Shein Collection of outsider art in Slotin auction Nov. 9-10
BUFORD, Ga. – The highly anticipated weekend sale featuring 1,116 lots of self-taught art, outsider art, Southern folk pottery, and antique and anonymous folk art will be held Nov. 9-10 by Slotin Auction. This sale will feature premiere examples from the Joseph and Janet Shein Collection. LiveAuctioneers.com will host Internet bidding.
The Palmer Museum describes the Shein collection of self-taught and outsider art as “vibrantly eclectic.” This auction will definitely live up to the billing by providing bidders with an exciting mix of Southern folk pottery, circus and carnival freak show items, tramp art, religious items, quilts, African American carvings and paintings, self-taught artworks, masterpieces, international paintings, Native American art, cigar band creations, portraits, trade signs, weather vanes, vernacular photography, canes and more. Slotin Auction specializes in bringing the strange, the unusual and the vanishing America to auction.
“We have a stunning catalog, with some of the best examples by each artist and art form we have ever put together in one auction. There is much to choose from,” said Steve Slotin of Slotin Auction. He added, “Many of these extraordinary pieces are documented and illustrated in the Palmer Museum of Art’s ‘Wos Up Man’ exhibition and accompanying show catalog.”
The Nov. 9 session will kick off at 10 a.m. Eastern with more 113 lots of face jugs, the crowd-pleasing expressions of Southern folk pottery crafted by some of the most famous artisans in the field. The category will start off with eight early face jugs by Lanier Meaders, including Lot 98 a rare china plate face jug featured in the historic Smithsonian “Folklife” (est. $3,000-$5,000).
Several dozen weather vanes, trade signs, religious and propaganda banners, and anonymous items will also hit the auction block including The Revelation of Jesus Christ, circa 1950s, a 16-foot-long hand-rendered religious teaching banner (est. $1,000-$3,000), and a fantastic double-sided Indian head trade sign, circa early 1900s (est. $2,000-$4,000).
Works by Howard Finster are sure to delight, including the Slotin Auction catalog cover, Lot 186, Vision Of Mary’s Angel, #6,908, 1987, enamel on wood, 49 inches by 49 inches, (est. $25,000-$35,000). Also in the sale are Finster’s Time Waits for Nothing, #1,862, 1981, an enamel on wood giant grandfather clock, 81 inches high (est. $5,000-$10,000) and Giant Santa, #3,786, 1984, 97 inches high (est. $4,000-$7,000).
The list of top-tier artists is extensive in this sale. Four works on tin by Sam Doyle kick off the Masterpiece section along with six works by Georgia artist Mattie Lou O’Kelley, of note lot 148, Dividing Fruit With the Neighbors, 1973, from the Fenimore Art Museum, in New York state (est. $20,000-$25,000); six works by Sister Gertrude Morgan, of special note lot 154, The Rising of Lazarus, circa 1970-75, illustrated in Pictured in My Mind, pg. 144 (est. $12,000-$16,000); The Chain of Life, by William Hawkins (est. $7,000-$10,000); works by Joseph Yoakum featuring a rare American mountain range and an extremely rare portrait; three gorgeous works by Minnie Evans; and seven Clementine Hunter paintings, including a special circa 1940s It Was a Day in Spring When I Painted This (est. $4,000-$8,000).
Slotin Auction has scoured the country to bring the rare and unique items out for this sale. Watch for two sculptures from Calvin and Ruby Black’s Possum Trot environment will come up for auction starting with lot 162, The Thanks To You Possum Trot Doll, which sat in the entrance to the environment, 44 inches high (est. $8,000-$12,000). Also attracting interest are a highly erotic Adam & Eve in the Garden wood carving by Edgar Tolson, lot 172 (est. $12,000-$16,000); and lot 106, an anonymous stoneware bust, circa 1850s, featured on page 215 of Robert Bishops iconic American Folk Sculpture (est. $3,000-$5,000). Other treats include, Knight for Christ, lot 165, by William Blayney (est. $7,000-$10,000); lot 166, a singular Dilmus Hall sculpture titled The Mexican Bunch, illustrated in O’Appalachia, pg. 94 (est. $2,000-$3,000); and lot 173, Island Girl and Miss Pee, a sensational erotic sculpture Steve Ashby (est. $2,000-$4,000).
As always, Slotin will feature several new discoveries of note: intricate detailed carvings by Philip Chabot; eight works, including The History and the Evolution of Man, circa 1940s, which features 30 carved figures and typed attached labels affixed to a homemade hinged wooden box (est. $1,000-$2,000); and 10 extraordinary barn-fresh primitive carvings by Mr. Benjamin, an African American from Monticello, Ga., circa 1930s.
Slotin Auction is accepting quality consignments for future sales. Call 770-532-1115 or 404-403-4244. Or email auction@slotinfolkart.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE