L'Enfant Gallery of Georgetown

04/25/2024

We will still be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday for

Back to raw plaster on the third floor as we start The Repaint.

04/20/2024

09/17/2023

“Bacchant” by Bryron Browne, 1941, signed lower left (partly obscured by frame) and signed and dated on reverse, oil on canvas, 19” x 16”, framed. Price on request.

In the run up to Art All Night in Georgetown, we just want to let you know we will be open from 10am - 10pm on Friday 29 September with a live pianist and art outside on the street. Please come by for a drink.

Bio: Byron Browne (1907 - 1961) also known as George Byron Browne, was born in Yonkers, New York. He was a modernist painter and one of the founders of American Abstract Artists, a New York City organization devoted to exhibiting abstract art.
Browne worked at a lumberyard to pay his tuition at the National Academy of Design, where he enrolled in 1925. He was inspired by European artists such as Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró and in 1930 burned several of his realistic works as a gesture against conventional painting.

He was a founder of the American Abstract Artists and in 1935 led a march protesting museums that did not collect modern work.

Browne specialized in still life in the style of Synthetic Cubism, influenced by his friends John Graham, Arshile Gorky, and Willem de Kooning.

After World War II, Browne exhibited frequently at the Kootz Gallery, which ardently supported avant-garde American artists. While abstract expressionism dominated New York’s art world, Browne’s paintings, which still showed recognizable figures and objects, failed to draw an audience. The gallery sold all of Browne’s work in a department store sale at “50% off,” dealing a heavy blow to the artist’s career.

Bio from Smithsonian American Art Museum quoting Jim Rogers, Byron Browne, A Seminal American Modernist: Paintings and Drawings, 1929 to 1961, 2001

09/16/2023

“Three Bathers II” by Cornelius McCarthy circa 1985, unsigned, gouache on paper, framed, 51” x 60”. $3300. A Certificate of Authenticity (pictured) from Adonis Art Gallery dated Aug 18, 2022 and a 61 page illustrated book accompany the work.

Bio: Cornelius McCarthy (1935-2009) was among the top painters of the male form working in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century. Trained at Goldsmiths College in the 1950's, where he came under the formative influence of Sam Rabin. From Rabin he learned the discipline of looking and searching for the correct line, for balance and weight. Such concerns are more those for the sculpture rather than the painter.

McCarthy was also greatly influenced by the work of Pablo Picasso following the first great post-war exhibition in London in 1960. Later McCarthy was influenced by the British artist Keith Vaughan and many of his early works show the influence of these great artists.

McCarthy’s painting has continued to reflect a sensitive awareness of the long traditions of the eastern figurative human tradition, particularly that which developed in Renaissance Italy.

His work is figurative and his subject matter, more often than not, is the n**e and semi n**e male, often centered on the complexities and dilemmas of modern urban life. The close and personal relationships suggested in the paintings have a psychological interior in which the investigation of inner thoughts and feelings goes beyond external appearance.

*Bio taken from the book which accompanies the painting: Interiors - Paintings by Cornelius McCarthy. Introduced by Emmanuel Cooper. First published 1987 by GMP Publishers Ltd; and Adonis Art International

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03/25/2023

Last Saturday we took part in the Spring Art Walk, a celebration of spring and creativity, and as part of this there is 30% off art works at L’Enfant Gallery. The event featured seven local galleries, including L’Enfant Gallery and showcases a diverse range of artwork, including paintings and mixed media pieces. Even though the walk event is over you can still visit all participating galleries:

03/24/2023

A pair of original crayon drawings on paper by Pablo Picasso, c.1960’s, approx. 7” x 6”. These were from a set of twelve titled “Mascara.” Certificate of authenticity accompanies the works. Set in hand tooled, 22 ct. gold leaf, water gilded frames. Price on request.

Pair of early 18th Century Venetian carved and painted wood open armchairs. Upholstered in original gold velvet brocade. From the collection of the great American sculptor, Daniel Chester French c. 1700-1730. $12,500 for the pair.

Late 19th Century aesthetic movement tripod base, circular dish top plant stand, c.1880. $1200.

03/24/2023

A pair of original crayon drawings on paper by Pablo Picasso, c.1960’s, approx. 7” x 6”. These were from a set of twelve entitled “Mascara”, certificate of authenticity accompanies the works. Set in hand tooled, 22 ct. gold leaf, water gilded frames. Price on request.

Pair of early 18th Century Venetian carved and painted wood open armchairs. Upholstered in original gold velvet brocade. From the collection of the great American sculptor; Daniel Chester French; c. 1700-1730. $12,500 for the pair.

