Hazel Home Art and Antiques Wausau, Wisconsin
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Crazy person of the day. "Crazy Nora" mid-19th Century, Philadelphia, Pa. Painted in 1850 by William Winner, American (1815-1883). Historical Society of Pennsylvania, gift of A. Cuthbert Thomas 1897
Irish immigrant Honora Powers (1790-1865) was a familiar street person in Philadelphia during the 1820s and 1830s. She reportedly “had gone mad” as a result of a fever and dissension between factions at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in 1822. In 1871 The Sunday Dispatch carried an article by Betsey Baker who observed that “she [Nora] was a never-ceasing object of interest and sympathy…her weird ramblings, her minglings of creeds and curses, her keen wit and her scathing sarcasm, her piety and her profanity had for me greater attractions….She sold ointment purchased from the Friends of the Almshouse, loaned out books, given to her by charity for one-cent a day—she earned food by scrubbing and house-cleaning.”
(Color photo and text courtesy of Philadelphia History Museum). (Black and white image courtesy of The Frick Collection)
From the eye candy department: my top 5 favorite classic racing liveries*.
It is almost May and that is racing season. The good old boys have been racing for a couple months now and Indy cranks up in a week or so. Here are my top five favorite liveries in racing. Five is lowest and one is tops.
*A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in the livery. Alternatively, some kind of a personal emblem or badge, or a distinctive color, is featured.
*A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in the livery. Alternatively, some kind of a personal emblem or badge, or a distinctive color, is featured.
Number Five: Penske Racing-Pennzoil Yellow
Number Four: Foyt-Gilmore Coyote Ford Orange
Number Three: Ferrari Red
Number Two: British Racing Green
Number One: Gulf Racing Orange and Blue
Bizarre, satanic, outsider art drawings by Clifton Harvey 1979 discovered during an inspection of an abandoned Detroit home.
(From the Detroit Metro Times, Thursday April 23rd, 2015)
We don't know anything about the artist other than that one of the pages is signed “Clifton Harvey” and dated “12/79." We dig his depiction of Satan as a giant with a snake arm and a three-headed snake pitchfork, and the drawings remind us of the works of Henry Darger and Hieronymus Bosch.
Enjoy. (And if you know who Clifton Harvey is, please drop us a line at arts@metrotimes.com.)
[Update 8:09 a.m. Friday, April 24, 2015: We asked Goeddeke where the drawings were found. "As I recall, east side. The area between Cadillac Blvd and St Jean, and Jefferson to Mack Ave," he says. "I found them last summer and they have been in my desk since, so I’m trying to recall. As you probably know, there are thousands of homes demolished each year, so I don’t think I can pinpoint an address, but it was definitely in that area."]
Trip out on these Satanic drawings found in an abandoned Detroit house
Posted By Lee DeVito on Thu, Apr 23, 2015 at 7:28 AM
Reader Joseph Goeddeke found these drawings in an abandoned Detroit house that he was inspecting for asbestos while working for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The house was scheduled to be demolished later that day, and Goeddeke (who says he's "not an art guy" but thinks "they are great drawings") decided to save the art and send it to us. We're glad he did.We don't know anything about the artist other than that one of the pages is signed “Clifton Harvey” and dated “12/79." We dig his depiction of Satan as a giant with a snake arm and a three-headed snake pitchfork, and the drawings remind us of the works of Henry Darger and Hieronymus Bosch.
Enjoy. (And if you know who Clifton Harvey is, please drop us a line at arts@metrotimes.com.)
[Update 8:09 a.m. Friday, April 24, 2015: We asked Goeddeke where the drawings were found. "As I recall, east side. The area between Cadillac Blvd and St Jean, and Jefferson to Mack Ave," he says. "I found them last summer and they have been in my desk since, so I’m trying to recall. As you probably know, there are thousands of homes demolished each year, so I don’t think I can pinpoint an address, but it was definitely in that area."]
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
"If you can't convince them, confuse them". The lighting design work of Gerald Thurston for the Lightolier Corporation. 1950's and 1960's.
