2001.0064.0001

Museum scheduled a visit with Van Bruggen Signs in November on fundraising trip and talked beforehand with Bob Behounek, who said he had something to give to the Museum. The piece was featured in SignCraft Magazine in the May/June 1999 issue.

Fine Gold Sign Company 1644 Wilmington Blvd. Wilmington, CA  90744.

SignCraft Magazine on Bob Seelander, “Bob was one of three brothers who were all sign painters.  Their work had tremendous impact on sign design in the fifties and sixties.  Bob, whose outstanding sign work was featured in the very first issue of SignCraft, died in 1980.  ‘This one was probably done in the late forties or very early fifties,’ said veteran Chicago sign painter Ken Mill.’  It’s impossible to show the remarkable craftsmanship of this piece in a photograph.  Anyone who has ever done reverse lettering on glass, much less gold leaf on glass, can surely appreciate this 15-by-21-in. piece.  The lowercase lettering is 3/8-in. tall. The background is gray scrollwork.  ‘Bob did the matte center first,’ says Ken. ‘Once the varnish was dry, he trimmed the strokes with a razor blade. You have to look at it with a magnifying glass to believe it.  The gold lead background outside the circle was done with damar varnish mixed with resin gel.  The cross hatching was done with a section of pocket comb that scraped a pattern into the thick varnish film before it dried. Bob was one of those few sign people who could do reverse lettering on glass about 5/8-in. tall on one day, then 10-ft. letters on a wall the next day. He was incredibly versatile.”

Very Good: Some lifting of paint on background and flag.

Glass piece was sent to Rick Glawson, Fine Gold Sign, Wilmington, CA on 12-5-2001 for restoration.