Restoration is complete on a few of the Olendorf (1924-1996) sketches. We wanted to share how superb, masterly, and how fascinated we are with them. The first is of Saint-Tropez, a French Riviera location known to be popular with artists and tourists. Here Olendorf has captured a flat, confrontational scene where the apartment buildings stunt the view. Its his pen strokes, all the intricate roof-lines and shutter-lines, done quickly but with such ease that he’s able to add intricate detail without overloading the top-half of the picture. Overall, the lines sort of “arrest” the viewer and in-prison them within the scene, which we believe to be one of the mimetic qualities that Olendorf was going for.

The next two sketches are of Parisian streets, and are wonders at depth perception, lively detail, and showing Olendorf’s command of the monumental Beaux-Arts architecture. Again, his spontaneous pen strokes made it possible for him to add a great amount of detail without overbearing the eye, what would have happened if he had used a ruler. And the people and cars, the snapshot of Parisian life that he’s able to capture in a sketch. Vive la France!

We always come away impressed after looking at these sketches, and are very glad that by treating for mold and transferences, we were able to help clean and preserve these works which will hopefully last as long as the locations they depict.