JAMAICA Art Market Review | March 2023

VOLUME 4. ISSUE 1. An aggregate and liberal borrowing (for educational purposes only) of what's caught our eye since our last review. All content has been prepared using publicly available information with or without examining the actual works. artephemera®com has no vested interest in any art assets that appear herein. If you wish to add resources to this site, or if you own the copyright for any of the material on this website and do not consent to its use herein, please contact us.

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A T AU C T I O N

PAN AMERICAN ART PROJECTS Intuitive & Contemporary Jamaican Art

BENEFIT AUCTION TO SUPPORT THE AMERICAN FRIENDS OF JAMAICA

Lot 0017: Carl Abrahams (1911-2005), Angel, 2003. Pencil on paper, 15 x 11 in. Est. $500-$750 Sold for $1,400.

Miami, Florida. The Pan American Art Projects’ live on-line benefit auction of Intuitive and Contemporary Jamaican Art was held on Sunday, March 12. Most of the offered works came from the collections of Wayne and Myrene Cox, and Robert Borlenghi, two early and prolific collectors of Jamaican art; thus assuring a standard of quality and condition across artists, 139 artworks and 23 publications.

Pre-bidding was facilitated by the Invaluable platform starting on March 1st, with final bidding on liveauctioneers.com. Straight off the block, the first two lots by Albert Artwell, sold quickly at USD 1,200 each. The hyper-efficiency of the electronic platform, and its rapid pacing prevented any indecision across the 161 lots presented, but may ultimately have been responsible for the (35%) sell through rate.

Just forty-eight works of art sold. With the exception of Carl Abrahams’ pencil drawing Angel (2003), which sold for nearly double the high estimate as well as Mallica “Kapo” Reynolds’, Love and Birth (1967) and Artwell’s, Angel and Fire (1980) all lots sold for below or at the lower estimated price. The aggregate low estimate of the sale would have been just over USD$216,750 had all available works sold. The grand total generated in sales (not including seller’s commission) was USD44,850; 25% of which is to be a charitable donation to the American Friends of Jamaica (AFJ). Almost 20% of total sales came from six Everald Brown lots. Other top contributors by numbers of pieces sold were Ras Dizzy (four lots totalling USD 1,850), and four each from Kapo and Evadney Cruikshank. The average price of a work sold in this auction was USD 935, while the median price was USD 500.

Top Row Lot 0001: Albert Artwell (1942-2018), Angel And Fire, 1980 Est. $800-$1,200 Sold for $1,200; Lot 0108: Ras Dizzy (Birth Livingstone) (C1930-2008), Bob Scott In The Midnight Guns Batle On The Fronteer,Est. $900-$1,200 Sold for $450; Lot 0058: Everald Brown (1917-2003), Star Guitar, 1994 Est. $2,000-$2,800 Sold for $2,000.

Bottom Row Lot 0070: Kapo (Mallica Reynolds) (1911-1989), Love And Birth, 1967 Est. $3,000-$4,000 Sold for $4,600; Lot 0045: Evadney Cruickshank ( Ca. 1950-) , Wedding Reception, 1997 Est. $800-$1,200 Sold for $500; Lot 0023: David Boxer (1946-2017), Blackscape (The Hold), 1974 Est. $4,000-$6,000 Sold for $2,000.

The best-selling lot was Carl Abrahams’ Large Moses (undated), which sold for USD5,000 but fell short of its USD10,000-15,000 estimate. The next best selling lot was Kapo’s wood sculpture Love and Birth (1967) which achieved USD4,600, slightly above its high estimate, but a solid result considering his current market. David Boxer’s 1974 Blackscape (The Hold) sold for USD2,000, half its low estimate, and Everald Brown’s iconic Star Guitar (1994) sold at its USD2,000 low estimate.

Lot 0018: Carl Abrahams (1911-2005), Large Moses, c1980. Est. $10,000-$15,000 Sold for $5,000

Beyond affirming the artists at the top of the market, the sale offered the opportunity to see works before they returned to private collections and allowed for renewed focus on an artist whose market has waned: Eric Cadien (1954-1993). His tragic death ended a promising career, and stymied inventory but surprisingly only three out of the 11 available Cadien lots were sold and one was withdrawn without explanation. The catalogue from his 1992 exhibition generated the afternoon’s only frisson; selling at USD70 - almost five times the opening bid.

Lot 0032: Eric Cadien (1954-1993), Figures In Composition, 1989 Est. $4,000-$6,000 Sold for $2,000

Lot 0032: Eric Cadien (1954-1993), Figures In Composition, 1989. Est. $4,000-$6,000 Sold for $2,000

This event provided few surprises. The market has found itself in the irreversible moment of live on-line auctions: the ease of on-line bidding is the nemesis of live in-person auctions. If we are to meet the moment, and successfully defend the value of Jamaican art, then much deserved attention and marketing will be necessary for our art to thrive.

