AUGUST 2019
"ICARUS"
COMMISSION COMPLETED AND DELIVERED
"ICARUS"
91cm x 122cm, 36in x 48in
Acrylic on mesh
Silver frame
Just completed this commission
BACK STORY:
The Couple who commissioned this painting saw a similar piece I created that was hanging in the lobby of a river cruise ship that operates on the Danube. It was one of four paintings I was commissioned to make for that ship's lobby. When the couple saw the piece, they fell in love with the visual narrative and wanted one for their home.
The couple contacted Gate 1 Tours for my info and we struck a deal.
I've made several Icarus compositions throughout the years. This one makes #4 in my catalogue of works.
The origins of the ICARUS story can be found in Greek Mythology, It's a tale about a father and son (Daedalus and Icarus) who were imprisoned together on the Island of Crete.
The father (Daedalus) was an Artisan. He devised a way for he and his son (Icarus) to escape the island by creating wings made of feathers and wax.
On the morning of the escape, as Daedalus was fastening the wings to his son's arms, he uttered a stern warning: "My Son, do not fly close to the Sun. The hot rays will melt the wax--- your wings will come apart."
Icarus didn't heed. Emboldened by his new found freedom and awesome ability to fly, he defied his father's wisdom and soared upward towards the Sun.
Alas, the wings fell apart. Poor Icarus plummeted to the sea and drowned.
APRIL 2019
ABSTRACTION
24in. X 60in
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
New work completed and posted for month of April:
MARCH 2019
SPRING BREAKOUT
Sneak peak: 3 of 15 New Paintings slated for Spring release
COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE
36in X 48in
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
SOLD
5/21/19
SAN FRANCISCO
COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE
36in X 48in
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
SOLD
4/07/19
NYC
ABSTRACTION
"Asian Exchange"
48in X 48in
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
SOLD
5/25/19
CONNECTICUT
JAN 2019
to
FEB 2019
NOV 2018 to DEC 2018
COMMISSION:10 PAINTINGS
MICHAEL STAENBERG COLLECTION
St. Louis
COMPLETED and SHIPPED
SEPTEMBER 2018
Folly Island Beach House
ABSTRACTION
30" X 60"
78 cm x 154.4 cm
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
SOLD 9/15/2018
SHIPPED TO SOUTH CAROLINA
JUN-JULY-AUGUST-2018
SUMMER AGENDA:
Traveling and working in the studio
"In-Studio Sales"
(by appointment)
I will be showing again
LABOR DAY WEEKEND in NYC
September 1st & 2nd
(Contact me for NYC locations & times).
MAY 2018
Photo Courtesy: Sean M.
Sold May 13th
"MELVILLE'S TRIP"
ABSTRACTION
29in X 36in
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
Virginia, USA
COMPLETED MAY 2nd
UNTITLED ABSTRACTION
4ft X 4ft
122cm x 122cm
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
SOLD MAY 5th
New York, N.Y.
SOLD 4/14
COLOR FIELD ABSTRACTION
31.5" X 60"
80.0 cm x 154.4 cm
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
APRIL 2018
BRETSCHNEIDER
NEWS&SALES
OCTOBER 2020
COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE
48in x 48in
122cm x 122cm
Acrylic on mesh
white frame
Photo sent by Eliot Levmore, who purchased this painting from me in late August. It's seen here hanging in his Manhattan home.
BACK STORY: This painting was completed two years ago and I was keeping it in storage and not showing it because I thought it an exceptional work.
This past summer, Mr. Levmore, a New York City resident and financial analyst, saw my work in Soho and researched me online. As soon as he saw a photo of this painting on my website, he was determined to own it. I knew then a decision had to be made on its fate.
LONG STORY, SHORT: Every painting has a price and this one was no different. The price was met and I bid it adieu.
May it hang for the ages and never see storage again.


COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE
36in x 36in
92cm x 92cm
Acrylic on mesh
Partner entrepreneurs, Robin and Gary Murphy, purchased this painting from me in August. They just sent me this photo of the work hanging in their home in New York's downtown Financial District.
Well done-- THANK YOU!!
SEPTEMBER 2020
UNTITLED HYBRID ABSTRACTION
36 in. x 29 in
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
Only a few days after completing and posting this painting on my site, Tuxin Ai contacted me about purchasing it. She had seen my paintings a year earlier in New York and had been following my website and work output ever since. She was waiting for the right piece to buy. When she saw this painting posted, she pounced.
PHOTO TO THE RIGHT: Tuxin Ai proudly standing next to her acquisition.
I guarantee you, the squint in her eyes is not because of the bright sun. She knows she just scored a beautiful work of art and (behind the mask) she is gleeful and broadly smiling---Quite the happy camper!
