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

Some Real Beauties

(Above, click for larger view)
COLLECTION of 12 CUT OUTS:

Documenting one girl from early childhood through graduation;
Inscribed: To my dearest Aunt Mattie, from Eileen
Circa 1935; Photo Statue Company, NYC
Photograph mounted on board. 4” x 10” each
[this item sold]

(Above, click for larger view)
KING OF CONJURERS

Circus banner: created by Bob the Signist, Bangor, Maine
Mid-20th Century
69-1/2” x 36”
(Above, click for larger view)
RARE COLLECTION OF FIGURATIVE AND ANIMAL CARVINGS

Unknown Carver, possibly African American
Mississippi, circa 1910-1930
This carver had a unique ability to convey both a primitive and highly sophisticated interpretation of human and animal forms. Depicting with great detail specific hand gestures and employing delicate construction methods the carver reflects an imaginative and highly personalized expression of the human spirit.
[this item sold]

(Above, click for larger view)
AFRICAN AMERICAN QUILT

Strip quilting, flying geese improvisation
Cotton. Red, white, blue, salmon and beige
1st half of the 20th cent, St. Louis, MO
80” x 72” [this item sold]
(Above, click for larger view)
AFRICAN AMERICAN BEDROOM SET

Willie Freeman
Greer, South Carolina, Circa 1930
Idiosyncratically hand carved and incised oak retaining the original stained and varnished surface. Double Bed, Vanity and Wardrobe
(Bed measures: 57” x 75-1/2”).

(Above, click for larger view)
COW LOOKING AT A PORTERHOUSE AND RIB-EYE STEAK

Painting on Masonite
Butcher shop sign
1936, CT
93” x 42”
[this item sold]

HAVE YOU EVER GONE INTO A PERSON’S HOME, LOFT OR APARTMENT and seen an object so cool and mysterious and special that you end up blabbering something like “where did you GET that? That is SO-o cool!” These are the kind of objects that Andrew Flamm and Michelle Hauser of Odd Fellows Art and Antiques in Augusta, Maine sell. The pair have long been part of the vanguard of antique dealers who are redefining the antiques industry.

Check out their Web site for available objects and look for them at the best antique shows.