Works by such artists as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Franz Kline don’t usually adorn the walls of local galleries, and neither do price tags of $15,000 or more.
But the Broderick Gallery on Commerce Avenue has all of that — and many more works of artists usually seen only in big city galleries.
That’s because of an encounter between gallery owner George Broderick, who’s sold art in several locations around the Northwest, and art collector Ken Grams.
Broderick moved to the area in 2010, opening a gallery in the Dibblee House in Rainier. When that house built in 1851 was sold last summer, he moved across the river to a much nicer space at 1416 Commerce Ave., which formerly housed Lord & McCord Artworks.
Grams, who has been collecting art for 30 years, moved here last year to work for a local bank.
“I have over 300 pieces,” he said. “At some point you say you’ve got too much,” especially with a baby at home. Grams’ works have been donated or loaned to 14 museums around the U.S., he said.
A few months ago, he stopped in to meet Broderick. “He’s just a captivating guy,” Grams said. “His knowledge is very impressive.”
Much of Broderick’s gallery is devoted to displaying Grams’ works through April 30.
An engraving by Pablo Picasso on display at Broderick Gallery in Longview.
The Picasso is a 3-by 4-inch etching called “Minotauro Vencido,” done in 1933. “He did about 100 in that series,” Broderick said. The matting highlights Picasso’s signature, and a seal from Christie’s auction house and the Musee d’Orsay, one of the biggest museums in Paris, help confirm the authenticity, along with appraisals by a company in Chicago. The price tag is a relatively modest $1,600. Some paintings by Picasso (1881-1973) have gone for more than $100 million.
Grams said the prices he and Broderick agreed to might be one-third as much as a gallery in a big city would charge because the markup is more.
Broderick is also showing two etchings and two wood cut prints by Salvidor Dali (1904-1989). These works don’t exhibit the Spanish artist’s trademark surrealism, and cost $600 and up.
Another etching has the label “Rembrandt” next to it, but, no, it’s not an original. It’s a circa-1890 copy of a copper plate etching.
Broderick’s exhibition includes diverse works by 20 artists, including some Americans whose names are familiar in the art world. One of them is Michael Bryan, who did the silk screen print of Dali.
A mixed media work by the American artist Franz Kline (1910-1962), a leading abstract expressionist whose works have been shown at major museums around the world, is relatively pricey at $17,500. However, Broderick said, “This is the first art in here I can honestly tell people will appreciate in value.
“I think I’ve actually got it sold,” Broderick said. “That will pay the rent. It’s been a problem here, paying the rent.”
Broderick said there are art collectors in the local area but they tend to shop out of town. “I still get some of my Portland crowd (he’s had galleries in downtown Portland and Lake Oswego). I’d say about half my sales are through my old contacts.”
To supplement his sales income, Broderick teaches art and has a framing business in the back of his gallery.
He also shows his own bright oil paintings, which he describes as “hyperbolic reality,” with overstated figures and colors.
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