NEW YORK—D.C. Moore Gallery is exhibiting a dozen oil on canvas paintings by Janet Fish in a show that runs through March 17. Several of the works in the current exhibition have already been sold to private buyers, with prices for the works ranging from $75,000/150,000, largely based on size.
In addition, the gallery has watercolors by the artist, “in the $18,000 range,” as well as smaller oil on canvas works that are priced at $38,000 and up. At the top end of Fish’s work at the gallery are large works costing $175,000. Moore noted that Fish has “some buyers in Europe,” but most are in the United States.
It was in the 1970s that the artist first rose to prominence, with audiences taking note of her colorful, photo-realistic still-life paintings of glasses, fruit and other objects all grouped together in what she calls “packaging.” Her work from the 1970s is still the most sought after of her career, said gallery owner Bridget Moore. However, she adds, “what she produces now is really, really glorious.”
D.C. Moore has represented the artist since 1995, when her former dealer, Grace Borgenicht, retired.
Moore noted that she also sells work by the artist on the secondary market. However, “you can’t get any work from the 1970s, and that has been the case for years.”
“Her works don’t change hands much,” Moore says, and when they do, those transactions are as apt to take place through a gallery as at an auction house. The top public sale price for Fish’s work is $134,500 (estimate: $25,000/35,000) for a 1971 oil on canvas Honey Jars, which was sold at Sotheby’s in 2010. Other top prices at auction include, $104,500 (estimate: $50,000/60,000) for the 1974 oil titled Tequila Bottles, sold at Sotheby’s in 1988, and $56,763 (estimate: $18,000/22,000) for the 1975 work Skowhegan Water Glasses, at Heritage Auctions in 2010.