I am looking for information on an artist named Alec Stern. I have one pen and ink and two pencil drawings of his that we acquired about 40 years ago. He might have been an illustrator for a San Francisco Newspaper. I would like to sell these and need some imput as to their value.

-- Mary Lou Sipherd (mommylou@peoplepc.com), April 24, 2003

Answers

i also am looking for info on this artist,if you could please mail if you have any info?

-- michael bianchi (michaelbianchi@sgcglobal.net), June 10, 2003.

Make that another one. I have a couple of his drawings and would also like any information someone might have on the artist. Also if anyone knows of resales of his drawings trying to value the art work. Thanks

-- (michaelbank@juno.com), June 16, 2003.

Count me in too. I have an ink drawing "Golden Gate Bridge" San Francisco from my Grandmother. I also have a write up on him which says: "Alec Stern, nationally known etcher and illustrator, was born in Connecticut in 1904 having the dubious honor of not only weathering San Francisco's 1906 earthquake but also being present at a repeat performance in 1957. He had his early training at the California School of Fine Arts and Columbia University. His experience has been with advertising agencies and book publishers, on both the east and west coasts. Eight years as illustrator on the San Francisco Chronicle gave him a broad scope of subject matter including the marine, architectural and industrial fields. His travels have taken him to all parts of the countryin creating his nationlly known collection of "Etchings of America" many of them now being put into book form.

In 1955 he realized a life long ambition and erected his own little publishing plant in San Mateo complete with skylights and studio, presses, camera and plate making equipment. Welcome visitors from all parts of the country frequently drop in on their travels to inspect this unique "one-man" operation.

Studio of Alec Stern 1039 So. Claremont St. San Mateo CA 94402 415-570-6684

If I find any more info I'll post it. Laurie

-- Laurie Skidmore (loriannsk@comcast.net), July 11, 2003.

I have a pen and ink drawing entitled "Barnegat Lighthouse" that I have had since about 1968. I honestly can not tell if it is an original. How can I get information on this particular drawing.?

-- Ms Bobbie Leschingski (bjleski@texoma.net), July 17, 2003.

Sorry, this is not an answer - just another person who has one of his works and is interested in its value. If you have any information, I would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks you

-- Catherine Shaw (rvshaw2002@yahoo.com), July 26, 2003.

I came across some of his etchings in a yard sale recently and found similar information to what Laurie Skidmore contributed in her July 11 response. In addition, I checked him out at artprice and found one record of an auction sale of an etching on paper titled "Wartime San Francisco" dated 1943, size 8x13in that sold for 40 USD at the Schrager auction house in Milwaukee, WI on Aug 30, 1999. Finally, there are currently two color etchings of his on sale at Ebay

-- Robert Brown (bernadyl@aol.com), July 27, 2003.

I did some additional research and found the following: 1- Clars auction gallery in Oakland sold on Dec 8, 20002 three matted prints by Alec Stern ("Nob Hill from Portsmouth Square", "The Church" and "Saint Patrick's Cathedral") all for 10 USD 2- Same auction gallery (Clars) sold on Feb 8, 2003 what they described as "booklet containing etchings of San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf and Chinatown by Alec Stern 1962" for 50 USD 3- Mid America Fine Arts has a reproduction of etching by Alec Stern "The Bridge-Fisherman's Wharf" 9.5X6.5in on sale for 75 USD (www.midamericafinearts.com/alec_stern.htm) 4- Also check the follwoing page www.saltimbanque.com/SternA/Sutterspg.htm

-- Robert Brown (bernadyl@aol.com), July 27, 2003.

I, too, have some etchings of New Orleans by Alec Stern. I don't know if they're originals, as they are wrapped with a mailing envelope. I purchased them in New Orleans in 1981. Does anyone have information on these?

-- Pat Olden (sailboatpat@optonline.net), July 30, 2003.

I just placed for sale on eBay a sales catalogue published in 1978 by Alec Stern Studio with about 30-40 of his etchings illustrated. Bob

-- robert duffy (rduffy8888@aol.com), August 10, 2003.

