“It’s been in our house forever,” Janet Bailey explained about the charcoal drawing of a woman she recently brought in for appraisal to the Michigan Design Center in Troy. There expert Brian Thomczek took a closer look at the item, which her mother purchased in the 1950s. Her mother was the society editor for the Birmingham Eccentric newspaper, she explained, adding that she purchased the piece at a Birmingham gallery. “She fell in love with this and said I have to buy it.”
Bailey says that her mom paid $100 and had it framed. She was about 10 at the time and she remembers it hanging in her house growing up. Titled “Supplication,” the piece is the work of well-known Hungarian painter Francis de Erdely. A website (francisdeerdely.com) on the artist includes an extensive background and additional information. Born in Budapest, Erdely was a graduate of the city’s Royal Academy of Art. He also studied in Madrid and at the Sorbonne and the Louve in Paris. A boxer, he financed some of his artistic studies from matches. He won a series of awards in Hungary and became known throughout Europe and eventually, the United States.
Early works depicted war atrocities and the artist was eventually banished from Hungary by early Gestapo members, according to the gallery website sullivangoss.com. He settled at first in New York and eventually in L.A., “where he found his place as an American artist.” He taught at the Pasadena Art Institute School, the Jepson Art Institute and the University of Southern California until his death in 1959. Today, he is regarded as one of the top members of the West Coast Modernist school, with work featured in permanent collections around the world, including the DIA. He won a series of prizes in the 1940s at the DIA and the nearby Scarab Club.
Bailey’s piece is unusual because it is done in green charcoal, not black. Thomczek praised the quality of the piece, but not the framing. “This needs to be reframed,” he told her, adding that he would recommend former DIA conservator Ken Katz at Conservation and Museum Services (conservationandmuseumservices.com) in downtown Detroit.
“Acid-free paper and non-UV glass is key to prevent further damage,” he said, valuing the piece at $300 to $500 at auction, maybe more because of the larger size. He said a new more contemporary frame would better suit the work and sell better if she ever wanted to part with it. “People don’t want these goldish frames,” he explained. Bailey said she intends to keep it, which Thomczek said he could understand, adding “She’s definitely a beauty.”
Contact Khristi Zimmeth at trashortreas@aol.com.
About this item
Item: Charcoal drawing
Owned by: Janet Bailey
Appraised by: Brian Thomczek
Estimated value: $300-$500 and up at auction
