2 Paintings by Richard Karon
1879 Original Oil Signed "Jaffray"
A GREAT DAY TO BE AN ANTIQUE DEALER, A PERFECT TIME TO BE AN ARTIST BIOGRAPHER
THE CONFLUENCE OF PASSIONS AND IT ISN'T EVEN THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING YET!
AS FOR NEWS UPDATES, I HAVE JUST NOW RECEIVED TWO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF ORIGINAL RICHARD KARON PAINTINGS, TO BE ADDED TO THE INVENTORY OF HIS WORK POSTED ON A SPECIALLY DEDICATED BLOGSITE, YOU CAN ACCESS, INCLUDING AN ACCOMPANYING VIDEO. IT WAS A YEAR AGO, THAT I WAS WRAPPING UP A BIOGRAPHY OF THE POLISH / CANADIAN ARTIST, RICHARD KARON, FORMERLY OF LAKE OF BAYS. I HAD WORKED ON THE BIOGRAPHY FOR MOST OF LAST WINTER, AND IT WAS A TRULY REMARKABLE PERIOD IN MY WRITING LIFE. I BEGAN BY THINKING I WAS WORKING ON A PRETTY STRAIGHT-FORWARD ART BIOGRAPHY, BUT WHEN I RESEARCHED HIS YEARS IN POLAND, UNDER THE GERMAN OCCUPATION, FROM 1939 TO THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, I WAS THOROUGHLY AMAZED AT HOW THE PAINTER AND HIS FAMILY SURVIVED. IT WAS A MIRACLE THAT RICHARD KARON NAVIGATED THOSE YEARS. HIS MOTHER, A TEACHER, WAS EXECUTED BY THE NAZIS IN 1939. HE WAS A HIGHLY SKILLED LANDSCAPE ARTIST, AND HE CAPTURED SOME AMAZING REGIONAL SCENES, OVER THE FOUR SEASONS, PARTICULARLY IN THE AREA OF LAKE OF BAYS TOWNSHIP. WORKING WITH HIS SON, RICHARD KARON JR., I FOUND OUT BY COINCIDENCE AND OFTEN PLAIN OLD HAPPENSTANCE, (OVER THE MONTHS) A LOT OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE LATE ARTIST, WE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT, FROM FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES; AS WELL AS FROM OWNERS OF SOME OF HIS FINEST MUSKOKA PAINTINGS, WHICH HE SOLD FROM HIS STUDIO NEAR BAYSVILLE, ONTARIO. I HOPE TO HAVE A GET-TOGETHER WITH RICHARD JUNIOR SOMETIME IN THE NEXT MONTH, TO MARK THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE PROJECT'S COMPLETION, WHICH BY THE WAY, WAS OFFERED TO BOTH THE NATIONAL GALLERY IN OTTAWA, AND THE ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO, IN TORONTO, FOR THEIR ARTIST ARCHIVES, WHICH ASSISTS RESEARCHERS EXAMINING CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY CANADIAN AND PROVINCIAL ARTISTS. I WANT TO THANK SHIRLEY COLLINS FOR KINDLY SENDING IMAGES OF RICHARD KARON PAINTINGS, FOR US TO USE IN THE BLOG BIOGRAPHY AND DIRECTORY. I HAVE INCLUDED THOSE IMAGES FOR YOU TO SEE, WITH THIS BLOG TODAY. HOPE YOU LIKE THEM.
TOMORROW, I WILL INCLUDE TWO OTHER DIGITAL IMAGES OF PAINTINGS, EMAILED TO ME THIS PAST WEEK, FROM THE FAMILY OF CANADIAN PAINTER, PRINT MAKER AND FORMER GRAVENHURST RESIDENT, FRANK JOHNSTON…….THE NEXT ARTIST BIOGRAPHY I WILL BE WORKING ON………THANKS TO THE KINDNESS OF HIS FAMILY. I'M HOPING I WILL HAVE SOMETHING TO GO ON, BY THE FIRST OF JULY THIS YEAR. THIS IS A BIOGRAPHY AND TRIBUTE TO A GRAVENHURST ARTIST THAT IS LONG OVERDUE. IN FACT, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE DURING HIS LIFETIME, WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT EASIER AND MORE POIGNANT, HAVING HAD THE BENEFIT OF INTIMATE INTERVIEWS. FAMILY MEMBERS, BELIEVING THAT FRANK SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED, ARE CERTAINLY MAKING THIS PROJECT COME TO FRUITION, AND LIKE RICHARD KARON LAST YEAR, HUNTSVILLE ARTIST, ADA FLORENCE KINTON, BEFORE THAT, AND MUSKOKA ARTIST, ROBERT EMERSON EVERETT, A FEW YEARS EARLIER, THE JOHNSTON BIOGRAPHY WILL ALSO BE EXTENDED TO THE ARCHIVES OF BOTH NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL GALLERIES, TO AID FUTURE RESEARCHERS. I ENJOY WORKING ON THESE PROJECTS AND FEEL PROUD TO BE ABLE TO REPRESENT SUCH INCREDIBLE ARTISTIC TALENT…….AND PRESERVE THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION. WATCH FOR MORE UPDATES ON THE FRANK JOHNSTON BIOGRAPHY IN FUTURE BLOGS.
