Rago’s Estate and Fine Art auction offers 320 lots in April 30 sale
Apr 27, 2005
On April 30, 2005 commencing at noon, the Estate and Fine Art Division of the Rago Arts and Auction Center proudly presents its Fine Art Auction in collaboration with Jeffrey Fuller of Jeffrey Fuller Fine Art, Ltd. It is not often that an auction house has the privilege to offer such exquisite works of art. Three hundred twenty pieces are offered from unique private collections that include the rare and exceptional. The auction includes works coming from the Tyler School of Art and Beasley School of Law at Temple University.
Bucks County artists of the highest caliber are being featured. Included is George Sotter, who lived and worked near New Hope in Holicong, Pa. One of Sotter's sought-after works, a signed and framed oil on Masonite with an estimated value of $100,000-$150,000, depicts a Buckingham, Pa., nocturnal winter scene titled "Winter Night Scene with Snow and Stars, Mill, Spring Valley." The works of other desirable Bucks County artists include a large oil on canvas titled "A Spring Morning" by Harry Leith-Ross, two Leith-Ross watercolor landscapes, and a landscape by Kenneth Nunamaker. Also being offered is a painting by John Folinsbee, two landscapes by Walter Emerson Baum, a large haying scene by Frank English, and four handmade frames by Ben Badura. Other works by New Hope Modernists such as Joseph Meierhans, Lewis Stone and Richard Christ provide an exceptional opportunity to acquire works by regional artists in every price range. More than 50 American artists will be represented including Antonio Martino, with a 1929 framed and signed oil on canvas "Winter Landscape - The Left Turn," and works by Max Kuehn, Oscar Bluemner, Junius Allen, Jonathan Trego, and J.C. Magee.
Certain to be a highlight of the auction is a large work by Susan C. Waters, the mid 19 th century painter who lived in Bordentown, N.J. Waters is noteworthy because, in addition to being a woman artist who was prolific, she demonstrated technical mastery of oil and canvas and her work was dynamic and strong, standing the test of time. This large untitled work by Waters is in excellent original condition and highlights her favorite subject with 11 sheep, a collie and three chickens in a barn with a distant landscape. This 24” x 36" outstanding example of Waters' art, which is estimated between $25,000-$45,000, is from a family collection and has never been on the market before.
Works by important American artists include John Sloan, George Luks and Charles Demuth's with a watercolor on grey titled "Cyclamen" c.1915. Featured are regional landscapes by Edgar Alwin Payne and Woodstock painter Henri Orens as well as portraits by Breckenridge and Jerry Farnsworth.
An exceptional collection of Russian Constructivist works from a single collector are for sale and Abstract Expressionists are represented by a remarkable piece by Mark Tobey titled "Skid Row" which appeared in a Whitney Museum exhibition. An excellent selection of contemporary paintings by James Havard, Sidney Goodman, Diane Burko and prints by Beverly Pepper, Alice Neel, Frank Stella are a good sampling of the broad range of art that is available at the auction. One of Goodman's pieces is an 87" x 78 1/2" oil on canvas titled "Two Heads with Red (Double Self Portrait)" is estimated $8,000-$12,000.
Six watercolor paintings of birds by Francis Lee Jacque, an American naturalist painter, will be offered including a watercolor on paper titled "Sparrows of the Salt Marshes." Other watercolors by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, original engravings by James J. Audubon, Currier and Ives lithographs, and John Prideaux Selby etchings from a single collection will open the auction.
Selections by innovative photographers include suites of more than 140 collotypes from Eadweard Muybridge's "Animal Locomotion" 1887 and other significant works by Doris Ulmann, Margaret Bourke-White, Ansel Adams, Tina Modotii, Weegee and others.
View the fully illustrated catalog and bid absentee or live online through www.LiveAuctioneers.com
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