Who is Serge D.?

(Above) DOUBLE PORTRAIT: Francis Bacon and His Art
Serge D.
Oil on Canvas
1975
24” x 16”

(Above) DOUBLE PORTRAIT: Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn
Serge D.
Oil on Canvas
1973
24” x 16”


(Above) DOUBLE PORTRAIT: Art Critics
Serge D.
Oil on Canvas
1975
24” x 16”


(Above) DOUBLE PORTRAIT: Angie Dickenson and Sammy Davis Jr.
Serge D.
Oil on Canvas
1970
24” x 16”


ANDREW FLAMM & MICHELLE HAUSER find incredible things and make them available to collectors like me. Their shop, Odd Fellows Art & Antiques, is located in Augusta, Maine, but you can find them at most of the higher-end antique shows. As dealers, they represent a new vision in collectible antiques and objects—they, and a few others, who have been redefining the “antiques” industry. If anyone is going to bring the younger generation into this collecting field, it will be collector/dealers like Andrew and Michelle.

I saw these paintings several years ago at Andrew and Michelle’s display at the Intuit show in Chicago. I loved them, and I was surprised when Andrew told me the paintings are basically anonymous, except for the signature “Serge D.” I have to tell you, I think they are great. These paintings have a Chicago Imagists kind of look, sort of a cross between really quirky thrift store art and a highly stylistic point of view. Andrew says the paintings surfaced in Connecticut some years back, and nothing—absolutely NOTHING—is known about the artist. For what it’s worth, and it is a considerable compliment to Serge D., Michelle told me that the Chicago artist Karl Wirsum saw the paintings and liked them very much. Andrew says they have about 12 or 15 paintings by this artist.

So, who was Serge D.? Was he a talented art school painter who gave up too early because no one bought his work? Or, was he a self-taught artist with great talent who has disappeared from our sights? Talk to me, Serge.

An AM repost from 2/2/09