Late 19th Century tripod base circular dish top plant stand, c.1880. $1200.

03/23/2023

Harrods of London, Honduran mahogany cigar humidor. Brass fixtures are latches, not k***s. Latches sink into rubber gaskets which seal the interior to keep the contents ‘fresh’.
81” high, 22” deep, 120” long. Price $25,000.
Provenance: Harrods of London 1880s –1990, Eli Sinai* 1990-1995, Peter Colasante 1995-Present.

The story of the discovery of the portrait of The Countess, part 2 of 2: The search continued. Peter started asking in pubs near antique shops. Toward 2am on the third day, an elderly dealer at the bar suggested Peter look in the window of a nearby “Persian rug shop”. Jetlagged, disorientated and now drunk, Peter saw the mirror hanging in the front window. He visited the shop the following day and showed Mr Sinai, the proprietor, the polaroid of the mirror. Ashraf admitted he purchased the mirror recently from the infamous Aleem brothers, (who mended his porcelain) and that he had paid £15,000 for the mirror. 
 
He offered to give Peter £8000 worth of goods from within his store in good faith of a deal gone bad. Peter recalls “Mr Sinai was a very nice gentleman” which overshadowed the practicalities of his offer of goods over cash, and the costs of shipping any large furniture items to America... after searching through the crowded shop for a week, Peter chose the 6 feet by 12 feet cigar humidor from Harrods (which now sits on the ground floor of L’Enfant Gallery) and a painting hidden behind a drawn curtain.
 
Mr Sinai had been “looking after” this painting, with many other items, for his “best Italian client” the banker and convicted felon, Michele Sindona (pictured above). Known in banking circles as "The Shark", Sindona was a member of Propaganda Due, a secret lodge of Italian Freemasonry, and had clear connections to the Sicilian Mafia. The Countess had an affair with Sindona and so this portrait of her was very dear to him. This painting with other valuable personal items were being stored in London “ready for his escape”. Sindona was fatally poisoned in prison while serving a life sentence for murder and ten years after his death Peter Colasante arrived in the London shop and asked to buy the portrait.

03/21/2023

"The Countess” by Marcel René von Herrfeldt, circa 1930s, oil on canvas, framed, 44.5” x 36.5”. Price on request.

Provenance: Michele Sindona 1930s –1985, Eli Sinai* 1985-1995, Peter Colasante 1995-Present.

Bio: Marcel René von Herrfeldt (1889 – 1965) was born in Paris and considered a German painter of the Munich School, guided by Franz von Stuck. Initially adhering to the movement of Art Nouveau, Herrfeldt later integrates elements of New Objectivity. Fusing Art Nouveau and elements of New Objectivity, he develops a style referred to as expressive realism.

The story of the discovery of the portrait of The Countess, part 1 of 2:

In 1995, Peter had a mirror that belonged to the Emperor of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm, and over the years the gilded finish became chipped. The ‘Aleem brothers’, well known expert porcelain repairers, came to repair the mirror’s frame. They told Peter they would repair it and could sell it in England. The ever-trusting Peter handed over the mirror and the cash for a plane ticket to London.

After six months with no word, Peter was determined to find his important mirror. He flew to London with a single photo of the mirror and started doing the rounds, into each art and antique store. By dark on the first day after showing the polaroid to many dealers, he was no closer.
On the second day an envelope for Peter arrived at the hotel reception. Inside was £8000 and a note from Marty and Mohammed Aleem. Peter does not remember being alarmed that the Aleem brothers knew he was in London or where he was staying….

*Eli Sinai son’s have been contacted to verify if this was the dealer Peter recalls buying this work from, as we have not found Peter’s paper receipt.

03/20/2023

French 1920’s mirrored walnut veneer sideboard with art deco geometric designs of oak, walnut and ebony along the skirt.
This piece just sold to a local Georgetown family — many like it, and much more, available in store.

03/18/2023

Today, 4pm to 9pm, join us for an opening reception for “Resonate”, a collection of 30 recent works in resin and acrylic on canvas by local DC artist, Robin Sutliff. Using acrylic and resin on multiple mediums, Sutliff puts forth her emotional perspective as it manifests at the time of creation. The outcome is a series of striking and visually compelling artworks. The body of work presented in “Resonate” is inspired by the sun and the warmth it shares. Inspired by her understanding of nature as a spiritually transformative space, Sutliff’s work shares reflections of color, movement and a simple truth that “we can only convey beauty as we interpret it.”
Exhibition Details: L'Enfant Gallery of Georgetown 1442 Wisconsin Avenue NW March 18 2023 - April 15, 2023. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 10am to 6pm. Open Sunday, 11am to 6pm. Closed Monday

03/15/2023

“Mother and child” by Martha Walter, circa 1920s, oil on board, framed, 32” x 38”. Price on request. A sketch of a mother and child framed by a window and landscape. On the reverse of the board is another painting of a vase of flowers. Image of reverse painting provided.

