Artwork of Women

Since college I have collected artwork of women, not necessarily by women. Most of the artists are men. I did not plan to start a collection but realized that I had a collection once I had several pieces and decided that I wanted to keep adding to it. Currently, most of the pieces reside in the main bedroom, but we are quickly running out of space for them. I am going to have to start rotating my artwork. I apologize for the poor quality of the photographs. The do not do justice to the beautiful artwork.

The first woman that I had on my walls was in an Anne Geddes photograph. I fell in love with Geddes’ work when I was in college and saw a book of her photographs in my grandfather’s photography studio. I bought a calendar of black and white pictures, and when the year was done, I did not want to take it down. I decided to frame some of my favorite pictures. I bought the frames with mats at Target. This was one of them. The others are photos of babies, children and a man. They have been hanging in all of my dwellings in different rooms since 1996. They are currently in the bathroom.

The first piece of art that I bought was in 2002. I fell in love with this giclee by the Georgian artist Avtandil Makharoblidze. I was not able to find an official website, but you can read about him and  view some of his work here. If you do not know what a giclee is you can find a definition on wikipedia. I first saw the giclee in a gallery in Chicago. It was priced at $1400. The manager of the gallery insisted that I take it home for the weekend although I professed that it was way too expensive for me to buy. Over the weekend, I did some research because I had no idea at the time what a giclee was or who the artist was. I found a giclee of the same painting at an online gallery for $700. I told the manager this when I returned the piece to the gallery, and she said that she would match that price. I decided to buy it. It is by far the most expensive piece of artwork that I have purchased, but I was so touched by the sensuality of it. I had it in my living room when I lived in Lake Forest, Illinois. It is now in the bedroom.

Shortly after buying the giclee, I found these two prints at Target. They are prints of paintings by the artist Bill Brauer. They were fairly inexpensive as you can imagine since I bought them at Target, but they are in beautiful wood frames.

As soon as I saw them, I had to buy them because I knew that they would go well with the piece by Avtandil. Since then, they have always hung alongside that work.

I do not have a picture of the next piece I bought because it is in a box at my mother’s house. I have wanted to get it for a while, but I never remember while I am there. It is a watercolor of native women that I bought on the streets of Panama City in 2003. I had it matted and framed at the Blue Door Gallery in Riverhead. Sandi the owner is great. She also framed the next piece for me.

This watercolor was purchased on the street of Firenze (or Florence as it is known in English). The artist was asking sixty Euros for it, but I only had $70 on me at the time. She ended up selling it to me at that price unframed. I felt badly because I did not want her to think that I did not believe that her work was worth that amount, but that was all the money that I had on me at the time. I wish that I had gotten her name. Her paintings are beautiful. You can see her signature in the photo on the right. Please, let me know if you recognize this work or the signature.

I bought this oil painting at the hotel I stayed in for my sister’s wedding in Jamaica. I convinced several people that it is a painting of me when I got home, but alas I do not know who the model is. The artist signed the painting “Jamaica G. Graham 2004.” I was not able to find him online.

This print is one that I bought in Korea in 2009. I bought it at a gallery, and I do not know the artist. Here is the signature. If you have any information about this work, please let me know.

In 2011, I had the opportunity to go to Senegal where I bought this sand painting on the Île de Gorée. I do not know the artist’s name, but here is a picture of him and a picture of a sand painting.I asked him to sign the back, but he only wrote “Goree 2011.” He let us watch him make a piece, and it is an impressive technique. Here you can watch a video of the process on YouTube.

When I was in high school, I studied abroad with the program AFS in Venezuela. The family that I lived with truly became my family, and I visit them frequently. My “uncle” in Venezuela, Aníbal Guerra, is a gifted artist, although he refuses to sell any of his paintings. He has had his work exhibited in Venezuela. Below, is a picture of me with him and his family at their home on New Year’s Eve 2006. You can see several of his paintings on the walls.

His son, my cousin Alejandro, did a reading at my wedding in June. He knows that I have always loved his father’s paintings, and with Tío Aníbal’s permission, he gave me these three prints as a wedding present. I am thrilled to have them in my bedroom. The one on the right is my favorite of these three. These prints are great, but someday I hope to own one of his paintings as well.

My sister gave me this print shellacked onto wood for my birthday this year. She bought it at a garage sale. I believe that it is one of Renoir‘s famous bathers, but I am not positive. I love it, and it is now in my bathroom.

My most recent acquisitions were also gifts. The artist is a friend of mine, Thomas Chin. When he learned that I collected paintings of women, he gave me five of his paintings. I am overwhelmed by his generosity. I have yet to hang all of them. The  painting with the blue background is in my classroom. I think that it colors go well with the Spanish theme as does the flower in the woman’s hair.

This one is my favorite.

The last piece that I am going to talk about I made myself. It is a mug that I made for Douglas a couple of years ago. When his friend Douglas “Junior” saw it he was shocked that I allowed Douglas to keep it. His reply was, “I would hope that she would allow me to keep it. She made it for me.”

Thus, concludes my collection as of September 2012. I am sure that it will continue to grow over the years. However, I am going to have to get a bigger house so I can fit all of them in!

Happy Homemaking!