Yale Art Gallery Buys Major Henry Koerner Painting

My extensive trip around NY art galleries last month showed that a staggering number of them, even those dedicated to contemporary art were giving prime place to historic shows of often non living artists.

One positive result is that there's a new interest in talents long forgotten or under recognised. (A big reason is that most of the super famous work is in public collections no longer available for sale)

The 1940's and early 50's was the birthplace of the important, New York School-Pollack, de Kooning, Kline, Rothko -which for many years cast a blaze so large that many forgot or ignored the huge array of artists more closely tied to figuration in all it's forms.

Lately, the art market has taken a serious turn back to recognise this work with the last major London auctions dominated by works by Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, Peter Doig, Ron Mueck, Andy Warhol and other non abstract artists.

"Works by Francis Bacon, Peter Doig and Lucian Freud helped Christie’s International raise 78.8 million pounds ($126 million) at an auction in London last night. It was the company’s highest total for a sale of contemporary works in the U.K. capital since June 2008."

One artist who lived and worked in Pittsburgh gaining recent appreciation is Henry Koerner with a major purchase by the Yale University Art Gallery.

"Since his 1991 death at age 75 in a bicycle accident in Vienna, public interest in Koerner's paintings has escalated. His works in photo realism style, known as Magic Realism, sell for six figures. Koerner's "Post War" sold at auction in 2006 for $329,000; in June, "Under the Overpass" sold in California for $252,000.

"He's an important artist. I'm glad he's getting his due," said Gail Stavitsky, curator at Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey and author of a book about Koerner.

Yale's acquisition -- its first Koerner painting -- will become part of the university's permanent collection, said Robin Jaffe Frank, associate curator of American painting and sculpture."