I have a 2X3 feet oil painting of a cityscape in winter. It is of a
small canal in what appears to be a workshop area with a church
steeple in the background. It is signed by "Coliny" and is dated '31
(no doubt 1931). I believe it is European and for some reason I think
it was painted in Paris, but there are no landmarks that I can
identify. Can you identify that artist? |
Request for Question Clarification by
ragingacademic-ga
on
14 Dec 2002 01:59 PST
shvmkt -
hi. I could not find a single reference to Coliny on the Web. Do you
have more information? Can you double check the signature?
thanks,
ragingacademic
|
Request for Question Clarification by
rainbow-ga
on
14 Dec 2002 06:23 PST
Hi shvmkt,
I could find no reference to an artist with the signature Coliny
either. Is there any other details you could give us? Would it
possible to take a picture of this painting you have and post it
somewhere on the web for us to see? That may help us identify the
artist. A close up of the signature would be an additional bonus. :)
Regards,
rainbow~
|
Clarification of Question by
shvmkt-ga
on
15 Dec 2002 00:11 PST
Thank you for your efforts. I too have searched the web without any
results. I looked more closely at the signature. It begins with a
capital "C". The next letter, I think, is a lower case "o", but it
could be a lower case "a". The next letter is styilized. It looks like
a lower case "L", but the top of the letter is swept forward over the
remainder of the name. The next letter is a lower case "i" followed by
a lower case "n". The next letter looks to me like a "Y" with the
bottom of the "Y" stretched out beneath the word and with the top arm
of the "Y" stretched upward. Although unlikely, the "Y" could be a "u"
and the lines that extend from it a stylized "s". The back frame of
the canvas is wooden and the wood appears as old as one would expect
from 1931. There is a small yellow sticker on the upper portion of the
rear framework that says "Made in France", not in French, but in
English. The "sticker" appears to have been machine printed, not
handwritten. I am not yet able to take a picture and post it, but, if
it would make a substantial difference, I will make the effort and
find a place to post it, including a close-up picture of the
signature. As they say, a picture is worth quite a few words. I have a
long time interest in two dimensional art and a library of about 200
art books. "Coliny" is not in any of them. The artwork is skillfully
done. I don't think it was done by an "Outsider". As for the style of
the painting, it is not naive; it is representational, but not
photorealistic. There are no figures, no signs or words. Thanks again.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
ragingacademic-ga
on
15 Dec 2002 01:14 PST
Wow...
Thanks for the additional information.
My previous searches were not limited to the Web, I searched several
proprietary for-fee databases I have access to and they did not return
anything either.
Grove Art will let you search with wildcards, so I searched for the
following based on your description -
C(o or a)(l or s)in(y or u)(maybe s...)
Nothing that makes sense comes back (couldn't be a 16th century
Italian, right? :-)
The "made in france" label leads me to believe that this may have been
purchased in a store rather than from an art gallery or artist,
although the label may have come with the frame. Is this an original
painting? Could you get a picture of the signature up online?
thanks,
ragingacademic
|
Request for Question Clarification by
rainbow-ga
on
20 Dec 2002 04:23 PST
Hi shvmkt,
I would like you to take a look at this picture and let me know if
this is similar to the style your painting is. If so, I believe I know
who the artist you are asking about is.
http://www.lucidmatrix.com/uploads/pic20b.jpg
Happy holidays!
rainbow~
|
Clarification of Question by
shvmkt-ga
on
11 Jan 2003 03:43 PST
Hello, Rainbow. Sorry about the delay. I had to get a digital camera
and then figure out how to upload the images: a copy of the oil
painting and a close up of the signature. The files may be large, but
the "thumbnails" are small. I liked the picture you shared. It seems
unlikely it is by "Coliny", but techniques and subject matter can
change as an artist evolves. The images can be seen (I hope) at:
http://dsl.sbc.yahoo.com/shvmkt4@sbcglobal.net Thank you
|
Clarification of Question by
shvmkt-ga
on
11 Jan 2003 03:56 PST
OOPS! please try http://photos.yahoo.com/shvmkt4@sbcglobal.net
|
Request for Question Clarification by
rainbow-ga
on
11 Jan 2003 06:42 PST
Hi shvmkt,
Following comparison of the painting you downloaded and the one I
asked you to look at, the similiarities of the two signatures are
striking, in particular what I believe is the "s" at the end. I zoomed
in on each signature and concluded that all but one letter are
similar. The letter "l" is the only letter which is slightly
different.
Could you please take a look, and if possible magnify each, and let me
know your views. Thanks!
Best regards,
rainbow~
|
Clarification of Question by
shvmkt-ga
on
12 Jan 2003 02:19 PST
Hi Rainbow. Remarkable. I magnified your image but it became very
difficult to see because it was a smaller (more sensible) JPEG image
(unlike mine). However, I could see it somewhat and the resemblance
seems to be considerably closer than one could expect by chance. Is
the date of that painting available? If so, I suspect it is an earlier
painting, even though it seems to be in better condition. I believe
you have the answer, but now I want to know more. Who is Coliny? Where
did you find the other image? When was the other painting done?
Thanks, Gary
|
Hi shvmkt,
After an extensive research on the net for an artist named Coliny and
coming up with nothing at all, I tried name variations. I substituted
different letters for the "y", and after your clarification, and your
description of the signature, the closest it resembled was "Colinus".
I then searched the name on different art sites and finally found the
artist at Art Price, a leading art auction site.
http://web.artprice.com/En/start.aspx
I entered a search (minimum first three letters) with the letters
"Colin" and found Emile Colinus. I clicked the name and found three
oil paintings done by this artist: Nature morte aux pommes,
Composition aux fruits et aux fleurs, and Paysage d'Ile de France all
using oil as the medium. Unfortunately there are no images that I
could compare the signature with.
I then entered "Emile Colinus" in Google and came up with this one
link: http://www.jacqueslamygallery.com/pic20.html
( Jacques Lamy Gallery).
This is where I found the painting I asked you to look at. It is with
the description:
Emile Colinus (1884-1966) French School Trouville 1935, Oil on Canvas,
13" by 18".
As I mentioned in the clarification, I closely compared the two
signatures and found the resemblance remarkable. The only letter I
found to be slightly different was the "l", with a forward swing in
your painting. The identical "s" found on both paintings is
undoubtedly striking, which is what makes me believe the artist of the
these two works is the same.
I found Emile Colinus at another online research site that I use.
However there is very little information about the artist himself:
Colinus, Emile (French painter 1884-1966)
ULAN - Union List of Artist Names
http://vocab.pub.getty.edu/cgi-bin/ulan_browser/submit.pl?key=41796^file=index.html
Thank you for such an interesting and challenging question.
I hope the information I was able to provide you with is helpful. If
you have any questions regarding my answer, please don't hesitate to
ask before rating.
Best regards,
rainbow-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
rainbow-ga
on
13 Jan 2003 07:36 PST
Hi shvmkt,
Thank you for the rating and very generous tip. It was a pleasure working with you.
All the best,
rainbow-ga
|
