HISTORY:
Our family is very much into "the Arts" in all it's forms, from music to artwork to chinaware and even classic old (high quality) technology!
Our focus has always been landscapes, both Australian and New Zealand but over the years we also have collected some other "interesting" pieces of art that don't fit with our current art interests, so this terrace house streetscape will be seeking a new home.
Our walls do not have enough space left for these artworks and it is now time to put up some new artworks we have bought so many wonderful pieces from our collection must now find new homes to love and cherish them.
This pen & wash is one of those artworks.
The technique pen & wash describes the artistic method of an artwork marked out by pen and then tinted with diluted ink or watercolour. This creates sharply defined shapes with very delicate colouring being possible.
JOHN YOUNG (J. YOUNG):
Not to be confused with the artist John Young Zerunge who emigrated to Australia from Hong Kong!
John Young (this artist) emigrated from Scotland in 1949, age 15. John trained as a graphic artist, illustrator and designer. He paints in most mediums, oil, acrylic, pastel, ink and watercolour and he has a fine reputation which he built over many years for portraying Australian historical subjects, mainly in pen and wash although I noticed his works have taken on a real international look now as he also has artworks painted in Europe, UK and even Russia.
Special note: This artwork is signed J. YOUNG whereas all of the most recent artworks from John are signed as JOHN YOUNG. I have carefully examined the style of signature and the artist's drawing techniques in his artworks Paddington Terrace and Terrace For Sale and I am absolutely sure that this artwork is a creation of John Young although it is signed only as J. YOUNG. I feel this is some very early artwork from him, late 1970's ~ 1980's.
That said, although a creation of Mr. Young's and after extremely close examination I believe this is an extremely good facsimile, not an original - please see below for details about why I have come to this conclusion.
John Young - Terrace Houses (Streetscape)
*** This is probably not be the actual artwork title as we do not know the title given to it by John.
We feel it is in the Paddington, Sydney area as the other artwork we have by John is definitely in this area. The Paddo area is full of very nice, classy terrace houses which you now need very deep pockets to afford!
You can view his other artwork "Chris's Corner" Paddington HERE
The artwork could have been called "Red doors" or "Brown Roofs" as these are the sort of artwork titles John has used in the past (e.g he has works called Terrace For Sale and Terrace Red Door so it is not inconceivable that our thoughts on the title could be "right on the money".
Pen & wash on art paper originally but this appears to be a facsimile, most likely a high quality lithographic print
1970's ~ 1980's (estimated time period, the memory grows fainter as the years pass by!)
Artwork measurements: 240mm wide x 190mm high
Art paper measurements (including the border): 296mm wide x 247mm high
UNFRAMED - This advertisement is for our artwork only, there is no frame provided.
Artwork is undamaged and clean
That said, I do notice two very light lines or marks in the border area. These have been examined very closely and do not appear to be any sort of dirt mark but something like a line of light discolouration, the cause is unknown. These two lines or marks are located at the top towards the left hand side, near the chimneys and right down on the lower border slightly to the right of centre.
For many years we have had this artwork within sealed cello in the loungeroom storage area to keep it clean and relatively free from environment related contamination, it may well be that this is the condition when we bought it but I doubt that, something has happened over the last 40 years! Anyway, it remains in the cello wrap for protection and this is the way it will be supplied to the new owner.
Authenticity checks:
Until now we have never wondered or dream't it may not be an original but today I have had a very close look at the artwork and I am now quite convinced this is NOT the original artwork from Mr. Young.
Why?
We are into art, appreciating the artist's skills but not so much into the highly technical aspects of painting. Most of our artwork is that which 'bring back memories' for us but most of our art works are oil media and it is easy to confirm their authenticity usually. Pen & Wash or Watercolours are more of a challenge to check the authenticity.
First, looking EXTREMELY closely at the painting technique (I mean really really close with high magnification) I can see dots! In some areas it is easier to see than others but dots none-the-less. There is no way Mr. Young was a 'dot artist' so I would have to say this artwork facsimile was created using lithographic techniques - as good as the print is, it remains a facsimile not an original.
The next peculiar thing I noticed was up on the red corrugated roof sheeting of the first terrace house from the left, near the bottom edge of the sheet there is an extremely black dot. It just looks like an ordinary dot, perhaps a leaf or a slip of the pen and I had never thought anything of it BUT when I looked at this dot extremely closely it is a tiny little Black coloured figure 8 !!!
Perhaps Mr Young sanctioned this facsimile and this was his little trick at proving the authenticity, I have no idea about this but right there in the middle of the roof tiles is this tiny little black coloured figure 8!
Interestingly, this very same figure 8 is also painted onto the roof of his other artwork facsimile we have - strange!
Why unframed? Our intention was to have this artwork professionally framed but with so many artworks around us, we just never got around to having this framed and up on the walls. I guess it was also something to do with it not being a "nice fit" with the general theme of our artwork collection, which is really all about Australian and New Zealand landscapes of significance to our family. Sure we lived for many years NEAR Paddington (Coogee) but it wasn't really an artwork that pulled at our hearts or we had special memories of.
Just a special little jibe about frames. So many times we see fantastic artwork (sometimes costing a lot of money and sometimes not much at all - it really isn't relevant) which has been placed into cheap and nasty or just plain terrible looking frames! Why oh why would someone do that? Art needs to be well framed so that the artwork is "shown off" Sometimes we have had more favourable comments about the frames we have used than the artwork itself! Go and see a knowledgeable picture framer who has artistic flair, open the wallet and get a decent frame for your artwork! You will not regret it.
But back to this artwork, we are sure someone who has a special connection to the Paddington area will find this artwork (and another also from John Young) to be of particular interest.
John Young's works of art are prolific, across many types of media and he is a well established Australian artist. His originals and facsimile's appear to be quite sought after in the art marketplace and I seem to remember we paid quite a bit more than this for the artwork (duped?) but for us it is all about the art not the value of the artwork.
Shipping is no problem, we take great care in packing especially delicate items such as this artwork.
