LOWREN WEST

THE ART OF LOWREN WEST

Lowren West is a native New Yorker who lives and works in that city. He has studied the art of painting and graphic art at The Art Student's League, Pratt Institute, Columbia University, The New School for Social Research and the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Art. Among his long list of credits are numerous group shows in New York, Boston, Atlanta and Newark; two two-man shows in Scottsdale, Arizona; and three one-man and five two-man shows in New York. His work has been exhibited in the Dallas Museum, Texas and both the Museum of Modern Art and the Riverside Museum in New York. Many of his paintings reside in important collections throughout the United States.

Mr. West's paintings are usually done in mixed media and collage in order to achieve a strong tactile quality that reflects and absorbs light, while creating maximum tension between the various elements within the work itself. He has, for a number of years, been vitally interested in mythology, especially that of Ancient Greece. Mythological themes often form the basis of his painting but they are developed and recreated in abstract terms.

Since his last visit to Arizona he has begun a series of paintings that relate to the southwest and its Indians. Lowren West is represented in Arizona by Thompson Gallery, Phoenix.

GEM OF HEAVENLY BLUE from page 3

Here and now is a good place for the reader to ask: How can one tell good turquoise and how much it is worth?

The answer to the first part of the question is simply trust the dealer to show you good turquoise go to more than one before making a final selection. The answer to the second part is not simple. For example: At gift and curio shops throughout the Southwest one can select a silver ring with a fair sized piece of turquoise of good color for from thirty dollars to sixty dollars. At shops operated by chain concessionaires the same basic design will appear at several locations. On the other hand, the discerning buyer who seeks a one-of-a-kind Loloma or Monongye ring with a top grade cut of turquoise will make comparisons from selections priced from two hundred to two thousand dollars. As a rule these pieces are available only from the long established better dealers, who by reason of contact, experience, and ready cash, compete with one another for top quality works. Dealers trade with one another, increasing the value of a piece every time it changes owners. Sometimes dealers fall in love with fine specimens and will not part with them at any price.

One's enchantment or disenchantment with turquoise depends in the main, not upon the turquoise, but upon the quality of the people involved in the final transaction - the seller and the buyer. It is not asking too much to give your dealer in turquoise a greater measure of faith and confidence than you hold for your doctor, lawyer or clergyman. The truth is that unlike those who live and prescribe by the books, our merchants dealing in non-essential items of luxury demand a measure of honesty and knowledge one cannot glean from books or curriculums. Only through exposure, experience and personal contacts can the successful merchant tell by sight and touch the quality and appeal of turquoise and relate it to his clientele. The old saying “If you seek the wealth of the Indies, you must bring the wealth of the Indies with you” is especially applicable to the seeker of fine turquoise. There are no over-the-counter bargains in top quality turquoise. Any dealer worth your respect knows the worth of his merchandise and he knows the value of your patronage. Beware of the “under-the-counter” operator who gives you one reason to doubt his integrity or yours. Reputable dealers will furnish authentication for whatever representation distinguishes the article. For example, the staff at the Jewel Box are instructed to deliver in writing, at the customer's request, information pertinent to the materials, name of artist, history of piece and appraisal for insurance. Owner Morrie Riskind is an honest merchant. He admits he cannot tell from sight and touch whether certain pieces of turquoise have been treated. “I buy from my people in good faith and I sell in good faith. However, if a piece can be proved to be treated, which we have sold to be pure, the Jewel Box will refund double the purchase price.” We make special mention of the Jewel Box because it, too, came into the business on the wave of Wall Street Journal tide. Primarily a pawn shop located in the heart of downtown Phoenix, “The Jewel Box” has been operated by the Riskind family ever since old timers can remember.

A stranger approached Morris Riskind some three years ago with a proposition to put up some $100,000 worth of turquoise as collateral for a $40,000 loan. At the same time, Morrie heard that a trading business in Albuquerque, New Mexico was for sale. Overnight, the main business of the Jewel Box switched from diamonds, watches, cameras and guns to a trading post status complete with mining claims, wholesale and retail outlets, all of which provide income and support for artists and craftsman who keep the Jewel Box showcases replenished. There are three hundred dollar squash blossoms for those who cannot afford better and there are one-of-a-kind museum specimens upwards of ten thousand dollars for those who can.

There are many experts who, by reason of experience and exposure, know more about some turquoise than others. However, it would take volumes to name the knowledgeable people we know or know about. It is not necessary to learn any more about turquoise than one NEEDS to know. Knowing the names of the mines is important in putting together the points necessary in the evaluation of a piece. Mine names can be confusing although important. For example: the old Burnham turquoise shown on pages 18 and 22 is valuable because “Old Burnham” denotes turquoise taken from the mine originally operated by the Burnham family. The same mine is also known as Dry Creek Mine and the Godber Mine which produce what is commonly referred to as Burnham. All three claims comprising the property produce a medium-to-dark blue high quality spider web. The “Old Burnham” denotes a super fine grade of turquoise from the Lander County, Bullion District, Nevada. One of the two most exciting new mines in the world is the new Lander's Blue, already commanding premium prices from leading dealers. The other new development occurred in Arizona where a new Bisbee Blue vein has given the trade a new headliner.