Even in this terrible time of Covid, where commerce in art and other things are flagging, I've been fortunate to have several sales to keep me a float.
My take on this pandemic is logical, circular, and rooted in an age old saying: "This, too, shall pass"
COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE
36 in. x 48 in
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
When M. Collins saw this Color Field Painting last Sunday (August 30th) in New York's Soho District, she was immediately captivated. I watched; she stood in front of the piece frozen, eyes fixated, staring deeply into the work. This phenomena I had seen many times before. It's happens when the right person meets the right painting. Like love at first sight, there's no denying it. M. Collins purchased the painting right then and there.
Later that evening, she texted a photo of the work hanging on her wall. It was just minutes after I delivered it to her Battery Park City address.
Yep! She knew exactly what she wanted (And) she knew exactly where it was going to hang!
Her instincts were proven right. Check out the photo she sent.
Sheer perfection!
Feng shui, Baby!
Photo courtesy M. Collins
COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE (MONOCHROME)
36 in. x 60 in.
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
2 COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPES (DIPTYCH)
EACH 36 in. x 36 in.
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
When K. Guinn first saw my work in New York's Soho District, it was in the early Spring of 2019. At that time, he purchased a diptych from me; two 36" x 36" Color Field Landscapes.
PHOTO TO THE RIGHT: Diptych hanging side by side, far left in the photo).
This past 2020 Summer, Mr. Guinn decided to invest in another painting. His goal was two fold; he wanted a painting that would compliment his diptych and, at the same time, a painting that would also enlarge and add value to his portfolio of Bretschneider work. With a savvy eye, Mr. Guinn purchased his third, a 36" x 60" (Monochrome) Color Field.
PHOTO TO RIGHT: Monochrome Color Field is seen hanging in photo, to the far right.
3 Bretschneider Color Fields, as they currently hang in K. Guinn's Mississippi home. Photo courtesy K. Guinn
AUGUST 2020
NYC
Soho
August 15th!!
My return to showing (since Covid) in 6 months!!
Arrived 7:30am. No one out.
8:30am. A car passes by!
How foolish was I to think New York would be abandoned---
8:00am. I start setting up. Still, not a person seen or heard.
I'm beginning to wonder; was this the right time to come back?
Suddenly more cars appear! Some start to park.
I see the old faces. The dog walkers, too!
As the Galleries, Boutiques, and Restaurateurs unlock their doors and start receiving deliveries, they see me and welcome me back---Many heartily! It's so good to be recognized---To be welcomed!
Damn! It's great to be alive!!!
JULY 2020
WORK FROM THE EARLY 90's SURFACE
David Alpert contacted me and sent photos of two paintings he acquired from me in 1991 ( At that time I was showing out of a 16 ft U-Haul truck in New York's Soho district).
The photo below was taken by David this year (it's one of two paintings he purchased from me) as It currently hangs in his Los Angeles factory.
MARCH 2020 thru JUNE 2020
PANDEMIC PROJECTS
I caught the COVID-19 virus in early April ( experiencing mild to moderate symptoms ) and was quarantined, monitored at home by the NY State Department of Health for 21 days.
After I recovered, I was determined not to be idle, but be active. I continued my work in the studio ( producing 9 large Hybrid-Abstractions! ).
Also during this period, I constructed a shed on my property to store painting inventory. (slideshow below)
MOLLY PARKER COMMISSION
BOSTON, MA
ABSTRACTION
36in x 48in
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
JANUARY 2020
HYBRID-ABSTRACTIONS / SERIES BEGUN

Brian Friedman (JetBlue Airway's Director of Litigation & Regulatory Counsel), sent me photos of his newly acquired Manhattan apartment. It features one of my favourite paintings "I OWN YOU!" which he purchased from me several years ago. (2013)
---THANKS! (I Love updates on the whereabouts of my paintings)
Painting Title & Specs:
"I OWN YOU!"
2013
4ft x 4ft (121cm x 121cm)
Acrylic on mesh
Red frame
MARCH 2018

2018 ABSTRACTIONS
New Energetic Series
UNTITLED ABSTRACTION
4ft X 5ft
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
SOLD
Pittsburgh Townhouse
(Interior: street-level, front window & entryway)
Last August (2017) this 3ft x 4ft Abstraction (Acrylic on mesh) was acquired from me in New York by Pittsburgh Orthodontist, Joan Kao.
She finally got the painting to Pittsburgh and, as she promised, sent me these photos----THANKS, JOAN!
New York DJ/Musician, Joe Bijou, sent me this photo of a COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE he purchased from me in December 2017.
