AN ARTIST'S JOURNAL
Edited and prepared for the Internet by Ronald Davis
Return to the Home Page
with further selections from
Stanley Roseman - An Artist's Journal
Top
Top
     Bamfords Auctioneers, Derby, England, and LiveAuctioneers are publishing on their websites four paintings by Stanley Roseman without the artist's permission. Roseman holds the copyright to the paintings.
     Harvard University Office of the General Counsel states: "Copyright is the lawful right of an author, artist, composer or other creator to control the use of his or her work by others. . . . copyrighted work may not be duplicated, disseminated, or appropriated by others without the creator's permission.''
Copyright Infringement by
Bamfords Auctioneers, Derby, UK,
and LiveAuctioneers
 Roseman has affixed to the image above
Notice of Copyright Infringement
and the false title
"A Pair of Clowns."
AN ARTIST'S JOURNAL
An Audience with Pope John Paul II
Notice of Copyright Infringement
An Invitation to Draw at the Metropolitan Opera
On Portraiture
    "Auction houses have an ethical responsibility to artists whose works are consigned for sale. An artist's biographical information - education, museum collections, exhibitions, subjects, and reviews - is criterion for valuing an artist's work. Many artists today have websites, as I do, or blogs where such information can be readily found. Auction houses should promote an artist's work for the benefit of the artist."
     The Intellectual Property Office in the United Kingdom states in its manual Copyright Essential Reading: "Use of a copyright protected work without its owner's permission may be a civil infringement and/or a criminal offence."
Biographical Information on Roseman
     Due to Bamfords undervaluing the paintings, the consignor took back three of the paintings before the auction closed, including the painting shown here. The consignor sold this painting in a private sale for a higher price than the value given by Bamfords.
    "If the auctioneers at Bamfords, including the Director James Lewis and his colleague Colette Coleman and all those at LiveAuctioneers type the name 'Stanley Roseman' and the word 'Clowns' into a search engine on their computers, they would see that I have created an internationally acclaimed oeuvre on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus clowns.
Copyright Infringement and Mistitling Works of Art
     Sojourning with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus during the years 1973 to 1981, Roseman was invited into the private backstage world called, in circus terminology, "Clown Alley." The artist painted portraits and made drawings of the troupe of celebrated circus clowns, including the Director of Clowns and Master Clown, Glen "Frosty" Little. (See the Journal page "My Friendship with Frosty Little.) Roseman painted portraits and made drawings of Master Clowns Bobby Kay and Lou Jacobs, as well as veteran members of the troupe and a younger generation of circus clowns.
     LiveAuctioneers listed the four paintings consigned to Bamfords as sold. That is incorrect.
Concerning Bamfords Auctioneers
and
LiveAuctioneers
 Lincoln Center, New York City
Lincoln Center Plaza
with the banner announcing the exhibition
Stanley Roseman - The Performing Arts in America
,
Library and Museum for the Performing Arts, 1977.
In the photograph above is seen the multi-arched edifice
of the Metropolitan Opera House.
    "Bramfords Auctioneers and LiveAuctioneers publish on their websites my painting that Bamfords falsely titles 'A Pair of Clowns.' That is not the title of my painting. That is a title given by Bamfords.
     Roseman confronts the auction house under the Directorship of James Lewis, for undervaluing and mistitling his artwork:
    "Bamfords and LiveAuctioneers in disregard of the copyright protection due the artist are publishing an image of my painting for their own commercial use and profit and are making large format images and the false title 'A Pair of Clowns' available to third parties for their use or misuse on the Internet.
    "The word 'two' is the appropriate word, as with the titles Two Shepherds by Raphael - Two Riders on Horseback by Rembrandt - Two Men Fishing by Monet - Two Men in Conversation by Guercino - Two Sowers by Van Gogh - Two Male Nudes by Rubens - Two Heralds by Sir Peter Lely - Two Musicians by Watteau.
