Quirk Traffic Exploding! Is a work coming up for auction?

We have been experiencing sizable spikes in traffic to the blog in the past month.  Given that we have posted relatively little during this period due to other pressing needs, we are a bit puzzled. It may be that there have been works coming up for auction and people have been seeking information on Professor Quirk. 

If you have information Quirk, his art, or his paintings, don't be shy. We would love to hear from you. Or you could like the Facebook Page dedicated to his art. https://www.facebook.com/francisquirkpainter/

Refining our virtual recreation of Quirk's 1969 Lehigh University exhibition

Through a Pennsylvania collector of Francis Quirk's work, we have been able to refine the information and content of his exhibtion that we hightlighted in an earlier post. (You can see that updated post here.)

In addition to pinning down the year and correcting some minor errors we have added in the painting below. 

#16 Patterns --- Sloops   This delightful work had been highlighted earlier in a brief post. The pleasing palate of blues and greens help the white sales to pop. He also usess a slightly cubist technique that works well.

Patterns --- Slooops by Francis J. Quirk


 

Image of "Impossible Art" Painting Found Akin to Work by M.C. Escher

In a periodic sweep of the web, we identified a black and white image of a Francis Quirk painting. It is entitled Four Step Gantry Gated. Given the "impossible" nature of the work we suspect that it may have been included in the Impossible Art Exhibition of 1970.

Four Step Gantry Gated by Francis J. Quirk

This painting is reminiscent of the work of M.C. Escher. 

Maurits Cornelis Escher was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematically-inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. Despite wide popular interest, Escher was for long somewhat neglected in the art world, even in his native Netherlands. He was 70 before a retrospective exhibition was held.

Impossible Cube by M. C. Escher

Quirk's impossible art paintings are another illustration of his versatility in being able to produce yet another type of painting. 

Ten Great Art Books for Children

As a parent and writer of a blog about art, I am frequently asked about how to expose children to art. Through the years three approaches have brought some success: books, museum visits, and art classes.

This post will focus on the books and those for younger children in particular. We have compiled this list of ten great art books for kids. All of them are filled with bright colors and almost all containing a narrative. Our eyes have evolved to track to bright colors. (This is part of the reason why cartoons and Sesame Street hold the viewer’s attention.) The storyline helps with the engagement.

Many of these books are available at your library or local bookstore. They make great gift ideas for relatives and grandparents who want to bring something that will catch the eye, but not be a toy or socks.  They are wonderful options for reading with a child or grandchild as the adult can learn a little bit as well. To make it easier we have included links to the books on Amazon to make it easier to find what you need.

1. Babar’s Museum of Art-   Everybody loves Babar! And when he goes to the Museum, you both get the opportunity to learn about various painting styles. The paintings do have elephants subbing in for the original subjects, but it still works swimmingly.  This is a great foundation book.

2. Frida- A colorful story book about this intriguing Mexican painter.

3. Chuck Close Up Close- His unusual painting style captures a child’s attention well while also conveying subtle lessons about different techniques and perspectives. This one is a bit pricey, but Close makes it into the curriculum's of many a school. 

4. Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail (Anholt's Artists Books For Children)- Picasso is a seminal figure in modern art and this book tells his story.

 5. Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo da Vinci- Leonardo's ingenuity and engaging ideas tend to pull boys in.

6. Fallingwater: The Building of Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterpiece- The story of one of the country’s finest buildings by its most iconic architect. If you have a trip to Fallingwater, this book can lay the foundation for a more productive visit.

 7. Through Georgia's Eyes- Georgia O’Keeffe’s beautiful paintings are timeless.

8. Roy's House- Roy Lichtenstein’s iconic comic book style lends itself to exciting graphics. 

 9. Diego- A colorful story book about this intriguing Mexican painter and muralist.

10. A Child's Introduction to Art: The World's Greatest Paintings and Sculptures-This is our one non-story book. It provides a follow-up after the others have piqued the child’s interest.