My parents knew mr stern. My father sold real estate for many years in the c.a. area, I as well have a proof of the stanford chapel, he sighned it in pencil. I have seen some of his work on e-bay but not to much. I am also trying to find out how much his work is worth.

-- jimmy cagan (jcag7@aol.com), August 19, 2003.

I too am looking for info on Alec Stern. I have 5 San Francisco etchings from 1973 and would like to know there value. Please put me on your list of people searching for information. Thanks

-- PATTI FABIAN (FABIANS@COX.NET), August 24, 2003.

I have a book titled Etchings of Yosemite by Alec Stern with his biography on the back four pages..If anybody would like,I could take a digital photo and e-mail the info...

-- Barry Grant (bazz.cam@verizon.net), August 25, 2003.

My parents new Mr. Stern very well, and I remember going to his San Mateo studio when I was a young boy. He was always very warm and personable. I have many of his etchings, but I have not yet found a resource to determine their value.

-- bob zeimer (capcon117@earthlink.net), September 01, 2003.

I also have the golden gate picture but have no idea of its worth

-- Courtney Childers (cchilders2@hotmail.com), September 05, 2003.

I too, would like to know more about mr. stern...Is he still alive today? I have a etching that is signed by him called "San Francisco Fantasy" I just love it as it is All the things that SF is known for.into one drawning. Of course, i would like to know it's value.

-- colleen brossard (poochlady@aol.com), September 07, 2003.

To all of you who have expressed an Interest in Alex Stern and his work... I have lived and worked in the San Francico bay area for almost 50 years and have done simular work. If you would like to see it please visit my web site at http://wwwparteeandpals.com You can also type Partee and pals into google for a link..... There are etchings and paintings of San Francisco and many other places where I lived and worked over the years.. I to loved and collected Mr Sterns work

thanks and happy trails Partee

-- Partee Irwin friedman (pikf@pacbell.net), September 21, 2003.

I too have a beautifull pencil drawing of a dog named "Handsome" by Alec Stern. I also am looking for a dollar value. Alec Stern travels took him to all parts of the country in creating his nationally known collection of "Etchings of America," i understand it was put into book form. Good Luck.

-- Grace Esparza (gecoco@aol.com), September 24, 2003.

i now have 2 etchins. one of "along the 17 mile drive. monterey.also one of san francisco. would be nice to know value

-- thekla mcfarland (lmcfar3695@aol.com), October 21, 2003.

i like the rest, am seeking a clue to the man known as alec stern, i have six org. drawings all formated, signed, and framed, they are all on the same frame so its layout is very nice, amazingly i found this at goodwill, go figure. anyway, i do not care about price, but would like to know more about the man and the town of san fran in the earlier 1940'S to the 1970'S thank you

-- skeeter hockett (skeetie21@hotmail.com), November 11, 2003.

Put me on the list too. I also have a etching of the Tea Garden. I would like to know the valve of it too. The Address I have on the back of my etching is 150 North B Street, San Mateo, CA 94401. I don't think this well help any of us but.....Thanks, JT

-- Joy Tanaka (joynish@aol.com), November 11, 2003.

I bought two Alec Sterns on a visit to San Francisco from UK in the late 60s - Lombard Street and Hyde Street Hill (with view of Alcatraz). Like others, I don't know if they are originals and would be very interested to learn their value.

-- Gwyn Davies (gwyn.d@virgin.net), December 06, 2003.

I have the book which Robert mentioned in his July posting, 'Etchings of San Francisco's Chinatown and Fishermans Wharf'. However, instead of the 1962 date, it is from 1959. There are 14 sketches, of which 2 are in color and one is a full-width centerfold. The front cover identifies it as 'Etchings of America, Volume 2'.

The info on the inside cover about Mr. Stern is quite similar to that which Laurie posted earlier; however, the last sentence reads as follows: Friends and visitors from all parts of the country frequently drop in to browse around and watch him produce Christmas cards, etchings, keepsakes and distinctive literature.