    "Bamfords' degrading title 'A Pair of Clowns' is an insult. The phrase 'a pair of . . .' is what an auction house dealing in furniture would call items such as 'A Pair of End Tables' or 'A Pair of Lamps' or 'A Pair of Cabinets' or 'A Pair of Bookcases' or 'A Pair of Bookends' or 'A Pair of Candlesticks' or 'A Pair of Footstools' or 'A Pair of Andirons.' But the phrase 'A Pair of . . . ' is inappropriate and awkward for the title of a work of art depicting two people in a composition, for example: 'A Pair of Shepherds' or 'A Pair of Riders on Horseback' or 'A Pair of Men Fishing' or 'A Pair of Men in Conversation' or 'A Pair of Sowers' or 'A Pair of Male Nudes' or 'A Pair of Heralds' or 'A Pair of Musicians.'
     The Performing Arts in America Bicentennial exhibition concluded its national tour at the Library and Museum for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, New York City, winter-spring, 1977.
     The portrait painting of the two circus clowns, the subject of this Journal page and seen above, was shown in the exhibition at Lincoln Center and featured on the NBC Television News broadcast. Included in the NBC reportage of Roseman at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was an interview with the artist among his portrait paintings of the circus clowns on exhibition in the Main Gallery of the Lincoln Center Museum.
     The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, conserves Roseman's portfolio of drypoint engravings entitled Clowns - Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, 1976, the first acquisition by the V&A in 1979 of the artist's work. In 1985 the Museum acquired the splendid head and shoulders portrait painting of the circus clown George, 1976. The eminent curator Dr. Alexander Schouvaloff writes in a gracious letter to Ronald Davis, who had introduced Roseman's work to the Museum:
"George arrived in perfect condition. It was truly exciting to open the package and a delight
 to finally see the portrait. We are thrilled to have the painting in our collection."

- Dr. Alexander Schouvaloff, Senior Curator
  Victoria and Albert Museum, London
     Roseman addresses Bamfords Auctioneers and LiveAuctioneers with the commentary "Fifty Titles from Seven Centuries of Western Art." Roseman has selected fifty examples of paintings and drawings depicting a range of subjects by artists from the fifteenth to the twenty-first century. Each of the fifty titles refers to two people in a composition. Roseman provides information as for artists, titles, subjects, dates, medium, museum collections, and private collections.
   " 'A Pair of Clowns' is a degrading title and an insult to the two professional circus clowns whose portraits I painted at the Circus. Both are graduates of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. Founded by the President of the Circus and CEO Irvin Feld, the College opened in 1968 in Venice, Florida, for teaching circus and clowning skills. I am deeply grateful to the two talented young members of the celebrated troupe of circus clowns for expressing appreciation for my work and giving generously of their time, and for their friendship when I began drawing and painting at the Circus in 1973."
     "Being that I am an American and proud of the American circus tradition, I raise another question. Is Bamfords false title 'A Pair of Clowns' an attempt to lessen the prestige of the world-famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus."
Roseman raises Questions concerning Bamfords Auctioneers
    "Is Bamford's mistitling and publishing 'A Pair of Clowns' the result of being unknowledgeable of art history and the titling of works of art.
    "Is Bamfords attempting to segregate my work with a title that is in contradiction to seven centuries of Western art with titles that describe two people as 'two' and not 'a pair of. . . .'
    "Is it prejudice from the English auction house? I am an artist of the Jewish faith, and anti-Semitism is a recurring issue in Great Britain and in the forefront in the news media in recent years.
    "Is Bamfords' degrading title of my painting and the low estimate given for my work an attempt to devalue the work of an American artist in order to build up an English artist. One can cite the nineteenth-century English critic John Ruskin, who attempted to discredit and devalue the work of the American artist James McNeill Whistler. The outcome was to the discredit of John Ruskin.
     Quoted here are three paragraphs from the Preface of Roseman's Commentary "Fifty Titles from Seven Centuries of Western Art" addressed to Bamfords Auctioneers and LiveAuctioneers.
Commentary by Stanley Roseman addressed to
Bamfords Auctioneers
and LiveAuctioneers
1. Notice of Copyright Infringement
2. Concerning Rosebery's Auction House
3. Concerning Bamfords Auctioneers
       and LiveAuctioneers
4. Fifty Titles from Seven Centuries
       of Western Art
5. Advice to Artists
Links on bottom of page.
© Stanley Roseman and Ronald Davis, 2014 - All Rights Reserved
Visual imagery and website content may not be reproduced in any form whatsoever.
