Into Antiques?

On ebay you'll find over 100 categories covering the Medieval and Renaissance periods, through Georgian, Regency and Victorian, to Edwardian, Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

Antique Dealers in California

Linda Stamberger

Linda Stamberger, author of "Antiquing In Florida", is a Florida expert and freelance writer of many genres. Visit this site to read her articles - some of which are available for purchase - as is her book.


Brooks Novelty Antiques and Records

Brooks Novelty is an all-vinyl record store. We specialize in: jukeboxes, vintage soda machines, antique slot machines, pin balls, arcade games, neon clocks and signs, rare concert posters, old advertising signs and much more!


The Antique Company

Established in the late 1900's, we occupy a huge corner building with a small garden area that leads to another 1000 sq foot store (called TAC) that contains our Mid Century collection.


Vintage Westclox

Westclox photo identification gallery and history and information of clocks, watches and other timepieces. This site primarily displays American clocks made by Westclox that were made from the early 1900's up to about the 1960's.


Antique Appraisals On-Line

We are one of the country's largest, oldest, most qualified and respected appraisal services. The majority of our appraisals are estate and personal property evaluations for valuation documentation purposes. However, we have evaluated goods and personal property for natural disaster losses (hurricanes), theft, fire, freight and shipping damage after the loss has occurred.


Connoisseur Antiques

Featuring fine antique furniture, Connoisseur Antiques is a Los Angeles Antique Furniture Showroom specializing in antique clocks and mirrors, European and French antiques, Antique Lighting, Chandeliers, Sconces, Armoires and much more.


Liz's Antique Hardware

Antique Hardware is the backbone of our business. We offer a complete selection of door, window and furniture hardware, lighting and accessories circa 1890 to 1970.


San Francisco Antique and Design Mall

San Francisco Antique and Design Mall is the largest antique mall in northern California. We opened our doors in October 1997 with 75 dealers and today we have over 200 of San Francisco's most professional antique specialists.


Ambiance Antiques

Importer of 18th and 19th Century French Antiques


C'est La Vie Antiques

European Antique and Accessories in San Diego, CA.


Lang Antiques

We carry a large selection of fine antique jewelry, antique rings & antique engagement rings. We also have vintage estate jewelry, vintage estate rings & vintage estate engagement rings from the Victorian, Art Nouveau, Edwardian & Art Deco style periods.


Once in a Blue Moon Online Thrift Store

We are an online thrift store featuring new, used, and unusual items.


Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Unique Chinese art trove boosts Hong Kong art hub dream - Reuters UK

Unique Chinese art trove boosts Hong Kong art hub dream - Reuters UK

HONG KONG | Tue Jun 12, 2012 2:44pm BST

HONG KONG (Reuters) - One of the world's pre-eminent collections of Chinese contemporary art was bequeathed to Hong Kong on Tuesday by a Swiss collector, a move that could transform the city's troubled bid to realise a new, world class cultural and arts hub.

No ordinary collection and amassed over three decades by visionary Swiss businessman, Uli Sigg, 66, this definitive assemblage of some 1500 works spans China's watershed and tumultuous recent decades of modernisation, and is conservatively estimated to be worth $167 million.

In a surprise move after years of hard negotiations with several cities around the world, Sigg chose to donate the bulk of his unique collection to an as-yet-unbuilt Hong Kong visual culture museum, Museum Plus (M+).

Emotional Hong Kong art administrators and leaders praised Sigg's "historically" significant art bequest, that would catalyse what has been a long-delayed and troubled dream to realise a leafy, 40-hectare cluster of modernist buildings, museums and theatres on the edge of Victoria harbour.

"It will enable use to strengthen our position as the cultural hub in Asia," said Stephen Lam, Hong Kong's chief secretary and number two official.

Long known as one of the world's most capitalist financial hubs on the south China coast, the former British colony has struggled to evolve a more vibrant and diversified arts scene to match its self-proclaimed stature as Asia's world city.

But as other major regions in Asia compete fiercely for higher-end cultural and arts based tourism including China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore, Sigg's endowment could help galvanise Hong Kong's current strengths which include a major art fair, as well as its booming art and wine auction markets, buoyed by a wave of mainland Chinese millionaires.

One major problem for Hong Kong, before Sigg's gift, had been a struggle to find quality artwork to fill the proposed cluster of museums, exhibitions and performance venues, particularly given the rapidly rising cost of Chinese artwork.

