From Toy Box to Art Gallery

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By Norman Fine

What happens when a noted photographer stumbles across a set of vintage (1930s) British cast lead toy figures of foxhunters and hounds? Award-winning photographer/author/film maker Robert Trachtenberg was captivated by the various poses and old patina on the figures. He placed them into scaled-down landscapes, illuminated them romantically, and produced a suite of seven photographs titled "The Fox Hunt" which are on display at Fuller + Roberts Co., a furniture and decorative arts gallery in the heart of the La Cienega Design Quarter in Los Angeles, California.

I remember having a set of lead toy soldiers as a child, but I relish imagining these figures being unwrapped by a child near the Christmas tree in an English country house many years ago. Trachtenberg's photographs are charming, and we thought you might enjoy seeing the products of this creative man’s imagination. Click for more images and Christopher Harrity's article in Advocate.com.

Posted May 11, 2013

Inaugural Sporting Art Auction

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Art

By Norman Fine

Over the Ditch by Sir Alfred MunningsPut the expertise of the world’s largest Thoroughbred auction house—Keeneland—together with Gregg Ladd's premier gallery of sporting art—Cross Gate—both located in Lexington, Kentucky, and you get what should turn out to be an exceedingly important auction of sporting art. This inaugural Sporting Art Auction will take place on Wednesday, November 20, 2013 at 4:00 p.m.

To be sold are 174 lots, both paintings and sculptures. The focus is on sporting art by nineteenth and twentieth century American and British artists—realists and impressionists—such as Sir John Frederick Herring, Sir Alfred Munnings,  John Emms, Pierre Jules Mene, John Skeaping, Lionel Edwards, Edward Troye, Franklin Voss, Peter Curling, Peter Biegel, Michael Lyne, three generations of Wyeths (N.C., Andrew, and Jamie), Mary Cassatt, and Andre Pater.

Foxhunting Museum Gallery Open for Holiday Shopping in Middleburg

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By Norman Fine

Scurry of the Orange County Hunt by Jean Bowman
A satellite gallery of the Museum of Hounds and Hunting at Morven Park is open in Middleburg for art-minded Christmas shoppers. Sporting art—original paintings, signed prints, and sculptures by contemporary American artists are for sale at prices ranging from $385.00 to $9,600.00 with all sales benefitting the Museum.

Modestly priced items—books, calendars, note cards, and sporting novelties—are also available. Whether or not you are ready to shop, it’s worth a stop if only to see what today’s talented, contemporary artists are producing and to learn more about the Museum, its permanent exhibits, and its programs.

One of the surprising items for sale is the limited edition print of the late Jean Bowman’s brilliant 1989 Scurry of the Orange County Hounds. Four of these prints were recently found safely in storage, Jean Bowman having been a member of the Museum Advisory Committee and a generous supporter. Two of the prints are signed by Ms. Bowman, and the price is still a very reasonable $385.00. The prints come with a key identifying the figures, among them James L. Young, MFH; Governor Bruce Sundlin; Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis; the Hon. Charles Whitehouse; Senator John Warner; Melvin Poe, huntsman; the artist herself; and sixty-six other notable members.

Other artists represented in the benefit sale include Anita Baarns, Cynthia Benitz, Jean Clagett, Mary Coker, Mary Cornish, Teresa Duke, Sandra Forbush, Juli Kirk, Nancy Kleck, Gail Guirrei Maslyk, Alice Porter, Belinda Sillars, Dana Lee Thompson, and Cathy Zimmerman.

The Foxhounds of John Emms

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Art

By Norman Fine

Foxhounds and Terrier / painting by John Emms

A major exhibit and sale of paintings by John Emms (1843–1912) will be mounted by the William Secord Gallery in New York City from February 8 to March 15, 2014. This will be the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of Emms’ work and is timed to coincide with this year’s Westminster Dog Show. More than fifty paintings of foxhounds, terriers, spaniels, and other sporting breeds are included. Foxhunters visiting New York during the MFHA Annual Meeting week are invited to visit the Gallery for a preview of the entire exhibit.

Born the son of an amateur artist in Norfolk, England, the young Emms moved to London where he apprenticed with the great academic painter, Lord Frederick Leighton. Emms soon went on his own, painting images that capture the beauty of English country life. An avid foxhunter, Emms maintained studios in London and in the New Forest area of England.