Value of 50's Velvet Painting - take a look - Collecting Tiki

H HubbaHubbaTiki Member Seattle Joined: Jul 01, 2003 Posts: 16	H HubbaHubbaTiki Posted posted on Mon, Dec 1, 2003 8:09 PM Try and get a hold of Larry Reid or Charles Krafft . They are big velvet painting fans from Seattle and would be a good place to start. LEETEG OF TAHITI: PAINTINGS FROM THE VILLA VELOUR by John Turner, Martin Denny, Greg Escalante, Charles Krafft, et al. (Last Gasp) $29.95 William Edgar Leeteg was the inventor of black velvet painting as we know it, but don't hold that against him. Leeteg was an American original. His prolific velvet legacy of lusty island ladies helped create a post-war perception of South Pacific decadence, and influenced the image of the American male of the era. An ambitious new book, Leeteg of Tahiti, attempts to lift the apocryphal haze surrounding the artist and shed new light on both his life and life's work. Leeteg created nearly 1,700 velvet paintings in a career cut short in 1953 by a fatal crash on a Harley Davidson, at the age of 49. His pictures would fetch up to $10,000 each -- a princely sum in those days -- and at the height of his career he would produce a painting every four days. He gained a reputation as "the American Gauguin," but steadfastly disdained the art world. "Please don't bother submitting my work to art societies or museums," he instructed his equally colorful art dealer Barney Davis, "as I hold them long-haired bastards in contempt. Leave them to plug their own darling daubers. They're just cheap four-flushers in frock coats." The book opens with an entertaining introduction by Martin Denny, before moving to a somewhat tortured history of velvet painting. The highlight is a biographical essay by Seattle artist and raconteur Charles Krafft, whose tireless efforts to revive the Leeteg legend have been rewarded with this handsome edition. Leeteg of Tahiti is required reading for anyone interested in lowbrow art and the development of popular culture in the last half of this century. LARRY REID

Try and get a hold of Larry Reid or Charles Krafft . They are big velvet painting fans from Seattle and would be a good place to start.
LEETEG OF TAHITI: PAINTINGS FROM THE VILLA VELOUR
by John Turner, Martin Denny, Greg Escalante, Charles Krafft, et al.
(Last Gasp) $29.95

William Edgar Leeteg was the inventor of black velvet painting as we know it, but don't hold that against him. Leeteg was an American original. His prolific velvet legacy of lusty island ladies helped create a post-war perception of South Pacific decadence, and influenced the image of the American male of the era.

An ambitious new book, Leeteg of Tahiti, attempts to lift the apocryphal haze surrounding the artist and shed new light on both his life and life's work. Leeteg created nearly 1,700 velvet paintings in a career cut short in 1953 by a fatal crash on a Harley Davidson, at the age of 49. His pictures would fetch up to $10,000 each -- a princely sum in those days -- and at the height of his career he would produce a painting every four days. He gained a reputation as "the American Gauguin," but steadfastly disdained the art world. "Please don't bother submitting my work to art societies or museums," he instructed his equally colorful art dealer Barney Davis, "as I hold them long-haired bastards in contempt. Leave them to plug their own darling daubers. They're just cheap four-flushers in frock coats."

The book opens with an entertaining introduction by Martin Denny, before moving to a somewhat tortured history of velvet painting. The highlight is a biographical essay by Seattle artist and raconteur Charles Krafft, whose tireless efforts to revive the Leeteg legend have been rewarded with this handsome edition. Leeteg of Tahiti is required reading for anyone interested in lowbrow art and the development of popular culture in the last half of this century. LARRY REID

Post #62888 by HubbaHubbaTiki on Mon, Dec 1, 2003 8:09 PM