We have a Gerald Thurston designed lamp in stock and I had to measure it for a customer today. He was the lead designer for a company called Lightolier in the 50's and 60's. I didn't know much about him so I thought I would share what I found with you. Unfortunately there is not much biographical information out there but his design work for Lightolier is timeless and rare pieces are skyrocketing in price. Here is the one we have and it is in near mint condition. It is available for purchase here
Beware I think they are making cheap reproductions of this lamp. They must be well made and have a solid, heavy feeling to them.
Designer Gerald Thurston and his Million-Dollar Hand
A 1960 Gerald Thurston design, the Lightolier Lamp is crafted of enameled steel and plastic and measures 14×22 inches.
In 1981, I began my career in the lighting industry as an industrial designer for Lightolier. I was hired by the well-known lighting industry pioneer William F. “Bill” Blitzer (read more about him in this blog post I wrote for the Global Lighting blog in 2012). While Blitzer was an amazing mentor in the business aspect of the industry, I was fortunate enough to share an office at Lightolier with designer Gerald “Jerry” Thurston. Known for his 1950s and 60s postwar contemporary lighting designs—Thurston had a tremendous influence on me. He was extremely proud of his work and a playful man. Case in point is one of my favorite sayings I would hear him say: “If you can’t convince them, confuse them!”
Today the sleek, minimalistic, and directional-light iconic lamps of designer Gerald Thurston are highly collectible and sought-after. Check out the offerings on 1stdibs.com. Gerald Thurston is a million-dollar man, indeed!
These are $5000 lamps when found in mint condition.
Dr. Louis Thomas Jerome Auzoux (1797-1880). French anatomist and naturalist. The Whipple Museum of The History of Science.
If you love scientific instruments, medical quackery, anatomical models, geologic models,weather models, planetary models and devices, The Whipple Museum of the History of Science is the place for you to visit. The breadth of the collection and the academic work done with them is amazing.
Dr. Auzoux's Models.
As a medical student in Paris, Louis Thomas Jérôme Auzoux
(1797-1880) noticed that there was often a shortage of human remains
available for doing human dissections. Dissections were an essential
part of studying medicine. However, even if a body was available, it
could only be used once before it began to decompose. To deal with the shortage of bodies, Auzoux began producing accurate anatomical models that could be taken apart piece by piece.
The models were sturdy and inexpensive, especially when made with the secret papier-mâché mixture that Auzoux had developed. The mixture contained cork and clay as well as paper and glue.
Introducing papier-mâché as a modelling material was a radical change from earlier modelling techniques. In previous centuries, anatomists and artists made their anatomical models using wax.
While wax models could reproduce anatomical details very
accurately, the material was very expensive and too fragile to be
handled frequently because the wax would lose its shape.
Papier-mâché, on the other hand, was sturdy enough to produce detachable models that could be used again and again, at less than a tenth of the price of similar wax models.
With financial support from the French state, Auzoux founded a factory for producing anatomical models in his small hometown of St. Aubin d'Ecrosville in France. After a few years, the models became a commercial success, and were used by schools, universities and hospitals, as well as by private individuals who could rent models at low costs. In 1828 Dr. Auzoux founded a factory to produce models in his small hometown St.Aubin d'Ecrosville in Normandy, France, where he employed 60-100 workers of all ages and both sexes, whose main tasks were the moulding and painting of the models.
After an initial prototype of a model was sculpted by Auzoux himself, moulds were taken that served as the basis for potentially unlimited numbers of casts. Casts were produced by inserting layers of a secret papier-mâché mixture, containing cork and clay as well as paper and glue. For the upright models of humans and large animals and plants, internal metal
structures were used to increase their stability.
The papier-mâché parts were joined on to this metal core and were then
painted, labelled, and varnished.
The human model in the Whipple Museum's collection is much smaller than life-size, standing 60cm high. Sold at a price of 250 francs, it was made to be affordable for smaller institutions and individuals. The model was made using Auzoux's secret papier-maché mixture, mounted upright on a metal rod.
