Suzanne Duchamp (1889-1963) was born fourth out of six children and was the youngest sister of three famed Duchamp brothers, Jacques Villion, Raymond Duchamp-Villion and Marcel Duchamp.
After her studies at the École des Beaux-Arts she moved to Montparnasse Paris and where she quickly became associated with the growing movement of the Cubism. Her work at this time was a combination of Impressionism and Cubism, which will soon change after WWI, with the introduction of The Dadaist.
Her close association with her brother Marcel Duchamp and also by her friendship and future husband, Jean Crotti helped to further her artist career and creativity. Her art after WW I had a growing Dadaist feel which can be seen in Multiplication Broken and Restored completed around 1918/1919. At this time her brother, Marcel Duchamp started his creation of Readymades and Jean Crotti was earning praise for his paintings that were in the Dadaist style.
Suzanne Duchamp had success in the gallery shows while in Paris and had a major show with several pieces in 1920 at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris, along with Francis Picabia and Jean Crotti.
In this piece, which is dated 1929, Suzanne Duchamp has moved out of the Dadaist construction and once again uses Impressionism as her medium but has added the bold color pallet of Matisse and the expressionism/ colors of Fauvism.
This dramatic seascape, which is very similar to other paintings Suzanne Duchamp did in Nice, France is signed and dated 1929 in the lower right. The painting is one of strong composition and dramatic colors; this is a painting that shows her transition from the style of the time to an artist of creative expressive thinking.
This painting has been in an estate for 30 or more years. Please keep an eye out for more wonderful art and objects coming from this estate. If you have any questions or if you are interested in this piece, please email me or call.
Sports collecting: football, baseball, basketball, or the countless other organized sports have been a passion for many people. Baseball has always been at the top of the list as far as sports collecting goes and for many people Mickey Mantle’s signature is a prize for many.
One of the hardest aspects about sports collecting is the authentication and provenance of the item. This can be handled a couple of ways. One is being there and having the item signed to you by that person. Not everyone is lucking enough to have this and depending on the time some people were not alive when that sports figure was alive.
Anther way to get sports signatures and memorabilia is directly from an estate of that sports figure. In some cases this is the most secure and easily authenticated way.
I have the luck to have been introduced to such a family. This estate of Kyle Rote that I have the fortune to represent has been an honor.
Kyle Rote was the famous New York Giants player from 1951-1961. In his years after football, he remained committed to the sport of Football and was a noted Sportscaster. He did many charities and sports gatherings through the years and one such event were the 1983 Bally’s Salutes the “Greatest Sports Legends” October 6-9, 1983.
As you can see from the photograph and the Baseball I have for sale, it was an event of major sports figures.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me. I would like to hear your thoughts and comments on this piece.
I had the luck to find a piece that mixed two eras in one piece. One is the old tradition of scrimshawing made famous by the Nantucket whalers of the 1800's. The other side to this piece is the great design of the abstract figure.
This is an authentic sperm whale tooth that was scrimshawed by someone with training in Western thought of abstraction and also a love of the "primitive" cultural arts of the Eskimos / North West Coast of North American or another culture of similar aesthetics of design. My first impression and what drew me to this piece was the work and precision of the abstraction of the figure. My immediate thought was that this was a copy of a Paul Klee or a Joan Miro work that was transferred onto a whales tooth. Looking closely I saw the lines incised into the tooth and figured this was an original work. There are no signatures except for the base, which is signed by the woodworker. There is no listing for a woodworker named Alan Shapiro on the Internet.
The scrimshaw has another side that is unique and puts it more into the mid 20th century of design, the way the piece continues onto the back. Most antique scrimshaw pieces that I have seen are done on either side or with another piece on the other side of the tooth, but this piece continues around to the side and back. The art uses the shape and roundness of the tooth to complete the subject.
If you have any information on this piece or want to share your thoughts, please email me. I would like to hear what you have to say. This section, which this is the first piece I have wrote about is meant to be used as a kind of Show and Tell part of my website. I want to have pieces that are unique in my eyes or pieces that would need further time and research.
Hello and welcome to the newest section of Sturgis Antiques. In this section I wanted to keep my clients and interested and/or hopefully new client up to date on new and up coming estates to the store. My aim is to keep a running blog like newsletter about pieces that will come in as well as news on activities that Sturgis Antiques will involved in.
I hope you find this section interesting enough for you to follow and that you will find an item or items of interest. I am interested in hearing feedback and questions from you about an item.
The newest report about the store and website is that I will add new sections to the website. One that I am excited about is a section on pieces of significance and historical importance. I have over the years, tried to have a section of my store devoted to historical items and also items of the obscure and curiosity. This has been a growing part of my business that shows my dedication to the field of research and discovery. The first entry will be items that are currently for sale. Soon to follow will be new items I am working on, that will be later for sale. Stay tuned for the announcement of the official launch of this section.
These new improvements will be a beneficial tool for the store as well as the growing interest I have had with my new estates items.