The State of the Art

We're not what you would call art aficionados: I own a few Disney figurines and some framed sheet music -- such as the Theme for The Blob written by Burt Bacharach -- leaning on a small ledge above the kitchen entrance, and Caesar owns a few originals from Joe Monroe. It's not that we don't like art, but much of what we see doesn't really interest us.

But that changed a few weeks ago when we walked down Retro Row en route for dinner. We passed by the windows of The Vintage Collection and stopped in our tracks - something neither of us normally does. The windows were filled with colorful prints of cats, birds, and landscapes in a very 70s style -- the main focus of each print was a black outline atop chunky blocks of blues or oranges or greens of varying shades. We commented on how nice they were then continued on toward the restaurant.

Fast forward a week, and we made a point of walking into the shop this time and browsing through the prints. After an hour of pulling prints, showing them to one another, refiling them, finding others, we discovered two prints involving cats that we both liked. Only one had a sticker price -- the one of a young boy carrying a hefty kitty -- so we toted them to the counter to ask about them and learned that the prints were from David Weidman, an illustrator best known for his work on the Mr. Magoo and Fractured Fairy Tales cartoons. He created the silk screens for the serigraphs (as the clerk called them0, then destroyed the originals leaving only the prints in their shop and at a few other galleries around LA.

We talked some more about the prints while the clerk checked the inventory list . . . but couldn't locate the price for the print. He needed to check with the owner of the shop who would be in the next day. I left my number, and we headed home.

A week later, and still no call, I finally walked to the shop. The clerk said he hadn't forgotten about me, but he hadn't been able to reach the shop's owner. He called a manager over, who in turn called the woman who brought the prints in, and I walked out of there with the print carefully wrapped in brown paper.

I feel so adult buying real art! Next step is to get it framed. Then, I'll post a pic of it.

Image from Cartoon Brew.