Billie's Art Collection
A collection of art by different artists, owned by Billie Davies that is now
for sale in order to support her music projects.
If interested, please contact her at
billie@billiedaviesmusic.com mentioning the work of art you are interested
in.
This is an ongoing project that eventually will end up with most of her collection of art and antiques available for sale. She will always be open to accepting reasonable, not insulting, offers for all or parts of her collection.
These are direct links that jump either to the artists bios and/or their works of art that Billie Davies is open to selling:
| Serge Vandercam works of art | Rudi Pillen, Rudi Pillen works of art |
| Mimmo Roselli, Mimmo Roselli painting | Casentini, Casentini painting |
| Franco Vianello, Vianello original sculpture | Frank Dituri, Frank Dituri Photograph |
Billie Davies met Vandercam in 1992 and they became close friends.
"Introducing Serge Vandercam is remembering and appreciating at it's just
historical value the fact that he was closely associated to the "CoBrA"
adventure with Christian Dotremont, Asger Jorn, Hugo Claus, Joseph Noiret and
other fellow artists from Scandinavia, Belgium and The Netherlands. His art
has cultivated the root on which CoBrA built it's voice to the world..." [text
by Danielle Guillemon, MAD '94]
Close to the surrealist movement, he
joined the CoBrA group in 1949. Vandercam's work fits into the desire for
experimental research, multidisciplinarity and a taste for the primitive arts
characteristic of the CoBrA movement: photographer, painter, ceramist,
sculptor ... Vandercam he is a bold designer. His interest in poetry and
writing led him to collaborate with many writers, including Christian Dotremont, Hugo Claus, the poet Joseph
Noiret, or Marcel and Gabriel Piqueray. Professor at the École Supérieure des
Arts Visuels de la Cambre (1979-1989), he directed the Wavre School of Fine
Arts from 1981 to 1989.
Serge Vandercam was a Danish/Belgian artist who
was born in 1924 in Copenhagen, Denmark and who passed away in Bierges in 2005. He
was a painter, printmaker, sculptor, sculptural ceramicist and photographer.
Signs with Serge V. and gained fame from 1948 with experimental photos. He was
also active as a filmmaker. He met Christian Dotremont and Joseph Noiret in 1949, joined
the Cobra group and exhibited with them from 1950 to 1955. Started painting as
an autodidact in 1952. In the spirit of Cobra, he focused on a wide variety of
disciplines such as ceramics, sculpture, painting, experimental photography
and art film. Prize of the Jeune Peinture Belge in 1956. The bird is a
prominent theme in his work. Not so much the image of the animal, but the
image of the mediator between heaven and earth. Improvisation was key to him.
From the press:
"In the painting of S.V. figuration and non-figuration are
closely intertwined. They interpret the dual aspect of his oeuvre: namely, a
strange lyricism on the one hand, and an oppressive tragedy on the other.
Multicolored touches and surfaces fill the canvas" and "The artist takes his
inspiration from the depths of the imagination and gives shape to the mystery:
indefinable phantom-like creatures and a strange pollinator with sphinxes,
phoenixes, strange bird-like creatures sprout from his creative mind." His
collages were enhanced with drawings, with colors and words and in particular
with fragments of poems by Joseph Noiret. In 1950 he designed, together with C.
Dotremont, a series of clay and peat shapes, Les Boues. His first ceramics
were created in 1960, then he focused on sculpture: woodcarving in 1972, stone
sculptures in 1977. He was mentioned in BAS II and Two centuries of signatures of Belgian artists.
Source: Piron
Biography (click to view)
In 2015, 20 years later, Billie produced the album "Hand In Hand In The Hand Of The Moon" as an homage to Serge Vandercam who had passed away ten years earlier.
"Hand In Hand"
22" x 30"
Signed Serge V. in February 1995, click the image to enlarge.
"In The Hand Of The Moon"
22" x 30"
Signed Serge V. in February 1995, click the image to enlarge.
"Listen To The Bird"
22" x 30"
Signed Serge V. in February 1995, click the image to enlarge.
"As She Tells"
22" x 30"
Signed Serge V. in February 1995, click the image to enlarge.
"The Shark"
22" x 30"
Signed Serge V. in February 1995, click the image to enlarge.
"Tiburon"
22" x 30"
Signed Serge V. in February 1995, click the image to enlarge.
"The Bridge"
22" x 30"
Signed Serge V. in February 1995, click the image to enlarge.
Rudi Pillen (1931 - 2014)
Billie met Rudi Pillen in 1989 in San Francisco. He later stayed with her and Mary in Mill Valley for a few months in 1991 and ended up moving into Napa on the Napa River after they had moved to Napa in 1997.
