BiddingOwl - UCDA Foundation featuring the Mo & Loretta Lebowitz Collection Auction

UCDA Foundation featuring the Mo and Loretta Lebowitz Collection

MO:90 — 90 works on paper by Mo Lebowitz

The UCDA Foundation is proud of its Mo & Loretta Lebowitz Collection. In honor of what would have been Mo’s 90th birthday in 2022, the foundation has identitfied 90 of his works on paper to offer to the public through this auction.

This is a great opportunity for individuals, museums, galleries, students, and collectors to own an original work by the renowned Mo Lebowitz.

Mo Lebowitz is best known for his letterpress studio, the Antique Press, from which his work in hand-set type has garnered him awards too many to count. For 40 years, Mo’s presses have been in daily use, printing the pieces that made his work known to numerous fans. Not constructed for home use, his original press, a 10" x 15" Chandler & Price, nearly did not make the trip from Baltimore to New York. After his own car broke down from the weight, Mo loaded the press in his wife’s car for the remainder of the trip (Loretta’s car made it). An elaborate series of pulleys helped guide the press to the basement, and was installed safely. “I thought the porch roof was going to cave in,” Mo remembers. One press is not enough for an enthusiast, however, and a 25" x 38" Vandercook press (used by the New York Times to pull full-page newspaper proofs) and a turn-of-the-century Franklin-Gordon platen press soon followed. And a press is not a press without type—more than 300 drawers of wood and metal type turned paper and ink into works of art.

About the collection. The collection consists of Mo Lebowitz’s printed work—ephemeral pieces that celebrate his interest in cigars, food, wine, bluegrass and classical music, literary characters, and acquisitions of equipment for his press. Much of the collection consists of whimsical and humorous promotion of Lebowitz’s shop, travels, and personal life, in the form of announcements printed as cards, broadsides, posters, and pamphlets, as well as on paper napkins and bags, hang tags, sheets of plastic, tissue, and a wide variety of other substrates. Some announcements and invitations document exhibitions of Lebowitz’s work, lectures he presented, and awards that he received from professional organizations. Several pieces in the collection refer to The Design Organization, Lebowitz’s partnership with Al Ross. A few items are dated; most are not, but were produced in the 1960s and 1970s. The collection also includes other design work, set-ups, and correspondence.

In 2004, Mo Lebowitz presented the UCDA Foundation with the majority of his printed materials.

About the auction. This auction represents 90 works on paper from his collection, with subjects including: letterpress printing, typography, cooking and food, wine, cigars, music (including Mozart, bluegrass), Sherlock Holmes, Shakespeare, and awards. A few of the pieces are signed, and each piece comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

The auction is open to everyone. In cases where we have multiple items, we may reach out to you if you were not the winning bidder to see if you would like the additional copy.

All items won will be mailed to the winning bidders after the close of the auction.

The auction will run through December 28, 2022.

GRADING SCALE
The pieces in the MO:90 Online Auction haven beed grading using the following scale:

Mint (10.0)
A poster that may never have been used or displayed. May show very slight signs of age. On folded poster, might show the most minimal signs of wear to the exterior due to storage. The poster should have no holes or tears.

Near Mint (9.4)
A very lightly used poster with fresh, saturated colors. On folded posters, may show the most minimal wear at the folds. The poster should have no holes, tears nor paper loss.

Very Fine (8.0)
A poster with bright color and a clean overall appearance. It may have general signs of use such as minor fold separation and fold wear. It may have pinholes or very minor tears. The poster may be restored and put on linen or paper.

Fine (6.0)
A poster with good colors and, overall, still very presentable appearance. It may have tears, slight paper loss, pinholes and minor stains. It may have some fold separation. It may have restoration.

Very Good (3.5)
The poster may be slightly brittle due to age, or it may have some paper loss and/ or staining from tape, water, etc. The poster may have writing in an unobtrusive place. The poster may have some varying degree of restoration.

Good (2.0)
An average poster which may have tears, paper loss, and a significant degree of general age wear. It may have some color fading, stains, tape or tape stains, and be in need of restoration. It may have significant restoration.

Fair (1.0)
Poster may have faded colors and/or brittle paper, showing significant signs of use. May have large tears and significant paper loss. May have tape, writing, stains in image area. In great need of restoration or had major restoration.

Poor (0.5)
A poster that is worn, torn, and/ or badly damaged. May have staining or dry rot. May be heavily soiled and/or large pieces missing, and may be cracked or brittle. It would be in dire need of restoration.

SHIPPING
In most cases, items will be shipped flat by USPS Priority Mail or by UPS Ground. Depending on the size, shipping and handling will be $10 or $20, and will be protected by a rigid cardboard envelope.

Priority mail includes up to $50 in insurance coverage and UPS includes up to $100 in insurance coverage. If you would like to purchase additional coverage for your winning item(s), please email us at info@ucda.com. The additional charges are the responsibility of the winning bidder. UCDA and the UCDA Foundation are not responsible for lost, held, or damaged packages.

UCDA FOUNDATION
You may also contribute to the UCDA Foundation outside of auction with a monetary donation.

1. Give or pledge online at the UCDA Foundation website.
2. Give using CashApp: $UCDAFoundation
3. Give using PayPal

All sales are final. No refunds or exchanges.
Thank you in advance for your support. Enjoy the auction!

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UCDA Foundation featuring the Mo and Loretta Lebowitz Collection

MO:90 — 90 works on paper by Mo Lebowitz

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UCDA Foundation featuring the Mo & Loretta Lebowitz Collection