Purchased in the early 1960s, Milton Avery’s ‘Red Rug’ unfurls at PBMA May 18

Milton Avery, 'Red Rug', estimated at $75,000-$125,000 at Palm Beach Modern Auctions.

LAKE WORTH BEACH, FL — Some time in the early 1960s, Mrs. Barbara Schlang of Palm Beach, Florida made the trek to New York City to the home of famed artists Milton (1885-1965) and Sally Michel Avery (1902-2003).

Sally Michel answered the door, and advised that Milton was not well and was resting. Mrs. Schlang stated she wanted to purchase a piece of art. Sally Michel went into a bedroom, selected Red Rug, and asked “Do you like this one?” Mrs. Schlang did, and departed with the work.

Now some 60 years later, Red Rug emerges from its private collection to cross the block at Palm Beach Modern Auctions Saturday, May 18, as a star lot in its Modern + Contemporary Art, Design & Luxury sale. The 511-lot catalog is ready for review and bidding at LiveAuctioneers.

The 19.25 by 15.25in oil on canvas board is signed and dated to 1958, and had originally been in the artist’s private collection. It comes to market with an estimate of $75,000-$125,000.

Arguably his most famous image, Woman in Chicken Hat was originally photographed by Irving Penn (1917-2009) using his wife Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn as the model in 1948 or 1949. This 26 by 22in platinum-palladium print on aluminum is number 15 from an edition of 20 released in 1983. It is signed by Penn and features a Conde Nast stamp for authenticity. Originally sold by the Hal Katzen Gallery of New York, it is estimated at $70,000-$90,000.

Milton Avery, 'Red Rug', estimated at $75,000-$125,000 at Palm Beach Modern Auctions.

Milton Avery, 'Red Rug', estimated at $75,000-$125,000 at Palm Beach Modern Auctions.

Irving Penn, 'Woman in Chicken Hat', estimated at $70,000-$90,000 at Palm Beach Modern Auctions.

Irving Penn, 'Woman in Chicken Hat', estimated at $70,000-$90,000 at Palm Beach Modern Auctions.

Jim Bunte

Jim Bunte

Jim Bunte has worked in editorial, design and the toy and auction industries for more than 30 years. He co-founded Auction Central News in 2007.

WWI and WWII US government posters arrive at Eldred’s May 23

'Save Rubber' WWII Jeep poster, estimated at $250-$300 at Eldred's.

HANOVER, MA — More than 40 World War I and World War II posters issued by the United States federal government will come to auction at Eldred’s on Thursday, May 23 as part of its Collectibles sale. The complete catalog is now available for review at LiveAuctioneers.

Before the advent of broadcasting in the 1920s, the printed word was the leading form of communication. Participation in and support for wars across the Atlantic required the US government to rely on advertisements — primarily in the form of broadsheet posters, typically printed in four colors — to catch the attention of the populace. The classic Uncle Sam ‘I Want You’ design is a hallmark of this genre, which focuses on recruitment and solicitation for the purchase of governmental war bonds, drawing revenue from taxpayers to fund the war effort.

The sale’s top-estimated poster is Vive La France, a 27 by 39in linen-backed design by James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960), who created the image of a pointing Uncle Sam on the aforementioned ‘I Want You’ poster. In this advertisement for an unknown American solidarity rally, American doughboys raise their ceremonial swords over a sword-wielding female figure who symbolizes France. It is estimated at $500-$1,000.

The governmental effort to coax women out of the home and into the workforce is best remembered through the Rosie the Riveter governmental propaganda posters of World War II, but the initiative had its origins in World War I. Every Girl Pulling for Victory is a design by Edward Penfield (1866-1925) for the United War Work Campaign, which began in 1918 with the armistice and sought to raise funds for the entertainment of American troops stationed in France to ensure the peace. Measuring 22 by 28in, the poster is estimated at $400-$600.

