Grigory Gluckmann "Porta Carta" Oil, ca. 1950
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GUEST:
I brought this painting by Grigory Gluckmann. About ten years ago, I bought it at a estate auction. I thought it was a beautiful painting. I didn't know anything at all about it, but it was intriguing.
APPRAISER:
And do you remember what you paid at the estate sale?
GUEST:
I'm not exactly sure, but it was probably be, somewhere between $500 and $750. And I looked up the, this guy on the internet, and I found lots of examples of his work. But most of the pieces that I saw on the internet didn't look anything at all like this. So I wasn't sure if this is an actual Gluckmann painting or not. A lot of his paintings have, like, ballet dancers or nudes, voluptuous women. And this is, it's kind of a macabre painting where it's dark, it's kind of dank, and you don't know exactly what's happening in the painting.
APPRAISER:
So it is a painting by Grigory Gluckmann. He was a Russian artist. He studied in Moscow, and he escaped the Russian Revolution and moved to Berlin. He showed at many important galleries in Paris. And in 1945, he moved to Los Angeles. I would estimate that the date of this painting is circa 1950. Now, there's a few ways that we know that this painting is an authentic Grigory Gluckmann painting.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
One of those ways is the Los Angeles connection.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
There is a label on the back...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...from Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, which was the most prestigious gallery in Los Angeles during the time that he moved there. It sold artists like Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. And all the Hollywood celebrities went there to buy art. And that's really how he became popular in America. And we have the authentic label from that gallery of the price tag of $1,500.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
The other way that we know this is an authentic Gluckmann painting is because of the style. So, you mentioned that you saw some different subjects by this artist. And he really is known for painting ballerinas and women. That sort of thing is sort of quintessential Gluckmann. However, the technique used here in this painting is just like his paintings of ballerinas. He took the techniques he learned in Moscow and continued to use them. He painted on board. He painted in very thin layers, which took a lot of time to produce. And that effect was really to make the paintings look soft and kind of moody, which is exactly what we have here. It's just that it's a different subject.
GUEST:
Did he do most of his paintings oil on board?
APPRAISER:
Yes. So we do have a signature, "Gluckmann," in the lower left. But the real signature here is the style of the painting.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Today at auction, we would estimate this painting at $8,000 to $12,000.
GUEST:
That's wonderful. That's what... It's a good investment. (chuckles)
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