Turquoise in its raw form is an unattractive opaque mineral. In its pure blue form turquoise is hydrous copper aluminum phosphate. In many deposits, iron prevails over part of the copper, and from these deposits green dominates the basic color patterns of the stone.

The first general rule in evaluating the price of turquoise is to establish the excellence of color. The size of a single piece, or the total weight of the related pieces, increases not only the price but also the value of the aggregate. Finished turquoise gem stones are bought and sold in the trade by the carat a unit of weight equal to 200 milligrams. Price per carat of workable stones can run from fifty cents per carat to as much as two hundred dollars per carat for extra fine specimen pieces.

To put words and pictures together, 9000 carats of turquoise were used on the buffalo skull shown on our cover. At a minimal price of fifty cents per carat, the value of the unmounted stone alone represents a base of $4,500. Most of the Lone Mountain, Number 8, and Bisbee top grade turquoise shown in this issue sold for twelve to twenty dollars per carat while many super fine specimens command from one hundred to two hundred dollars per carat, depending upon the “Zat” and “Zat” is the heavenly quality of turquoise. JOSEPH STACEY

JANUARY 1974

The Cover Story

The turquoise covered bull buffalo skull measures 22 inches from crown to bottom. It swivels on a wood base bearing a silver plaque with the engraved title: "Last of the Herd." The exciting young artist-silversmith Dee Morris, considers the massive skull his tour-de-force to date. Judging from the comments and interest recorded while we've been living with it on our desk for a month, we predict it will be a headliner for someones private collection when released for sale after February 1. The red rug and basket background are part of an Earl Hammack painting owned by Dick Mullen. Space limitation did not permit reproduction of the full pendant, shown upper left with our logotype. It is part of a massive 2,000 carat piece of top grade Morenci, also done by Dee Morris and now part of the Maggie Wilson collection.

Special Note:

Our omission of Dealers addresses has been intentional. Any inquiries regarding turquoise shown in this issue should be addressed to the dealer's name to which the photograph is credited, c/o TURQUOISE, Arizona Highways Magazine 2039 West Lewis, Phoenix, Arizona 85009. We will forward to the addressee.

Double strand necklace of extra fine Morenci turquoise fetish carvings adorned with black hishi and fluted gold beads. An unfailing attention compeller with an undeniable haute couture quality. Dos Cabezas, Scottsdale - Private Collection When we think about the Indian photographs of Adam Clark Vroman, something altogether startling is suddenly revealed to us: there are no pictures of inscrutable savages! And therein lies a profound difference from so much of the photography of his period. There is no sensationalism, no deliberate portrayal of squalor, no sentimentalism, no propaganda.

The editors of this book are persuaded that Vroman approached the Indians of the Southwest with the intention of portraying them as human beings, not as objects to be described in scientific journals, not as curiosities to be exploited commercially or for personal aggrandizement: simply as human beings.

It is because of this approach, and because of the superb craftsmanship he brought to the task, that his photography speaks so vividly today. In these photographs people communicate with us across the barriers of time, language, and cultural difference. With no falseness between us and the images of these faces, we are exposed so vividly to the humanity of a people that the roots of our common identity are perceived immediately.

Had the arts of communication and of printing and reproduction of photographs been as sophisticated in Vroman's time as they are in ours, and had his photographs been as widely seen then as they can be today, the history of the Indians in the Southwest and the whites who stood against them in ugly confrontation might have been radically different.

Vroman did the best he could to realize such a purpose in his work, to change that history for the better by introducing us to the real people who were being affected. It is with a renewal of that same dedication that we offer this book of Vroman's Indian photographs. We are hopeful that the presentation of these images to a newer and more enlightened generation may contribute to the fulfillment of the vision of all men to live on this planet in harmony with each other, with all other life, and with the earth that was given us.

William Webb Robert A. Weinstein Editor's Note: We are deeply grateful to Grossman Publishers, 625 Madison Avenue, New York, for the special arrangement through which we were able to reproduce parts of "Dwellers At the Source." We cannot find adequate words of praise for William Webb whose expertise at print making from the original glass plate negatives is a masterwork. Many of our reproductions are from Mr. Webb's personal collection and do not appear in the book.

We consider "Dwellers At the Source" to be one of the finest documentary reference sources ever published. It is available at most book dealers at Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00). For readers in areas remote from book stores we recommend Guidon Books, 7117 Main Street, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251. For this service please include one dollar for packaging and mailing.

