, our Natural History Director David Herskowitz was interviews by Robert Siegel on NPR’s All Things Considered on Tuesday night, after an article appeared in the Chicago Tribune, and was mentioned again in the show’s letter section the next day. This was followed by an article in a La Brea, CA newspaper just yesterday, that looks like it could get some legs. The auction of a controversial 95% saber-tooth skull – absolutely, undisputedly authentic – is this weekend here at Heritage. This thing is a truly beautiful beast and an amazing piece of history.

Topping that off today is the lead spot in today’s New York Times Arts & Antiques Column, by Eve Kahn, about the upcoming auction of the awesome Martignette Collection of Illustrated Art. It’s a fantastic little bit about the man behind the collection – an eccentric, for sure, but on the side of good – and the collection itself. What more can you ask for?

Ed Jaster, Director of Illustration Art here, put it best in his quote about the amazing art in the collection: “The guys could flat out paint!”

Wonderfully put, indeed!

I also know, for a fact, that there will be another Heritage story coming out the AP wire next week about the imminent auction of the amazing Chicorel Collection in our May Comics Auction. It’s another fantastic human interest story and we are lucky enough to be the arbiters of its fruit. I’m hoping this one continues our amazing May run. I’m sure there a few things I’ve even missed.

Life at Heritage is often so busy we don’t get the chance to reflect on the accomplishments of the amazing staff here. When I look back at a month like May so far, it brings it all into focus and reminds me why we do what we do here, and why we love it so much.

Have a safe and happy weekend.

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-Noah Fleisher

One amazing ‘Spill’: an indisputable masterpiece by William Herbert “Buck” Dunton comes this July

April 24, 2009
Posted by Noah

Just look at that painting. Unbelievable movement, seamless blending of colors and a moment of impossible kinetic energy expertly captured. If the cowboy in “The Spill” – arguably the greatest work of art by one W.H. Dunton, as good and important an American illustrator as there’s ever been – survives this spectacular calamity, then it’s surely not going to be a pleasant recovery and certainly not ever a complete one. This painting, acquired as part of The Charles Martignette Estate – written about in this blog a few weeks ago – is going to highlight, in a big way, the July auction of Western and Texas art here at Heritage. I personally can’t wait just to go and stand in front of the thing.

What I love about this painting is myriad. I mentioned a few things above, but there’s so much more to read into it. Why exactly are the cowboy and his horse flipping end over end? Is he a greenhorn rider trying to ride a spirited horse? A Horse Whisperer whose luck has run out? Maybe he got drunk at the saloon in town and was careless going home, or maybe he’s running for his life from Indians or brigands. Whatever the case, when that horse comes over on him, unless he manages to extricate his legs in quick fashion, his back is going to be snapped like a twig. What will his poor Ma and Pa think when their little boy, from a good home on the East Coast who had all the best schooling and abandoned it all to pursue his dream of being a real cowboy, dies alone in the American desert with only rattlesnakes and scorpions as witnesses?

Dunton was more than an illustrator. At the risk of offending any art snobs out there, I’d go as far as to say that he was one of America’s great 20th Century painters. The fact that he made his name initially as an illustrator – and a very good one at that – during America’s Golden Age of Illustration in the early 20th Century did not stop his progress as an artist or his desire to paint authentic subject matter. This is more than evidenced by his bold move in 1914 to Taos, New Mexico. Think about it: He had a successful career drawing for the top magazines of the day, plenty of money to support his family, but he chucked it all to move out West and start painting native landscapes. As a result he lived in near-poverty for the remainder of his days and became a truly transcendent painter. He was a founding member of the famed Taos Society of Art, saw his paintings exhibited all over the nation and garnered wide acclaim – if not fortune – for his important work. Still, though, in his own words, he would have rather lived in a time where no means of “making a living” was necessary at all:

"There is one thing positive, had I lived in Merriweather Lewis's, Audubon's or even as late as Catlin or Francis Parkman's day, no life of mine would be thrown away painting pictures, when I could live the greater part of a year alone with my rifle and a few pack animals among the host of buffalo – the antelope, the great bands of elk…"

Fortunately for us, Dunton did paint, and he did leave behind a sizable body of work, foremost among which is “The Spill.” It’s classic American art at its best, relaying a scene of the great, rustic American West that was a direct slice of life, though certainly – ultimately – much larger.

This painting, rightly so, should command a couple hundred thousand dollars. Lord knows that it will bring much more than that 100 years from now. Personally, I wish I could afford it, and am glad I’m not the subject matter. Wiping out on a horse is bad enough – I was thrown by a horse and then bitten by it when I was a kid learning to ride, no kidding – let alone getting snapped like a pencil by its amazingly articulated and artfully presented full body weight.

Here’s a link to the entire Western and Texas art auction. Check out the Olin Travis in particular for a tasty modern perspective on Texas landscape painting. Once you start staring at this thing it’s hard to stop.

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