I didn't notice any mention in this thread about Christmas cards. I bet they'd be really interesting to see and exciting to find.

The inside cover also has the following information about San Francisco. I will retype it here just as it is shown in the book:

FACINATING SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO---THE CITY BY THE GOLDEN GATE---THE CITY OF HILLS

WHEN IN 1769 PORTOLA'S MEN FIRST SIGHTED THE CALM WATERS OF THE GREAT BAY LITTLE DID THEY FORESEE THE GOLD RUSH OF '49 THAT WOULD FILL THE FABULOUS HARBOR WITH SAILING SHIPS AND A FOREST OF MASTS--- NOR COULD HE OR HIS MEN VISUALIZE A METROPOLIS, RUINED IN THE EARTH- QUAKE OF 1906, RISE FROM ASHES AND DISPAIR IN LESS THAN THE LIFETIME OF A MAN AND BECOME A DREAM CITY, A COLORFUL AND INTRIGUING CITY STRETCHING AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE.

SAN FRANCISCO'S MAGNETISM WINS THE LOVE OF ALL WHO HAVE THE GOOD FORTUNE TO VISIT AND LIVE WITH HER AND THE AFFECTION OF ALL WHO MUST LEAVE HER. HER INTERESTS ARE COUNTLESS, HER MOODS EVERCHANG- ING, HER VISTAS ENCHANTING. SAN FRANCISCO IS INDEED A FACINATING CITY WHETHER YOU ARE A DREAMER OR EMPIRE BUILDER, ARTIST OR AR- TISAN. WE HOPE THAT THIS COLLECTION OF ETCHINGS WILL GIVE YOU THE SAME PLEASURE WE HAD IN PRODUCING IT. Alec Stern

I purchased this 8-1/2" x 11" soft cover book at a library sale this past summer for 50 cents.

-- Marilyn Doane (n9529k@aol.com), December 11, 2003.

I found this site by chance, Hi my name is Ron Walters I worked at the Sam Mateo print shop after he retired the last owner Gwen Carson worked with him for years and help provide his art to the world, I have many great prints, etchings, Pencil and charcoal drafts, copper plates I can appraise real and have more 40 signed pieces Please contact asap

-- Rdale (ronster@coastside.com), December 13, 2003.

I have a black & white etching of the Mission at Santa Inez...bought in 1978....wish I could have found others to make up a set of the Missions visited that year, i.e San Juan Capistrano, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Simeon, and one in Florida Nombre de Dios in St. Augustine..... A brief biography on card that came with the etching states that he was born in Connecticut in 1904, weathered the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco as well as the one in 1957. His early training was at the Carlifornia School of Fine Arts and Columbia University. His experience has been with advertising agencies and book publishers on both coast. Eight years a illustrator on the S. F. Chronicle gave him a broad scope of suject matter including the marine, architectural and industrial fields. His travels took him all over the country in careating his nationally known collection of "Etchings of America", many of them now in book form.. In 1955 he realized a life long ambition and erected his own little publishing plant in San Mateo complete with skylights and studio, pressesd, camera and plate making equipment. Visitors came from all parts of the country to inspect this "one-man operation". The address of the studio at that time was 150 North B Street, San Mateo, Ca. 94401 A photo of him schetching is also on the card...D.Browne

-- dorothy browne (browne1927@aol.com), December 19, 2003.

