eBay: LEETEG original on ebay

Not my auction...

http://cgi.ebay.com/1930-EDGAR-LEETEG-Painting-Velvet-Nude-Woman-Tahiti_W0QQitemZ250112395919QQihZ015QQcategoryZ20131QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Nice piece, wish I had the dough.

You know, is it just me, or is it actually kinda awful? I mean, his I-guess-later work is so lush and fleshy and human, and she just kinda looks....amateurish.

I guess everyone's entitled to an off day.

And I wouldn't turn it down if it were given to me.

Having seen many of his paintings in person, this particular painting is one of his worst, or
maybe a copy, which I've read was quite common.

On 2007-05-08 06:32, tiki-riviera wrote:

Having seen many of his paintings in person, this particular painting is one of his worst, or
maybe a copy, which I've read was quite common.

Yeah, I think this one is a copy. If you look at the signature, it looks blurry beneath, where they would typically write "copy". The Davis gallery authorized copies to be made of his paintings (I believe they were done in the Philippines) and they were also signed "Leeteg Tahiti" but with "copy" below and also usually had a label on the back.

We are fortunate to have a couple real Leetegs and a few copies, you can really see the difference.

-Duke

It could be a dupe. The seller certainly has gone to ALOT of trouble to alleviate that thought.

As far as its quality, maybe its just me, but I still like it. Sure, his later work got more refined, but does that nullify his early work?

Look at Shag. His work has certainly become more refined and yet I'd still leap at the chance to own some early stuff.

Just my 2cents...and hey, I cant afford this OR the early Shag, so its all moot!!

Curious to see IF it sells, and for how much.

a nice original was offered at M Modern 2 years ago for less than 4K ~ if any of you are serious about purchasing a Leeteg, Tyree or Behan, contact me and i'll connect you with a collector who has some for sale. but dont expect bargain basement prices.

elicia

Leeteg used to make multiple versions of his paintings that sold well. He repainted his "Hina Rapa" ( the logo of Palm Springs' Chi Chi Room) about 12 times, I heard. Then, think of all the printed copies that were made, too. Here is a different version of the painting up for auction, from his gallerist Barney Davis' self published book on Leeteg:

Of course Barney Davis as his gallerist would say it's worth 75 000.- (see newspaper clipping on auction page)

Here is my theory: Compare the background here to the one in the painting for auction. Black velvet paintings, much more than regular oils, are NOT very durable and subject to fading, which here of course means they fade to BLACK. Note the close up of the signature. My guess is that one of the recent owners, seeing his precious posession slowly fade, layed hand on himself trying to re-invigorate the fleshtones, and badly messed up in the facial features, (and the breasts!), which makes the whole piece worthless, I am sad to say.

PS: This is just a theory, mind you. But putting both versions up next to each other on my screen, I still like the book one better. It seems more natural, flowing, well proportioned. Maybe the auction one IS all Leeteg, but one of his later versions, and he was drunker than usual when he painted it! :)

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-05-08 15:13 ]

It's BAAAACCCCKKKK
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250119507959&ru=http://search.ebay.com:80/250119507959_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQfromZR40QQfviZ1