Resource scarcity and conservation were major propaganda themes in World War II. In Save Rubber Check Your Tires Now, commercial artist Walter Richards (1907-2006) admonishes the American citizenry “They’ve got more important places to go than you!” Then new, the Willys Jeep is a central focus, along with four GIs who Richards has oddly chosen to portray wearing World War I-era helmets. The 28 by 40in poster is estimated at $250-$300.

Continuing the push for women’s entry into the wartime economy is Enlist In A Proud Profession / Join the US Cadet Nurse Corps, a 28 by 20in poster itself created by a woman — Carolyn Moorhead Edmundson (1906-1992). Issued in 1944, late in the war, the artwork features a proud young woman sporting her military attire as she has earned “a lifetime education — free! (if you can qualify).” Its estimate is $100-$150.

'Vive La France' WWI poster, estimated at $500-$1,000 at Eldred's.

'Vive La France' WWI poster, estimated at $500-$1,000 at Eldred's.

'Every Girl Pulling for Victory' WWI poster, estimated at $400-$600 at Eldred's.

'Every Girl Pulling for Victory' WWI poster, estimated at $400-$600 at Eldred's.

'Save Rubber' WWII Jeep poster, estimated at $250-$300 at Eldred's.

'Save Rubber' WWII Jeep poster, estimated at $250-$300 at Eldred's.

'Enlist in a Proud Profession' WWII poster, estimated at $100-$150 at Eldred's.

'Enlist in a Proud Profession' WWII poster, estimated at $100-$150 at Eldred's.

Jim Bunte

Jim Bunte

Jim Bunte has worked in editorial, design and the toy and auction industries for more than 30 years. He co-founded Auction Central News in 2007.

Mark Catesby’s Heath Hen and Eastern Shooting Star Hand-colored Engraving leads our five auction highlights

Mark Catesby’s Heath Hen and Eastern Shooting Star hand-colored engraving, which sold for $5,555 with buyer’s premium at Trillium on April 6.

Mark Catesby, Heath Hen and Eastern Shooting Star Hand-colored Engraving, $5,555

FRANKLIN, TN – Mark Catesby (1683-1749) was born in England, but after traveling to South Carolina, he became America’s first naturalist and illustrator. A century before Audubon, he published the seminal Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands: Containing the Figures of Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, Insects, and Plants, a comprehensive work and the first of its kind in the colonies.

A folio from the second printing, published in 1754 came to auction April 6 at Trillium Antique Prints & Rare Books as part of its Antique Maps & Prints sale. The hand-colored etching features a Heath Hen (also known as a Greater Prairie Chicken), a now-extinct species of bird native to South Carolina. Alongside the masterful rendering is an Eastern Shooting Star, a small, flowering plant also native to South Carolina.

As Trillium noted, ‘Engravers could not be afforded to get the work to print, so Catesby studied under Joseph Goupy where he learned how to etch the plates himself.’ The etching came with a solid $2,000-$4,000 estimate, but dozens of bids brought the final hammer to $5,050, or $5,555 with buyer’s premium.

Telegram Informing U. S. Grant of Lincoln’s Assassination, $91,000

Telegram informing U. S. Grant of Lincoln’s assassination, which sold for $91,000 with buyer’s premium at Early American History Auctions on March 30.
Telegram informing U. S. Grant of Lincoln’s assassination, which sold for $91,000 with buyer’s premium at Early American History Auctions on March 30.

WINCHESTER, VA – A telegram handed to General Ulysses S. Grant at the Philadelphia train station informing him of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination hammered for $70,000 and sold for $91,000 with buyer’s premium March 30 at Early American History Auctions during its Autographs-Currency-Political-Americana sale.

The telegram reads:

Dated Wash(ington) 14 1865.  —   Red’d, Philadelphia (no time recorded)

To Lt Genl Grant  —  An attempt has been made tonight to assassinate the Presdt & secy Seward & has probably succeeded as both have been wounded suffered mortally – The Presidt was shot in Fords Theatre, this is for your information to put on your guard  —  (Signed) Jno (John) A(aron) Rawlins chf of staff

The lot had been generously estimated at $20,000-$40,000, but a fierce battle broke out among various LiveAuctioneers bidders, having vacated the in-house bids early on. The final $70,000 hammer came as nearly 50 bidders watched the lot.

