Arader Galleries in Los Angeles Area

We invite you to stop by to see our extraordinary collection of antique prints and original paintings at the upcoming art and antique shows in the Los Angeles area:

Art International Pasadena/Los Angeles
Friday, March 13 – Sunday, March 15, 2009
Gala Preview Thursday, March 12, 2009

Los Angeles Antique Show
Thursday, April 23 – Sunday, April 26, 2009
Opening Preview Party Wednesday, April 22, 2009

We hope to see you at one of these shows!

Designing with Antique Prints

De Gillaboz’s Botanical Studies

Duperrey’s Views of the South Pacific

Lewin’s Birds of Great Britain

Arader Galleries attended Design San Francisco (formally known as Winter Market) last week with great enthusiasm. The event reinvigorated those close to the trade as well as anyone with a passion for design. Arader Galleries happily announces an exciting collaboration with Design SF participant, Summer Hill, an upscale furnishings company. Should an occasion bring you down to the Design Center, we encourage you to see selections from our inventory in the Summer Hill showroom. Indeed, the showroom nicely stages Duperrey’s Views of the South Pacific, Lewin’s Birds of Great Britain, and De Gillaboz’s Botanical Studies. Summer Hill’s timeless design complements our prints perfectly and we hope their showroom inspires new ideas for decorating with antique prints.

Please contact the gallery for more information at 415.788.5115 or visit www.aradersf.com.

Calling All Audubon Aficionados

Hooping Crane by John James Audubon

For those of you already familiar with Arader Galleries, John James Audubon needs no introduction. But for those not entirely acquainted with the greatest bird illustrator of all time, the current issue of Art and Antiques Magazine features on article on the notorious artist titled: Call of the Wild: Documenting America’s Birds was the Lifetime Obsession of John James Audubon.

The article begins by tracing Audubon’s extraordinary trials and tribulations. Beginning with his financial struggles and his inability to secure a publisher for The Birds of America, the article underscores Audubon’s commitment of staying true to his goal. Indeed, Audubon persevered, finding a different reception abroad. Eventually, the English engravers Robert Havell Sr. and Robert Havell Jr. agreed to publish the drawings, and The Birds of America was released to subscribers from 1827 to 1838. Ultimately, The Birds of America comprised of 435 color plates, published in the massive double elephant folio format. Yet the article mainly aims to present Audubon aficionados to an exhibit and book that reveal new research regarding what motivated this extraordinary individual.

The article highlights New York Historical Society’s exhibit, Some Things Old, Some Things Borrowed, But Most Things New, which traces Audubon’s ingenuity with respect to his predecessors and contemporaries. The book, Audubon: Early Drawings (published in September of 2008 by Harvard University Press) features Audubon’s work until 1821, illustrating how Audubon’s skill developed overtime. Lastly, but certainly not least, the article quotes W. Graham Arader III himself on what makes Audubon’s birds so iconic.

The article nicely traces the production history of The Birds of America and introduces new developments about what inspired this infamous artist. For anyone who appreciates the majesty of Audubon’s Birds of America we invite you to stop by Arader Galleries to view our exceptional collection of Audubon’s hand-colored aquatint engravings from Birds of America. Also, should you find yourself in New York City from February 13 to April 5 we strongly encourage you to catch the Audubon exhibit at the New York Historical Society.

We also have an excellent selection of Audubon's hand-colored engravings available for purchase at Arader Galleries. Please visit www.aradersf.com or call 415-788-5115 for more information.

Views and Garden Plans of Roman Villas

Villa Medici, Rome

Villa Ludosi, Rome

The Italian Renaissance inspired a revolution in gardening and the resurgence of the villa-estate. During the antiquity, and again in the Renaissance, the idea of a house built away from the city in a natural setting captured the imagination of wealthy patrons and architects. Renaissance gardens were full of scenes from ancient mythology and other learned allusions. Water during this time was especially symbolic, as it was associated with fertility and the abundance of nature, and many gardens developed to include water features such as fountains and grottos.

By the late sixteenth-century Italian gardens, with their monumental terraces, sculptures, and waterworks such as those at Villa d'Este (Como) and Villa Lante (Viterbo), were much admired throughout Northern Europe, and imitated by the French. In the course of the 17th century, the interest for the art of gardens was witnessed by the intense activity of architects, such as Annibale Lippi at Villa Medici (Rome), where they interpreted a refined culture with strong theatrical suggestions. The Baroque or formal garden has a controlled geometric layout, created using mathematical rules and symmetry, and is designed with plants and trees trimmed in an exact fashion.

Displaying artistic talent at a young age, Giovanni Battista Falda studied under the noted Italian painter, Francisco Ferrari. At 14, he was employed by a Rome publishing house under Giacomo de Rossi for his skilled abilities in architectural illustration. Seventeenth-century printmakers responded to the interest in classical art and architecture, as well as contemporary topography, by creating elaborate series on all the splendors of Rome. Such works, eagerly collected by gentlemen-virtuosi throughout Europe, stimulated what became known as the “Grand Tour,” the European pilgrimage to Italy to study the art and architecture of the antiquities.

During his years with Rossi, Falda completed several monumental architectural publications, including The Nuovo Teatro (1665-1669), The Gardens of Rome (1670), and The Fountains of Rome (1675). In Gardens of Rome, Falda recorded in detail the expansive Italian estates near Rome, which continue to be admired as an aesthetic ideal. Falda exhibits both a strong architectural foundation and the delicate beauty of a landscape painting, paying close attention to even the smallest details. Through incorporating every-day scenes and characters, Falda guides his viewers through the lifetime of each structure, from its architectural conception, to its role in the urban world. His work expertly juxtaposes geometry and aestheticism, paving the way for the 18th century Italian movement of architectural engraving, including the work of Vasi, Rossini and Piranesi.