"Those who are priviliged to have spent some time in the presence of his work discover a playful virtuosity, the colorful side of people and animals, a sublime graphical emanation tinged with emotion, mild social criticism and a spiritual view of the nature of things and of human (and animal) creatures..." [text by Hugo Brutin]
Rudi Pillen was a Belgian painter, draftsman and sculptor. He was born in Moen in 1931 and died in Blankenberge in 2014. He was educated at Sint Lucas in Ghent from 1949 to 1954. He stayed in Zaire in the 1960s until the early 1990s and taught anatomy at the medical faculty of the University of Lubumbashi. We notice African influences in his work. He found his inspiration in humans and animals. The female nude was central to his oeuvre. He developed his own expressionist style which he called "Neo Humanistic Expressionism".
From the press: 'With a rich color range, he first lays a background, on which he forms anonymous silhouettes in black lines. Then he paints over the canvas in grey-yellow, sand-coloured tones, but spares the silhouettes' and 'His painting method is expressive rather than decorative. He comes across as outspokenly lyrical, as far as possible from the chilly current that characterizes the geometric art genre' 'n 'In an unimaginably flexible way he can give a figure a tangible inner presence, suggest rhythm, the things of every day with a moaning smile' 'n finally (1997): 'The ethereal atmosphere of his earlier work, in which figures stepped from the depth of the canvas towards the viewer, has been replaced by canvases in which people and animals appear, swathed in bright shades of red and green and in which the faces are also more prominent.” He settled in California, USA and in Blankenberge, Belgium after leaving Zaire in the early to mid nineties. He is mentioned in the Lexicon of West Flemish visual artists III, Artists and galleries 1997; BAS II and Two centuries of signatures of Belgian artists. (piron)
A most famous masterpiece of Rudi Pillen, “The Travellers” can be found in Bangkok, at the main exchange level of MRT Station Thai Cultural Center. This 6.5 ft by 33 ft painting was inaugurated by Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz of Belgium.
Biography (click to view)
Enamel and oil on canvas circa 1989-1991, click the image to enlarge.
Rudi Pillen
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48" x 48"
Acrylic on canvas circa 1997, click the image to enlarge.
Rudi Pillen
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Oil on canvas circa 1989-1990, click the image to enlarge.
Rudi Pillen
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Limited Edition mixed media (lithography/serigraphy) print 1992
Rudi Pillen
Published by Cobra Fine Art in San Francisco, click the image to enlarge.
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34" x 34"
Limited Edition mixed media (lithography/serigraphy) print 1993
Rudi Pillen
Published by Cobra Fine Art in San Francisco, click the image to enlarge.
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32" x 49"
Limited Edition mixed media (lithography/serigraphy) print 1994
Rudi Pillen
Published by Cobra Fine Art in San Francisco, click the image to enlarge.
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Mimmo Roselli (1952 - )
Billie met Mimmo Roselli in Tiburon, CA circa 1995/1996. She remembers having him over for lunch and Mary making her stretch fry bread he loved so very much.
He was born in Rome in 1952 and lives and works in Bagno a Ripoli (Florence)/Italy
Biography (click to view)
35" x 35"
Acrylic on canvas circa 1994-1996, click the image to enlarge.
Mimmo Roselli
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Piero Casentini (1963 - )
As Casentini's largest body of work over time are religious representations and paintings of a realistic religious nature it was interesting for Billie to see some of his work in a more expressionist style quite reminiscent of Jean Dubuffet's work of the 1940's and the 1950's and therefore got quite excited of his work. This might well be one of the only pieces of work by him of this expressionist and tactile nature that is today still available.
Piero Casentini was born in Rome on October 29, 1963. He lives and works between Assisi and Valmontone, where he has his studio.
Piero Casentini attended the Art High School in Frosinone. Then, in 1988, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. At the Academy he attended, among others, courses in Painting, with Turchiaro and Francesco Delli Santi; in History of Art, with Lorenza Trucchi; in Engraving, with Giuseppe Gambino and Mauro Filippini.
His first solo exhibition took place in Colleferro at the Giotto Cultural Center, in 1981. Another solo exhibition was organized in Palestrina, at the “Il Capitello” Gallery, in 1983. He participated in some significant exhibitions of didactic nature as an attempt to gain knowledge and affirm his work in the critical contextualization of his own contemporaneity. He has a large biography with many group exhibitions and solo exhibitions over time but I have not found one that I can copy over that is a little more concise... :)
He has participated in numerous group exhibitions both in Italy and abroad. Since the beginning of his artistic activity, he has been called to create important cycles of frescoes, altarpieces and sacred furnishings in the Italian Dioceses. He also created several tables between the pages of the New Lectionary of the CEI.
He frequently participates in the Staurós Biennial of Contemporary Sacred Art at the Sanctuary of San Gabriele dell'Addolorata in Isola del Gran Sasso (Teramo).
Some of his works are preserved by the Custody of the Holy Land, in the convents of Capernaum and San Salvatore in Jerusalem. Other works of his are exhibited at the Staurós Museum of Contemporary Sacred Art of San Gabriele dell'Addolorata in Isola del Gran Sasso (Teramo) and at the Museum of Contemporary Sacred Art of Villa Clerici in Milan.