The painting hangs in Joe's studio.
Photo courtesy Joe Bijou
---Thank you, Joe!
COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE
36in X 36in
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
JANUARY 2018
FEBRUARY 2018
Through the years every painting I've made has found a home.
Of all the styles and concepts, the 36" X 36" COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE has been the most successful.
My goal during these two winter months (JANUARY & FEBRUARY) is to produce 20 Color Field paintings.
From these 20 paintings, I want to take the best 4 and reproduce them.
4 paintings, in multiples of 10, each numbered and signed.
JULY 9 SOLD
COLOR FIELD / LANDSCAPE
30"X30"
A savvy couple with their daughter "Violet" scooped this painting up as soon as they saw it. My favourite customers: appreciative - aesthetically tuned.
JULY 9 SOLD
ABSTRACTION
30" X 60"
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
Customer purchased for
her MIAMI residence.
SHIPPED
ABSTRACTION (Commissioned)
26" X 50"
Acrylic on mesh
Black Frame
SOLD
ABSTRACTION
30" X 60"
Acrylic on mesh
white frame
MAY 2017
Picture courtesy customer. Thanks!
NEW YORK - DELIVERED
FEBRUARY / 2017
Trifecta! - Philadelphia delivered 4/25/17
DIPTYCH
COLOR FIELD/LANDSCAPE
28" X 60
Acrylic on mesh
white frame
COLOR FIELD/LANDSCAPE
30" X 30"
Acrylic on mesh
white frame
COLOR FIELD/ABSTRACTION
28" X 60
Acrylic on mesh
white frame
MARCH 2017
PROPOSED 3/05/17
COMMISSION
42in x 60in
ABSTRACTION
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
Delivered 3/15/17 NYC
Picture courtesy customer. Thanks!
APRIL 2017
Figurative project
4' X 4'
Acrylic on mesh.
JANUARY 2017
ABSTRACTION, 28" X 60", Acrylic on mesh, white frame
SOLD 1/15/17 NYC
Picture sent in by customer. Thanks!
DECEMBER / 2016
Picture sent by customer. Thanks!
A couple from Germany, while touring New York City, saw my work and bought a painting. That evening, the couple boarded a Lufthansa flight home.
24 hours after selling the painting, I received an email with a JPEG attached--- of the very painting hanging in their Berlin home!
To see one of my paintings sold, shipped 3000 miles, and then hung ( with a picture of it hanging!) in less than one Earth day
I say
Astounding!
Remarkable!
IN RETROSPECT
The feeling I got when I received this JPEG was comparable to the feeling I get whenever I receive a delivery through AMAZON.COM
SUPER EXPEDITIOUS! :)
ABSTRACTION
38" X 50"
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
SOLD 12/4/16
NOVEMBER / 2016
ABSTRACTION, 48" X 48", Acrylic on mesh, white frame
SOLD 11/09/16 NYC ---SHIPPED TO CAMBRIDGE MA.
OCTOBER 2016
PAST/RENEWED!
This piece was originally exhibited at the CLUB 57 (New York City) in 1980.
I'm posting this picture because the piece is being considered for inclusion in the CLUB 57 RETROSPECTIVE (scheduled for OCTOBER, 2017 thru APRIL 2018) at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York.
I'll post updates
"SHIFTING BORDERS"
(1978)
SEPT 2016
FALL ART SEASON BEGINS
9/28/16 (Sunday)
Two customers purchased a total 8 paintings!
INCLUDING: A commission for a 9th painting!
AUGUST 2016
Busy week.
5 (2ft x 2ft) Paintings prepped
for shipping to St. Louis, Mo.
3 paintings (one 38inx 50in, two 36in x 36in) prepped
for shipping to Boca Raton, Florida.
SHIPPED
DECEMBER 2017
COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE
36 in. X 36 in.
91cm. X 91cm.
Acrylic on mesh
Black frame
PROPOSED 12/05
COMPLETED 12/15
SHIPPED 12/18
MoMA
DECEMBER 8th
7PM FILM SCREENING
(with discussion afterwards)
"OK TODAY TOMORROW"
OK Today Tomorrow. 1982. USA. Directed by Harald Vogl. Written by Vogl, Seth Tillett, and Bibiena Houwer. Cinematography by Tillett. With Joan Waltemath, Terence Sellers, Arto Lindsay, Jef Bretschneider, Tom Wright, Mr Parker Senior, Sedeo Dubai. Digital video from Super8mm. 93 min.
NOVEMBER 2017
Hartford Commission
PRIVATE HOME
Completed and Shipped
Photos courtesy customer
COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE
"Lewis, Clark, Clark, Lewis..."
