J-10 is an exciting example not only of Haku Maki’s depiction of Chinese characters but also his use of a hard gold-edged board (instead of simple single or multiple sheets of paper). In the last year of Maki’s life, Daniel Tretiak tells us, he was ill but continued to work. He did lithographs on shikishi board, which was a hard board covered in white rice paper. The back was yellow with a small design in gold and the whole board is gold-edged. These words apply to J-10 as well...

Large original oil painting on canvas by Ilona Royce Smithkin (USA, born in Poland, 1910-2021). Signed LR "Ilona R S". Marked ASL verso. Probably painted at the ASL where she studied in the forties with Robert Brackman. One of two works by this artist currently available. 32" by 44" in its original frame.

Haku Maki tried to work until he died; the last images were not pretty. They were printed first on very thin paper, which was then “wrapped” around heavy shikishi board. They are lithographs not done from wood blocks. From the late 1980s Maki had stopped doing embossed prints turning instead to collages and lithographed prints. These are among his last prints: Kyowa brand Shikishi board is made in Japan...

"Vermont Summer" oil on artist board 20" x 24" Born in Malnate, Italy, in 1900, Luigi Lucioni became one of America's well-known landscape and still life painters. Lucioni immigrated to North Bergen, New Jersey with his family in 1911. In 1915 he won a competition which allowed him to attend Cooper Union, and he began studying there with William Starkweather...

CAT

Pure and heartwarming Japanese wood carving cat okimono, with the sign of its artist's name and the year of make (1992) when he was 74 years old. H 15.5 x 34 x 14cm (6.10 x 13.38 x 5.51in)...

Interesting and unusual print by a so far unidentified artist, 10 1/4" by 8" inside the mat, 15" by 12 1/2" simply framed, the subject a white-haired fiddler seated in a chair. The Mark Twain-appearing man vaguely resembles figures you've seen in prints by Thomas Hart Benton, and the print REALLY resembles a work by artist Eric Bransby (born 1916), recently recognized with an exhibition at a well-known Denver gallery...

An impressive very modern, complex watercolor and gouache painting on paper, 14 3/4" by 20" inside the mat, 26 1/4" by 30 3/4" in gold framing, signed at lower right by the noted artist JACOB LANDAU (1917-2001). The top portion of the piece contains words or word fragments, such as "WHAT NEXT" and "BIG"; lower portion seems to be a grouping of human faces and figures, some distorted, one appearing to beat a drum; perhaps this is a demonstration for a cause...

Large charcoal and white gouache on heavy paper drawing, 50" by 32 1/2", (54 1/2" by 37" framed), signed at lower left, and bearing on reverse writing and original label from exhibition at the prestigious Salon des Independants, Paris, 1969. The work is by Russian-born, French artist GENIA HADJI-MINACHE (1907-1972). The auction record does not seem to show a comparable work by the artist, who was known for her book illustrations. She was born in St...

A beautiful signed in pencil and numbered hand colored lithograph by Bernard Buffet measures 26”x17” Toreador number 100 of an edition of 150, Frame size 41x32 inches Bernard Buffet 10 July 1928 – 4 October 1999) was a French painter, printmaker, and sculptor . He produced a varied and extensive body of work. His style was exclusively figurative...

Oil on canvas painting, unsigned, featuring a cluster of green grapes and apples, a woven basket at upper left, 8 1/4" by 11 1/4", 13 1/2" by 16 1/2" in modern day quality reproduction frame, circa 1880's. The canvas stencil on reverse is of Reeves & Sons, 113 Cheapside, London (the well-known art supplies firm moved to that address in 1857 and remained there until 1890). When acquired this work had attached a modern handwritten note with "Lisa Statt Sterling/1800's"...

Additional Photos #1 for Fautrier's Portfolio Book

A fine miniature painting done with watercolors on natural material. The sitter is dressed in a diaphanous white gown edged in pale blue at the bodice, with a similar scarf trailing from her towering hair style.

The reverse of the portrait deserves special mention as it depicts a sheaf of wheat done with meticulous hairwork, cinched with a gold band and set against a mother of pearl background. Wheat was often used to symbolize immortality and resurrection...

British Artist John Haynes-Williams 1836-1908 “Sunday in Seville" 40x30” framed in a beautiful gilded frame measuring 56”x46”. Born in Worcester England and studied in Birmingham and later moved to a London studio

Gouache, ink and pencil on thin board snow scene, probably in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, measuring 4 3/4" by 5 3/4" (12" by 13" as framed) signed at lower right by noted California artist FRANK WILLIAM CUPRIEN (1871-1948)...

This note discusses Haku Maki's Poem 70–14. Poem from the Manyoshu, and the sources of the kanji he used to create the print. The note was written in August 2019 by Robert Craft.

By the internationally acclaimed (male) artist Shirl Goedike (born 1923) is this impressive fine watercolor painting of a sun-washed large classic estate mansion, likely in southern France, (conceivably, in Southern California), signed at lower left by the artist and dated 1991. The piece measures 20 1/2" by 28 1/2" inside the mat and 28 1/4" by 35 1/2" as framed. I have not opened the backing to determine a title or firmly establish the geography of the subject...

PAIR OF signed ink drawings with pencil underneath, each 7 1/2" by 6 1/2" and 13 1/2" by 11 1/2" as identically framed, the subjects famous clipper ships of the 19th century "Gamecock" and "Cutty Sark", each bearing a signature at lower right that could be interpreted as a "G" inside a square. Found in Maine, and said to have come from a Kennebunkport home, the artist who created the drawings might remain a mystery...

This note concerns Poem 70-38, a rarely seen Big Red. NOTE: Daniel Tretiak created the term Big Reds for Haku Maki's large works centered on large kanji in red, usually on a black background and often done in broad strokes. Large ones in blue or yellow or green came to be termed Big Blues, Big Yellows, Big Greens, and so forth.