Provenance: L’Enfant Gallery purchased this work from the dealer who represents the Martha Walter estate collection in 2010.

Bio: Martha Walter (1875-1976), the American impressionist artist, was a student of William Merritt Chase.

Martha was born in 1875 in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a youth she attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under William Merritt Chase. During her time there she was awarded the prestigious Charles Toppan Prize in 1902 and a Cresson Traveling Scholarship in 1903, which enabled her to visit Europe. She first attended the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris but, feeling restricted by the teachers' classical approach, enrolled instead in the Academie Julian. She eventually set up her own studio with a group of other young American women artists in Paris and learned the plein air techniques of the French Impressionists and The French government purchased one of her works. In the time Walter was in France, she developed the characteristic style of bold, dashing brushstrokes.
She was lauded in her early career for her "intimate portrayal of little children" and her use of color. In the 1930s, Walter traveled to North Africa and began to paint the market places of Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers. The African sun offered a different lighting than her usual scenes in America and France.

Walter's 1922 painting The Telegram, Detention Room (Ellis Island) was included in the inaugural exhibition of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, American Women Artists 1830-1930, in 1987, Impressionist Jewels: The Painting of Martha Walter, A Retrospective, at the Woodmere Art museum* in 2002. Walter continued to paint until a few years before her death in 1976 at the age of 101.
Chair: French 19th Century version of a downed cushioned Louis XV bergère (closed armchair). Recently upholstered in blue linen. Price $2100.

03/13/2023

“Yvette” by Alexander Brook, 1925, oil in canvas, framed, 44” x 32”, signed upper right. Price on request.

Provenance: Larcada Gallery, 23 East 67th Street, New York represented Alexander Brook and sold this work to Bobsy Goodspeed Chapman* (formerly Elizabeth Fuller Goodspeed) in 1925. Chapman (pictured in last slide) died in 1980 and Peter Colasante, founder and director of L’Enfant Gallery, purchased the work when the Chapman estate was sold in 1981. Reference stickers from Larcada Gallery are still on the reverse of the painting.

Bio: Alexander Brook (July 14, 1898 – February 26, 1980) was an American realist painter, active from 1910 until 1966. The Smithsonian American Art Museum** describes his body of work as “paintings, mostly still life’s, landscapes and women”. He won second prize to Picasso's first at the Carnegie Institute International Exhibition of Modern Painting in 1930.

Brook was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 14, 1898, to a Russian family. At the age of twelve he was bed-ridden with polio. It was during this time that he received his first lessons in painting. In 1914 he entered the Art Students League of New York, where he studied for four years with Kenneth Hayes Miller, John Christen Johansen, Frank DuMond, George Bridgman, and Dimitri Romanovski. There he met the painter Peggy Bacon, whom he married in 1920. Brook also studied at the Pratt Institute. During his twenties, Brooks painted still lifes and posed figures with vigor and sensuality. He later began to emulate the style of Jules Pascin. Brook taught at the Art Students League of New York from 1933 until 1936 and again from 1942 until 1943. His work can be found at a variety of museum collections, such as the Whitney Museum, the Metropolitan Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Albright-Knox Gallery.

*https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/october-2008/portrait-of-a-lady/
**Alexander Brook | Smithsonian American Art Museum (si.edu).

03/11/2023

N**e gesture studies by Huang Xiaopo. Chinese Xuan paper and mixed ink. 15”x 22.5”. We have over 30 unframed original drawings of different female postures and groups of figures. Unframed drawings are $900 each during our artwork sale running March and April 2023. We also have one framed work, frame size 28.5”x 34.5”, $1700 during the sale.
 
Provenance: Xiaopo visited L’Enfant Gallery in around 2015 with a large portfolio of these original drawings.
 
Bio*: Huang Xiaopo, graduated from English Language and Literature Department of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China. Xiaopo came to the U.S. in 1988 and attended Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy and International Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. She is the publisher of GHS Publishing, Inc., and resides in Northern Virginia. In 2008, Xiaopo started doing live-model gesture drawing in open studio at American Art League. This group of gesture series is her attempt to combine the Western style live-model gesture drawings with the Chinese medium - Chinese Xuan paper and mixed colors of Chinese ink and water color. It tells the beauty and power of human body and its movement.