36in. X 48 in.
Acrylic on mesh
white frame
New Orleans Commission
LAW OFFICE
STONE PIGMAN
WALTHER WITTMANN L.L.C.
(Attorney Larry O's office)
Completed and Shipped
Photos courtesy customer
COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE
36 in. X 36 in.
91cm. X 91cm.
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
OCTOBER 2017
MoMA/CLUB 57
POST OPENING
After the opening of the Club 57 Retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art:
1. A noticeable uptick in website visits.
2. People I knew 35, 40 years ago emailed me photographs from "back in the day"
1980-81
PHOTO LEFT: With friends inside my 23rd street loft.
NOTE: Two Basquiat oil stick drawings share the wall with "Shifting Borders".
Sitting across from me (back to camera) is the cinematographer, Lisa Rinzler. This was before she established her prolific reputation with films such as; Three Seasons, Pollack, Menace 2 Society, Dead Presidents, Trees Lounge, etc...
One word describes Lisa's iron professionalism: Committed
Jon Neuburger took this photo and kindly sent it to me.
1978
PHOTO RIGHT: Lisa Rinzler took this photograph of me standing in front of my (just completed) "Shifting Borders".
(I'm seen here doing my "Joe Dallesandro" pose/schtick)
2017: MoMA
PHOTO RIGHT: Hanging "Shifting Borders" for the CLUB 57 EXHIBITION (required more than a nail in a wall).
Special scaffolding had to be erected and electrical wiring had to be run through the wall. (This illustrates what length and expense MoMA will go through to show a work. In respect to the museum's efforts, this artist gratefully says "Thank You"
MoMA CLUB 57 Exhibition Catalogue
MoMA Bathroom: fifty-seven shades of Green!
CLUB 57 Exhibition Catalogue
pages 20 and 21;
left to right: Artists Jef Bretschneider and David Wojnarowicz

A BIG KICK WHEN I RECEIVED THIS!!
35, 40 years ago, before digital de-evolution, during days "ye olde", a time when I lived the inexcusable life, Jean Michel Basquiat and I were friends.
As Jean's fame and notoriety grew...
our time and paths parted...
I received an email containing a JPEG of one of Jean's drawings. The Photographer, Stephen Torton, sent it to me.
There are several drawings and paintings I know of where Jean incorporated my name. This one, I had never seen before. As I studied it, I saw my name tributed 3 times!
Ushering in...memories from another era.
This drawing can be found in the Enrico Navarra book documenting Jean's work.
FOUND!
1992 CANVAS PAINTINGS
Sunday, October 15, 2017
While showing in SOHO yesterday, a man stopped and looked at my work. He turned to me and said years ago he had bought 2 paintings from an Artist similarly named "Bretschneider"---And those paintings still hang in his home. We deduced I was that artist.
Later that day, he returned and bought two COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPES.
...
That night, he emailed me a photo; the 2 paintings purchased from me 25 years ago. MANY THANKS!
Jef Bretschneider
1992
UNTITLED ABSTRACTION
4ft X 5ft
Acrylic on canvas
Jef Bretschneider
1992
UNTITLED ABSTRACTION
2ft X 4ft
Acrylic on canvas
#4
COLOR FIELD/LANDSCAPE
36" X 36"
Acrylic on mesh
white frame
SHIPPED
VENICE, CALIFORNIA
Jill (Jyl) and Peter
:)

#5
COLOR FIELD / LANDSCAPE
36" X 50"
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
DELIVERED
New York
.
SEPT 2017
MoMA & BOXART
Sept 26, 2017, BOXART'S Jim Wines comes to my Nyack studio to measure "SHIFTING BORDERS".
THE PLAN:
jim will return to BOXART (in Brooklyn) where the container will be designed and built.
Another BOXART TEAM will return to Nyack at a later date with the finished container and pack the piece for the trip to the Museum of Modern Art.
UPDATES:
"SHIFTING BORDERS"
September 26th & October 3rd 2017
Oct 3, 2017, BOXART's Transportation & Packing team return with a specially designed container (built by Jim Wines and David Brant) for "SHIFTING BORDER'S" move to MOMA.
COMPARISON / CONTRAST:
SHIPPING CONTAINER & "SHIFTING BORDERS"
Transportation & Packing Team
Left to Right:
Patrick, Matthew, and Lead Packer ( in fashionable denim jacket ) David Brant.
BOXART Lead Packer, David Brant, laying out the container's interior to secure "Shifting Borders" road trip to MoMA.
MAGIC TIME!
Lighting Test for Jef Bretschneider's "Shifting Borders" before sealing the crate.
