Looking for print of MMM's painting opera of the seas

jeffa · November 7th, 2009, 12:00 AM

I have been looking for a year to try to find a print/litho/giclee of Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh's 1916 painting Opera of the Seas (Oil and Watercolor).

This is a painting made by Margaret and possibly Charles in ~1916 that is based on the earlier gesso panel (~1903) made by Margaret for a piano room. I am not interested in the various prints of the gesso panel.

After contacting University of Glasgow, a nice representative there stated that the painting is held by Landesmuseum in Darmstadt, but did not have a particular person at Darmstadt that I should contact. The website for Darmstadt http://www.hlmd.de is not useful, a search yields nothing, and two emails to the general address for the museum (with enough German to at least trigger a reply) went unanswered.

If anyone is unsure of what I am looking for, a (low quality) scan of this work is available at http://pintura.aut.org/SearchProducto?Produnum=73011 . If good prints are unavailable, I'd be interested in a high quality large transparency or a digital image, and would be willing to pay for photography if needed. This would only be for personal use and if there are any questions of distribution rights, I'd be happy to agree that it is to only be displayed in my home.

So, if someone out there has a suggestion or even a line on getting this I am willing to pay a reasonable amount for a large print. To reply, please respond to this post, and many thanks.

-Jeff

John · November 7th, 2009, 02:48 PM

Have you tried art image providers such as Art Resource and Bridgeman Art Library and Scala Images? There's a more complete list here.

jeffa · November 7th, 2009, 07:59 PM

Thanks for the reply, but I have already sniffed around most of those mulberry bushes.

Also have checked out pomegranite publishing (they make a postcard) and contacted Vaughn Art works (http://www.art-works.co.uk/ seems to be expert on her work).
All to no avail.

Bridgeman has only the gesso.
Corbis does not have it.
Scala does not have it.
Art Resource does not have it.
Art Archive does not have it.
superstock does not have it.
Lessing Does not have it.
Christies does not have it.

I have only found the image at ArtMagik and Pintura as noted and unfortunately, the level of quality is just not enough to make a decent-sized wall print.

I am almost ready to order a chinese or russian oil reproduction (1st-art-gallery.com would do it, they have it in their catalog) if I cannot find a good print, but I really don't want to do that unless I have it confirmed that a print is completely unavailable (such as the original being in a private collection).

That may be the case (private collection). I have discovered that as of ~1996 it was in darmstadt (noted in obit of Jude Burkhauser at http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...r-1180895.html ) and one publication noted it (as a watercolor not an oil) in a private collection: Jordie Vigue's "Great women masters of art" (1996) http://books.google.com/books?id=38V...age&q=&f=false

So yeah, I have tried quite a bit of net searching to no avail. Any more ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

John · November 8th, 2009, 12:11 PM

If you have a postcard of the work, I think you would be better off doing a high-res scan of it and seeing if you can print it at a larger size. I would think you could get it up to 8x10 at least if you experimented a bit. I don't see how the Chinese copyists could do a better job, given that they are unlikely to have a better original to work from than you do.

However your best bet may be to get the museum to photograph it for you. Did you see this page? They even have a photo price list online. It looks like you can get a high res digital image for 40 euros. Surely if you are persistent, and maybe get a native German speaker to email or phone them, someone will get back to you.
http://www.hlmd.de/w3.php?nodeId=368

jeffa · November 8th, 2009, 01:22 PM

Great find...

I have tried the info@... email address, but never did find that form. I will try again (finding a human german translator first) and see if they do answer back. Will update here if it works, (but I expect it'll be a few weeks).

Thanks

jeffa · March 25th, 2010, 10:44 AM

Success!
Just a followup note, thanks to john and others, I finally did find a good phone number and spoke to a curator over there who could handle English. After some exchange of emails and fees (sending money overseas was interesting), I now have a digital photo in hand and license for personal use only. It has been delivered to my printer and within a month or so I expect to have this on my wall.

They were very accommodating. The photo is excellent, hi-rez and has color cards too for the printer to work with.

Very satisfied. and my next trip to Europe, I will probably visit darmstadt just to say "hi".

I guess that if anyone else wants something from darmstadt, since i now know the path to go, PM me and I can share email addresses and contact info.

John · March 25th, 2010, 10:53 AM

Great work! There will be some extra satisfaction in owning it, now that you know how hard it is to get hold of a copy.