I have a black & white etching of the Mission at Santa Inez...bought in 1978....wish I could have found others to make up a set of the Missions visited that year, i.e San Juan Capistrano, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Simeon, and one in Florida Nombre de Dios in St. Augustine..... A brief biography on card that came with the etching states that he was born in Connecticut in 1904, weathered the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco as well as the one in 1957. His early training was at the Carlifornia School of Fine Arts and Columbia University. His experience has been with advertising agencies and book publishers on both coast. Eight years a illustrator on the S. F. Chronicle gave him a broad scope of suject matter including the marine, architectural and industrial fields. His travels took him all over the country in careating his nationally known collection of "Etchings of America", many of them now in book form.. In 1955 he realized a life long ambition and erected his own little publishing plant in San Mateo complete with skylights and studio, presses, camera and plate making equipment. Visitors came from all parts of the country to inspect this "one-man operation". The address of the studio at that time was 150 North B Street, San Mateo, Ca. 94401 A photo of him schetching is also on the card...D.Browne

-- dorothy browne (browne1927@aol.com), December 19, 2003.

Would anyone here happen to know is Mr. Stern is still alive, and who holds the copyrights to his works? Thanks.

-- Lance Klein (SLObandito@yahoo.com), December 30, 2003.

I have what I believe are two original pen and inks by Alec - Lighthouse Sentinel - A lighthouse - and Dashing Wave, a large three masted sailing ship. (like the Mayflower) They appear to be originals to me and we have been trying for a number of years to find out something about him. I came across this site today and decided to add my 2 cents worth. I would appreciate it if anyone gets any further information to include me in on it. I will surely do the same if I find out anything further for everyone here.

-- John Scheer (jscheer@woh.rr.com), January 02, 2004.

I too have a drawing by Mr Stern titled,"Dayoff - Fisherman's Wharf" dated 1997". It is still wrapped in it's wrapper from the day that I purchased it. That was in 1985. Any information would be appreciated.

-- Bill (Billnuke@AOL.com), January 18, 2004.

My drawing is entitled "Ashore at the Golden Cafe". I also would like information on it's value. I believe it is an original, but not sure.

-- LINDA MILLER (nadja@bendcable.com), February 08, 2004.

I have NO idea as to the value or information about the artist Alec Stern, but I recently acquired one of his pieces. It is named "Seven Together", and it is seven Mallard Drakes & Hens lifting off of a pond. It is signed by Alec Stern, plus it has his logo "Alec Stern, New York" on the actual pencil drawing. It is matted and framed by McCaughen & Burr Fine Arts Gallery of St. Louis, Missouri. I would be very interested to know more about this artist, as he seems to be very diverse in his style and mediums.

-- Wilbur R. Steinle, Jr. (kruzr43@aol.com), February 08, 2004.

There appears to be two Sterns-Alex and Alec.The three etchings I have show the Balcutha at pier 43 and have the inscription San Francisco Maritime Museum. The Balcutha was moved from pier 43 in the 1930s. Alew Stern's most well known works were the illustrations for Jack London's "Call of the Wild", showing dogs fighting ans Gold rush scenes from the 1910-1930 era.

-- Al Fullbright (brendasuniques@yahoo.com), February 19, 2004.

Well, I've got goosebumps. I happened on this site after googling "Alec Stern," just on a lark, because he was my grandfather.

Off the top of my head, and with the resigned certainty that I'll leave out many important features of his life, here goes...

My grandfather was born in NY around 1903, the son of Hungarian immigrants. His family drove across country and settled in San Francisco in time for the Quake of '06. He was just old enough to experience the quake; in the 1980s, at one of the annual reunions of quake survivors, he recognized the woman fleeing through the foreground of one of the sepia slides projected on the wall as his mother. He regaled me, as young boy, with stories of playing hookey from school to sneak into the 1915 World's Fair at the Palace of Fine Arts. When he was caught lifting a loose fence board one day and brought back to school, the principal heard him out and declared: "this discussion never happened. You're getting a better education there than here." Tuck-in time whenever we drove up to San Mateo to visit my grandfather included a good half-hour of storytelling, which he spun extemporaneously, and was never less than fasctinating...usually involving images of that World's Fair and the adventures of a boy named Ernie. Regrettably I've inherited none of his artistic genes (although I wasn't yet resigned to that fact when I experimented with the edge of a quarter, all over his guest-room wall, around age 9), but growing up I looked to him as a role model of patience, wisdom and humaneness. (The scolding I feared from him over the quarter-art never came). A visit to his studio was a step back 50 or 60 years in time. I recall nothing automated about it (of course, this was only the mid-70s), but vividly recall the collection of old printing presses--some of them still productive--the illuminated workdesk with its huge, spring-armed magnifying glass, the back-lit slides of San Franciscan buildings and scenery from which he drew his etchings, his ink-darkened, labor-toughened fingers, the smell of ink in the air, and the sound of the bell that would announce the opening of the oversize pink door, and welcome anyone who cared to come in and browse the studio and see him at work. His faithful secretary for many (40?) years, Gwen, I believe was awarded the copyrights to his work.

