Rago Auctions

Artist and professor Frank E. Cummings III is an iconic African American figure in the field of American studio craft and woodturning. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he earned his Master of Arts from California State University, Fullerton in 1971, where he now teaches fine arts to a new generation. Cummings' work has been shown in the White House Collection of American Craft and is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Learn more about how he conceives of ideas and crafts his exquisite creations in this interview from the Clinton Center on the occasion of The White House Collection of American Crafts: 25th Anniversary Exhibit in 2018.

Born and raised in Toronto, Dr. Irving Lipton (1923 - 2001) built what was, for a while, the largest contemporary wood collection in the world. He and his wife, Mari, settled in California in the 1950s but his passion for wood art did not start until 1972 when, at the Westwood Art Fair, he acquired a thirty-five-dollar jewelry box from Michael Graham. Some months later, he encountered Graham again, and heard of his idea for a much fancier jewelry box, one the artist couldn’t afford to build. Lipton committed to buying the piece on the spot, allowing the artist to get started on the project. The resulting box was exhibited at several museums and galleries before Dr. Lipton received it, sparking in him an excitement for collecting that would only grow.

Dr. Lipton...became a true patron of the arts, explaining “I see a remarkable comparison with my profession as a pediatrician in stimulating the growth and development of contemporary wood art.”

Dr. Lipton developed into more than just a collector, he became a true patron of the arts, explaining “I see a remarkable comparison with my profession as a pediatrician in stimulating the growth and development of contemporary wood art.” He nurtured close, personal relationships with the artists whose pieces he collected, and he delighted in seeing the evolution of their work over time. Dr. Lipton’s primary criteria for acquisitions revolved around the artist’s vision and their ideas; he had a profound appreciation for, and curiosity about, each work and their creator, reflecting that his “horizons of thought and concept have been broadened, and collecting has helped me to be a more sensitive and mature individual.” He even postponed his retirement from medicine to continue supporting artists and adding to his collection. 

Dr. Lipton also recognized the importance of sharing these fine creations with the world. 

Dr. Lipton also recognized the importance of sharing these fine creations with the world. Much of his collection was exhibited internationally, and he would go on to donate pieces to a number of organizations and institutions, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Yale University Art Gallery. As a result of his personal connections with artists and his approach to acquiring pieces over the course of their careers, his collection became a fascinating repository which documented the evolution of individual artists as well as of the field of woodworking as a whole. 

Bibliography

Wallace, Kevin. The Cutting Edge: The Lipton Collection and Contemporary Wood Art. Antioch, CA: Fine Arts Press, 2011.