Like all of Dr. Auzoux's models, the human can be taken apart and reassembled. The chest opens up to reveal the inner organs and parts of the head can be removed to show the skull.
The models' colour scheme is a combination of naturalistic colours and schematic colours that make certain features stand out. Veins and arteries were painted blue and red, whilst adjoining muscles were coloured in brighter and darker shades of red. Dr. Auzoux's vision, and that of his supporters, was that his models should be used to educate the public about health matters. The model-maker thought that physical and moral well-being were inseparable, and essential for a harmonious society. Auzoux claimed that with his models even beginners could learn anatomy and physiology without the help of a teacher.
Unlike earlier wax anatomical models, which were made by highly skilled craftsmen, the new papier-maché models could be produced in large numbers by unskilled workers.
Dr. Auzoux followed new ideas on workers' welfare and set up a
rigid set of rules and fines to ban vices like cursing and alcohol from
the factory floor. He also improved hygiene and health among his
employees providing them with a gymnasium and basic instruction in
anatomy. Auzoux believed that care for the body improved an individual's physical and moral wellbeing, as well their social progress. Responding to changing trends in education,
the company branched out into producing models of human embryos, animals, insects and plants.
Dr. Auzoux's Models.
As a medical student in Paris, Louis Thomas Jérôme Auzoux
(1797-1880) noticed that there was often a shortage of human remains
available for doing human dissections. Dissections were an essential
part of studying medicine. However, even if a body was available, it
could only be used once before it began to decompose. To deal with the shortage of bodies, Auzoux began producing accurate anatomical models that could be taken apart piece by piece.The models were sturdy and inexpensive, especially when made with the secret papier-mâché mixture that Auzoux had developed. The mixture contained cork and clay as well as paper and glue.
Introducing papier-mâché as a modelling material was a radical change from earlier modelling techniques. In previous centuries, anatomists and artists made their anatomical models using wax.
Papier-mâché, on the other hand, was sturdy enough to produce detachable models that could be used again and again, at less than a tenth of the price of similar wax models.
With financial support from the French state, Auzoux founded a factory for producing anatomical models in his small hometown of St. Aubin d'Ecrosville in France. After a few years, the models became a commercial success, and were used by schools, universities and hospitals, as well as by private individuals who could rent models at low costs. In 1828 Dr. Auzoux founded a factory to produce models in his small hometown St.Aubin d'Ecrosville in Normandy, France, where he employed 60-100 workers of all ages and both sexes, whose main tasks were the moulding and painting of the models.
After an initial prototype of a model was sculpted by Auzoux himself, moulds were taken that served as the basis for potentially unlimited numbers of casts. Casts were produced by inserting layers of a secret papier-mâché mixture, containing cork and clay as well as paper and glue. For the upright models of humans and large animals and plants, internal metal
structures were used to increase their stability.
The papier-mâché parts were joined on to this metal core and were then
painted, labelled, and varnished.The human model in the Whipple Museum's collection is much smaller than life-size, standing 60cm high. Sold at a price of 250 francs, it was made to be affordable for smaller institutions and individuals. The model was made using Auzoux's secret papier-maché mixture, mounted upright on a metal rod.
Like all of Dr. Auzoux's models, the human can be taken apart and reassembled. The chest opens up to reveal the inner organs and parts of the head can be removed to show the skull.
The models' colour scheme is a combination of naturalistic colours and schematic colours that make certain features stand out. Veins and arteries were painted blue and red, whilst adjoining muscles were coloured in brighter and darker shades of red. Dr. Auzoux's vision, and that of his supporters, was that his models should be used to educate the public about health matters. The model-maker thought that physical and moral well-being were inseparable, and essential for a harmonious society. Auzoux claimed that with his models even beginners could learn anatomy and physiology without the help of a teacher.
Unlike earlier wax anatomical models, which were made by highly skilled craftsmen, the new papier-maché models could be produced in large numbers by unskilled workers.