Page 3 - Concerning Bamfords Auctioneers and LiveAuctioneers
                   Mistitling Roseman's Painting from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Page 4 - Fifty Titles from Seven Centuries of Western Art
                   Roseman's Commentary addressed to Banfords Auctioneers and LiveAuctioneers
Page 2 - Concerning Rosebery's Auction House
                   Provenance of the Portrait Drawing of Brother Adolf
                        Value of Roseman's Drawings on the Monastic Life
    Roseman's artwork has received international acclaim, including superlative reviews in The New York Times and The Times, London. The artist's work is represented in important museums and private collections. Roseman was honored in 1983 as the first American artist to be given a one-man exhibition at the Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna's renowned museum containing one of the world's greatest collections of master drawings. The exhibition Stanley Roseman - Zeichnungen aus Klöstern (Drawings from the Monasteries) opened concurrently on September 6th with the exhibition of the Museum's Raphael drawings on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Renaissance master's birth.
     Stanley Roseman earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and his Master of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute, both prestigious colleges in New York City.
    ''Stanley Roseman combines an innate artistic talent, expressed through a wide range of techniques, with a profound interest in the human condition in portraying different kinds of people, professions, social or artistic groups. With a seriousness that pushes him always further in treating a subject or theme, he continually clarifies and refines, never letting his interest waiver or diminish.''[1]
     The Bibliothèque Nationale de France published a biographical essay on the artist in the exhibition publication (French and English) Stanley Roseman - Dessins sur la Danse à l'Opéra de Paris, 1996: See also website page "Biography" on the artist's work, international acclaim, and exhibitions.
- The Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Roseman and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Clowns
"And they can see themselves in the brushstrokes of Stan Roseman, 
who so far has always come back from the circus,
even though he is a man who has dined and slept on the circus train
where ordinary mortals never tread.''

     The NBC News report concludes the enthusiastic commentary about the artist's portrait paintings and the circus clowns' appreciation for his artwork:
- NBC Television News
This Page concerns Roseman's Painting mistitled "A Pair of Clowns"
     NBC Television News aired on its evening broadcast in 1977 an enthusiastic reportage on Roseman at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at Madison Square Garden in New York City: "The clowns of the Garden have invited Stan into their backstage lives as a friend. He has joined the circus family." Praising Roseman's work, NBC Television News  states: "These are clown portraits that look behind the greasepaint.''
Stanley Roseman drawing the circus clowns 
Bruce Gutilla (left) and Dale Longmire
backstage at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus,
Madison Square Garden, New York City, 1977.
Stanley Roseman - The Performing Arts in America Exhibition
     The American Bicentennial exhibition Stanley Roseman - The Performing Arts in America comprised the artist's drawings from dress rehearsals and performances of leading opera, theatre, and dance companies and paintings, drawings, and drypoint engravings of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus clowns.
     The Performing Arts in America Bicentennial exhibition, produced by Ronald Davis, opened in December 1975 on the eve of the Bicentennial celebrations in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.
     The Curtis Institute of Music, one of the world's leading music conservatories, presented the exhibition in Philadelphia.
    ''The moments Roseman has captured are many and varied,'' writes The Saratogian, the Saratoga Springs daily, and that "a walk through the exhibition is a trip through what will be our cultural heritage.''
     The Performing Arts in America exhibition toured the United States through to the summer of 1976, when the Saratoga Performing Arts Center brought the exhibition to the historic region of Saratoga County, in east central New York.
     The New York Times published a superlative review in 1977 entitled "Spirit of the Clown" and subtitled "Paintings by Stanley Roseman glow with a shiny dignity." The review begins: "Circus clowns are one of the glittering joys of all of our lives, whether we are young or old." The New York Times affirms: "Clowns, I believe, must be as difficult to characterize in paintings as they are in words, for their art defies analytical conventions and descriptions. Although their skills remain firmly fixed in our minds, their interpretations have the gossamer evanescence of filigree. And yet Roseman has managed to catch the spirit of the clown."
   "Titles of works of art are important for the identity and aesthetic value of a painting, drawing, print, or sculpture, as with titles of literary works, plays, and musical compositions. Authors, playwrights, and composers are decisive in selecting titles for their works. That is also true of artists.
   "There is a long, established precedent set by artists, art historians, and museum curators for titling works of art with the word 'two' for depictions of two people in a composition.