A Touch of Spring

Spring is rapidly approaching and this big, bold, and beautiful limited edition artwork featuring a lovely lady carrying an enormous colorful bouquet of full festive flowers certainly speaks of the coming season.  

 Entitled "Laura's Bouquet," this impressive piece is signed in pencil by the artist Barbara A. Wood and is numbered 58 out of a limited edition of 250. 

Born in 1926 in Ohio, Barbara A. Wood studied at the Art Students’ League in New York. After she married and moved to California, she enrolled in the postgraduate studies at the Otis Art Institute and the Pasadena School of Fine Arts. Wood is known for her modernist portraits, typically of women. Her stylized figures and bold use of colors recall artists such as Matisse and Marc Chagall. Wood's work has been shown worldwide and is part of many private collections. Her art is found among the collections of many famous figures, including George H. W. Bush, Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Seymour, Ron Howard, Dick Van Dyke, Dennis Weaver, Art Linkletter, and Jerry Lewis.

All posted items are for sale at Next-to-New, but things can sell quickly!

15706-3

Vivat Regina!

Barbie by Mattel originally was meant to portray the all-American teenager, but over the years Barbie has had multiple careers and appeared in many roles. Our trove now has some true Barbie treasures, Barbie as European royalty, dressed in historically accurate and sumptuous costumes. These dolls are part of Mattel's Gold Label limited edition series, "Women of Royalty." This suitably majestic Barbie represents Queen Elizabeth I.

The elaborate costume was clearly inspired by the famous 1592 portrait of "Good Queen Bess" by Flemish artist Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger.

The resemblance to the portrait, including the detailed jewelry, is remarkable.

This limited edition doll was issued in 2004 and appears never to have been removed from from her original display box.

Here Barbie appears as the Empress Josephine, the consort of Napoleon, in her coronation robes. The elaborate gold embroidery includes tiny gleaming bees. The golden bee was long associated with French royalty and Napoleon chose it to represent his status as emperor and as a symbol of his legitimacy as the ruler of France

Her opulent outfit closely copies that worn by Josephine in Jaques-Louis David's 1807 painting, "The Coronation of Napoleon."

Issued in 2005 in a limited edition of 4,500, this doll is still in her original box and does not appear to have ever been removed.

does 

All posted items are for sale at Next-to-New, but things can sell quickly!

3-1858, 3-1859

 

Piety in Porcelain

In Christian iconography, a pietà (the pity) depicts the Virgin Mary cradling the the body of her son, Jesus following his crucifixion.  This solemn and moving interpretation is by the famed Spanish porcelain company, Lladró.  Designed by Sculptor Salvador Furiã and entitled "Piedad" (Piety), this poignant porcelain figurine (model number 5541) was issued in a limited edition of 1,000 in 1989 and retired in 1991.  It sits on its original wooden base and carries the company's mark. 

A closeup of the exquisitely modeled and expressive faces.

Lladró was founded in 1953 by three brothers, Juán, José, and Vicente Lladró.  Encouraged by their mother, the brothers were educated at the Valencia School of Arts and Crafts, where they studied sculpture and painting. They first began with a kiln they built at their parents' home, producing ceramic flowers and decorative items for sale in the local market and by 1956 the brothers began creating the sculptural figurines for which Lladró  has become world famous.  After expanding their workshop several times to meet growing demand for their porcelains, the brothers in 1958 relocated to a factory in Tavernes Blanques, where Lladró still resides today.

All posted items are for sale at Next-to-New, but things can sell quickly!

15004-47

Howdy Comrade!

This unusual and unique poster is an extraordinary Austin artifact.  It commemorates the 1987 Texas–U.S.S.R. Musicians' Exchange, a cultural exchange tour of the Soviet Union featuring a group of Texas musicians, including Butch Hancock, Bobby Bridger, and Bobby Mack.  The Texans performed with local musicians and met with artists and audiences in Leningrad, Moscow, and Kiev.

This poster was designed by Nels "Jagmo" Jacobson, who also helped organize the tour, and was printed by Bee-Bop Printing.  The silk-screened posters were printed in a limited number series of 100 and were used to publicize the tour or were given away during the exchange.  Jagmo, who moved to Austin in 1978, has been an important figure in the Austin art and music scene, designing posters for live-music venues such as Liberty Lunch and for performers such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Ramones, Willie Nelson, and Jerry Jeff Walker. He was the original art director for South by Southwest, a founding director of the American Poster Institute and the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture, and is a board member of The Rock Poster Society. The Art of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion by Paul Grushkin and Dennis King pictures the 1987 exchange poster and includes a short biography of Jagmo.  This poster is numbered in pencil 34 out of 100.

It also appears to have been signed by Jagmo in pencil.

This poster is the perfect confluence of history (both local and international), art, and music, capturing in striking graphics a specific period of Austin's past.  If you are a fan of the Austin music scene, a local history buff, or a collector of contemporary posters (or especially all three) this poster awaits you at Next-to-New.