Ever wonder what your personal ‘object’ style is?
For 30 years I’ve visited people’s home environments, and I can tell their ‘material psychology’ by observing their home. Not only that, I can suss out a person’s attachment style …
Portable Typewriter with a Colorful Past
Mechanically minded people, like NS, who collects typewriters, are inclined to the human scale. The typewriter is one of the first machines that allowed for a direct contact between one’s …
Israeli Painting with a Rich History
E.D. from the LA area sends me a photo of this paintings by Charuvi Schmuel (1897-1965) from the 1920’s, of what I believe is an image of Kinneret, an archaeological …
Unmasking the value of a traditional Japanese art form
BR sends me two Japanese masks that she picked up outside of a theater in Kyoto in the 1960’s. She wonders where they fit in with the history of traditional …
How did a Santa Barbara celebrity artist come to paint the Hudson?
L.S. owns this painting of ships on the Hudson in Upstate New York by a local artist of the late 19th to early 20th century, DeWitt Parshall, NA (1864-1956), at …
Couple’s quarrel: Get rid of this mask!
ES sends me a Sepik River mask – very large – from Papua New Guinea. This mask is causing trouble in her marriage, she writes me. Her partner jumped on …
Rembrandt prints: The value may shock you
T.M. has two etchings on paper mounted on a sheet. The bottom of one reads “The Schoolmaster Nr. 190 — 1641 — B.128” and the other reads “Cornelis Claesz Anslo …
The history of Southwest style: From Santa Fe to Jersey?!
M.P. phoned the Appraisers Association of America in New York City, of which I am a member. She asked for advice on a piece and they directed her to call …
Preserving history: Photographer donates collection to university
You’re an artist. What will become of your work? As you reach maturity, where will your work be housed so that it can be seen? What does “legacy” entail? I …
IKEA wasn’t the only one hocking affordable Scandinavian furniture in the day
It’s 1956 and your mom and dad are shopping for furniture. They’ve recently been to New York to see the 1954 exhibition “Design in Scandinavia,” curated by Canadian designer John …