03/09/2023

Self portrait of Elena Fondra, oil on canvas, signed and dated 1956. Frame size 32” x 28”. Price on request.

Provenance: L’Enfant Gallery purchased the self-portrait by Elena Fondra from her solo show at the Washington Gallery of Art, 3005 M Street NW, Washington DC, between 3-18 December 1963. Exhibition catalogue accompanies the painting.

Extract from 1963 exhibition catalogue: “Baroness Elena Fondra was born in Izmir (Smyrna), Turkey, of a noble Italian family. She was educated in Trieste and Paris. After studying at the Leger Art Academy in Paris she worked with Gustavo Pulitzer, the well known naval architect and decorator of Trieste, painting murals and panels for the major ships of the Italian Line. Among her early commissioned works were also the frescoes in the church of Our Lady of Lourdes in New York. She has exhibited frequently at the Venice Biennale, the Milan Triennale and the Rome Quadriennale, winning a gold medal in the Milan Triennale of 1939 and, in 1960, the prize awarded by the city of Pizzi and the Frattina Prize awarded in Rome. Some of her works are in the Galleria d’Arte Moderna of Milan.”

03/08/2023

Do women have to be naked to get into the Met Museum?
“Peter’s Great Mistresses” was curated for International Women’s Day to celebrate female artists and to highlight the under representation of women in the art world.
A portrait of L’Enfant Gallery Director, Peter Colasante, by Mario Russo (top right) looks down over the women in the bedroom. This play on the voyeuristic history of men in positions of power gazing down over the women in their world. It echoes the point the Guerrilla Girls* made in 1989; “less than 5% of the artists in the modern art sections are by women but 85% of the n**es are female”.
We have been reading The Story of Art Without Men** by Katy Hessel and Women in the Picture: Women, Art and the Power of Looking*** by Catherine McCormack who discuss underrepresented minorities in art. This coming week we will share some more works by women and of women from the L’Enfant Gallery collection.

*Guerrilla Girls | Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into the Met. Museum? | The Metropolitan Museum of Art (metmuseum.org)
**The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel review – putting women back in the picture | Art and design books | The Guardian
***Women in the Picture: Women, Art and the Power of Looking (sothebysinstitute.com)
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03/03/2023

L’Enfant Gallery of Georgetown is having an artwork sale during March and April.

30% off artworks including paintings, prints, watercolors, oils and pastels.

01/20/2023

In the Washington Post today, L’Enfant Gallery is HOUSE OF THE WEEK. But don’t worry, we are not going anywhere. When the building sells, we will take our treasures and dance down the street to a new home in Georgetown.

‘In the mean time, in between time, ain’t we got fun’; come and help us make some space and take some furnature home!

01/19/2023

NEW YEAR. NEW DEALS. Today, an Austrian Biedermeier satin wood caned settee is from our furniture sale running 7-31 January 2023.

Very rare small size Austrian Biedermeier satin wood period and design caned sattee. It has a removable rectangular caned seat.

The back is composed of two parrallel bars which connect to the arms. The crest rail is straight across the center then curves downward to meet the arm rests on each side. The splats, which connect top and bottom bars, display an interesting arrangment centering a “Y” form, flanked on either side by bending splats to right and left.

The arm rests curve outward from the seat. The arm rest supports curve inward and terminate in tapering straight legs. There is a flat panel skirt below the removable cane seat.

This is a perfect example of an early pure form of 19th Century furniture. It is the visual predesessor of the Art Deco shape made popular 80 years later. Please note there is one broken cane in the seat, as shown.

Settee hight 35 inches, length 51 inches, seat 20 inches deep.

Retail price for settee $12,000. Sale price $8000. // Stone lithographs of ancient Arminia done in Russia prior to the 1917 Revolution by Bogayevsky, $2500 each.

All antique, mid century and designer furniture is now at least 30% off. We also have American, European and Asian furniture collections. Selected red tag items are 30-60% off during January. Call or come in and see!

01/18/2023

NEW YEAR. NEW DEALS. Today, a tilt top walnut candle stand from our furniture sale running 7-31 January 2023.

An antique 18th Century Pennsylvania walnut tilt top candle stand. The stand has a circular dish top which is hinged. When the top is tilted up it reveals a revolving bird cage feature which consists of four bobbin style spindles. The table top is supported by a hand turned solid walnut vasiform standard. Beneath this are two graduated circular disks. The table stands on three cabriole legs which terminate in slippered snake feet. It is believed the brass hard latch catch is original.

Table hight: 30 inches, diameter of top 21 inches.

Origin: Colonial Pensilvania circa 1760-1770.
Provenance: A private Tennessee collector.