With the piece secure and a THUMBS UP!---It's onto MOMA!
AUGUST 2017
#13
COLOR FIELD / LANDSCAPE
WESTERN WALL JERUSALEM
27" X 56"
Acrylic on mesh
White frame

8/23
COMMISSION DELIVERED


UNTITLED ABSTRACTION
48" X 48"
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
DELIVERED
NEW JERSEY
Picture courtesy customer. Thanks!
SOLD
COLOR FIELD
24" X 24"
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
SOLD
UNTITLED ABSTRACTION
38" X 50"
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
SOLD
UNTITLED ABSTRACTION
30" X 60"
Acrylic on mesh
White frame
JULY 2017
"Setting-up (showing) in this heat is murder"
BOSTON COMMISSION
WINTER GOAL: 20 COLOR FIELDS
PHOTOS OF THE MONARCH EMPRESS COMMISSION
The Monarch Empress was built by Ilene and Dani Pipino for their company GATE 1 TOURS.
More info about this commission can be found below OCTOBER 2015
JUNE & JULY 2016
Traveling till July 10, 2016

PORT JERVIS, N.Y.
From 1986 to 1992 I lived in the city of Port Jervis ( about 90 miles North of NYC).
While there, I created and sold several Hundred paintings.
Two solo shows were held during that period. For each show, 1000 posters were printed and distributed.
Two survive.

APRIL 2016
Photos courtesy: Khan Family, New York City
EAST 72nd STREET
NEW YORK CITY
COLOR FIELD / LANDSCAPE
48" X 60"
Acrylic on mesh
DELIVERY / INSTALLATION
MARCH 2016
COMMISSION: NOW ONLINE
Interior designer Jenny Vorhoff of Studio Riga and interior designers Britt Zunino and Kate Gray ofStudio DB in the living room of their completed Tribeca loft project.
A vibrant Jeffrey Bretschneider painting inspired the living room's blue, brown, and natural finishes. The Mitchell Gold / Bob Williams sofa is covered in a durable contract-grade Kravet blue velvet, and a petrified wood stool by Organic Modernism and a table lamp by Aerin for Visual Comfort lend additional texture to the scene.
FEBRUARY 2016
Photo courtesy Addison and Clay M.
THANK YOU!
I was emailed this jpeg February 3rd. Here's the back story:
Partner's, Addison and Clay, purchased this Color Field from me in 2012. At the time, they lived downtown, in the West Village. (N.Y.C.)
In late 2015, they bought and renovated a duplex uptown, on East 56th street. When they moved in, so did my painting
Color Field
4ft x 4ft (122cm x 122cm)
Acrylic on mesh
NOVEMBER 1st 2015
RECORD 9 PAINTINGS SOLD!
MONARCH EMPRESS
OCTOBER 2015
4 PAINTINGS
(53.5"X 37.5")
LOBBY/STAIRCASE
GATE1 TRAVEL COMMISSION
NEGOTIATED AND AGREED!
WORK BEGUN:
COMMISSION BACK STORY:
SEPTEMBER - NEW YORK CITY - SOHO
Early Sunday morning..
I had just started setting up (with only a few paintings out) when Dani and Ilene Pipano came upon my work. They stopped to converse.
"We've never seen work like this before."
Gate-1 is owned by Dani and Ilene Pipano. Their company provides Travel Tours around the world and employ over 300 people in the USA. They also provide livelihoods to thousands more wherever their tours go. The Gate-1 corporate headquarters is just outside Philadelphia, in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.
The Pipano's suggested my art might be a fit for a ship they were building, designed to provide cruises on the Danube River. Using their IPhones, Dani & Ilene showed me photos of the space and asked me what I thought.

I Create and Build. Give me an empty space, I'll fill it with a positive!
My "Commission Guarantee" is straight-forward;
If you're dissatisfied with the end result, there's no obligation to purchase, your deposit is returned.
Dani and Ilene took my card.
3 weeks passed, it was now October. The phone rang. GATE1 was still interested.
When people remember your work (sometimes years after) that's a compliment ( and affirmation ) My work makes a lasting impression.
The Pipano's and I resumed our discussion about the commission. We agreed on Size, Style, and Price. A Deposit was made. Delivery is scheduled in 1 to 2 months.

JUNE 2017
SEPTEMBER 2015
AMERICA'S LABOR DAY WEEKEND
5 PAINTINGS FOUND NEW HOMES!
"Once Again--All my best work SOLD!!
THANK YOU!"
PHOTO COURTESY: SARA Z.