OUT ON THE ANTIQUE HUNT TODAY……AND BOY OH BOY WAS IT EVER NICE OUT THERE, I WAS ABLE TO PURCHASE TWO SIGNIFICANT FIRST WORLD WAR PHOTOGRAPHS, FROM A CHARITY SHOP…..AND I DID PAY DEARLY FOR THEM, SHOWING A MUSTER AND A MARCH OF SOLDIERS DOWN A MAIN BUSINESS STREET IN MONTREAL. THE INDOOR TRAINING PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN IN SOME TYPE OF AUDITORIUM, AND A THIRD BONUS PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE SAME ESTATE PRESUMABLY, SHOWS A 1920'S, BUSINESS COLLEGE GRADUATING CLASS…….LIKELY WITH THE SAME PERSON IN ALL THREE PHOTOS. THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE SOLDIERS MARCHING IS THE MOST VALUABLE OF THE THREE, AND TO SOME MILITARY HISTORIAN, IT WILL BE A COVETED ADDITION TO THEIR COLLECTION. I PAID SIXTY DOLLARS FOR THREE……WHICH SHOWS I'M NOT ALL THAT CHEAP. THE PHOTOGRAPHS NEED TO BE RESTORED IN THEIR FRAMES, CONSERVED, AND WILL, WHEN PROPERLY RESEARCHED AND IDENTIFIED (WHICH WILL TAKE ABOUT TWO HOURS OF ONLINE NETWORKING), WILL SELL FOR ABOUT $95.00 FOR THE THREE. WHICH WHEN OUR TIME IS ADDED ON, WITH CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH LOOKED AFTER, IT WILL REPRESENT A REASONABLE MARK-UP FROM THE PURCHASE PRICE…….. FOR THESE HARD TO FIND (NOW), CANADIAN FIRST WORLD WAR PHOTOGRAPHS.
AN 1879 FOLK ART PAINTING OF SAILBOATS OF ROUGH WATER - ANOTHER SLEEPER FOR ME
Today was a good day as an antique hunter-gatherer, in Ontario, but the successes were on a few choice pieces and not on volume acquisitions. There was a day, let me tell you, that we would come home after a several hundred mile adventure, touring this part of the province, with a van full of interesting purchase items. Today the finds are fewer and yes, farther apart, yet as is often the case, the valuations are usually just as significant with only a few small pieces in tow. Other than the Canadian military photographs today, I was able to purchase a very nice 1879 folk art depiction of sailboats, on a churning waterway, signed by an artist named, "Jaffery", and the image is Canadian as far as we have been able to ascertain so far. There was a Scottish artist by the same name that we are cross-referencing at present, just in case. It has some old newspaper pages still attached to the back of the composite board the art was painted on, and the name "Clifford Sifton," a well known Canadian from around the time of the painting, was getting a lot of ink connected, I believe, to the settlement of the western region of the country, and the building of the transcontinental railway. The owner of the painting was Mr. C. McQuillan, of Galt, Ontario, another name we will be researching.
I liked this painting as soon as I rounded the corner of the antique mall booth, and it reminded me of another marine folk art painting, I sold a number of years ago, under duress. It was one of those, "pay mortgage or else," kind of deals, and although it was probably painted around 1850, (and had some damage to the paint board), it has a lot of parallels with the one I was able to purchase today for just over $125. I sold the previous sailboat painting, however reluctantly (I was chasing the car down the driveway…..it was that bad), for two hundred, but yes indeed, as Canadiana goes these days, it was sold under value. But being in the business, like any retailer on earth, you have to make a profit. I keep telling myself, "Ted old boy, you're not running a museum here. Remember the cycle of buy and sell you're always writing about."
The painting, without any additional provenance, is worth about the same, or a tad more but still less than a hundred percent mark-up. There are very few antique dealers that will go so low, in mark-up, from their purchase price. I got a good price on it, from the vendor, and I can pass it on, hopefully with some more history attached, at two hundred bucks, and feel pretty good about it going to a good home. I always say this, except when I return to the shop, and there's a picture missing off the wall…….and a spouse (clerk) smiling at me from behind the counter. Well, she's good at sales, and I'm good at the antique hunt. I'm just a little too clingy to the stuff I like most, and this is that confluence I have always hated between dealer and collector.
The painting is a good example of folk art and the valuations these art pieces, from paintings, carvings, quilts, needlework etc, can achieve, because they are one of a kind. I took some time, after picking out this painting, to travel through the mall a second time, to gather up some price averages, for what I believe were lesser and parallel quality art pieces. It didn't take long to realize, that by comparison, this little gem was most definitely a "sleeper," having been under-valued for its heritage by the subject vendor. Folk art can be deceiving, and hard to price. These are not copies of anything else, but rather honest, unpretentious, however naive interpretations……based on casual observations. In fact, why it is significant to Canadiana and Americana dealers, who specialize in this style of art, is that the price ceiling can expand and expand because of rarity and the increasing popularity of naive work. The citizen's art! Art of the common man! I will always buy folk art over fine art, when listed for the same price, because my experience in the buy and sell of these objects, has always proven a solid investment. I've had fine art decline in value, but for good quality folk art, I've never experienced this devaluation even once in over 35 years of being on the antique prowl.
It was a long day out on the hustings, and I'm worn down to a nub after about ten miles of walking through stores and malls. Thanks for dropping by for a visit, and be sure to come back tomorrow, when I'll show you the neat Frank Johnston paintings, sent to me this week. Frank Johnston was a well known Gravenhurst painter, famous for his heritage watercolors that used to hang in the former Sloans Restaurnant, on Muskoka Road. He was also Canadian Group of Eleven artist, Harold Town's printmaker in the past, and is noted in his biography, "Hot Breakfast For Sparrows," by Iris Nowell, as one of the finest print makers in Canada at the time. Hope you had a nice weekend, and are dealing with the loss of an hour. But folks, spring is on the way. It was such a beautiful day to travel and wander. And, yes, look for history we can haul home. Drive safely out there. It's going to be a busy week, especially in Muskoka, as many seasonal folks appear to have come up to check their cottages……and there's still some time to benefit from the large amount of snow this season, via snowmobile. See you again soon.
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