Monday, January 28, 2013

PGH Photo Fair Speaker Series #3: Tom Gitterman at Mattress Factory February 13th.

Next up in the PGH Photo Fair Speaker Series, Tom Gitterman will share his expert knowledge and experience on collecting photography in a talk at The Mattress Factory Art Museum. Some of you may remember Mr. Gitterman from his participation in last year’s fair, and the wealth of exquisite prints he had on offer from the mid 20th century to the present day.

Through a hands on presentation with dozens of examples, Mr. Gitterman will demonstrate various ways that a photograph can be valued, what to look for when considering a print for purchase, and sharing key components of different photographic processes. This will be a very interactive event – more of a seminar – with audience members encouraged to handle and personally view matted prints that Mr. Gitterman has brought to illustrate his discussion.

“The overall goal in my talk is to give greater confidence to those thinking about collecting,” Gitterman says, “by providing them with questions to ask when considering buying for themselves, and by giving them specific examples of what to look for.” In addition to over 20 years of experience in the fine art photography world, Gitterman brings an infectious passion to his work at Gitterman Gallery in New York City, where he handles a range of style and periods that span the range of the medium’s history.

The talk will be held at TheMattress Factory, 500 Sampsonia Way, on Wednesday, February 13, 2013. Join us for refreshments at 6:30pm followed by our talk at 7pm. This event is free and open to the public.  

For those of you new to this blog, PGH Photo Fair, through the auspices of Fugitive Vision, LLC, is sponsoring six talks on photography at a variety of venues in Pittsburgh on the 2nd Wednesday of every month leading up to the fair this Spring. The series aims to augment the already rich art and photography scene in Pittsburgh with speakers who will focus on the state of the art, collecting, and connoisseurship.

A few weeks ago, we welcomed Deborah Bell, the Vice President Specialist of the Photographs Department at Christie's Auction House in New York City. Ms. Bell graciously shared highlights from recent and upcoming auctions and answered audience questions about her experiences at one of the world’s largest auction houses.  We were delighted to have a full house and hope to see another good turnout for our 3rd event with Mr. Gitterman.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Deb Bell was a huge hit!

At least 100 people crowded into the Mattress Factory lobby last Wednesday night for a talk with Christie's photo specialist, Deborah Bell. It was SRO to hear Ms Bell speak on a wide variety of subjects from the ins and outs of the auction business to her thoughts on the world of contemporary photography. The crowd was an engaged mix of both amateurs (in the true French sense of the word) and art world professionals which led to a lively question and answer session. We ended up going quite a bit overtime because the questions kept on coming. Thank you to all who came to hear Ms Bell and to support the PGH Photo Fair Speaker series. I appreciate it more than I can say!

Next up is Tom Gitterman of Gitterman Gallery in NY. He will be bringing dozens of hands on examples in order to discuss the role of connoisseurship in buying a photograph. We will be doing away with the standard lecture format for this one. There will be matted examples of work to be passed around and viewed individually as Mr Gitterman discusses details that can only be seen in person and close-up. Not to be missed! More details as the event comes closer.

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