Copper

JACK SMITH (1950-) Taos, NM

“10003” 2006

Blackoil, wax, lead salts on copper, ebonized wood frame

For more information on Jack Smith see: “Taos Portraits” by Jack Smith, May 14^th – August 15^th, 2004, exhibition catalogue (Taos, NM: Harwood Museum of Art, University of New Mexico)

Canvas: H: 18” x W: 13 3/16”

Framed: H: 25 1/4” x W: 20 7/16”

Jack Smith was born in 1950. At age 16, he began his training at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan before moving to Ohio to attend Columbus College of Art and Design. He also studied for a brief time at the Instituto de Allende, at San Miguel de Allende, GTO, Mexico. He now resides in New Mexico. Reflecting a profound knowledge of art history and and an alchemist’s sense of the painting craft, contemporary painter Jack Smith has forged his own place amongst the most powerful of contemporary portraitists working in America. Incorporating blackoil, wax, lead salts, and copper Smith’s small format portraits and paintings are detailed and intimate depictions of creative individuals and charged tableaux. Smith’s singular style of portraits glow with a warm inner light and present honest, straightforward images that speak of personal narratives.Jack Smith recently received a prestigious Past Achievement Award from the Peter and Madeleine Martin Foundation for the Creative Arts, following an important solo exhibition titled, Jack Smith: The Taos Portraits at the Harwood Museum of Art at the University of New Mexico in 2004. The exhibition featured fifty portraits of Taos, New Mexico residents, executed between 2000 and 2003. The series was intended as a visual biography of this unique artistic community at the turn of the century. Smith’s subjects range from the famous to the infamous – including artists, writers, art patrons, Native peoples, and street peoples.

Albert Edward Jones (1879-1954)  Birmingham, UK
British Arts & Crafts Movement

Footed box with hinged lid and hasp   1905

Hand wrought and patinated copper with riveted strap work and hasp, inset with 4 cabochons of lapis lazuli, brown leather and wood interior.

This box is a particularly handsome example of British arts & crafts metalwork by the  famous designer / craftsman A.E. Jones.   It retains its original deep, rich chocolate brown patina with the contrasting cobalt blue large round bezel-set cabochons of lapis lazuli.

H: 2 1/2″ x D: 4 3/4″ x W: 6 1/2″

HAYNO FOCKEN (1905-1968) Germany

Round covered box c. 1935

Hand-wrought and hand-hammered copper with brass details

Marks under the foot: HF (conjoined monogram)

For other works by Hayno Focken see: Metallkunst: Vom Jugendstil zur Moderne (1889-1939), ed. Karl H. Bröhan (Berlin: Bröhan Museum, 1990), illus. 177, p. 183; Avantgarde Design 1880=1930,Torsten Bröhan & Thomas Berg (Köln, Benedict Taschen, 1994) p. 116; , (Berlin 1937) S. 43f, Abb. 37, Abb. S 128, S 146, Sl 243; Die Schaulade 15 Ausg. A (1939) Abb. S. 197, S. 204, S. 213; Die Schaulade 16 Ausg. A (1940) Abb. S. 44, S. 51., S. 54, S. 71, S. 83. S. 89; Die Kunst 84 (1941) S. 136, S. 139-39; Die Schaulade 17 (1941) Abb. S. 13, S. 41, S. 82, S. 229;

H: 4 ¼” x Dia: 4 7/8”

Hayno Focken (1905-1968) was an eminent German metal artist. He completed his training under Professor Karl Müller (1888-1972) at the design and arts school on Giebichenstein Castle in Halle (Saale), which was strongly tied to the ideals of the Deutsche Werkbund and the Bauhaus. In 1932 he established his own workshop in Lahr/Schwarzwald and continued his work until shortly before his death. His artistic work always stood out with a strong preference for large, organic forms, a similar manner of surface design and the same adherence to the principle of handicraft. Even his artist signet was modelled on the simple, square castle mark. In the 1950s he became one of those significant artists who had a major impact on contemporary metal design. The foundation of his creative work was a masterful understanding of proportions.