 |
In Search of Frank Bowers... A New Discovery: Biblical Exotica !! |
JOHN-O
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2619
From: Dogtown, USA
|  Posted: 2013-09-05 2:16 pm Permalink
Quote:
|
On 2013-09-05 13:52, azurebird wrote:
Hi folks, I am an art dealer in Fallbrook and new to this forum. A client showed me these two paintings they own by Frank and Vicki Bowers this morning and I am trying to get more information about the artists beyond the obvious. One painting is signed by both artists and dated 1951. It is supposedly out of a deceased bar in the Long Beach area called the Ark hence the subject matter. One mural is 48 x 55, the other 48 x 50".
A quick search turned up nothing on the particular saloon and I guess the name could be off but I will continue to research the matter. Any help that you can provide will be appreciated. I will probably get them cleaned (they are filthy) and then sell them.
Sincerely,
Robert Sommers
Blue Heron Gallery
|
|
Great discovery. Thank you for sharing that !!
[ This Message was edited by: JOHN-O 2013-09-05 14:50 ]
|
King Bushwich the 33rd
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 10, 2005
Posts: 1062
From: Ling Cod Beach, CA 90803
| Posted: 2013-09-05 2:40 pm Permalink
If I strain my memory to the max, 2 places in Long Beach (CA) come to mind called the Ark. One was a non-alcohol serving Christian dance club (doubt that was it). Other was bar on 5000 block of Ocean Blvd which closed in late 1960's. Funny thing is that is across street from where Tiki Beach Festival is held each year.
Quote:
|
On 2013-09-05 13:52, azurebird wrote:
....
It is supposedly out of a deceased bar in the Long Beach area called the Ark hence the subject matter.
A quick search turned up nothing on the particular saloon and I guess the name could be off but I will continue to research the matter.
.....
Sincerely,
Robert Sommers
Blue Heron Gallery
|
|
_________________
->>King Bushwich 33rd on Hulu.com<<-
|
azurebird
Member
Joined: Sep 05, 2013
Posts: 5 | Posted: 2013-09-05 3:05 pm Permalink
Thanks to both of you for your responses.
|
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10904
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2013-09-05 10:04 pm Permalink
What a swinging place Noah's ark must have been! 
Some of the males seem to be non-generic depictions of specific people, one can assume that they were either known personalities of the time or the owner and his friends, like it was done at The Embers.
|
Bora Boris
Mr. Unreasonable
Joined: Mar 25, 2005
Posts: 2488
From: Boogie Wonderland
| Posted: 2013-09-06 08:26 am Permalink
I hope it was this place - "The Ark" it was in Sausalito but it seems like it was cool.
|
azurebird
Member
Joined: Sep 05, 2013
Posts: 5 | Posted: 2013-09-06 08:39 am Permalink
I will post better pictures soon, definitely after cleaning. Not the Ark in Sausalito, wrong decade, these were done in 1951.
Robert
|
JOHN-O
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2619
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2013-09-06 09:26 am Permalink
It looks like some of those fair haired maidens are paired up with burly Nubians as they board the Ark.
That's pretty risque stuff for 1951 !!
|
AceExplorer
Grand Member (2 years) 
Joined: Apr 03, 2008
Posts: 485
From: Deep in the Jacksonville Florida jungle.
| Posted: 2013-09-06 10:22 am Permalink
Quote:
|
On 2013-09-06 09:26, JOHN-O wrote:
It looks like some of those fair haired maidens are paired up with burly Nubians as they board the Ark.
That's pretty risque stuff for 1951 !!
|
|
And therefore very "exotic" for the time. These must have given quite a few folks a big thrill while drinking around these paintings. Cool!
_________________
Step aside, coffee. This is a job for ALCOHOL!
|
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10904
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2013-09-07 12:18 am Permalink
My goodness, that guy was prolific - downright popular in some places: It seems that for a certain period, no restaurant/ bar establishment in the Long Beach wanted to be without his murals!
I am still wondering who these gentlemen might have been...
