Wall Fiction

Personal Property Appraisal, Expert Witness Services, Fine Art Sales

These earrings with blue glass duck heads were uncovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun during its excavation by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922. The Egyptian god Amun is often depicted as having the head of a duck, making these birds a common motif in ancient Egyptian decorative arts.

Earrings, Gold, glass, gemstones, c. 1320s BCE, The Egyptian Museum, Cairo

'Colour is a power which directly influences the soul' - Wassily Kandinsky, born on this day in 1866. 🟠🔺🟦

Russian painter, Wassily Kandinsky believed that painting should aim to be as abstract as music. He worked to create art that was free from all references to the material world. For Kandinsky, colour in particular was essential for liberating art from representing the visible world. 'Each colour lives by its own mysterious life,' he said.

The original German title of this painting was ‘Schaukeln’, sometimes translated as ‘Shaking’ or ‘Rocking’, but the most accurate English equivalent seems to be ‘Swinging’.

🎨 Wassily Kandinsky, Swinging, 1925, Tate collection https://bit.ly/3T91DxG

Keith Haring: Art Is For Everybody

Keith Haring was a gifted artist of his time with a distinctive message that still holds true today. He was active in the 1980s developing his unique artistic vocabulary and involved with the cross-disciniplinary art scene at the time (think Madonna, Andy Warhol, Jean-Paul Gauthier).

Haring was spontaneous in his process. This is seen by looking closely at the paint drip marks on his tarp or canvas works. While his artwork was not pre-planned, it was exact. What he did plan was his career and vision. His work was synonymous with activism. He was vocal in his participation of anti-nuclear, anti-apartheid and especially, AIDS activism. In 1989, he set up The Keith Haring Foundation to continue his legacy and message. Later the following year, the artist died at the age of 30 due to AIDS-related complications.

See Keith Haring’s works at the AGO, a collaboration with the Keith Haring Foundation and The Broad (LA), on view until March 2024.

Kelly Juhasz from Fine Art + Appraisal Services and fellow appraiser Andria Minicucci were at ArtToronto- Canada’s premier art fair- this past weekend (Oct 26-29) to answer questions about appraisals from art collectors, insurance representatives and cultural institutions.

It was pleasure to reconnect with past and visiting colleagues, galleries and museum professionals from across Canada, US and Europe!