Edition:  Artist Proofs: 100, Limited Editions: 750

Era: Olszewski Studios

Category: Figurine

Product Line:

Series Name:

Art Form: Painted Bronze

Size:

Identifying Mark: 15

First Year of Issue: 1997

First Year Issue Price: Artist Proof:  $450.00, LE: $225.00

Highest Known Price Paid:

Artist's Age: 52

HISTORY:  Returning to a theme is one of the great pleasures of an artist.  It is, like visiting an old friend.  "American Beauty" has its roots in the piece "Lady with a Fan" carved in 1979.  As each work is approached, one never knows what surprises one may encounter.  In the spring of 1979, I had planned to produce a full run of "Lady with a Fan" and I was excited to do my first pieces with a set of intricated hand painted flowers on the border.  Due to casting problems, "Lady with a Fan" fell far short of my projected 400 and ended up being an unexpected edition of 29.  First released for $34.00 in 1996, last year a rare "Lady with a Fan" resold for $5,000.00

Today, seventeen years later, the same challenges still interest me.  Holding details in a piece with such a large volume in the dress is not easy.  The dress size works diametrically against the smaller fine details above, and in 1979, the fan and dress were not able to be cast.  In "American Beauty", shrinkage and loss of detail were overcome by carving the dress with a hollow one.  Thus, collectors will notice a new finish on the base.  The first and only other hollow core figurine was "Floral Bouquet Pompadour" from 1985.  Also, like "Lady with a Fan", the flower trim on the dress was hard to resist.  Since 1977, I have completed over 220 figurines, and only 3 have floral patterns, "Capodimonte" from 1980, "The Cherry Pickers" from 1983 and "The Poulty Seller" from 1992.  A clue to the degree of difficulty of flower application can be found in the nine year expanse between "The Cherry Pickers" and "The Poultry Seller".

The title "American Beauty" derives from the floral trim on the lady's dress and also from the rose in her hand, a rose picked fresh from her own sunlit garden.  In the past I have worked on the theme of "Women" trying to create works that define theri beauty and diversity.  Of these, "American Beauty" has been the most challenging and in the future collectors can expect that floral patterns and hollow cast pieces will continue to be rare.

Other "Themed" works from Olszewski Studios include: Oriental Lovers, Lady with an Urn, and Spring Dance.