Historical April 1991 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Limited edition prints by 20th century artists Ben Shahn and Maxfield Parrish will be featured at the first annual “Art Preview” to benefit Crossroads School in the Central West End.
The reception and preview will be held on Friday, April 19 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
For additional information and reservations call 367.8085 by April 14. Tickets are $15 per person. One set of the last works by American social realist painter and printmaker Ben Shahn will be available. Title “The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Briggs,” it is a set of 24 lithographs based on the works of poet Rainer Maria Rilke.
This portfolio of prints is valued at over $25,000 but will be sold below the appraised value of $750 per print.
The lithographs range from very simplistic black and white images to more elaborate subjects incorporating color. Maxfield Parrish is one of the most reproduced artists in the history of art. Parrish is recognized for his ability to capture various aspects of nature’s light in his work. Moonlight, sunrise, dreamlight, or sunset are common elements of his style. Thirty prints of Parrish’s “The Blue Fountain,” originally executed in 1926 and made into a limited edition of 500 original lithographic prints in 1985, will be available for purchase for $150 each. Deep blues, purples and greens created the tranquil garden setting the “The Blue Fountain.” The art preview benefits Crossroads School, St. Louis City’s only private, nonparochial college preparatory school serving grades 7 through 12. “Crossroads School is unique in its approach of fostering intellectual and social growth through a blend of traditional and experiential learning and challenging students to think critically and achieve academic excellence in a caring, informal atmosphere that balances hard work and humor,” explains Suzanne Lagomarcino, president of the Crossroads School board of directors. Located at 500 DeBaliviere, the school attracts students from over thirty zip codes in the metropolitan area.
The sale of the prints, donated from the private collection of an anonymous local benefactor, is being coordinated through Crossroads School fund raising chairman Linda Riekes and Lagomarcino. Several of the prints will be displayed matted and framed on easels at the preview.
All other prints will be matted and covered with protective acetate.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April 1991.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: Print title Malte Laurids Briggs as printed; not corrected against Rilke original bibliography. Source appraisal figures retained without recalculation.
Original source: SD_Times1991_04.pdf, printed page(s) 5; PDF page(s) 5.
