Chris Erb
 

 

 

 


Jose Crispin
The fifth floor gilding shop at Lowy is filled with beautiful frames in various states of preparation or restoration. The workshop has an Old World feel as simmering pots of glue and sheets of gold leaf lay at the ready and stone agate tools, gilding tips, and variously sized and shaped brushes are carefully wielded. In the midst you'll find skilled artisans like Jose Cripin carefully and masterfully applying coats of gesso and bole, or gilding, burnishing, antiquing and using their various skills to create beauty. Jose has been with Lowy since 1985. A native of Mexico, Jose began learning about frames from his brother who is also a carver. He then began formal studies at the Fine Arts Academy in Mexico and afterward apprenticed in a small carving shop. During that time, a fire damaged a main cathedral in Mexico and Jose apprenticed with the master gilder in charge of the restoration. He first began learning the delicate art of gilding by working on the restoration of the baroque altars of the cathedral. "During my time as an apprentice 1 began learning the techniques of gilding and began to appreciate the marriage of the arts of carving and gilding." Later, Jose would open his own carving and gilding shop and it was here that he met an architect who asked him to come to New York for three weeks to gild sculptures. While in New York, a friend suggested he apply for a position as a gilder at Lowy. He took the job and made a new home in New York. Jose specializes in finishes and in particular he enjoys replicating the finishes of antique Spanish and Italian polychrome frames. "I enjoy the challenge of creating the finishes of antique frames. The diversity of frames in Lowy's collection keep my work interesting." A dedicated artist and someone who truly enjoys what he does, Jose's love of these arts carries through all aspects of his life. When asked what he does in his spare time he says warmly, "I spend time with my family and 1 also make frames for them."•
Lowy photographer Christopher Erb comes from a diverse professional background that included working as an English teacher and a Manager of Export for an International Chemical Supply Company. Throughout this period, he nurtured a serious interest in photography. He studied motion picture production at New York University before switching to still photography which he found geared more to the individual effort. His brother, the artist Gary T. Erbe, enlisted Chris to do the photography for many of his exhibition catalogs, which in turn encouraged Chris to embrace the art medium. After a freelance period working for artists and galleries he joined Lowy in 1984. Chris' photography provides Lowy clients with accurate renditions of their art in black and white prints or color transparencies and photo documentation of all stages of the restora- tion process. For example, if there is an inscription or maker's mark on the back of the canvas, it must be photographed before the painting is reclined. Chris also uses infrared and ultra violet photography as well as x-rays in order to obtain visual information not readily apparent to tin- naked eye. These techniques enable him to reveal artist changes, hidden inscriptions, structural losses, and even another painting under the visible one. In addition to documenting the artworks of clients, Chris also operates the Lowy Scan system. The Lowy Scan system, custom made for Lowy by IBM, utilizes highly sophisticated digital imaging technology to visually combine specific antique frame selections with individual works of art. Chris uses a precisely calibrated and controlled lighting environment to photograph the frames with a hi resolution scanner specially mounted to a track. Once a frame is in the system, it can be combined with artworks to produce high quality prints which maintain aesthetic and proportional accuracy.
Chris says he enjoys art photography because, "I like the intimate, quiet setting used to photograph the works." He also notes as an interesting aspect of his work "unlike other areas of photography, such as portraiture, in art photography the subject has no ego." •
 

(Winold Reiss

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Fritz Winold Reiss (1886 - 1953) was born in Bavaria where he enjoyed painting portraites and was influenced by his father who was also a painter. He Left Gemany in 1913 to study art in America.While living in the United States he traveled to Montana where he painted portraits of Native Americans in Glacier National Park and to New York where he painted African Americans during rhe Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's. He established a reputation as a teacher and designer and began creating monumental mosaic murals for public spaces such as restaurants, clubs and transportation terminals across the country. Rainbow pastel colors and stylized geometric shapes formed the trademark images that established Reiss as an innovator of commercial and industrial design in the 1930's. His works received widespread recognition as outstanding examples of the Art Deco style. He was also historically important for introducing progressive ideas of modem European design to the United States.
The Procter &: Gamble study was painted on what resembled a painter's drop cloth; a lightweight cotton that was prone to oxidation and subsequent gray discoloration. The thinness of the material also left it vulnerable to punctures and tears. But what was most distracting were the pronounced creases running horizontally across the entire painting, as a result of many years of being rolled tightly and improperly stored. The study consisted of three panels stitched together to form an image measuring 112" x 115". The first step in the conservation process was the removal of the machine stitching along the seams and trimming of the excess fabric in between to enable Lowy conservators to treat each of the panels individually in what was then a much more manageable size. Examination revealed the paint surface to be extremely dry due to the absorption of the oil medium into the unprimed canvas support, which also showed signs of oil stains on the verso. Luckily the surface remained stable with a minimal amount of airborne grime that could be safely removed from the paint layer. Eliminating severe surface distortions like bulges, buckling and creases throughout the artwork required treating the canvases with humidity and heat under pressure on a vacuum hot table. The panels were then lined to a single linen canvas using BF.VA 371 (a thermoplastic adhesive) applied to a Pe-cap (polyestertextile used for reinforcement and ease of reversibility) and mylar interlayer (used to prevent the seams from lifting away from the new auxiliary supports). Throughout the structural process, attention to the elimination of the panels' seamed edges were of primary concern in an attempt to unify the image as a single picture. Remaining narrow gaps in between the seams were filled using a reversible vinyl gesso and inpainted with pigments mulled in an acrylic resin. Finally, the restored mural was stretched, framed, and ready to be installed. Winold Reiss' animated shapes and colors now can be viewed reflecting the vibrancy and innovation so characteristic of the Art-Deco tradition.