Nana Biography

All German?

No. We bought some things in Germany, but then we went to London on our way home, and we bought American art that was published in London. Some clause Oldenberg, and some David Hockney‘s. Of course he had never been heard of over here, but we liked it. We had been exposed enough to know that it was good. we brought it home. The Smith Anderson Gallery here in Palo Alto was beginning, and we heard about them, they had not even opened yet. We called them up, and invited them to our house, I didn’t know them, they came out, we showed them what we had. They said, “well, for the opening of the gallery will have a German print show. You ask your friends and will ask ours, and will take a cut of what sold “and so on. It was amazing. It was late, it was a beautiful evening, and the stuff was cheap, and so they said, “that’s great. Now we have an English show with the Hockney and stuff.  Well, that was not so good.

Were they more expensive?

They were more expensive, and also people weren’t ready for it. Hockney was tough then, you know. Boy, I wish I had some of those prints back. It did find itself. That little acrobat, remember the man on the horse? You know that sells for if you can find one? $3000. I think I sold it for $600. Anyway, I liked business. I should go back right now to tell you that while Dan and I were married in 1946, right after the war we were living in Palo Alto, my stepfather, my first stepfather, the one that raised me, became terribly ill, and my mother thought, he should go into a sanatorium, and we arranged for him to come out to California and go to Belmont.

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