Fralin Catalog (6-21-23) - Flipbook - Page 15
opportunities have brought luck in our favor. In bidding on a
Norman Rockwell in one sale, we were the only bidder in the room,
as our competitor, sans cell phone, was stuck in traffic and never made
it to the sale. Given the popularity of the artist, we never thought
obtaining such a work would be possible. On another occasion, we
were interested in a major painting by Hassam at the same time as an
acquaintance of ours. Rather than bid against each other and drive
the price up, we flipped a coin to decide who would bid on it, and we
were the fortunate party.
In buying art, obstacles can arise. The challenge we faced in
acquiring The Noble Experiment by Luks was its enormous size (80 x
63 inches) and whether it would fit in the Fralin’s home. Desire to
own a work is more than half the battle and, fortunately, Heywood
and Cynthia were able to find the right spot. An advantage of buying
from a gallery is the ability to try a work in one’s home. From the
collector’s point of view, it is always acceptable to obtain the best
price when buying a work of art. The Fralins have done well in this
regard, as Heywood is masterful at negotiation. This was particularly
true for their purchase of Grandma Moses’ Over the Roanoke and
Rockwell Kent’s Moonlight Sleigh Ride.
Once one has the bug to collect, it never dissipates. The Fralins
are continuing to expand and enhance their collection by adding
new artists and new themes, particularly in the Modernist area.
With quality being the overriding factor in anything considered for
the collection, Heywood and Cynthia have been open-minded to
acquiring important works by lesser-known artists such as William
Gilchrist, Howard McLean, and Samuel Johnson Woolf, in addition to
those by well-known painters. Other criteria have included historical
significance, as in Thomas Hart Benton’s Old Kansas City; distinguished
provenance, as in Walt Kuhn’s Girl with Turban, previously owned by
Frank Sinatra; prominent exhibition history, as in Otto Bacher’s Ella’s
Hotel, Richfield, Ohio, shown at the famous Paris Universal Exposition in
1889; and public recognition, as in Norman Rockwell’s The Little Model,
published on the cover of a 1919 issue of Collier’s magazine.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey of collecting with Heywood
and Cynthia. They have been truly zealous about their mission
and, over time, have been receptive about expanding the collection
from its initial core. They are extremely conversant about American
art and intuitively have an eye for it. Aside from this personal
enthusiasm, they are philanthropic in sharing their collection and by
serving on museum boards and committees. Heywood and Cynthia
Fralin are amazing people who embrace life to its fullest, as their
worldwide travels imply, and are convivial companions to those
around them. My experiences with them have been among the most
memorable and enjoyable of my almost forty-year career.
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