My Highlights from the IFPDA Print Fair 2013
Every November I look forward to the collegial IFPDA Print Fair, my favorite fair of the season. Focused in scale and in discipline (housed in the beautifully refurbished Armory), the print fair features distinguished dealers and publishers of old and new editions. While the new publications are not to be missed (publishers Two Palms Press and Durham Press are always stand outs), I could not resist focusing on classic works coming back to the marketplace.
A rare citing is Cy Twombly’s, Untitled (Bastian 29-34), a series of 5 richly worked lithographs printed in 1971 at Robert Rauschenberg’s press at Captiva Island. The lithographs are being offered as a group, a windfall of a collection in one purchase, and showcase Twombly at his best, as a draftsman and an indelible mark maker. Other highlights are Bruce Nauman: Studies for Holograms, 1970, and Ellsworth Kelly: 18 Colors Cincinnati, 1982. And contrary to my theme, I threw in a new publication, Claes Oldenburg’s, Geometric Mouse, Scale E, Desktop, 2013, sculpture well known in various sizes, now redefined on an intimate scale.
Mary Cassatt, In the Omnibus, 1890-91 at David Tunick, Inc.
Vija Celmins, Untitled (Ocean), 1972, Susan Sheehan Gallery
Ellsworth Kelly, 18 Colors (Cincinnati), 1979-82, at Susan Sheehan Gallery
Roy Lichtenstein, Haystacks #1 - #7, 1969, at Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl
Bruce Nauman, Studies for Holograms, 1970, at Brooke Alexander Gallery
Claes Oldenburg, Geometric Mouse, Scale E, 2013, at Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl
Robert Rauschenberg, Sky Garden, 1969, at Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl
Cy Twombly, Untitled (Bastian #29-34), 1971, at Dianne Villani Editions
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Self Portrait with Long Bushy Hair, c. 1629-31, at David Tunick, Inc.
My number one tip for collecting prints:
Collecting prints has many advantages, and certainly one of them is the opportunity to look back and isolate the best of an artist’s oeuvre. In what seems to be a climate of staggering, record-breaking prices, it is reassuring to know that you can still purchase a great work of art, by a great artist, at a great price. What are you waiting for?