OK, I'll spare you all any further ramblings that I can see are tending more toward the mawkish than the informative, and contact my aunt, who is the repository for family history, and better positioned than anyone else to tell you about her father. Alec Stern (whose name was sometimes morphed into "Alex"... easy mistake to make, with the first letter of his last name being an "s"...) was very active in the San Franciso area Jewish community in the latter part of his life. He died in the early 1990s after some long illnesses.

He was a great man. Sometimes stubborn and not always easy. But if you hear speak of any very impressive qualities or achievements, it's a safe bet they're not exaggerated.

Willy Stern

-- William Stern (wstern@lausd.k12.ca.us), March 07, 2004.

I too have a small{5X7}ink drawing entitled " the city by the golden gate".I'm sure it is an original, and I've been curious about Mr.Stern's work since purchasing it at a yard sale in Vallejo,Ca.about ten years ago.I was delighted to happen upon this site.......but,I'm still in the dark about it's value.....any ideas? Thank you, everyone, for all the info.

-- gloria lemas (glisme314@aol.com), March 11, 2004.

An American artist, born in 1904, Alec Stern was a student at The California School of Fine Arts before working as an illustrator for the San Francisco Chronicle. He started his own studio and publishing business in 1955.

-- alice tate (ate@aol.com), May 19, 2004.

I have a pair, and they are wonderful!! Add them to the list of found: "HYDE STREET and SHIPS S.F.", and "EVENING LIGHTS ON TELEGRAPH HILL S.F." Both Original signed works, and I amgrateful to have them, they are wa wonderful vignette of a different time.

-- JPH (jandahouck@comcast.net), November 24, 2004.

My Stern (a very good print I'm almost certain)is "Hyde Street Hill" a cable car with Alcatraz in the background. It is inscribed on the back "To my good friend A----- Fondly, Alec 2/18/84." I bought it at a little antique shop in Redwood City, CA.

-- Kerry O'Connor (toadhallwe@aol.com), November 25, 2004.

I have a collection of over thirty greeting cards from the Alec Stern Studio. A price list for the cards and a selection of greetings is included. The box, however, fell apart years ago. The price list offers the following introduction: "The studio of Alec Stern offers this unusual collection of custom-made etched christmas cards to fill the demand for a distinctive greeting of art gallery standards. These are cards the sender will take pride in giving, the recipient will delight in keeping." This collection of cards has been in my possession for over thirty years. I acquired them from my Father who passed away in 1972. I don't know how long he had them. A fine artist in his own right, he was employed variously as a graphic artist, printers rep, and for a time had his own stationary store. Any of these occupations would have provided opportunity to aquire this sales kit. The drawings on these cards are exquisite and I will continue to treasure them both for there artistic beauty and the connection they have with my father.

-- victor broder (vibro@mindspring.com), December 06, 2004.

finding all this was a bit of a surprise. i am a San Mateo native and purchased 2 Alec Stern prints back in the 70's from an antique shop. i wish i would have known he was still working in the area. "The Signing of the Charter" (U.N. 1945 S.F.) and State Capitol. they appear to be original etchings and are pencil signed. there is a book listed on Amazon. thanks Willy for the great story. cheer jerry haussler san mateo

-- jerry haussler (alecstern@zephyrblau.com), February 19, 2005.