Dr. Auzoux followed new ideas on workers' welfare and set up a
rigid set of rules and fines to ban vices like cursing and alcohol from
the factory floor. He also improved hygiene and health among his
employees providing them with a gymnasium and basic instruction in
anatomy. Auzoux believed that care for the body improved an individual's physical and moral wellbeing, as well their social progress. Responding to changing trends in education,
the company branched out into producing models of human embryos, animals, insects and plants.To read more about Dr Auzoux's Models read below. It is from the Dittrick Museum Blog.
Collector Car Pioneer Leo Gephart Dies at 85.
As I have mentioned here in previous posts my fondness for Classic and Antique automobiles was passed on to me by my dad. Dad is a collector, historian and a true "car nut". My earliest memories include heading to Auburn, Indiana every Labor Day weekend for the annual gathering of Auburn, Cord and Dusenberg Collectors from all over the world. Besides the Club activities, Kruse Auction Company was just getting started in the collector car sales business. Their first sales were on the grounds of the Dekalb County High School football field. Most of my memories include dew soaked tennis shoes and dodging giant rain and mud puddles. They also include my father mentioning Leo Gephart when ever we saw him. Dad would always point out "that big time collector from Ohio". In my 12 year old mind, I pictured barns full of gleaming boat-tailed speedsters, L-29's and Murphy-bodied Dusenbergs on a mysterious farm near Sidney, Ohio. Anyway, thanks for the memories dad and RIP Leo.
"He certainly wasn’t the first person to recognize the collectibility of old cars, but Leo Gephart did help lay many of the stones in the foundation of the collector car hobby as it exists today, leading many to mourn his death last week at the age of 85.
Born in 1929 on a farm near Sidney, Ohio, Gephart started working on old cars – including his first, a 1932 Ford roadster – as a teenager during World War II, and through his family’s acquaintance with Charles Kettering, soon became involved with the Antique Automobile Club of America. After a stint in the Air Force in his early 20s, Gephart returned to Ohio in the early 1950s, got a car dealer license, and began to sell new Studebakers.
At the same time, though, he also started buying and selling those older cars increasingly being recognized as classics (or Classics, depending on the definition) and took a keen interest in Duesenbergs. He sourced old cars from estate sales, used car auctions, and through word of mouth, but during the 1960s developed another method of buying and selling collector cars.
“He realized that if collectors would travel from state to state looking for old cars at estate sales, a lot of collectors could be expected to show up if a huge number of cars was gathered for sale in one place,” Jim Donnelly wrote in his profile of Gephart for the May 2008 issue of Hemmings Classic Car.
So Gephart, prodded on by the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Club, approached
Russell Kruse with the idea of transforming the Kruse family’s longtime
construction equipment auction business into a collector car auction
business. Kruse held the first such auction in 1971 behind a Dairy Queen
in Auburn, Indiana. Kruse subsequently grew the business into one of
the world’s largest, helping establish Labor Day in Auburn as one of the
anchors on the collector car calendar. RM Auctions – now RM Sotheby’s –
bought the business and the auction park from Dean Kruse in 2010 and
today operates it under the Auctions America banner.
That same year, Gephart approached a pair of car show organizers in Scottsdale, Arizona – Tom Barrett and Russ Jackson, the former Gephart had known from a Cadillac V-16 transaction – and convinced them to also put together a large-scale collector car auction in Scottsdale. Though Scottsdale isn’t a town rich in automotive history like Auburn, it does at least offer a preferable winter climate, one that attracted and continues to attract the same sorts of people likely to buy and sell collector cars. Barrett-Jackson has remained in Scottsdale and grown over the years to bring in bidders from all over the world, to inspire other auction houses to conduct their own sales during the same week in January, and to attract live television coverage.
“I grew up with Leo,” Craig Jackson said in a statement on Barrett-Jackson’s website. “He was an innovator and a visionary whose legacy will remain for years to come. He will be missed.”
Along the way, Gephart essentially founded two ancillary industries. He started Frosty’s Delivery Services, a car transport company that specialized in collector cars, which he later sold to Robert Pass (who renamed it Passport Transport), and which has since become a subsidiary of FedEx. And he became one of the first people involved in collector cars to offer appraisals on older cars to determine their market value.
