Scientists and exp…er …agree?

or: What! No Beer?

Philadelphia Blended Whisky FORTUNE 1943 Dean Cornwell

"very little of this painting "says" Cornwell to me." ~ Kent Steine

signed Dean Cornwell

Philadelphia Blended Whisky LIFE Mar 1, 1943 Dean Cornwell

Philadelphia Blended Whisky LIFE Jul 12, 1943 Dean Cornwell

Master Copy #11

Dean Cornwell after Frank Brangwyn

Cornwell after Brangwyn, Cinerarias, gouache on board

Frank Brangwyn, Cinerarias,1922 Oil on canvas, 104.1 x 114.9 cm ; Atkinson Art Gallery Collection

The Cornwell~

recto

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=779010&GSub=111832

verso

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=779012&GSub=111832

Sold Out

or: Cornwell's(?) for sale as Brangwyn's(!)

This post neither states or implies, nor should any party infer or otherwise construe, that willful fraud was attempted by any participants of the auctions featured. As per usual I chalk it all up to some degree of honest incompetence.

'Bought In' euphuism for UNSOLD. Why did these 2  lots not sell? One can only suppose the prospective buyers where hep to their jive.

Lot 1 - Arab market scene, 1922. aka The City of the Great King, ca1926

Listed as the work of Sir Frank Brangwyn, it is decidedly not. Brangwyn's brushwork is more fluid. They say its signed, where …thats not his signature, does it say Tangiers? Once the composition is properly identified you might be tempted to state the work is a study by Dean Cornwell. That I feel would be a fallacy. The modelling attempts to mimic the original yet the drawing persistently fails. The proportion of each group of figures is off, as is the scale of individual figures within the groupings. Now you might say, "but its a study!", well …a color study at that size would be based on the final design (see Lot 2) …the negative shape of the street and the subsequent tangent at its apex is just inexcusable.

Dean Cornwell - The City of the Great King - January 1926 Good Housekeeping

At this point 'after Dean Cornwell' seems proper. As in a previous post, lets run the numbers (all estimates in U.S. dollars, USD);

Brangwyn, estimate~  theirs $15,000 - 20,000 …mine $12,000 - 16,000
color study/partial composition/unsigned, Cornwell, estimate~  $1,200 - 3,000
after Cornwell by Inconnu ca1920's, estimate~  $450 - 900  (take it and run)

Lot 2 - Village procession, aka The Road to Damascus, ca1925-26

Listed as by Sir Frank Brangwyn, one would expect better of Christie's (future post there). Though not a Brangwyn, this one fares better as a probable original Cornwell study. Well drawn, well painted, study based on final design so thought can be devoted to pertinent decisions regarding colour-values.

Dean Cornwell - The Road to Damascus - November 1926 Good Housekeeping

We'll go with 'attributed', hell let's go crazy …by Dean Cornwell. The numbers;

1989 numbers
Sir Frank Brangwyn~  $5,141 - 8,568
Dean Cornwell (not signed)~  $500 - 1,800

Lesson learned~ You can ask for more money if you list it as by Brangwyn rather than by Cornwell.

Seven Up, One Down

or: A Small Attempt at Correcting Internet

I have seen the following 7 illustrations/paintings erroneously attributed on Internet. Six were identified as Dean Cornwell's and one to his short time teacher Charles S. Chapman. Hopefully this post will once and forever set the record straight.

title?, Charles E. Chambers

Mead Schaeffer - Grand Canary - 1933 Good Housekeeping

Mead Schaeffer - Head Tide - 1932 Good Housekeeping

Remi and Mattia pause for a moment on their way from Paris to Boulogne, Mead Schaeffer

The Buried Talent, Dan Content - February 1934 Hearst's/Cosmo

The Buried Talent, Dan Content - February 1934 Hearst's/Cosmo

Driftwood, Walt Louderback - July 1929 Hearst's/Cosmo
verso

Driftwood, Walt Louderback - July 1929 Hearst's/Cosmo

addendum ~ Swipe Spot #11

addendum to original post ~ http://taotothetruth.blogspot.com/2010/11/swipe-spot-11.html

So it was a straight copy from an original Chavannes composition!

At the Fountan c1869 Pierre Puvis de Chavannes

Found in the collection of

The particulars-

At the Fountain
about 1869
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, French, 1824–1898
181.6 x 120.0 cm (71 1/2 x 47 1/4 in.)
Oil on canvas

Inscriptions: Lower left: P. Puvis de Chavannes

Classification: Paintings
Type, sub-type: Mythological; Nude

Object is currently not on view

Puvis de Chavannes was widely known for his large-scale murals on classical themes, which decorated public buildings throughout France. He frequently produced smaller-scale "reductions" such as "At the Fountain," which is based on a mural at the museum in Amiens. As a result of his international fame, Puvis was commissioned in 1891 to decorate the main stairwell of the recently completed Boston Public Library in Copley Square.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Robert Dawson Evans Collection, 1917
Accession number: 17.3228

Provenance/Ownership History: Please note: the history of ownership is not definitive or comprehensive, as it is under constant review and revision by MFA curators and researchers.

By 1894, Durand-Ruel, New York; 1895, sold by Durand-Ruel to Mrs. Samuel Dennis Warren (Susan Cornelia Clarke Warren) (b.1825 - d.1901), Boston [see note 1]; January 8, 1903, Warren sale, American Art Galleries, New York, no. 121, to Robert Dawson Evans (b.1843 - d.1909), Boston; 1909, by inheritance to Mrs. Robert Dawson Evans (Maria Antoinette Hunt) (b.1845 - d.1917), Boston; 1917, bequest of Mrs. Evans to the MFA. (Accession date: November 1, 1917)

NOTES:
[1] Lent by Mrs. Warren in 1895 to the MFA for an exhibition featuring the work of Puvis de Chavannes, no. 5.

Swipe Spot #11

or: When is a Brangwyn not a Brangwyn?

 The following Brangwyn is available at auction via Illustration House.

Lot 57  Frank Brangwyn,  nude women at well

The lot entry reads~

Lot 57 Frank Brangwyn 1867-1956

Nude women at well.

Drawing, probably before 1925; 

Charcoal and sepia conté on grey paper, 23 x 18", not signed

Estimate: $1,500 - 2,500

This drawing is probably a study for a mural project.

Provenance - The previous owner was an assistant of Dean Cornwell and acquired it from him.

Condition - Very good overall: some light creases of paper at lower edge; archivally matted and framed in dark wood.

Now, I have discussed the drawing with friends, about certain qualities that make me question whether it  might actually be a Cornwell. By and by, regardless of my doubts (which themselves are doubted), no one can argue that the figures are swiped from, Le repos (1863) by muralist Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898).

Questions: answers I seek, answers I postulate, answers lost in time.
• What is the name of the previous owner (a.k.a. assistant of Dean Cornwell)?
• When the assistant of D.C. sold the drawing, did he attribute it to Brangwyn in order to raise its value?
• Is the composition based entirely upon a Puvis de Chavannes that I am unaware of?  Perhaps a sketch or easel painting.
• What do you know?