MIAMI SHIPPED AND INSTALLED
SEPTEMBER 16TH
EMAIL RECEIVED SEPTEMBER 10th
-
Subject Art Clearance needed
-
Message:
-
Hi Jef,
-
-
I'm Melanie Little; I work as the Associate Producer on the twice Emmy nominated show, Million Dollar Listing NY. In case you are unfamiliar with our show, we follow three brokers that sell high end real estate in NYC. One of the listings we'll be featuring this season has one of your works hanging in their home. We would love to keep your beautiful artwork hanging in their home as decor, but I'll need to get a signed clearance agreement asap, in order for the piece to not have to be removed from the space before filming. If you could email me when you get this, I can send you a photo of the exact piece they purchased, along with our Art Clearance Agreement. Please let me know if you have any questions at all and thank you so much for your help! I look forward to hearing from you soon! Best, Melanie
-
-
Email
-
-
-
Sent on: 10 September, 2015
-
Thank you!
SUNDAY JULY 5th
Always on the lookout for objects, distinct and unusual, Anthony found a painting I made 25+ years ago. He noted it In his interior design blog, THE JUMPING-OFF POINT.
Anthony Amiewalan combs the metropolitan backscapes for objects and ideas to utilize for his interior design business. He shares these finds, along with his current projects, thoughts and commissions, in his blog, The Jumping-Off Point. Here's the link. (issue showing my painting)
THANK YOU!
TWO SUNDAYS
APRIL 12th and 19th
2015 SPRING BREAKOUT!
DIANA MUI: A SPECIAL THANKS!
Anthony Amiewalan
SHANE GLOVER COMMISSION
COLOR FIELD / LANDSCAPE
50 in. x 62 in.
START DATE
10/10
finished 10/27
Phoebe Hoban’s,
“BASQUIAT:A Quick Killing In Art”
JEF BRETSCHNEIDER
JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT
PUBLIC ADDRESS SHOW
Annina Nosei Gallery
NEW YORK
1981
Excerpt from Phoebe Hoban’s, “A Quick Killing In Art”
The day after the show, Jean-Michel, who had been up all night partying, rode out to Brooklyn in a limo with two friends, musician Arto Lindsay and Jeff Bretschneider. “"It was about six-thirty and I was getting dressed,”" says Gerard Basquiat. "“Jean-Michel was wearing a pin-striped suit and he came into the kitchen and he said, ‘Papa, I’ve made it.’ And he gave his younger sister Jeanine a pocketful of money.”"
Recalls Bretschneider, "“He went in and gave money to his father, and he was very concerned about his sister. He went there to park the limo out in front, to walk in with his clothes, and to show his father he had made some money. But I know he walked out of there feeling really empty. Whatever he went back for, it wasn't there.”"
JEF BRETSCHNEIDER
JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT
GAGOSIAN GALLERY
LOS ANGELES
MARCH 1983
Excerpt from Phoebe Hoban’s, “A Quick Killing In Art”
The opening itself was glamorous even by Hollywood standards. “It’s like a Hollywood premiere …all this energy and vitality,” Irving Blum told the gossip columnist of The Hollywood Reporter. He was in town with Roy Lichtenstein. Also present were Gene Kelly, Diandra Douglas, and producer Steve Tisch.
“"It was a wonderful Spring evening in Los Angeles",” reminisces Jef Bretschneider, who flew out to California for the occasion. "“It was a huge, garage like space, swarming with people. I went with John Lurie and it was a fucking mob scene. Like a lot of openings in the eighties, it was not about what work was on the walls, but which people were in the room."”
Bretschneider taped the event for posterity. "“I decided to videotape peoples reactions to Jean'’s work. One young couple told me it was the biggest con they ever saw. Another guy told me he was one of Jean-Michel’s best friends. I had never seen him before, but people were already saying they were ‘a friend of the artist.’ I met another woman who said she had a friend who owned five Basquiats. Five Basquiats! One for each home! Shenge [a friend who would later become one of Basquiat’s assistants] was rolling joints in the office, where Jean was hanging out. Suddenly, Gagosian comes in with Roy Lichtenstein, this icon, and introduces him to Jean."”
When Basquiat took off for the private dinner after the show, Bretschneider left too. But, it seemed, Jean did not intend to include his New York friends." “I saw Larry’s Mercedes pull up beside my rental car,” says Bretschneider. “And I looked at Jean and we exchanged smiles. Then they just pulled away. Jean and Larry and Larry’s beautiful girlfriend. Jean was already moving up the ladder."