“He was one of the three kings of the collector car trade,” said concept car collector Joe Bortz, who had known Gephart for decades. “Along with Tiny Gould and Bob Adams in Wisconsin, they were the guys who made the hobby what it is today.”
Gephart himself relocated his business to Scottsdale around 1981 and in later years he operated his own auctions and even partnered with other collector car dealers in the area to start an auto museum, though none of those ventures ultimately panned out. In about 2012, citing failing health, he scaled back his collector car business. The phones at the business have since been disconnected".
(courtesy Hemmings)
"He certainly wasn’t the first person to recognize the collectibility of old cars, but Leo Gephart did help lay many of the stones in the foundation of the collector car hobby as it exists today, leading many to mourn his death last week at the age of 85.
Born in 1929 on a farm near Sidney, Ohio, Gephart started working on old cars – including his first, a 1932 Ford roadster – as a teenager during World War II, and through his family’s acquaintance with Charles Kettering, soon became involved with the Antique Automobile Club of America. After a stint in the Air Force in his early 20s, Gephart returned to Ohio in the early 1950s, got a car dealer license, and began to sell new Studebakers.
At the same time, though, he also started buying and selling those older cars increasingly being recognized as classics (or Classics, depending on the definition) and took a keen interest in Duesenbergs. He sourced old cars from estate sales, used car auctions, and through word of mouth, but during the 1960s developed another method of buying and selling collector cars.
“He realized that if collectors would travel from state to state looking for old cars at estate sales, a lot of collectors could be expected to show up if a huge number of cars was gathered for sale in one place,” Jim Donnelly wrote in his profile of Gephart for the May 2008 issue of Hemmings Classic Car.
That same year, Gephart approached a pair of car show organizers in Scottsdale, Arizona – Tom Barrett and Russ Jackson, the former Gephart had known from a Cadillac V-16 transaction – and convinced them to also put together a large-scale collector car auction in Scottsdale. Though Scottsdale isn’t a town rich in automotive history like Auburn, it does at least offer a preferable winter climate, one that attracted and continues to attract the same sorts of people likely to buy and sell collector cars. Barrett-Jackson has remained in Scottsdale and grown over the years to bring in bidders from all over the world, to inspire other auction houses to conduct their own sales during the same week in January, and to attract live television coverage.
“I grew up with Leo,” Craig Jackson said in a statement on Barrett-Jackson’s website. “He was an innovator and a visionary whose legacy will remain for years to come. He will be missed.”
Along the way, Gephart essentially founded two ancillary industries. He started Frosty’s Delivery Services, a car transport company that specialized in collector cars, which he later sold to Robert Pass (who renamed it Passport Transport), and which has since become a subsidiary of FedEx. And he became one of the first people involved in collector cars to offer appraisals on older cars to determine their market value.
“He was one of the three kings of the collector car trade,” said concept car collector Joe Bortz, who had known Gephart for decades. “Along with Tiny Gould and Bob Adams in Wisconsin, they were the guys who made the hobby what it is today.”
Gephart himself relocated his business to Scottsdale around 1981 and in later years he operated his own auctions and even partnered with other collector car dealers in the area to start an auto museum, though none of those ventures ultimately panned out. In about 2012, citing failing health, he scaled back his collector car business. The phones at the business have since been disconnected".
(courtesy Hemmings)
Monday, April 27, 2015
ca. 1840 American, miniature, watercolor, folk art portrait of a lad in fine clothes. Importanly, housed in it's original pine, faux grain-painted frame. Probably New Hampshire or Maine origin. A wonderful piece of early Americana. Amazing condition and original surface.
The
image size is 5" x 4". The frame is 1" wide so the overall size is 7" x
6". Incredible condition. Original wooden back was removed only to
place the
painting on an acid proof, museum mat board. Not attached or taped or
dry mounted just cut perfectly to fit the paper. It is rare to find a
watercolor on paper with no stains or damage housed in it's original,
period frame.
To purchase, click here
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