All estimates and hammer prices indicated in US dollars.

For the complete catalogue and prices, please visit:

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/279964_intuitive-and-contemporary-jamaican-art/

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S T O L E N A R T

Twenty works of art from the estate of Dorothy Henriques Wells (1926-2018) have been stolen. We include a few images here: a c1970 clay jar by Cecil Baugh (stands approximately 2.5 feet tall and weighs 50/60 lbs); a 1985 charcoal/pencil drawing by Edna Manley, measuring 34" X 23" from Mrs Wells' private collection and a rare 1975 mixed media work depicting a flame of the forest and a 2006 watercolor by Wells. We bring these to your attention should they appear for sale or are seen in any homes, shops, galleries, auctions or exhibitions. All other works are watercolors and are itemized in the Police Report.

We make an appeal for the return of the works, or any information that may assist in finding them.

You can contact us at artephemera2010@gmail.com or Mary Wells at filmeart@yahoo.com

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TODIWERL

Ebony G. Patterson. Photo: Frank Ishman.

Ebony G. Patterson is not stopping to smell the roses.

The High Museum of Art, Atlanta has awarded her the 2023 David C. Driskell Prize in recognition of her contributions to the field of African American art for her work which "commemorates the lives and struggles of marginalized people throughout the world. In doing so, she asks viewers to consider tough questions regarding social and racial inequality globally.” From Black Art in America

and...

Her major site-specific horticultural installations at the New York Botanical Garden, will be on view May 27 through September 17th, 2023.

and...

She is Prospect New Orleans first artist curator, and will serve as Co-Artistic Director of Prospect.6, with Miranda Lash at the next installment of the international contemporary art triennial, scheduled to open next year

https://www.paho.org/en/news/20-1-2023-portrait-dr-etienne-unveiled-join-gallery-former-paho-directors

Congratulations to Kingston, Jamaica on being awarded World Best Creative Destination at the 9th Creative Tourism Awards. THE CREATIVE TOURISM NETWORK® is the international organization for the Creative Tourism development worldwide.The application was presented by Kingston Creative, who continues to transform Downtown Kingston into a city tourism destination using art, culture and technology. The award was delivered to Hon. Edmund Bartlett, the Minister of Tourism who pictured presenting the award to Andrea Dempster Chung, co-founder and executive director of Kingston Creative.

Take a listen to 45 seconds of Charles Campbell’s 45-minute audio recording of senior Black artists and Canadian community members’ breath --- the core ambient backdrop of Black Breath Spectacle. Their breaths choreograph a spectrogram that depicts audio waves of the recordings which are woven together in a digital abstract triptych of greens, yellows, and blue.

Listen

Breath is a personal and functional action, and in this exhibit, Campbell emphasizes the depth and meaning of breath, especially when, as a source of life it can become an object of oppression and power.   The immersive experience --- Campbell's response to Black Lives Matter by “putting the focus on breath rather than death --- closed last year at the Surrey Art Gallery, British Columbia. But he is developing an archive of Black breath recordings in the form of audio and sculptural installations called the Black Breath Archive  for a solo exhibition this year at the Gallery.   

WAS KEEPING

Creativ Space

Mark Lane and Laws Street

Kingston

Description: Hybridization Exhibition COMING SOON on February 12th Featuring new work by: Carol Campbell, Kereina Chang Fatt, Ramon Christie, Stefan Clark, Katrina Coombs, Paula Daley, Laura Lee Jones, Ammoy Smith, Margaret Stanley, Donnette Zacca This is what happens when 10 artists from 7 fine art disciplines work together in Paris for over 5 months

Public affairs and sustainability specialist at J Wray & Nephew Samantha Blake (left) and public affairs and government relations specialist at J Wray & Nephew Samara South (far right) with winner of the deisgn competition Trishaunna Henry at the National Gallery of Jamaica last Wednesday.

Watch

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W A L K G O O D

Ambassador the Hon. Dr. Richard Leighton Bernal, OJ. (1949-2023).

Ambassador Bernal was a giant economist, academic, and family man. He was our man in Washington, he was an champion for the development of the region and a tireless advocate for the modernization of Jamaica. No grass grew under Ambassador Bernal's feet. His diary, we imagine, left little space for idle pursuits, but we know he made time for music and for art and attended to those events with joyful rigor. We will miss his presence in the art community. Our condolences to Mrs Margaret Bernal and their family and friends.

Howard Moo Young (1942-2023)

Howard, in the main, was a photographer; an especially famous one for his 1978 image of Bob Marley holding aloft the hands of former prime ministers, Michael Manley and Edward Seaga at the One Love Peace Concert in Kingston. Howard was so many other things too: father, sketch artist, lecturer, mentor, multiple award-winner, creative director of the Moo-Young Butler ad agency, colleague member of the board of the National Gallery of Jamaica and a delightful and colourful raconteur.

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