Charles Eugene Shannon, ‘View of the Courthouse’, $14,300

‘View of the Courthouse’ by Charles Eugene Shannon, which sold for $14,300 with buyer’s premium at Revere Auctions on March 26.
‘View of the Courthouse’ by Charles Eugene Shannon, which sold for $14,300 with buyer’s premium at Revere Auctions on March 26.

ST. PAUL, MN – A late work by Charles Eugene Shannon (1914-1996) sold for $11,000 ($14,300 with buyer’s premium) against an estimate $2,000-$4,000 at Revere Auctions on March 26. Shannon, the leader of the New South group of white artists in Montgomery, Alabama, is best known for his portrayals of African American life in the rural South – and as the artist who ‘discovered’ fellow Montgomery artist Bill Traylor. 

This 2ft 6in by 3ft 4in oil on canvas titled View of the Courthouse depicts African Americans on a hazy city street. Dated 1983, it was painted shortly after the retrospective exhibition Charles Shannon Painting and Drawing had traveled to six major southern museums. It was consigned from what the auction house called ‘a distinguished corporate collection in Minnesota’.

As a young man in 1939, Shannon encountered the 85-year-old Bill Traylor drawing outside a blacksmith shop in Montgomery. Shannon provided Traylor with encouragement and art supplies during the following three years and purchased, for modest prices, more than 1,200 works from Traylor.

Robert Onderdonk, ‘View of the San Pedro Creek (San Antonio, Texas),’ $22,500

Robert Onderdonk, ‘View of the San Pedro Creek (San Antonio, Texas)’, shown with its inscription from the artist’s daughter, which sold for $22,500 with buyer’s premium at Vogt Auction Texas on April 6.
Robert Onderdonk, ‘View of the San Pedro Creek (San Antonio, Texas)’, shown with its inscription from the artist’s daughter, which sold for $22,500 with buyer’s premium at Vogt Auction Texas on April 6.

SAN ANTONIO, TX – Robert Jenkins Onderdonk (1852-1917) is a king among historic Texas artists. Born in Maryland and relocating to the Lone Star State in 1878 after studying at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League of New York, he started the first artist groups in Texas and has come to define Central Texas through his rich and generous interpretations of the state in the 19th century.

Vogt Auction Texas brought an Onderdonk watercolor landscape study to market at its Texas & Western Art sale on April 6. It was all the more appealing as the reverse included a handwritten note from his daughter, presenting View of the San Pedro Creek (San Antonio, Texas) as a gift, noting I am sure he would want you to have something. Estimated at $4,000-$5,000, the work skyrocketed to an $18,000 hammer and sold for $22,500 with buyer’s premium.

David Kracov’s ‘Book of Life’ Sculpture, $24,320

David Kracov’s ‘Book of Life” sculpture, which sold for $24,320 with buyer’s premium at Abell Auction on April 4.
David Kracov’s ‘Book of Life” sculpture, which sold for $24,320 with buyer’s premium at Abell Auction on April 4.

LOS ANGELES – Born in 1968, David Kracov has lived an amazing life. Winning art competitions beginning at age 12, graduating from the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, serving as an animator for Disney, Ralph Bakshi, and others, and helping to create timeless classics such as The Lion King, Aladdin, and Cool World.

Kracov began to sculpt in clay and later painted metal, for which he is now primarily known. He issues each design in limited editions, and all are highly sought by celebrities and private collectors alike.

Kracov’s Book of Life came for sale from a private Southern Californian collection at Abell Auction on April 4. Modestly estimated at just $1,000-$2,000, it hammered for $19,000 and sold for $24,320 with buyer’s premium after nearly two dozen competing bids from the floor and LiveAuctioneers.