1999 Donald Baechler Salzburg #11 Drawing
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GUEST:
So I brought along this paper, ink, and tea drawing, uh, that I found at a thrift store in Florence, South Carolina. I paid two dollars. I believe it's by Donald Baechler, only because there's a lovely sign on the back, but I don't know anything about him. I know he's modern and that's about it. I thought, well, it, it's an interesting piece. I think it will, people will talk about it, so for two dollars, that's worthwhile.
APPRAISER:
Is there something about it that appealed to you or...?
GUEST:
Yeah, so, um, both my husband and I are in psychology, and so, uh, the faces, the different emotions on the faces, it felt like a pretty easy office piece for either of us. (chuckles) A little reminiscent of "The Scream" with the, the faces here on the left. So I thought perhaps it was worthwhile.
APPRAISER:
And have you had it for a long time?
GUEST:
No, no, I actually bought it only about six or eight weeks ago, so it's, it's very new to our home.
APPRAISER:
Okay. So the artist is Donald Baechler, as you mentioned. Uh, he was born in 1956 in Hartford, Connecticut. So he's a contemporary American artist. Um, he actually got interested in art because he was a janitor at a museum.
GUEST:
Oh.
(both laugh)
APPRAISER:
So he would, he would clean the floors at night and look at the art and kind of thought, well, this is maybe what I'm more interested in doing. So he went to art school, he earned a BFA and an MFA, and he got really interested in German art. So he spent a lot of time in Germany. Um, he was particularly interested in the German Expressionists, and so he studied that a lot. He came back to New York in 1980 and became a really vibrant part of the East Village art scene. Baechler kind of gravitated more towards what we call Neo-Expressionism. So it was a reaction, in a way, against the minimal art that was the trend, and he wanted to get back to putting representational things into his art. So here in this example, we have faces, caricatures. So it wasn't too serious most of the time.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Um, but he did experiment with different media. This work is made from tea and ink.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
So he kind of stained the paper with tea. That's where the color comes from, and it adds a nice dynamic surface for the, the black ink faces to be painted then on top of. What I like about his work is, it's not too serious, and it can be playful. He is really on the forefront of the contemporary art world's hearts and minds right now. He suddenly passed away, unfortunately, about a month ago.
GUEST:
Oh, my gosh.
APPRAISER:
In April of 2022.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
So it's, it's quite new and fresh, and, and everyone's really kind of been just paying a lot of attention to his work and his life and, and the role that he played. He I don't think has anything probably that's worth two dollars.
GUEST:
(laughing)
APPRAISER:
Because he's quite collectible in the contemporary art world. Uh, if we were estimating this work at auction, we would estimate it at $3,000 to $5,000.
GUEST:
Oh, wow. (laughs) That is, that is quite impressive for a two-dollar investment, I have to say. (laughing)
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