JEF BRETSCHNEIDER
JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT
MARY BOONE GALLERY
NEW YORK
MAY 1984
Excerpt from Phoebe Hoban’s, “A Quick Killing In Art”
“Basquiat’s first show at Mary Boone, which opened on May 5, 1984, was a huge success, despite the fact that Boone herself felt that it had been rushed. " “It was supposed to be in the fall of 1985, but then Julian (Schnabel) left, and I thought I needed something really energetic at that point,"” she says. " “Usually I don’t do a show with an artist immediately, not until I’ve already created a market for the work. So it was a very last-minute decision."”
Everyone showed up at the opening, including the artist’s father (Gerard), who seemed to appreciate his son’s work only in public, and Andy Warhol. Recalls Jef Bretschneider, " “Jean had moved into blue-chip status. Andy was standing in the entrance of the gallery, and he stood there the entire length of the show. It was a barometer to where Jean was in the art world. But the paintings were more like a wallpaper version of his work. The opening was a circus. The Day of the Locusts. People were pushing up against this velvet rope that separated Jean-Michel from the thronging mass, and Jean-Michel was letting in whoever he thought was appropriate. Some woman offered Jean her baby, and he lifted it up with his arms above him, and looked at us with a big smile. I'’ll never forget that.”"
JEF BRETSCHNEIDER
165 W 23rd STREET NYC
Excerpt from Phoebe Hoban’s, “A Quick Killing In Art”
Jef Bretschneider lived on Twenty-third Street and Seventh Avenue; “between the Chelsea Hotel and Squat Theater,” those were the directions he’d give first time visitors. Bretschneider’s apartment served as a kind of drug den and cross-cultural salon of the early-eighties, After Club 57, after the Mudd Club, after the last after-hours joint had wound down, a group of regulars would congregate in Bretschneider’s place and hang out until it was time to start the club crawl again. John Sex, John Lurie, Deborah Harry, Chris Stein, Henry Geldzahler, Billy Idol, Michael Stewart, Cookie Mueller, Klaus Nomi, Rammellzee, Fab 5 Freddy---the list sounds like a downtown social register." “Nobody worked,”" explained Bretschneider, himself a kid from the suburbs." “Everybody seemed to have underground incomes.”"
Basquiat left a number of paintings and drawings at Bretschneider’s apartment, and asked him to try to sell them to David Bowie. Every day, he would show up with a friend, musician Arto Lindsay, for hours of coke snorting, "“Whenever I got a new shipment of coke,"” said Bretschneider," “I would invite them for a taste-test. We’d sit listening to new music then go out to the clubs. We never discussed art." (Lindsay says with amusement that this is a slight exaggeration of their activities.)
One time Basquiat came over to Bretschneider’s and brought Nosei with him." “I thought it was strange and unorthodox to bring this older woman over."” said Bretschneider." “But she came in and was fascinated with the place. She said it reminded her of the sixties."
TERENCE SELLER'S
MARIE 1973
DECEMBER 2014
Back when the weather was warmer, in September 2014, Alice and Michael P. saw my work as they drove by my Nyack studio at night (it's brightly lit, the windows are open) The next day, they returned and knocked. I gave them a working tour.
A week later, they called and left a message: "Would I do a commission---"spacespecific"?
The photo to the left is the finished piece.
RAW START
MESH
STRETCHED AND PRIMED
DELIVERED
ALICE and MICHAEL P COMMISSION
22in x 36in
NEW YORK
F.KNOLL COMMISSION
AUGUST 2014
TORONTO SENDS PICTURES
Karen and Chueng sent the two photos below
(BTW, Chueng--the table you built--Solid work!)
Two couples from Toronto, Canada, combined a holiday visit to New York with painting purchases. (This was DECEMBER, 2013) Four paintings were sold.
I reduced the price on all four with one provision;
that they send me "good" photos of the work hanging in their homes.
8 months later--- one couple sent me pictures.
MARC BRICKMAN'S EMPIRE
New York, N.Y.
Lighting Designer, Marc Brickman, has set high benchmarks for theatrical lighting. He's done innovative work for Pink Floyd ('94 World Tour) and Steven Spielberg (Minority Report, A.I.). When Brickman saw Jef Bretschneider's art on Manhattan's West Broadway, he did a double take. His eye was caught by the artist's "EMPIRE" series.
Brickman revealed his connection to the painting (the empire state building clenched by a hand) The prior year he was commissioned to light the Building for the filming of Alicia Keys video, "Empire State of Mind" .
The filming event was choreographed with a radio simulcast of the song.
The "EMPIRE SERIES" works on several levels. Some see it as a trophy painting about ambition and achievement. Few can hang it's message on their wall and "truly own it".
A SIDE NOTE: BRICKMAN was the first Lighting Designer to use the Empire State building's new LED lighting system.
