(Circus performers) by Luis Alba

(Circus performers) by Luis Alba

(Circus performers)

Luis Alba

Title

(Circus performers)

 
Artist
Year
c. 1950  
Technique
oil painting on board 
Image Size
11 x 15"  
Signature
lower left 
Edition Size
1 of 1 unique 
Annotations
on verso: 38 / F / W 549 - 4LF 
Reference
 
Paper
paperboard panel 
State
 
Publisher
Commissioned by Martin Lowitz 
Inventory ID
15162 
Price
SOLD
Description

Label on the verso from Martin Lowitz Gallery, Los Angeles: From Time Magazine: June 10, 1957: "When Los Angeles Art Dealer Martin Lowitz sends a cable to an obscure artist calling for "200 Braques, 15 by 22, soonest," he is ordering guaranteed, authentic, tried and (in a way) true pictures— painted by a skilled imitator's hand. No ordinary purveyor of paintings, Dealer Lowitz is busy answering the bothersome question raised by hotelkeepers and other custodians of public and private buildings: What to put on the walls? Lowitz' answer: "original" paintings. In providing that answer, genial, garrulous Martin Lowitz, 61, has become the founder and entrepreneur of the world's biggest, and perhaps only, mass-production line for oil paintings.

"From his smart showrooms appropriately located on the edge of Beverly Hills, Lowitz supplies paintings in any shape, size, color, subject, style or quantity. Last year he sold about 40,000, mostly to hotels, and this year business is even brisker. In a recent typical week he sold 1,166 paintings to a Hollywood studio, a cluster of hotels, a golf club and a Los Angeles eating place called Coffee Dan's; fortnight ago he got an order from San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel for 3,564 paintings (all "very modern," mostly abstract); last week he sold the Las Vegas Hacienda 1,488 paintings with colors to match the color schemes of the rooms.

"Unoriginal Originals. It would be hard to confuse the paintings that Lowitz' artists produce with masterpieces. Some are attempts to reflect a recognized master's style; others are done in the painter's own style. They are painted quickly and slickly on a type of beaverboard (easier to store, less likely to damage) that is cut to fit nine frame sizes, ranging from very small (8 in. by 10 in.) to rather big (72 in. by 20 in.). Whether they are semiabstract, magazine-cover American or postcard romantic, most of the unoriginal originals have the restful quality of being reminiscent without demanding a second glance."