Coronado Bathroom Window

I bought a cool painting out of New York.  An acrylic on canvas. A bathroom interior with a book and the counter with a bomb blast cover. 

The artist is Kathleen Marshall (b. 1950). She is known for diminutive interior scenes, usually painted in gouache. I have sold one other of her pieces, which was very small and got good money for it. 

You can see it here on my gallery website. I obtained it from Dixon. You can see more of her work here at Christopher Clark gallery in San Francisco, who now represent her. Her approach has changed somewhat over time. More here. Here is her bio from the site:

As one of only a few contemporary painters who work exclusively in gouache—an opaque, water soluble pigment that is notoriously difficult to master—Kathleen Marshall is somewhat of an anachronism in today’s art world. Often confused with tempera, gouache-like paints originated in ancient Egypt and Greece, and the medium’s rich history includes modern adherents like Henri Matisse, Jean Dubuffet, and Georges Rouault. Over time, gouache on illustration board became the industry standard for illustrators, designers, and comic book artists who valued its velvety finish, density, and saturated color. Present day use continues to be specialized.

Subject-wise, Marshall is best known for intimately scaled, meticulously rendered depictions of dimly lit, sparsely furnished room interiors commonly found in old European flats or homes. Often, the primary light source is a window or French doors flanked by heavy draperies. In her Cherche Midi series, verdant courtyards are visible through the glass. Though less common than her room interiors, Marshall also creates still lifes and figurative works.

Marshall earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history from the University of Santa Barbara, a Master’s degree in painting and drawing from San Diego State University, and, in 1982, a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego. By accident, in 1976, she discovered gouache paints at the venerable Bon Marché department store in Paris and spent years teaching herself to use them. The artist’s interest in somber, European-style room interiors, however, stems from childhood when she frequently visited her grandmother, an artist who managed an estate in Los Angeles. Marshall’s darkly evocative compositions are more than skilled renderings of rooms. “They are metaphors for life,” she says. “I paint interiors that I’m surrounded by and that speak to me.” Empty chairs, for example, are stand-ins for people, doors imply a vanished human presence, and views through windows suggest engagement with the outside world. In 1989 Marshall moved to France permanently, but frequently returns to her hometown of La Jolla.

(Mark Lugo, from 100 Artists, 100 Years:  A Century of Creativity in San Diego)

I don't know a lot about the artist but do know that she was connected to the Athenaeum in La Jolla for a good period of time and then moved to Avignon in France, where she continues to paint. Perhaps she lived in Coronado for a spell as well. Somehow I tracked her email down years ago and we had a brief correspondence.

In any case, a women in her eighties in New York contacted me recently and asked me if I would be interested in buying her piece, which she had bought from the Hank Baum Gallery at the New York Art Expo in 1981. I said that I would and we came to terms and I made arrangements for shipping.

But I could not believe the size of the thing. 

This artist is known for postcard size work. This measures 48 x 60". Not sure how to price it?

The work is signed and dated 1981 verso. Started in June of 1980 and finished in October the following year.

There was a little drama as the day it was to be picked up I received a note from the artist that she believed it actually was a small work and that someone must have copied it and made a print or put it on canvas.

Based on that knowledge I cancelled the sale at 4:30 a.m..

But an hour later I got another note from Kathleen, she had found a slide and her notes confirmed that the 4 x 5' size was accurate and that the signature version was indeed hers.

Yippee, I hurriedly put the deal back together, the shipper picked it up the following day and now I have it in my shop.

And I really like it, it is more vague than the later stuff and that appeals to me. She sent me another note:

Wow that is a big one.  I started out working really big but have no idea where any of those paintings are now.  So seeing this one was quite a surprise.

The title would have been something like “Coronado Bathroom window” because I almost always use descriptive titles.

 I remember doing a smaller version of that painting without the nuclear blast. 

Thank you for sending the photo….fun to see.

Kathleen

So everything works out beautifully.  The seller is happy, the artist is happy and I am happy. And someone will hopefully buy it one day and be happy too.