In the past, the building used only two or three stationary colors (Arc lamps attached with colored theatrical gels)
During the filming of the Keys video, reports came in from as far as 50 miles away, claiming the deco giant's was in a swirl of kinetic light. WORD!
REFLECTION: On that night, the night of the Empire/Keys filming event, BRICKMAN, indeed, "owned" the Empire State Building.
EMPIRE #3 was shipped West. It now hangs in Brickman's Malibu home.
SEPTEMBER 2014
A DIFFERENT APPROACH
I recieved a call from Mike and Jerry, customers who had purchased a 4 ft x 5 ft Acrylic/Mesh painting from me 5 years ago.
The painting hung in Mike and Jerry's bedroom for 5 years.
Now they want to move it to their living room.
The reason: So guests can appreciate it. (can't argue with that).
There's one issue:
Their Manhattan duplex faces north and the livingroom is dark most of the day.
THE CHALLENGE
To make the painting brighter without losing its abstract integrity.
BEFORE
AFTER
Mike and Jerry COMPLETED
10/3/2014
DELIVERED
JANUARY
First commission of 2015!
LILY and DARYL L.
New Jersey
28" x 50"
Lily L. saw my work in Soho this past summer and took a card.
Last November, Lily and her husband, Daryl (and their two boys) They prearranged a meet on West Broadway to look at my work.
A commission was negotiated, for a 28" x 50" abstraction. PHOTO: Intended space over bed.
The frame is cut. The mesh is primed and taut.
Commission began Jan 14th.
Target date for completion : February, 2015.
The final piece will be posted
DELIVERED 2/21
COMPLETED
BASQUIAT
&
BRETSCHNEIDER
REMEMBERING JEAN
UPDATE:
After posting the Jean Michel Basquiat drawing, I recieved several emails asking me "personal" questions about "the 80's scene".
Much of my energy 30 years ago was not focused. I was self absorbed and vainly directed. The decision to step off the New York bandwagon of the 80's--to clean up and reset priorities--
DEAR FRIENDS
It was the best thing i ever did!
Now:
I live today-- and plan for tomorrow.
In regards to "Remembering Jean Michel Basquiat",
I offer this 2010 posting:
When someone discovers I associated with New York's "Downtown" art/music scene of the 70's and 80's--- I'm asked, 'Did you know this person or that person?'
Their inquisitiveness is often driven by a book, movie, documentary, they read or watched.
BACK STORY: 20 years ago, the author Phoebe Hoban called me. She was writing a Basquiat biography and asked for my input. Her seriousness won me and I participated in a Q and A with her over the course of a week. Prior to this, I had been interviewed by a film-maker named Krzysztof who had envisioned a feature film on Jean and was seeking anecdotes. Krzysztof's movie was never produced, but I did hear rumor the material he collected and the first draft script he wrote was purchased by the artist Julian Schnabel, who used portions of it in his debut film "BASQUIAT", with Jeffrey Wright.
JEAN: AN ACUTELY ADJUSTED ANTENNA
Before uneasiness and drugs stole him, Jean's phenomenal rise in the art-world was an exciting thing to watch. Artistic acclaim is rare. Few emerge.
Mutual interest, youthful encounter, dark humor, and self medication, brought Jean and I together. Watching him rise as quickly as he did made an indelible impression on me, and it was a life lesson. The knowledge I garnered about art and the art world---it's machinations---surpass anything the best art schools could offer---
Now, 30 years later, Jean's life, work, and premature death, have become art mythology.
So when I'm asked about Jean, instead of retelling what I remember and risk distorting facts, I refer my anecdotes in Phoebe Hoban's book, "Basquiat, A Quick Killing in Art". Because she started writing it shortly after his death, my recollections were fresher then. By turning to that book, I'm assured my "interactions" and "perceptions" are consistent, never veering into whim and fancy.
In retrospect, I thank God for all the good (and bad!) that has happened to me. I've been given the gift of time and space...
not to die
--but to live
--to grow and mature!
I am not the same man represented 3 decades ago in this book.
I kiddingly say
--- I'm worse!
JEF BRETSCHNEIDER 2010
Jef Bretschneider (1978)
Photo: Lisa Rinzler
WINTER WEBSITE MAST HEAD
PHOTOGRAPHED JAN 2014
Anna and Simon Chew Commission delivered
JUNE 2014
Anna and her husband, Simon, picked up my card when they saw my work in Soho. They sent me photos of their space, expressing an interest in having a Color field Landscape for their Brooklyn waterfront home.
Chew Commission / Customer specifics:
1)The work would hang over a couch---had to measure 3 feet by 6 feet (91cm x 175cm) .
2) They wanted it to be colorful and bright. The choice of colors would be left to me.