"It would be impossible to now build a collection similar in depth, scope and quality," said Lars Nittve, a former Tate Modern director now spearheading the M+ project who sees it becoming the next Guggenheim Bilbao or Tate Modern; a "game-changing" art space with global appeal.

Sigg said his decision was motivated by a desire to freely showcase what has been called an "encyclopaedic" collection of sometimes edgy and subversive artworks from 350 of China's leading contemporary artists including activist Ai Weiwei, in a city where freedom of expression is more fully enshrined than on mainland China where sensitive art is still heavily censored.

"My expectation is that these limitations (in China) do not exist in this way in Hong Kong," said Sigg, who was also considering donating his works to other Chinese cities and those in Europe. "To me it's very important that a Chinese public can ultimately get access to these works. (There are) still limitations that exist in mainland China for that."

Under the deal, Sigg, a former Swiss ambassador in Beijing, will donate most of his collection, while 47 pieces will be acquired by the M+ for HK$177 million.

His works include those from China's stable of increasingly prominent art luminaries Zhang Xiaogang, Wang Guangyi. On display at the announcement was a brusque wood carving by Wang Keping of a head with a chained neck and muzzled mouth from the 70s.

An architectural design competition for M+ is slated later this year with the artspace expected to open in 2017. Hong Kong authorities have approved HK$21.6 billion ($2.78 billion) in endowments for the West Kowloon Cultural District with a vision of making Hong Kong "an integrated arts and cultural district with world-class arts and cultural facilities".

(Editing by Paul Casciato)


Source: uk.reuters.com

Inside Chris Brown’s Hot NYC Charity Art Show - Hollywood Life (blog)

Chris showed off his amazing artwork with artist Ron English in NYC! Read on for EXCLUSIVE details on Chris’ art-filled affair, paintings, philanthropy and more!

Chris Brown threw a party with girlfriend Karrueche Tran by his side to celebrate his artwork and raise money for a charity that’s dear to his heart.

The talented 23-year-old debuted his first collection of paintings on June 11, as well as a collection of tiny astronaut toys. Chris partnered with Ron English to design the collectibles called Dum EnglishHollywoodLife.com caught up with Ron who worked closely with Chris to discuss their electrifying pairing.

“I didn’t even know who he [Chris] was,” Ron told HollywoodLife.com, laughing over blaring music at NYC’s Opera Gallery. “I downloaded some Bobby Brown songs and my wife was like ‘that’s a different guy.’”

However, Chris had long admired Ron. In fact, he has three tattoos of Ron’s artwork on his body.

“It’s more of a compliment than buying,” Ron told us about Chris’ tattoos.

Chris set a goal to collaborate with Ron and easily achieved it. Together they launched Dum English – a limited edition of toy astronauts. However, despite how cute their trinkets look at first glance, Chris and Ron had a darker meaning behind the space creatures. In a way, the astronaut represented Chris’ rise to fame. The journey can be thrilling, yet isolating.

“There’s a dark side to fame. It’s a lonely thing,” Ron said.

Aside from Chris and Ron showing off the Buzz Lightyear look-alikes, Chris displayed his own personal paintings. Chris’ work — which included comical names like “Chompuzz” and  ”Too Many Partie” — were graffiti-inspired canvasses.

However, the most personal part of the evening for Chris was the way his artwork meshed with his charity, Symphonic Love. Any proceeds from Chris’ paintings  – which sold from $2,500 – $10,000 — were donated to the charity which supports artistic development in children.

Chris definitely glowed throughout the evening with his girlfriend Karrueche by his side. And even though an almost awkward moment occurred when ex-girlfriend Rihanna’s song “We F0und Love” blasted through the speakers, the two were very playful and flirtatious. Chris was a gracious host and never denied a photograph with a friend or fan — including myself and HollywoodLife.com’s Editor-in-Chief, Bonnie Fuller. 

Click through the gallery above for exclusive pics and weigh in below: what do YOU think about Chris’ artwork?

– By Nicole Karlis

More Chris Brown

  1. Chris Brown Was Amazing On ‘Today’ Show Performance
  2. Rihanna Denies Having Romantic Relationship With Chris Brown
  3. Chris Brown And Rihanna Intentionally Went Clubbing Together And Flirted

Source: www.hollywoodlife.com

Changes needed for Fort Myers to build on fledgling public art collection - Examiner

Next week, the Fort Myers Public Art Committee is meeting to consider ways to fund the city's public art program going forward. While landmark artworks have been added to the River District's cityscape during the last few years, consistent funding is needed in order to build upon the city's fledgling public art collection.

