Hello everyone,
I picked this painting up at a local second hand store in my home town of Spokane, Washington. I believe the signature says "H. Bongartz". The Canvas is hand made and very brittle on the sides of it's H-frame stretcher. This massive piece measures approx. 24"H x 36"W before adding it's frame which makes it 36"H x 48"W.
When I was in the checkout isle, there was an older man behind me, who told me he was on the phone with his daughter, an art major, who said she recognized the artist's name, and the man offered to pay me double what I was about to pay for it, if I was willing to sell it to him when we got outside. Of course, this made me want the painting all that much more and I politely declined the offer. When I got home, I excitedly tried to search for the artist but to no avail, which surprised me because of the interest shown in it at the store.
I don't know much old oil paintings, but I've learned that as the back of a canvas ages, it loses it's off white color and takes on a brownish hue. This is the darkest canvas that I've personally ever seen, but I have no idea how old this painting really is. The back of the canvas also has several patches? all over it. I don't know if these were used to patch up the canvas early on, or in an effort to restore it maybe? If anyone could help me get an idea of it's age, anything about the artist, or any ideas about how to proceed with my research, I'd really appreciate it.
I picked this painting up at a local second hand store in my home town of Spokane, Washington. I believe the signature says "H. Bongartz". The Canvas is hand made and very brittle on the sides of it's H-frame stretcher. This massive piece measures approx. 24"H x 36"W before adding it's frame which makes it 36"H x 48"W.
When I was in the checkout isle, there was an older man behind me, who told me he was on the phone with his daughter, an art major, who said she recognized the artist's name, and the man offered to pay me double what I was about to pay for it, if I was willing to sell it to him when we got outside. Of course, this made me want the painting all that much more and I politely declined the offer. When I got home, I excitedly tried to search for the artist but to no avail, which surprised me because of the interest shown in it at the store.
I don't know much old oil paintings, but I've learned that as the back of a canvas ages, it loses it's off white color and takes on a brownish hue. This is the darkest canvas that I've personally ever seen, but I have no idea how old this painting really is. The back of the canvas also has several patches? all over it. I don't know if these were used to patch up the canvas early on, or in an effort to restore it maybe? If anyone could help me get an idea of it's age, anything about the artist, or any ideas about how to proceed with my research, I'd really appreciate it.
