Rochard Tern Art Deco Sculpture-Piece Of The Week.

 Irenee Rochard was a French sculptor working during the Art Deco Inter War period.
This is a Tern cresting a wave or maybe to be more precise a Storm Petrel
 The Storm Petrel is a beautiful and is one of the smallest sea birds.
The Guadalupe Storm Petrel is thought to have gone extinct.
It spends most of the year on the wing and only comes inland to breed.

It is signed Rochard and there is always a presumption that it is by Irenee but there were several French animaliers who went under the name of  Rochard.
Irenee as her name suggests was a lady.
Born 1906 in Villefranche sur Saone.
 She was a member of the Artists Society from 1938 where she won a bronze medal in 1941.
She died in the 1980's but most her work seems to have been carried out during the Inter War years.
It was not common for a lady to be a sculptor (see Lejan ) during the first half of the 20th century.

Thankfully that has now changed but it makes it more remarkable that a lady was producing such masculine sculptures.
She did a lot of strong masculine Panthers and her work is mostly Art Deco in style.
Her sculpture is generally is cast in Bronze and Spelter and has varying degrees of quality ranging from magnificent to average.
This sculpture was described a s a seagull when I bought it.
But when you look at it more closely it is unfair to describe it that way.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
 This comes apart in two sections the bird itself sits on a spigot on the top of the wave which makes it easier to carry. It is 61cm high and has a gilded finish no big scratches or damage.
I have sold quite a few of what I call Tern sculptures, but I always leave the seagulls behind.
There are quite a lot by lesser sculptors that look like they have flown into a brick wall and are a bit "gammy" for want of a better word. its best to pay a little it more for the right one. In bronze it would be over a thousand pounds.
The good thing about this piece is that it cuts a good silhouette against a window or on a cabinet, for not too much money really.
 Expect to pay about £450, for a nice one, and don't buy a squawker.

Antiques Trade Gazette-Do They Really Want Debate. A Letter To The Editor.

Sir,

How to become an art adviser (issue 2163 back page) read more like an advertisement for various self appointed art associations to my taste, than a informed and deliberate attempt to make a debate thereof.
There needs a full and frank assessment as to the varying degree of professional advice in the art market, that is without doubt. But this was not it.
In France auctioneers and valuers and advisers are regulated by law, here “anyone with a suit a business card or a well heeled handbag” can put themselves forward as an expert and set up an auction house.
This is where the real conflict lies, surely it is now time, that the art and auction market, which is now mostly online, that all auctioneers and advisers need to be regulated, and have to prove themselves.
A quick survey of estimates can be so hilarious, how can they be so wrong.
The quality advisers will have nothing to fear with another certificate to calm their clients nerves.
But will ATG pronounce the idea in light of the success of the saleroom.com.
The art market is full of ponzi schemes, we all know this but what the said article seems to pour scorn over is the un-calibrated power of professional hard working dealers, the ones who know all the tricks of the unregulated trade and will lead the client through the pitfalls of the art consultancy market in its present form. That don't get praise because they are just working hard. 
Though I concede the writer tried to mention this unregulated consultancy market but then went on to say he was invited into a private club closed to all but a lucky few.
Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder.
Theorhetical Qualifications cannot buy experience in my opinion.

Please could we have a little less condescending articles based around how great someone with varying degrees of professional paid for education is.
Or how jolly wonderful the old school tie brigade who have run the trade for decades are.  
And could we have more about the passion of the trade and its collective experiences.
I think its time for regulation.
And a serious look into the auction market and how it can help auctioneers clients rather than themselves.
There is such a high level of knowledge in the antique trade so what would most reputable auctioneers have to worry about.
Now that's a real debate.

http://waynecolquhoun.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/should-uk-auctioneers-be-regulated.html

Liverpool Everyman Wins The 2014 Stirling Prize.

But did they really have to knock it down?
Well there you go. The Liverpool Everyman wins an award.
 Beating The Shard to scoop The 2014 Stirling Prize.
So did I get it wrong when I said in 2013 that it should have been retained?
http://waynecolquhoun.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-liverpool-everymansuch-tragedy-why.html  

I cant get my head around the way that the building was deemed unfit for human habitation and had to be demolished.

I considered that the walls were sweating with the history of the place, that has yet to be fully identified. Liverpool is a town, that knocked the Cavern Club down.........and then called itself Beatles City.

The building will now be favored by the public as it is now in the full glare of national publicity and the spotlight is on Liverpool for being modern and progressive in Architecture and design. Well at least we are not winning The Carbuncle Cup award for bad Architecture in the World Heritage Site.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/liverpool-wins-carbuncle-cup.html

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/museum-of-liverpool-runner-up-in-2011.html


Could I be switching my opinion on this building after it won the Stirling Prize, well I have never been in it so I will have to now go and have a look and see.

Read more from The Guardian on the link below.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/oct/16/stirling-prize-riba-everyman-theatre-haworth-tompkins

The judges citation read;
‘The new Everyman in Liverpool is truly for every man, woman and child. It cleverly resolves so many of the issues architects face every day. Its context - the handsome street that links the two cathedrals – is brilliantly complemented by the building’s scale, transparency, materials and quirky sense of humour, notably where the solar shading is transformed into a parade of Liverpudlians.

‘The ambience of the theatre is hugely welcoming with three elegant and accessible public foyers for bars, lounges and café/bistro. Clever use of materials with interlocking spaces and brilliant lighting make this an instantly enjoyable new public space for the city.

‘It is exceptionally sustainable; not only did the construction re-use 90% of the material from the old theatre, but all spaces are naturally ventilated including the auditorium with its 440 seats. Clever, out of sight concrete labyrinths supply and expel air whilst maintaining total acoustic isolation. It is one of the first naturally ventilated auditoria in the UK.

‘The generosity of its public spaces, which, on a tight site, are unexpected and delightful, are used throughout the day and night. As Howarth Tompkins’ first completely new theatre, it is a culmination of their many explorations into the theatre of the 21st century.

‘It is ground-breaking as a truly public building, which was at the heart of the client’s philosophy and ethos. In summary, an extraordinary contribution to both theatre and the city, achieved through clever team working – client, architect, consultants and contractor – where the new truly celebrates the past.’