Art on the wall and for sale
An extensive collection of Malcolm Warr silkscreen prints began 15 years ago with a stumbled-upon op shop buy, and now the time has come for the works to find new owners.
Tony Lamb spotted what he at first thought was an insignificant piece of work propped up against the wall of a Levin op shop.
On closer inspection he realised ‘‘there was a lot more going on’’.
‘‘The more I studied this little work of art the more I liked it.
‘‘I looked at the back and when I saw that it was stamped Malcolm Warr’s Waikanae Studio, I liked it even more because of that local connection.
‘‘So I bought it and that’s really what started, some say, my obsession for Malcolm Warr artwork.’’
Lamb researched the painter and discovered the Wellingtonborn artist was prolific in the 1970s and 80s and that plenty of his prints were for sale in auctions, privately and publicly.
‘‘I was off and most of my purchases were from Trade Me, but I also went further afield to Australia, from where I bought about a dozen or so, all loose and housed in cardboard cylinders, where they stayed up until the exhibition.’’
The Levin man’s collection now stands at 65 silkscreen prints and Lamb decided to sell the individual pieces at Taylor-jensen Fine Arts, Palmerston North, after he had to move house several times. ‘‘Each time the prints came with me and had several different forms of storage, in barns, containers etc, which unfortunately resulted in the poor condition of some of the prints.’’
He said mould from moisture developed, while moving caused damage to some too. He now hopes Taylor-jensen is the prints’ penultimate destination before they move to their final resting places. Lamb said he was sad to see them go, but being able to see them all displayed together, ‘‘as they were meant to be’’, at the gallery was a great opportunity.
The exhibition and sale of Malcolm Warr prints at Taylorjensen Fine Arts is on until March 19.