Hello,

I received this message today and thought some of you might be
interested
in knowing about it...the URL below has the image of the
miniature....enjoy,
malinda

http://askart.com/A-Photo.asp?no=130874&code=CNY

"AskART.com" wrote:

> President George W. beats flag painter at auction 1/19/01
> The hammer fell today on George Washington's portrait, and AskART
> unfurled a
> new eleven-year American art record. At a banner sale, Christie's sold
> a
> 2.55 square-inch oval portrait painted in 1789 of Washington by the
> New York
> artist, John Ramage (1748-1802), for a highflying $1,216,000 to an
> anonymous bidder.
> Commissioned by Washington as a gift for his beloved wife, Martha, the
>
> portrait represents an important piece of American history with an
> impressiveprovenance beginning with America's First Lady and moving
> through her familyto the hands of fortunate collectors. The romance of
> this portrait, a gift
> from a devoted husband to a cherished wife, the tale of its passage
> through
> a family, and its historic significance as the first portrait
> commissioned by
> our first President are embellished by the controversial life of its
> artist.
> Surprisingly, the flamboyant Ramage saluted the British Union Jack. A
> Dublin-born Loyalist and purported bigamist, he died in Canada, a
> fugitive
> from the United States' debtor laws.
> According to AskART's auction records, the purchaser of this
> diminutive
> treasure has not only acquired a fine watercolor on ivory of an
> American
> icon, but also the most expensive inches of American painting. At
> $477,000
> per square inch, the price established by the Ramage sale is 17 times
> that
> calculated by AskART for Jasper Johns, the former leader of this per
> square
> inch price category and the best-known painter, ironically, of
> American
> flags. Today's event effectively moves the miniaturist John Ramage to
> the
> top of the chart.
> It is our pleasure to bring you this historic news on the eve of a
> Presidential inauguration, and to share our calculations with you. We
> invite
> you to visit our site at AskART.com and explore the pages dedicated to
> John
> Ramage, Jasper Johns, and 24,000 other American artists.
> To view the complete article on John Ramage, click below.
> http://askart.com/ramage.aspTo view AskART's section on John Ramage,
> click below.
> http://askart.com/TheArtist.asp?id=26540 ATTENTION AOL USERS:To view
> the complete article on John Ramage, click below.
> <a
> href="http://askart.com/ramage.asp>http://askart.com/ramage.asp</a> To
> view AskART's section on John Ramage, click below.<a
> href="http://askart.com/TheArtist.asp?id=26540>http://askart.com/TheArtist.asp?id=26540</a>

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