The City of Fort Myers has actually been amassing a public art collection for decades. Its earliest public artwork, the Tootie McGregor Fountain, dates back to 1913. Ten years later, sculptor Eric VonZingon cast Rachel at the Well, which now sits in Menlo Park on McGregor Boulevard.

After a gap of 62 years, D.J. Wilkins (who then-mayor Art Hammel labeled the "Sculptor of Fort Myers") began forging a slew of representational sculptures beginning with the Henry Ford Bust (1985), and including River District and Centennial Park landmarks like The Florida Panther (1988), Uncommon Friends (1988), The Great Turtle Chase (2000), Clayton (2000) and the Wes Nott Statue at Lee Memorial Park (2000).

In 2001, Florida Power & Light Co. gave the city Caloosahatchee Manuscripts (the Jim Sanborn light sculpture that bathes the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in illuminated letters after nightfall) to commemorate the conversion of its power plant from oil to natural gas.

But it was not until 2004 that the city established a formal public art program.

Today, City of Fort Myers Ordinance 118.7.7 encourages private and public developments with a building construction value of $250,000 or more to either purchase pubic art valued at, or make a contribution the public art fund in an amount equal to, 0.75 percent of such costs, but not to exceed $75,000 in any event. The ordinance applies to new commercial construction (including projects zoned for industrial use), existing buildings that are remodeled where the construction value equals or exceeds 50 percent of the replacement cost of the structure, single-family residential development of more than 25 lots and multifamily residential developments such as condominium projects that create 50 or more residential units. Lee County school district properties are also excluded from the ambit of the program.

Monies contributed to the city's public art fund are administered by a 9-member Public Art Committee. Currently, this committee is chaired by Ava Roeder, an art instructor who teaches at Cypress Lake High Center for the Arts. Its members include Sharon McAllister, Gwen Middlebrooks, Janet McCormack, Robert Sanford and William Taylor, as well as alternates David Acevedo and Patricia Collins.

Members serve for three year terms, are not compensated, and must either be a resident of the city, work in the city, or be a member of an arts board or committee that is located in the city. The Public Art Committee oversees the commissioning, review, installation and maintenance of public art within the City.

In 2009, Riviera Development Group became the first private developer to place a public artwork on its development site pursuant to the city's public art ordinance. A colorful freestanding sculpture that stretches three stories into the Florida sky, Albert Paley's Naiad sits today at the entrance to the St. Tropez Condominium Complex (which includes adjoining Beau Rivage).

In 2010, the city and Lee County partnered together to install 30,000 square feet of art panels called Parallel Park on the newly-constructed 5-story Lee County Justice Center Parking Garage, and on March 2, 2012, the city dedicated Fire Dance by David Black, the first artwork commissioned and installed by the City of Fort Myers Public Art Committee using funds contributed by developers into the city's public art fund.

But with no new infusions of capital since the onset of the recession in 2008, the city's public art fund is quickly drying up and unless the Public Art Committee can find a way to assure contributions in the future, people working in or visiting the River District may have to content themselves with what's already there for the foreseeable future. 

[The Florida cities that have enacted public art ordinances reads like a AAA directory of tourist destinations. Boynton Beach, Clearwater, Coral Gables, Coral Springs, Delray Beach, Ft. Pierce, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Key West, Miami, Miami Beach, Naples, Orlando, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee, Tampa and West Palm Beach all have percent-for-art ordinances. However unlike Fort Myers' ordinance, which merely encourages participation by private developers, each of these percent-for-art ordinances requires contributions by public and/or private developers erecting structures within their jurisdictions.]


Source: www.examiner.com

Children’s artwork on display at Grantham Museum - granthamjournal.co.uk

CHILDREN from Isaac Newton School visiting the museum for the re-opening were delighted to find their own work on display.

The school’s “Pride of Grantham” artwork featuring paintings of Grantham shop fronts and iconic buildings currently has pride of place in Grantham Museum.

Headmaster Stephen Tapley said: “We’re very proud of the project but to have it actually displayed properly makes a massive difference.

“It makes the children really feel like they have done something worthwhile.

“I’m sure, in years to come, when they grow older they will have a positive outlook on Grantham because of things like this.”

Parent Wayne Barrett came along to see the children’s work.

He said: “As a parent I’m very proud that it’s on display.

“It’s nice the school goes and does things in the community and it is exhibited for the community too.”



Source: www.granthamjournal.co.uk

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