 
...they are far too specific and contemporary to be anonymous characters in the story of the painting. Were they the owner and his friends, or locally famous personalities? Famous creationists, or anti-creationists? Will we ever know?
|
lucas vigor
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 12, 2004
Posts: 3733
From: SOCAL
| Posted: 2013-09-07 07:33 am Permalink
Radar O'Reilly and Walt Disney?
|
azurebird
Member
Joined: Sep 05, 2013
Posts: 5 | Posted: 2013-09-07 08:52 am Permalink
I had the same question. You can see somewhat better pictures on my blog.
http://www.blueheronblast.com/2013/09/frank-bowers.html
|
JOHN-O
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2619
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2013-09-08 11:08 am Permalink
That's a pretty good one page synopsis of Bowers and the works that have been documented on this thread. Thank you !!
It's questionable however if the matchbook art was his.
|
azurebird
Member
Joined: Sep 05, 2013
Posts: 5 | Posted: 2013-09-08 11:53 am Permalink
Thank you John. My readership seems to like the pieces and the topic. I appreciate the heads up on the matchbooks. I am a bit of an expert at evaluating an "artist's hand" and will carefully examine them and form my own opinion as to their authorship. I love researching art and paintings and have already found a little private trove on Bowers that I hope to unlock and share one day.
I don't have a ton of experience with the Tiki genre, childhood visits to Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic's not withstanding. But I have dealt in a few choice pieces of hawaiiana in the last few decades. BTW, Any tips on cleaning on hawaiian black velvet paintings?
In any case, I am going to stay on the Bowers hunt like a staffordshire terrier with his teeth embedded in a rib eye steak.
best,
Robert
[ This Message was edited by: azurebird 2013-09-08 11:54 ]
[ This Message was edited by: azurebird 2013-09-08 12:11 ]
[ This Message was edited by: azurebird 2013-09-08 17:22 ]
|
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10904
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2013-09-08 12:25 pm Permalink
Alright! That sounds good to us! We can use more active Bowers researchers!
|
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10904
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2013-09-25 2:28 pm Permalink
All cleaned up, on auction for mucho moolah now here:
https://www.lamodern.com/auctions-2013/auctions/?auctionID=43&view=AuctionLotProfile&inventoryID=8507
Quote:
|
On 2013-04-08 17:26, Hakalugi wrote:
Last month I was contacted by someone named Terri and she said she may have located a rather large Frank Bowers mural. She found Tiki Central and contacted me to see if I could help identify it. I asked her to please send me some photos. In the meantime I figured she may have already seen the In Search of Frank Bowers thread but I specifically pointed out to her a postcard that Dustycajun posted of Vivian Laird's Restaurant and Jungle Room:
Close up of the mural:
She replied with the following:
"Break out the cocktails because we have something to celebrate! It's undoubtedly a match."
Shortly after, I received some photos of it. This mural is about six feet tall and thirty feet long and is certainly not the easiest thing to photograph. Here are the photos from left to right, section by section.
I asked Terri how she managed to find this thing. She said a good friend of hers was hired to do some repair work and clean-up at a residence in the Palm Springs area. In return he was allowed to keep the mural, which apparently was all rolled up, among several rolls of upholstery fabric. He brought it over to her and they soon discovered that it was signed by Frank Bowers. After a little investigative search on the internet they found Tiki Central and contacted me.
Terri tells me,
Quote:
| It has been appraised and it is for sale, the price negotiable. It is in the Palm Springs, CA area. I'm still trying to find out how it got from Vivian Lairds to a house in Palm Springs. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, if anyone is interested in purchasing this monster mural (6ft x 30ft), please let me know. Thanks so much!
Cheers! |
|
Well there you have it. If anyone here is interested in possibly purchasing this historic Frank Bowers mural please PM me and I'll forward your contact information to Terri.
Mahalo!
-Haka
Edited to lock images in a vertical format.
[ This Message was edited by: Hakalugi 2013-04-09 12:44 ]
|
|
|
