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 Rie
Munoz has released ten new art card images, including "The
Embrace", "Bush Transportation", "Blue Moon
Cafe" and "Scary Sea". Remember, all our cards
also can be matted and shrink-wrapped for $15 and framed for
$45. Order these new art cards now!
We will
phase out ten of the older images like "Spring Flowers,"
"Fish Grader," "Ice Fishing," "Creation
of Man," "Inaugural Voyage Tenakee," and "Fourth
of July, Starr Hill." These images will be available
until our inventory runs out.
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25
YEAR ANNIVERSARY
March 31 will
mark the 25-year anniversary of Rie Munoz Ltd. Corporation. On March
31, 1978, Rie Munoz Ltd. Corporation was formed in Juneau Alaska.
Rie Munoz and her friend and business partner Adele Hamey were running
the show. Rie was involved with the day-to-day operations, hiring,
firing, rent leases, trade shows, advertising and so on. It's amazing
that she had time to produce the fantastic paintings she did during
that era.
In 1980 I set up a frame shop in the North Portland area and did the
framing for the corporation as well as for the local north Portland
folks. In 1985 I moved the frame shop to Juneau and merged it with
ongoing operations in Juneau. Rie decided it was time to get out of
the business end totally and concentrate on painting.
During the 1980s Rie Munoz Ltd. was publishing and distributing artwork
for nine Alaskan artists. Towards the end of the 80s we took on a
line of 40 Canadian artists as well. At the height of this chaos we
had 21 employees. Sales were great but profit was minimal. I decided
that it was better to concentrate on the family end of this business
and dropped all other artists except Munoz and one other classic Alaskan
artist, Dale DeArmond.
Rie's
success did not happen quickly but her popularity steadily rose.
 There
were a number of releases that stand out in Munoz's long list of published
images. The first was "Baby Girls Legend" retailing for
$25/$12.50 wholesale. That piece sold out in six months which was
a record for one of Munoz's prints at that time. Shortly thereafter
Rie released "The Embrace" which sold for $35 retail/$17.50
wholesale. This piece sold out in three weeks and we knew Rie was
entering into a new wave of popularity.
During that same time Munoz painted "Woman Bear Legend"
and "Halibut $1" each retailing for $60/ $30 wholesale.
With prices like these the secondary market came to life and is still
going strong. Recently an "Embrace" sold for $1,800 retail,
"Woman Bear Legend" sells for $2,500 or more.
The originals were also undervalued, and still are. In 1985, the original
of "Groceries Nome" sold for $800, the same price the print
sold for recently. The original to "Baby Girls Legend" was
priced at only $600. Rie saw the price and decided to keep it herself.
Munoz had a one-day sellout of 70 paintings at the Frye Art Museum
in 1992. People were running as the doors opened to claim their favorite
watercolor painting.
After that successful opening, we built the Rie Munoz Gallery in Juneau,
which is where our headquarters are located today. It was our fifth—and
final—gallery
location since 1978. The 3,500 sq. ft. building displays original
paintings, stained glass, tapestries, silk-screens old and new, sketches,
and memorabilia. If you ever plan a trip up to Juneau, either by cruise
ship or airplane, please let us know and come by for a visit. SEE
YOU THERE!
There is a new
Rie Munoz cloisonné pin available through Rie Munoz Ltd. Entitled
"Eskimo Mother", this image is from the stone lithograph
Rie created in 1982 (plate #147 of the Portrait of Alaska book). It
retails for $12!
2003
RELEASE SCHEDULE
April
1, 2003
Ten New Art Cards |
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Thank
you for your interest in the artwork of Rie Muñoz!
Sincerely,
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