November 7th, 2009, 12:00 AM	#1
jeffa Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 4	Looking for print of MMM's painting opera of the seas I have been looking for a year to try to find a print/litho/giclee of Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh's 1916 painting Opera of the Seas (Oil and Watercolor). This is a painting made by Margaret and possibly Charles in ~1916 that is based on the earlier gesso panel (~1903) made by Margaret for a piano room. I am not interested in the various prints of the gesso panel. After contacting University of Glasgow, a nice representative there stated that the painting is held by Landesmuseum in Darmstadt, but did not have a particular person at Darmstadt that I should contact. The website for Darmstadt http://www.hlmd.de is not useful, a search yields nothing, and two emails to the general address for the museum (with enough German to at least trigger a reply) went unanswered. If anyone is unsure of what I am looking for, a (low quality) scan of this work is available at http://pintura.aut.org/SearchProducto?Produnum=73011 . If good prints are unavailable, I'd be interested in a high quality large transparency or a digital image, and would be willing to pay for photography if needed. This would only be for personal use and if there are any questions of distribution rights, I'd be happy to agree that it is to only be displayed in my home. So, if someone out there has a suggestion or even a line on getting this I am willing to pay a reasonable amount for a large print. To reply, please respond to this post, and many thanks. -Jeff

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November 7th, 2009, 02:48 PM	#2
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,401	Have you tried art image providers such as Art Resource and Bridgeman Art Library and Scala Images? There's a more complete list here.

November 7th, 2009, 07:59 PM	#3
jeffa Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 4	Thanks for the reply, but I have already sniffed around most of those mulberry bushes. Also have checked out pomegranite publishing (they make a postcard) and contacted Vaughn Art works (http://www.art-works.co.uk/ seems to be expert on her work). All to no avail. Bridgeman has only the gesso. Corbis does not have it. Scala does not have it. Art Resource does not have it. Art Archive does not have it. superstock does not have it. Lessing Does not have it. Christies does not have it. I have only found the image at ArtMagik and Pintura as noted and unfortunately, the level of quality is just not enough to make a decent-sized wall print. I am almost ready to order a chinese or russian oil reproduction (1st-art-gallery.com would do it, they have it in their catalog) if I cannot find a good print, but I really don't want to do that unless I have it confirmed that a print is completely unavailable (such as the original being in a private collection). That may be the case (private collection). I have discovered that as of ~1996 it was in darmstadt (noted in obit of Jude Burkhauser at http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...r-1180895.html ) and one publication noted it (as a watercolor not an oil) in a private collection: Jordie Vigue's "Great women masters of art" (1996) http://books.google.com/books?id=38V...age&q=&f=false So yeah, I have tried quite a bit of net searching to no avail. Any more ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

November 8th, 2009, 12:11 PM	#4
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,401	If you have a postcard of the work, I think you would be better off doing a high-res scan of it and seeing if you can print it at a larger size. I would think you could get it up to 8x10 at least if you experimented a bit. I don't see how the Chinese copyists could do a better job, given that they are unlikely to have a better original to work from than you do. However your best bet may be to get the museum to photograph it for you. Did you see this page? They even have a photo price list online. It looks like you can get a high res digital image for 40 euros. Surely if you are persistent, and maybe get a native German speaker to email or phone them, someone will get back to you. http://www.hlmd.de/w3.php?nodeId=368

November 8th, 2009, 01:22 PM	#5
jeffa Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 4	Great find... I have tried the info@... email address, but never did find that form. I will try again (finding a human german translator first) and see if they do answer back. Will update here if it works, (but I expect it'll be a few weeks). Thanks

March 25th, 2010, 10:44 AM	#6
jeffa Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 4	Success! Just a followup note, thanks to john and others, I finally did find a good phone number and spoke to a curator over there who could handle English. After some exchange of emails and fees (sending money overseas was interesting), I now have a digital photo in hand and license for personal use only. It has been delivered to my printer and within a month or so I expect to have this on my wall. They were very accommodating. The photo is excellent, hi-rez and has color cards too for the printer to work with. Very satisfied. and my next trip to Europe, I will probably visit darmstadt just to say "hi". I guess that if anyone else wants something from darmstadt, since i now know the path to go, PM me and I can share email addresses and contact info.

March 25th, 2010, 10:53 AM	#7
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,401	Great work! There will be some extra satisfaction in owning it, now that you know how hard it is to get hold of a copy.