Art print. Can anyone decipher title and signature?

[krazyace]

Thanks

 

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[trdking]

what does the print look like?

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

I think it is a foreign language so maybe a foreign artist.

 

[SCdigger]

"Winter Influx"
Wilbur Laugham
My best guess...would help to see the picture.

 

[Red-Coat]

I can never understand why people enquiring about artist signatures, pottery marks and jewellery makers etc don't provide a picture of the piece itself. That usually helps narrow things down a lot.

Nevertheless, my reading of the title is that it says "Winter-Ausflug". In German, "winter" is the same as in English and "ausflug" means "excursion" or "trip". As such "winter-ausflug" is a common generic title for snowscape scenes, usually showing people aboard a sleigh. If what you have is a still-life of a vase of flowers then that won't be much help.

I think perhaps that the signature is Wilma Lo??gha??

A view of the print itself would be useful.

 

[krazyace]

 

[Red-Coat]

Thanks for the picture. I like that very much. It has the look and feel of a 1930s German 'motoring travel' poster, so "Winter-Ausflug" would still make sense in terms of a someone taking a winter break. Looks like an affluent family with their luggage departing from a swanky hotel or a country house.

It wasn't unusual for artwork commissioned for advertising purpose to also be sold as prints by the artist, with or without the accompanying blurb from whatever company commissioned the work, including limited editions such as yours.

Or it might just be something later, taking its inspiration from that era. Unfortunately, that doesn't bring us any closer to an artist name or date.

 

[IN DA HOLE]

Dieter Lurflug

Wilburg Laupham

 

[krazyace]

After a quick search it kind of resembles this place- maybe the print is an older version or a mock up?

 

[GibH]

Wilma Longhammer - Rolls Royce Wedding

https://www.rogallery.com/artists/wilma-longhammer/rolls-royce-wedding/

 

[GibH]

I find it odd that there doesn't seem to be any biographical information available for a Wilma Longhammer.

 

[Red-Coat]

I find it odd that there doesn't seem to be any biographical information available for a Wilma Longhammer.

Well done on finding that GibH. There are several things that I think are odd.

Although multiple sites are offering these prints for sale (at similar prices), there is as you say nothing to be found about the artist in terms of biography or dates… except that the print is variously referred to as c.1979 or c.1980. Some foreign sites offering the print say its “imported from America”, although the scene itself is very obviously European.

The only other work by the artist that seems to be in circulation is this sleigh scene, titled “Winterreise” which is German for “winter trip” and consistent with what I said earlier about the title “Winter-Ausflug”, which is an alternative way of saying the same thing.



It’s odd that the print is being sold under the title “Rolls Royce Wedding” when the original artist’s title is “Winter-Ausflug” (whereas the other work is sold under its original German title). I don’t see anything about the scene that screams ‘wedding’, so I wonder if that’s a retrospectively invented title for marketing purposes. The German for “wedding” would be “hochzeit” and, for “honeymoon” would be “flitterwochen”.

Most sites refer to the prints as ‘serigraphs’ (a very sophisticated silk-screen process that gained credence as an art medium in its own rite during the 1960s when it was adopted by the likes of Warhol and Lichtenstein). Some sites say they’re lithographs.

 

[krazyace]

Wow thanks GibH, great sleuthing. Also thanks Red-Coat for the informative and helpful posts! I agree, probably sold with that title for marketing or because the person did not know what it meant and then everyone else in the U.S. ran with it.

This sat at the thrift shop for over a week. Finally I had to pull the trigger and grab it on my 3rd visit. I was surprised it had sat for so long especially with a price tag of $9.09, I was glad and lucky it was still available when I went back to grab it.,

 

[Red-Coat]

I knew something wasn’t right here. It looks like some gallery in the USA tried to identify something they had for sale, got it wrong, and has been the source for that same incorrect information percolating through to other sellers with the same print. The car perhaps isn’t a Rolls Royce (it’s maybe a BMW), it doesn’t depict a wedding, and the artist’s name is not Wilma Langham or Langhammer… it’s Wilma Langhamer.

You can see it more clearly on this work, where the original signature on the painting/print itself is obviously ‘Langhamer’ but the later signature on the matte used for framing is less clear:



Here’s a selection of her work from various auction listings:



This is from her website:

Living in South Germany, Wilma Langhamer purchased her first set of oil colors at age 15. Self taught, in 1974 she decided to make art her career. Soon afterwards, her work was exhibited in Munich and Stuttgart, Germany. During this time she met her future husband Carl Mohner, international Movie Star, and Artist, who named her unique style "ROMANTIC REALISM", which is still true for her current work.

Wilma's early works were influenced by Medieval Artists, the beautiful French Castles, and Vintage Cars. BMW Head Quarter, Munich, Germany, commissioned the artist to create ten originals depicting BMW Vintage Vehicles with German background.

Since 1978 Langhamer resides in Texas. Life is change, also the artist's work went through a transformation. As a teenager she used to play the violin. Even though her violin is retired, she loves to return in her paintings to earlier days, depicting women with instruments: violin, cello, flute. Music touches our emotions, transmits joy, vibrancy or peace of mind. Listening to music while painting is inspiring to the artist. In youth, women blossom to reach their full potential. The portrait of a woman may be combined with flowers.

Her latest paintings reflect the current state of our world. There is darkness and there is light. The artist likes to invite light into her life and artwork. The dove is a symbol of peace. Loves blossoms if nourished. Her latest series: "The Key". God gives us the "Key to Life". I feel gratitude - and I have to remind myself of that gift.

Langhamer has worked with many Charities in the past and will do so in the future.

So, I would bet that your work might be of the type I suggested earlier… commissioned by BMW for automobile advertising purposes and then also sold as a limited edition print of the original work without the advertising blurb.

 

[GibH]

Good ID Red-Coat. That makes much more sense now.

 

[krazyace]

Great job! Thank you for all of that info. Do you think it would actually be older than 1979-1980 then?

 

[Red-Coat]

Great job! Thank you for all of that info. Do you think it would actually be older than 1979-1980 then?

Maybe, but if so, only a few years older. Her biography says that she made art her career in 1974. If this work is part of the series commissioned by BMW then those works were first exhibited at the BMW Gallery in Munich in 1976.