Franco Vianello (1937-2015)
Billie met Franco in Napa, CA and was many times at his studio and had quite a few dinners together.
When she saw the wax mold for "The Glassblower" she fell in love with it and asked whether he would cast it in bronze. He ended up casting it in bronze according to the lost wax method just for Billie and therefore it is now in her collection.
Franco Vianello was born in Venice in 1937 to a family with a heritage of over a century of sculptors and founders. He began his traditional training at nine and by eleven his skills and talents were cognized by famed sculptor, Napolone Martinuzzi, who accepted him as an apprentice. His exceptional talent at the age of thirteen qualified him to study at the Institute of Arts in Venice where he earned his master’s. Franco came to the United States in 1959 as a recognized and highly respected sculptor, having created many bronze works, including life-size bronzes. Most of his Italian work was for cities and churches and a few well-known collectors, including Peggy Guggenheim. Franco started the first (other than New York) lost-wax sculpture foundry in Berkeley, California in 1960. He taught bronze sculpting techniques and set up lost-wax casting facilities, including the University of California at Berkeley. After serving in the United States Army, he and his wife, Jane, settled in the East Bay of San Francisco. He resumed his career in sculpture and created works that are seen throughout the world and the United States. Some of his works are historically correct pieces that depict early California life and some of its’ wild animals. He also enjoys sculpting and casting modern pieces, classical and thematic works. Some of his personal favorite works include many smaller scale bronzes depicting early California life often noted for their painstaking attention to accurate period details of artifacts and clothing. His work drew deep admiration from the many artists and collectors with whom he interacted both during his time in Berkeley, Richmond, San Lorenzo and from his home studio in Napa Valley. As one of only a handful of artists skilled in the art of Lost Wax casting and large scale monuments
Some larger bronze sculptures include:
Tuna Fishermen, a monument on Shelter Island in San Diego, California.
Four Horsemen at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Bucking Horse for the Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Pony Express in Old Town Sacramento, California (co-sculptor).
Leif Ericson in Seattle, Washington.
He has created bronze sculptures for:
The Audubon Society, Champion International, Scripps Oceanographic Institute, Wells Fargo Bank, Dillingham Corp., Levi Strauss, San Francisco Bohemian Club, San Diego Historical Society, and the San Francisco Academy of Sciences.
Franco has received many awards and prizes for his work. He is especially proud of the Trustee’s Gold Medal unanimously voted by the directors of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center and the National Academy of Western Art.
"The Glass Blower"
Original one of a kind Bronze circa 2005, click the image to enlarge
Franco Vianello
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Frank Dituri
“For me, photography is much more than a visual documentation; it is a personal journey, where dreams transcend reality, and material facts and the ethereal often merge.”
Frank Dituri, an American son of Italian immigrants, divides his time between Italy and New York. He is a photographer who likes to transform the obvious into images that border on uncertainty and mystery. He was on the faculty at Long Island University, C.W. Post and is currently in the art department at Libera Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy. In New York, Fran Kaufman Art Advisory and Stephen Rosenberg Fine Art represent Dituri’s work.
In the 1960’s Dituri started taking pictures in the streets of New York. By the 80’s he began seeing human figures as visual “bookmarks” formally defining his vision. Often buried childhood experiences began resurfacing in many of his images. Plus his work became increasingly concerned with spirituality and nature. Though a photographer, the artworks of painters like Giorgio De Chirico, Piero della Francesca and Edward Hopper have greatly informed Dituri’s vision, especially through the strength of their perspective, staging, and mystery. Another early influence was Japanese-American poet, Soichi Furuta, who inspired him to use the word as a point of departure.
His work is continuously exhibited worldwide in many fine art museums and galleries such as the Venice Biennale (Galleria Internazionale di Grafica); the Hudson River Museum, New York; Galerie Seine 51, Paris; Sirius Aidem Photo Gallery, Tokyo; Centre of Contemporary Art, New Zealand; Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome; Moscow MOMA, and he has participated in three group LTA (Learning Through Art) shows in the Guggenheim Museum, New York. Plus he has shown in numerous universities: NYU, East Galleries, New York; Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, China; Universitá di Roma (La Sapienza), Rome; Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas and Academie Des Beaux Arts De Tamines, Belgium.
Frank Dituri’s photos can be found in important collections, including the Pushkin Museum of Fine Art, Moscow; La Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris; the Alternative Museum, New York; and Das Stâdttische Kramer-Museum, Kempen, Germany. His images have been reviewed and pictured in many prestigious international publications, including the New York Times, Harpers Magazine, Zoom Magazine, Nippon Camera and the Corriere Della Sera.
Exhibitions and Collections (click to view)
"Untitled"
Hand developed by Dituri, One of a kind Black and White Photography, click the image to enlarge
Signed by the artist Aug 1994
Frank Dituri
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