Do not send money to Arizona Highways Magazine.

DWELLERS AT THE SOURCE from page 15

"Finer things of life." His distinction for us is that he produced a collection of photographs, the largest part of them of Southwest Indians, uncommon in vision and astonishing in execution.

Clearly, this limited recital cannot satisfy our desire to understand more about the sources of Vroman's abundant creativity. There is more to this man than an accumulation of refined sensitivities. What further subtleties, what additional complexities of personality and motivation lie hidden that would, if revealed, deepen our understanding?

An examination of his photographs reveals that the plight of the Southwest Indians affected him greatly. The inherent grace and calm dignity with which these oppressed Indians struggled for a decent life appealed strongly to Vroman's humanitarian instincts. Perhaps equally, his egalitarian beliefs were affronted by the indifference, the neglect, and the suppression with which these people were forced to live and die.

Vroman was not the first photographer in the United States to photograph Indians, nor was he even the first photographer to focus his talents so consistently on the Southwest Indians. He was, perhaps, the only photographer who worked among the Indians in the Arizona and New Mexican desert who found there all the human and aesthetic stimulation he needed to produce a body of work of substantial and enduring value. It was there, among the Indians of the pueblos and the mesas, that Adam Clark Vroman found the opportunity he needed to focus his full life's energy in an enduring creative act.

☐

Something for Wise Men to Think About, And Act Upon.

On the premise that all human beings who have lived a full measure of life have done something to be punished for, who, among the wisest of the just, should decide that a life once touched upon by a degree of rottenness is irreparably spoiled?

Mr. Joseph Stacey, Editor Arizona Highways Magazine December 8, 1973 I have read your editorial in the December issue and very much enjoyed the guided tour. Even more appreciated was your closing words, God, and things great and eternal, and love.

I returned to Arizona recently after many long months in an Eastern prison. The airplane bounced and wallowed through an overcast that had obscured the earth all the way from Atlanta. It was only when we came down through the clouds and I saw again this beautiful wide and wild copper land that the trip seemed real. No-one could appreciate wide spaces more than a man who has stared at blank prison walls for months and months; nothing could so quickly eradicate the indelible imprint of prison's horizontal and perpendicular shadows than this wide country which breathes freedom as a fundamental aspect of its nature.

I had not returned a free man. A charge more than three years old awaited me, and I was turned over to two U.S. Marshals at the airport who quickly placed me in handcuffs and chains. As they lead me through the busy airport I was struck with a terrible burning awareness of the loss of my life. What had I sought? What was it worth in comparison to freedom, and more than that to a good name, a place of honor and respect in the community. Without bitterness, looking at the stream of happy people flooding through the airport, I considered the responsibility facing this society as it seeks permanence in a world of increasing uncertainty. There must be, if men are good, a certain agony in the determination that one human being is unfit to dwell in free society among others, for nothing, not even death, carries with it the terrible effect of a prison record. It places a man on the outer periphery of the social structure. He is condemned forever to be a second-rate citizen, a man who carries the awful weight of his record no matter how high he may reach, how low he may fall.

They took me and locked me up in a place where the young were brought when they were first arrested. I looked at them closely, seeing in them the same foolishness with which I had viewed the world and life not too long ago. How very much they risk to gain so little. How does one tell them that? Sadly, it cannot be told; it is a lesson that must be learned.

On television and each day in the newspapers I read accounts of a startling increase in crime. Drugs! Robberies! Burglaries! Murders! What is the answer, I wondered. Beyond that was the painful realization that the measure of mercy I had hoped to find in the hearts of this community after more than three years in prison might not materialize. Again, with a painfully clear awareness, I knew I could not feel bitter whatever might happen.

Thus, for me, there was a special hope in your closing words of God and love, which to a degree is the hope of all mankind. It is the hope that there exists a power greater than myself whether it be God or the courts... from which I and others of my frailty may rightfully seek forgiveness. It is the hope that in a wiseness greater than I have lived by there might be a way to probe my own and other hearts and conclude, with some degree of logic, whether we are prepared to abide by the rule of law. If we are, such a conclusion demands we be given the chance to do so. If we are not, for our own good and for the good of the community, we should not be set free. It is a dreadful choice, and we, like you, must rely on the wiseness of the men who will be forced to make it.

Each time I look at Arizona Highways I am brought closer to things eternal, and hopefully closer to an understanding of self and my relationship with the world. I have done wrong, but I hope to do right. A foolish gambler, I have gambled away everything. But hope remains and as long as there is hope, and as long as I believe in myself, I shall never be completely destitute.Thank you for your world of pictures, but most of all for the guided tour of your December issue, and closing words.

Sincerely, Name Withheld Federal Detention Center Center Florence, Arizona