1957 Milton Resnick Abstract Oil
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GUEST:
My father used to travel on business in New York in the 1950s and 1960s. And he was a very good amateur artist. So after he'd do his business, he'd go down to Greenwich Village, and he'd hang out with the artists in those days-- de Kooning, Kline, Resnick, who did this painting, and many others. And he did this for years, and he'd go up to their studios, look at what they were doing...
APPRAISER:
Wow.
GUEST:
...often buy one or two paintings from them, usually for not much more than the cost of the canvas.
APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.
GUEST:
He ended up with quite a collection. We inherited a few of the items, including this one. This particular one, when the members of the family were looking at it with us, some of them said, "Oh, that's not worth anything. "Why don't we give it away to a home for the elderly or Goodwill or something?"
APPRAISER:
(laughs)
GUEST:
We said, "No, we think we'll take that." And we did, and we've had it ever since.
APPRAISER:
Now, did you ever travel with your father to New York?
GUEST:
Yeah, sure. I was with him. Now, at that time, he was in his 60s, I was in my late 20s. After a day of business and calling on customers, we'd go do that, and we'd run till midnight. And the next day we'd be up at 7:00 in the morning. And after two or three days, I could barely keep up with him, and he was still doing it.
APPRAISER:
Yep. Oh, that's great. Well, this is a terrific picture that you brought. Milton Resnick is an interesting artist in that he has two important periods. He was part of the abstract expressionist movement. He had come over to America from Russia when he was five years old. And he enjoyed fine art, but his father was very much against him pursuing an art career. So they let him do a commercial art career through the Pratt Institute. And the teachers there immediately said, "No, you're a fine artist. You need to study more." His father forbid it. So he left home at 17, moved out. In the '50s he was doing abstract expressionist works, and that was sort of his first period. Then in the '70s and '80s his style changed a lot. It became very muted in terms of the palette, and created sort of a mottled, subtle sort of texture, very different from this sort of piece. Now, each of the two periods has very different appeal in the current market. Now, the question is, is this the good period or the less desirable period? Do you happen to know?
GUEST:
No, I don't.
APPRAISER:
It's the good period.
GUEST:
Oh, that's good.
APPRAISER:
It's the period you want to see. He was part of that first generation of abstract expressionists, and he was the last one to survive. He actually didn't pass away until 2004. So this is a great example of his work-- very colorful, very animated in terms of the brushstroke. This is an oil executed on canvas. And although it's a relatively small picture for him, it has a fair amount of value. At auction, you could expect this to fetch between $15,000 and $25,000.
GUEST:
Well, that's great.
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