Christies 3 March 2005

[Site Admin]

Lot 161: Annie in the Barbican
oil on canvas
20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61 cm.)
Estimate £1,500 - £2,000

[John]

When was this painted , and what project (if any) does it belong to?

[Kevin]

The piece is from a series called "Prophecy" completed by Robert about nine years ago this one is called "The Foundation of Hell" it depicts a scene of abject misery and despair, the traumatic effects of resignation, the withdrawal and fall from power. Note the symbolic use of the vacated chair in the corner.

[Site Admin]

The piece is from a series called "Prophecy" completed by Robert about nine years ago this one is called "The Foundation of Hell" it depicts a scene of abject misery and despair, the traumatic effects of resignation, the withdrawal and fall from power. Note the symbolic use of the vacated chair in the corner.

 

Me liked that!

[Site Admin]

Sold for £6600 (including buyer's premium).

I guess that there must have been at least two bidders who shared my view on this piece

[WEB WEAVER]

A magnificent forgery.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ROBERT-LENKIEWICZ-1941-2002-NUDE-REMBRANDT-PORTRAIT_W0QQitemZ360196042822QQcmdZViewItemQQptZArt_Paintings?hash=item53dd5b7046

The painting is quite similar to "Annie on the Barbican." 

I hope no-one is taken in.

[member555]

In the best of worlds we could imagine a Cataloue Raisonnée, a great book, or Internet site, where we could go to find out about a piece of art from Robert’s hand. Just imagine that there was such a thing, and what one could read in it. For example, one could search for keywords such as Rembrandt, Eliza, and Self-Portrait, and get one hit. Imagine what one might read under that entry, after lots of images and the usual list giving title, medium, size, signatures and inscriptions, Project, date, and sitters:

This painting is similar to "Annie on the Barbican" because both were painted in the same room, in Eliza's room in John Nash's house on the Barbican.

In the painting one can see Eliza’s silk shawl, and the sand tea pot that Robert bought for her. Eliza still has these things, including the Carl Larsson calendar. The white top worn by Robert may be one of those made by Eliza for Robert, or one made for him by Myrna, Auri's wife.

Eliza and Robert took the painting to Shepherds Bush in London, to the buyer who would have it in the attic in the house. They took it up rolled, and Robert built a stretcher on spot.

The painting was offered by Christies, Greater London, 17 Dec 2008, lot 60, est £30,000-50,000, but it did not sell. The same seller has then listed the painting at least six times on eBay, each time with a new starting price, the lowest $19,995 (auction end 15 June 2009) and the highest $60,000 (auction end 5 Nov 2009). The seller stated: “ The painting was folded instead of rolled and unfortunatly was stored for many years in this state. Therefore, it has suffered light crease lines which need attention from a professional restorator.”

And so on. Wouldn’t it be great? What an aid when planning an exhibition, writing an essay or book, giving reasons for authenticating (or not) a Lenkiewicz piece, when researching a painting offered at auction or privately or in a gallery, and what a tool for both buyer and seller. Not the least, what  a goldmine for every kind of information for anyone interested in Robert’s life and work.

But how sad, it’s just imagination. There is no such goldmine. 

   But wait, not quite true. There actually is one. The text above is taken from it. 

[sartre]

So there is a catalogue raisonnée? Where? 

And you reckon that the eBay painting is genuine? I must admit it's a bit of a curate's egg: the lower half of the girl's body appears - from the photograph, at least - to be made of brass and very badly painted by Lenkiewicz's standards. The white Chinese lantern looks awful too. Perhaps someone has attempted to "finish" an incomplete painting?

The eBay seller refers repeatedly to "Lenkiwicz". Maybe he did some of the work. 

[Annie HillSmith]

That was a splendid post, Member 555.
Where would we be without you?

I think that is such a beautiful painting.... or rather... was.... before it was so messed up by such bad handling. I hope some good person buys it and does all the remedial work that's needed. What a crazy thing to do....to fold a painting up like a bit of wrapping paper! It will need VERY skillful restoration.

And, on another subject, I'm puzzled that Sartre doesn't seem to have clocked that you are working on a CR? Or was that an ironic post? Maybe it's time you put another post up here about your CR project so that the lurkers & posters alike know that they can consult you ....

[Francis]

When this painting appeared at Christies, I was contacted by one or two people who had doubts about it. From the catalogue image, I totally agreed that it looked 'wrong'. Christies asked me to go up and view it. The scale of the original certainly gives a slightly different impression but there was nothing that persuaded me that my first impression was mistaken. It did look possible, however, that somewhere there had been an original Lenkiewicz at some point - the paint looked newer in much of the painting. Christies withdrew it from the sale.

The provenance of the painting was equally unconvincing. There was no explanation as to how it had ended up in Florida in, depending on the version put forward, the collection of a wealthy woman or an old couple. What was discovered, which wasn't being said, was that it had been bought in a small auction in Florida for $2-3000 a few years ago.

Here, in no particular order, are some of the reasons I doubted its authenticity:

1. It's an extremely clumsy painting. It's clearly based on the same interior as the painting  of Annie but if you compare them, you'll see the room has undergone some structural changes - the door has moved for instance.

2. The perspective is entirely unconvincing. For instance the reflected self portrait appears far too large and how did the sofa come through the door? How did Robert paint  a canvas that size in that space from that viewpoint?

3. All the art historical references are too obvious: the figure borrowed from Boucher, those books on Rembrandt that incidentally appear to be either floating or velcroed to the sofa.

4. Who is the model? And when did you last see one of Robert's models with one leather boot and long red fingernails? How is she holding that pose?

5. What is the painting about? What is going on in it? This could only be a painting from the late 70s or early 80s. It's not in any Project list. No-one appears to have any recollection of the painting. There are no existing images of the painting in its day.


6. If the painting was folded (which it clearly was) why is there no damage to the paint along the crease marks?


I could go on and on. Of course, someone may say 'Well I remember the painting' but memory can play tricks. What's needed are answers to the questions above (and more) or some verifiable objective evidence to say otherwise. Of course, I may well be wrong but I prefer the evidence of my own eyes to second-hand gossip.