Lot 1033: ARTIE SHAW Dan Lutz, 'Pine Top': Playing the

ARTIE SHAW Dan Lutz, 'Pine Top': Playing the piano, signed lower right: Dan Lutz (1906-1978 Los Angeles, CA), oil on canvas, 24'' H x 30'' W, . Note: Little remembered today, Clarence æPine TopÆ Smith recorded only eight songs during his brief career and short life, but he is credited for igniting the boogie woogie dance craze -- the upbeat, rhythmic style of piano blues which would influence swing music and ultimately evolve into rock nÆ roll. Born in 1904 and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Smith joined the Great Migration of southern blacks to the industrial north, working as an entertainer and touring on the T.O.B.A. vaudeville circuit before settling in Chicago, where he made his career playing his raucous piano songs at rent parties and taverns. In the closing weeks of 1928, at age twenty-four, Smith played his first session for Vocalion Records, which produced the now classic ærace recordÆ 'æPine TopÆs Boogie Woogie'Æ. It was an immediate sensation and became a commercial hit. æPine TopÆ only enjoyed a few months of fame, for he was killed by a stray bullet while at the piano during a barroom brawl. His æ'Boogie Woogie'Æ soon spread to inspire both black and white audiences nationwide, and by the early 1940s nearly every big band, including Artie ShawÆs, had recorded their own æboogie woogieÆ. The style even found its way in to the titles of paintings such as Piet MondrianÆs highly influential 'æBroadway Boogie Woogie'Æ, 1943, which incorporated the concept of musical rhythms into visual composition. Tommy DorseyÆs updated version of Pine TopÆs recording, made ten years after the original, became the second best seller of the swing era, behind only Glenn MillerÆs 'æIn the MoodÆ'. For a biographical note on Artie Shaw, see lot 1025. Provenance: Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, CA (see label verso); Tangible Property from the Estate of Artie Shaw:

Visual: Generally good condition with a small area of instability to the right of the figure. Blacklight: No evidence of restoration under blacklight. Uneven varnish.

Provenance: Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, CA (see label verso); Tangible Property from the Estate of Artie Shaw

Note: Little remembered today, Clarence æPine TopÆ Smith recorded only eight songs during his brief career and short life, but he is credited for igniting the boogie woogie dance craze -- the upbeat, rhythmic style of piano blues which would influence swing music and ultimately evolve into rock nÆ roll. Born in 1904 and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Smith joined the Great Migration of southern blacks to the industrial north, working as an entertainer and touring on the T.O.B.A. vaudeville circuit before settling in Chicago, where he made his career playing his raucous piano songs at rent parties and taverns. In the closing weeks of 1928, at age twenty-four, Smith played his first session for Vocalion Records, which produced the now classic ærace recordÆ 'æPine TopÆs Boogie Woogie'Æ. It was an immediate sensation and became a commercial hit. æPine TopÆ only enjoyed a few months of fame, for he was killed by a stray bullet while at the piano during a barroom brawl. His æ'Boogie Woogie'Æ soon spread to inspire both black and white audiences nationwide, and by the early 1940s nearly every big band, including Artie ShawÆs, had recorded their own æboogie woogieÆ. The style even found its way in to the titles of paintings such as Piet MondrianÆs highly influential 'æBroadway Boogie Woogie'Æ, 1943, which incorporated the concept of musical rhythms into visual composition. Tommy DorseyÆs updated version of Pine TopÆs recording, made ten years after the original, became the second best seller of the swing era, behind only Glenn MillerÆs 'æIn the MoodÆ'. For a biographical note on Artie Shaw, see lot 1025