Please visit or call Arader Galleries for more information. We currently have a nice selection of Falda views available for purchase.

Los Angeles Art Show

Arader Galleries is happy to announce that we are participating in the 14th annual Los Angeles Art show! This year the event is moving to a new venue, the Los Angeles Convention Center. Hope you will stop by to see our extraordinary collection of antique prints and original paintings!

The Los Angeles Art Show
Los Angeles Convention Center
West Hall A, 1201 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015

Opening Night Gala V.I.P. Preview: Wednesday January 21, 6 pm
Opening Night Gala: Wednesday January 21, 7-10:30pm
General Show Hours:
Thursday: January 22, 11am-8pm
Friday: January 23, 11am- 8pm
Saturday: January 24, 11am-8pm Sunday: January 25, 11am- 5pm

For the Love of the Hunt

Ask any hunter about his first or last hunt and I’m sure he will have a lively story to tell. As the 2008 hunting season nears an end, what better way than to inspire story telling and prolong the sensation of the hunt than through a picture? A.B. Frost’s Shooting Pictures bring to life the stories of hunters past and present as well as memorializing the great tradition. A must see for any hunting enthusiast but also for anyone interested in the history of weaponry, these chromolithographs examine how hunting was represented in art during the nineteenth-century.

A.B. Frost’s hand signed Shooting Pictures are atmospheric hunting scenes which capture the pleasurable and exhilarating suspense right before the kill—the sensation which keeps every hunter addicted. Yet several notable artists have managed to capture as much which is why the real significance of Frost’s prints lies in his ability to transcend other themes. Namely, the glorification of the American hunting tradition, the experience of the great outdoors, the special father-son hunting dynamic, and the valued relationship between the huntsman and his dog.

We encourage you to experience the majesty of Frost’s Shooting Pictures in person for several reasons. At first Frost’s prints appear merely as an impressive set of hunting scenes, but further inspection reveals the justification behind Frost’s epithet as the greatest American sporting artist. Frost’s use of light aligns with the hunter’s mentality, creating a remarkable and tangible sensation for the observer. Indeed, the early morning light suggests an alert and patient huntsman in contrast to the low light of a hazy afternoon which evokes an anxious yet committed hunter. Frost uses landscape, in addition to light, to transcend temperament. The water scenes evoke a higher sense of concentration as the observer compensates with the hunter for the rockiness of the water, while the wood scenes make the observer conscience of his/her weight as he/she can imagine the noise of leaves crushing beneath the hunter’s boots. Lastly, Frost’s minimal compositions allow slight variations to greatly impact the ambiance. In Rabbit Shooting, for example, the presence of the special father and son bond derives from the isolated atmosphere—hinting at the long hours spent bonding outdoors together. Furthermore, Frost’s decision to place the father in the forefront and facing towards his son, distinguishes him as a role model/instructor. Similarly, Autumn Goose Shooting reflects the important function dogs play in hunting as Frost places them in the central foreground, leading the hunter to fruition.

Again, we are pleased to offer Frost’s extraordinary Shooting Pictures at Arader Galleries. The prints, currently available for purchase, are also illustrated in our Hunt Catalog. Please do not hesitate to call 415.788.5115 or email aradersf@aradergalleries.com to request a copy. Hope to see you soon!

Magnificent hand-colored lithographs of Hawaii and its Native Peoples by Louis Choris

Idoles des Iles Sandwich

Danse des hommes dans les iles Sandwich

Porte d'Hanarourou

Louis (or Ludovik) Choris, a Russian of German extraction, showed a talent for natural history illustration at a remarkably early age, and initially won high praise for his pictorial work on Biberstein's journey to the Caucasus in 1813. His most celebrated publications, however, were the Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde and the Vues et Paysages des Regions Equinoxiales. In both of these magnificent works, Choris provided important pictorial representations of the people, landscape, and artifacts of the still-mysterious islands of the Pacific, California, Alaska, the northwest coast of America, and other far-off lands.

Choris had first-hand knowledge of these places, having been the official artist accompanying the Russian expedition around the world led by Otto von Kotzebue, the primary object of which was the search for a Northwest Passage. The voyage took place in 1815-1818 aboard the “Rurik,” which entered the Pacific via the Horn and eventually returned to Europe via the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena. Choris had been invited by the St. Petersburg Academy to accompany Kotzbue, and the two published works which resulted represent a fine cross-section of the places that the expedition visited, specifically including such locales as, Brazil, Chile, the Pacific Islands, Hawaii, Kamchatka, the Philippines, the Cape of Good Hope and Saint Helena. These works have great American interest because of their early accounts of California, The Hawaiian Islands, the Queen Charlotte Islands, the Aleutians, St. Lawrence Island, and Kotzebue Island in Alaska. .

Louis Choris visited Hawaii in 1816 and illustrated his observations during a critical period in Hawaiian history, just prior to the death of Kamehameha I and the fall of the kapu system. Choris witnessed the Islands just prior to the ensuing chaos from the collapse of the old political and social system. The three weeks that the Russian ship, “Rurik” spent in Hawaiian Waters produced incredible illustrations by Choris, and provide invaluable insight into the people, places and cultural practices of Hawaii. Choris is said to have "painted nature as he found it. The essence of his art is truth; a fresh, vigorous view of life, and originality in portrayal." Thus Choris’ 1822 publication is not only considered to be one of the most beautiful relating to travel, but one of the most accurate.

Please inquire regarding other extraordinary original lithographs from this publication. Arader galleries can be reached by phone at 415.788.5115 or online at www.aradersf.com.