Retail price $2800. Sale price $2200.

Original goache painting of three male n**es by Cornelius McCarthy with accompanying 1987 catalogue titled ‘interiors’. Price $3600. Red chair and blue champaign flute are not for sale but we have an extensive collection of cut glass, blown glass and crystal.

All antique, mid century and designer furniture is now at least 30% off. We also have American, European and Asian furniture collections. Selected red tag items are 30-60% off during January. Call or come in and see!

01/17/2023

NEW YEAR. NEW DEALS. Today, an Edwardian period mahogany table from our furniture sale running 7-31 January 2023.

This Edwardian period rectangular side table with has a demi-lune cut out along the center of the front side. The mahogany table has a raised lipped edge all around is perimeter. Beneath the top is a cyma cut skirt which centres two long candle drawers on either end. The table is help up by four square tapering congruent legs. It is designed to be light weight and portable.

Table hight: 25.75 inches, width 27.75 inches, depth 14.75 inches. Drawer depth 13.5 inches, drawer width 2.75 inches.

Origin: England circa 1910.
Provenance: The Quillen Estate.

Please note the table top displays wear consistent with its age, as shown.

Retail price $2250. Sale price $1650.

All antique, mid century and designer furniture is now at least 30% off. We also have American, European and Asian furniture collections. Selected red tag items are 30-60% off during January. Call or come in and see!

01/16/2023

NEW YEAR. NEW DEALS. Today, a pair of French Louis XVI style fauteuil (open arm chairs) from our furniture sale running 7-31 January 2023.

The ornate gold leaf heavily carved wooden frame holds a circular upholstered green Fortuny silk fabric back, seat and down filled cushion. The crest rail displays beribboned regal symbols. The arm supports, also of carved guilt wood, have upholstered arm rests ending in acanthus leaf terminals. The chair frame is supported by four identical front and back tapering, fluted swirl carved legs. The conforming guilt carved skirt displays a frieze of laurel leaves and vines.

The laurel crowns demonstrate the regal nature of the owners of such chairs.

Origin and Provenance:
- French circa 1880-1910.
- Private Lebanese collection.

Please note there is significant wear on one arm rest of each chair as shown in photo. Arm rest will need to be reupholstered.

Chair hight: 40 inches, chair width 29.5 inches, seat depth 23 inches, seat 18.5 inches from floor.

Retail price $6800 for the pair. Sale price $4500.

All antique, mid century and designer furniture is now at least 30% off. We also have American, European and Asian furniture collections. Selected red tag items are 30-60% off during January. Call or come in and see!

01/13/2023

NEW YEAR. NEW DEALS. Today, a small Nakashima style sculpted table with cast iron claw feet and an Afghan carpet from our furniture sale running 7-31 January 2023.

Sculptural slab table of likely aged red wood with four cast iron legs and clawed feet. In the style of ‘Nakashima’.

Small table measures 13 inches high, 23 inches wide, 36 inches long at its longest points.

Retail price for small table $2200. Sale price $1500.

The gallery director believes the larger table is an early experimental piece, attributed to George Nakashima or his studio.

Afghan flat weave rare runner, early 20th Century. Carpet measures 117 inches by 34 inches. Retail price $2200.

All antique, mid century and designer furniture is now 30% off. We also have American, European and Asian furniture collections. Selected red tag items are 30-60% off during January. Call or come in and see!

01/12/2023

NEW YEAR. NEW DEALS. Today, a set of eight Louis XV style dining chairs and an Alexander Calder inspired rug from our furniture sale running 7-31 January 2023.

This set of eight antique French diminutive Louis XV style dining chairs are carved from oak. Each chair has an open sheild form back which centers a pierced carved double key hole splat. The brass studded black leather seat is supported by a shaped skirt and four cabriole legs terminating in knuckle feet. These chairs are typical of the elegant designs of Normandy and Britany, northern France. They bespeak country elegance.

Chair back measures 38.5 inches high, seat 19 inches wide, 16 inches deep and seat 19 inches from floor.

Retail price $5000 for set of eight chairs. Sale price $3600 for set. Set can not be broken.

Carpet inspired by Alexander Calder design, measures 47 inches by 72 inches. Label on reverse reads “int collection. Design Vinay. Size 4x6. Contains one hundred percent woollen pile. Made in India”. Design reminiscent of
Calder’s ‘Composition, 1966’
Retail price $3200.

Both are a recent purchase from the collection of Philip Berlin, Washington DC.


All antique, mid century and designer furniture is now 30% off. We also have American, European and Asian furniture collections. Selected red tag items are 30-60% off during January. Call or come in and see!