Did we leave anything out?  What should we add?

Note that these are paid links. 

Francis Quirk's Solo Exhibition at Lehigh University

Through a generous and thoughtful collector of Francis Quirk's art we have obtained a program from a Lehigh University exhibition of his paintings. The year is not provided, however we now know that the year was 1969 as an attendee at the event who purchased a painting was able to confirm it by matching the weekday with the calendar. One data point is that the painting on the cover of the exhibition catalog entered the collection in Georgia in 1971. 

Cover of Francis J. Quirk Exhibition Flyer

In this post, we are attempting to try to virtually recreate the exhibition, by providing as many paintings as we can. It is a work in progress that we will add to as we gain images. But before we continue, let us first comment on the exhibition and the paintings highlighted in the pamphlet.

Quirk had been the main pillar of arts at Lehigh University before his retirement and conversion to Professor Emeritus in 1969. In his 19 years at the school he scheduled numerous cutting edge exhibitions, fostered the careers of many artists and championed the arts in the region. This exhibition continues that tradition of pushing the envelope and including works from his classic interests: portraiture, maritime and nature.

Placing the portrait of Queenie Williams on the cover was a daring move and illustrates Quirk's ability to push the boundaries of his times. At the time of this writing, almost 50 years later, many US art museums have realized their woeful lack of women of color in their collections. In 1970, putting this painting up front at an exhibition at Lehigh University in a predominantly Caucasian community clearly made a statement.  While it seems hard to believe, at this time, Bruce Springsteen was not welcome to perform at certain U.S. colleges because his iconic saxophone player Clarence Clemons was an African American. This fine work now resides in the collection of the Georgia Museum of Art.

Inside Cover of Francis J. Quirk Exhibition Flyer

It also contains maritime works with several painting of sailboats. Quirk thoroughly enjoyed painting boats and on his retirement looked forward to painting many of them at his summer home in Kinney Shores, Maine.

Painting Listing of Francis J. Quirk Exhibition Flyer

One of the hostesses for the evening was his wife, Anna.  We believe she is in the photo below, but do not think this is from this particular exhibition. 

Francis Quirk discusses a painting with Anna J. Quirk and another gentlemen. 

Francis J. Quirk Exhibition Flyer back cover

Below are the images that we have assembled as of this date and a few comments about them.

#2 Shrimper Early Morning   Canton Museum of Art

Shrimper Early Morning  Image courtesy of Canton Museum of Art

#4 The Soloist  Queenie Williams

The Soloist  (Queenie Williams) by Francis J. Quirk  Image courtesy of the Georgia Museum of Art

#11 Man's Island

Man's Island by Francis J. Quirk  photo reproduced from exhibition pamphlet

#14 Marconis and Gaff

Marconis and Gaff  photo reproduced from exhibition pamphlet

#16 Patterns --- Sloops   This delightful work was highlighted earlier in a brief post as the collector/owner shared the image with us. After seeing this post, she graciously informed us that she had purchased it at the event, which was held in 1969. An earlier iteration of this post had the year as 1970. 

Patterns --- Slooops by Francis J. Quirk

#37 The Artist     Note that there is another self-portrait in the collection at the University of Notre Dame's Snite Gallery from approximately the same period. They will not authorize reproductions, so it can not be included. However, if you are in South Bend, you can stop by the Snite and ask to see it. We are not fully certain whether this image or the Notre Dame image belongs here. 

The Artist self portrait by Francis J. Quirk.  

#38 Island Trees #1

Add caption

#38 Island Trees #3

#42 Dr. J. Rutzky   We do not have an image of this painting at the moment. However, we have reached out to Dr. Rutzky's family to see if they still have the work. If so, we will update this post. 

