Frank J H Gardiner Painting

[michaelpsutton2]

As you all know I am a painter. Last week I came across this beauty in a thrift/consignment store. Naturally the subject caught my eye. On closer examination I began to develop the delusion that it is an original, an idea that becomes ever firmly rooted in my feverish brain as time has gone on. I can see faint pencil lines under the wash. I can see the tips of the oars under the white gouache of the sea foam. The name is certainly hand lettered on the matting and the gold stripe is a thin piece of something glued on. I have not removed it from the frame. It seems somewhat more detailed than other works by this artist. I thought it could be a hand tinted print, but I do not see any other copies of thus composition for sale. Anybody know anything about this painting or about this guy? Anybody know how to tell if it is real/original?

 

[druxey]

The way to tell a print from an original is to put a magnifying glass over it. If you see a pattern of tiny colored dots, it's a print. If not - congratulations!

[Louie da fly]

Aha! I knew it was the Victory just by looking at the escutcheon figurehead, before I saw the title (maybe because I've previously built two plastic Victory models).

 

Beautiful painting. Wish I was that good . . . (sigh).

 

Steven

Edited September 25, 2021 by Louie da fly

[ccoyle]

Frank Joseph Henry Gardiner was born in 1942 in England. His works have sold at auction from $149 up to $2017. So, did you get a good deal?

[michaelpsutton2]

There is no dot pattern even under my grandsons hand held microscope. And yes I got a fine deal

[michaelpsutton2]

$2017 is an interesting number. Why not an even $2000

[mtaylor]

2 hours ago, michaelpsutton2 said:

$2017 is an interesting number. Why not an even $2000

At an auction?  Who knows.   I've been to auctions and sometimes the bids go up a dollar sometimes several hundred or more at a time.  I've done that myself more than once even on Fleabay... just raise the bid by some odd amount.  Scares off those not serious.

[Bob Cleek]

1 hour ago, michaelpsutton2 said:

$2017 is an interesting number. Why not an even $2000

Probably a buyer's premium at auction or some sort of taxes in the mix.

 

Judging from the picture that brought in the highest price so far, I'd say yours ought to bring a higher price. It's much more interesting and complex a work. (IMHO...  )

[Dziadeczek]

I think it might be a gouache (a little thicker, less watery watercolor, applied a bit more opaque).

To make sure however, it is not a print, you might remove it (carefully!) from the frame and see if the paper has a slight indentation along the edges - if it does, that means that this indentation was caused by a graphic's press, and the artwork is/might be a print, like a lithography. But, in such instance, the artist would routinely write in pencil at the bottom margin the number of this particular issue, and the total number of the issues intended, as well as his/her name and the title of the artwork. Here we don't have any of this, at least I cannot see it.

So, probably it is a painting (very well executed!), either a watercolor, or more probably a gouache.

 

[bruce d]

8 hours ago, michaelpsutton2 said:

$2017 is an interesting number. Why not an even $2000

My guess? It wasn't a US auction and the purchase price was in some other currency: the $2017 is the US$ conversion of euros or £ or whatever.

[michaelpsutton2]

The texture of the paper is very like "watercolor paper.s

[druxey]

So, it is a water color painting heightened with white gouache. Enjoy your lucky find, Michael!

[Roger Pellett]

Curiosity killed the cat!  Removing it from the frame could damage it.  Hang it on your wall and enjoy it!  Whatever it’s origin it’s a nice painting (or print).

 

Roger

[wefalck]

When you take it out of the frame and look at it at an glancing angle you should be able to see some texture in the paint, particularly in those areas that appear to have been worked over indeed in gouache (e.g. the blue bulkhead panels, the coat of arms, the white heads of the waves, etc.). Gouache form a matt layer on the paper.

 

If you go down this list of paintings in past auctions by the same painter: https://www.invaluable.com/artist/gardiner-frank-joseph-henry-bz4rerv65l/sold-at-auction-prices/, you will see in Lot 20 a very similar landscape in the background. You could also compare the style of the sea and other features.

 

This painter is not be confused with the better known Derek Gardner, who paints similar subjects.

[michaelpsutton2]

I'm sorry but I did not get enough protein as a child to find Lot 20 on the link. Can you help?

[wefalck]

It's the 5th painting in the list: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/arr-frank-j-h-gardiner-british-b-1942-20-c-c0040f1930

 

BTW, I just saw that it was auctioned by Charles Miller in London. He is a nice knowleagble and helpful guy (ex-Sotheby's if I remember right), you could send him a picture of yours and ask his opinion.

Edited October 4, 2021 by wefalck

[reklein]

Very interesting thread. I'm happy you got a great deal on this.

[michaelpsutton2]

To my untrained and age compromised eyes there is a similarity of style.

[michaelpsutton2]

A lot of the details show the ship as he would have seen her in dry dock in 1982. Not really as she is believed to have been configured in 1805