Pine Barrens Painting en Plein Air

A different type of Francis Quirk painting recently came to our attention and we are excited to share it with our followers. ***As you read this post, please follow through to the addendum at the end.*** 

'Morning on the Pine Barrens' was executed in 1970 when quirk was 63 years old. At this time in his life  he had retired from teaching at Lehigh University and served as a Professor Emeritus. In 1969 he had spent a fellowship at Georgia's Ossabaw Island painting from nature.

The Pine Barrens, also known as the Pinelands or simply the Pines, is a heavily forested area of coastal plain stretching across more than seven counties of southern New Jersey. The name "pine barrens" refers to the area's sandy, acidic, nutrient-poor soil. Although European settlers could not cultivate their familiar crops there, the unique ecology of the Pine Barrens supports a diverse spectrum of plant life, including orchids and carnivorous plants. The area is also notable for its populations of rare pygmy pitch pines and other plant species that depend on the frequent fires of the Pine Barrens to reproduce. The sand that composes much of the area's soil is referred to by the locals as sugar sand.

Morning in the Pine Barrens by Francis J. Quirk

The oil painting is painted on board, a material he frequently used. Parts of it including the trees on the left and right foreground as well as the forest wall seem almost monochromatic with a limited color palette.  He executed several paintings from nature at Ossabaw that truly were monochromatic. Three prominent areas of color dominate this painting: the blue sky, yellow-green treetops and the green ground.

Focusing on the composition the line of treetops guides the eye to the middle right and then the two figures bring it back to the lower center. The hunters also are executed in a monochromatic fashion.

At first glance, it almost appears to be an unfinished work, but the price on the back indicates that it was sold as a finished work.

'Plein Air' is characterized as a style of painting out of the studio, outdoors with less adherence to academic rules. It originated in France along with impressionism in the 19th century. Special painting sets were developed that included mobile easels and cases for paint so that it was easier to get out into the countryside. 

Popular plein air painters include John Constable and Alfred Sisley. An example from both is provided below. You can see that these paintings, like Quirk's, have a loose, less finished format. They capture the essence of the day without intense detail.

En Plein Air painting by Constable

En Plein Air painting by Sisley

Addendum- It has come to our attention that a person familiar with Francis Quirk's work questions the attribution of this painting to him. On the one hand it is less finished in appearance than most his work with monochromatic portions. This initially caused the author to raise an eyebrow. On the other hand Quirk was also producing truly monochromatic canvases at this time.  And not every work by every painter is a masterpiece. Nonetheless, we felt that the nature of the question raised and the stature of the person raising it warranted sharing it with the readership. 

The Quirk Art Diaspora- Unusual Painting Coming Up for Auction in New York

It is interesting following the dispersion of Francis Quirk's artwork since we first saw the large trove sold in Maine a few years ago. Since then, we have seen pieces sold that day resell in Rhinebeck, New York, New Jersey and now New York City at Cabo Auctions. 

One unexpected benefit is that the pieces are usually well photographed, and this allows us to improve the quality of our image library. Those who have been following this blog for a long time may recall that many of the images captured in Maine were not of the best quality. 

Francis Quiirk- Futuristic building with hanging ball. Oil on aluminum sheet. Signed at lower right and dated 68. Sheet size, 18 x 24 inches.

Cabo describes it as "Futuristic building with hanging ball. Oil on aluminum sheet. Signed at lower right and dated 68. Sheet size, 18 x 24 inches." Upon initially encountering the painting, it seemed atypical of his work. But perhaps it was inspired by the futuristic buildings of Expo 67 in Montreal. That exposition, like New York's World's fair seemed to highlight the bright future that lied before us. And the architectural creativity still stands out as unique and innovative today. 

Habitat 67 Montreal 

Cabo also supplied a photo of Francis Quirk's signature. He never cut corners when it came to signing his name. 

Francis Quirk Signature.

We use an app LiveAuctioneers to track the auction market in general and for Quirk's works in particular. If you are collecting a specific artist, or artists, it is a helpful tool.