BEACHWOOD, Ohio – A pair of oil paintings by the Southwestern-influenced artist Robert Daughters (New Mexico/Arizona, 1929-2013) sold for a combined $35,670 in an online fine art auction held Feb. 22 by Neue Auctions. The 205-lot event included paintings, works on paper, and sculpture. Many of the works were bold and vibrant, as Neue Auctions strove to “bring back the color.” Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
The auction’s top lot – Daughters’ Taos Homestead – came from the estate of a Tennessee physician, a collection that heavily featured contemporary scenes from the American Southwest. At $19,680, the 20-by-24-inch canvas sailed past its $8,000-$12,000 estimate and captured the stark contrasts in light between the buildings, the surrounding mountains and the distant sky. All prices quoted include a 23 percent buyer’s premium.
The other Daughters’ painting, titled Ranchos Chapel, Taos, was a more intimate piece, with a view of a chapel and its path with the surrounding landscape in near darkness. The work, housed in a 28-by-31½-inch frame, sold for $15,990.
The auction, which brought together collections and estates both private as well as corporate, contained items at a variety of price levels. “The sale came together in a wonderful way,” said Neue Auctions managing partner Cynthia Maciejewski. “With a mixture of modern and contemporary art, this provided us with an opportunity to reach some new buyers.”
More than 20 paintings by John Nieto (Texas, New Mexico, 1936-2018), another painter heavily influenced by the Southwest, came up for bid. Nieto’s work employs vibrant primary colors to capture the people and wildlife of the American Southwest. His acrylic on canvas titled Deer Dancer, portraying a Native American, 42 inches by 31½ inches (framed) sold for $10,455, over two times the estimate. Another work by Nieto, a diminutive (22 inches by 17½ inches framed) acrylic on canvas showing howling wolves titled Lunar Duet (Wolfs), brought $5,412.
Sunset Thunderhead by Bill Gallen (New Mexico, Colorado, Wisconsin, b. 1958) rounded out the Southwestern-inspired portion of the event. The work, measuring 27 inches by 31 inches framed, used oil on linen mounted on Masonite. In the piece, Gallen saturated the Southwestern landscape with color, highlighting the clouds as they rolled over the landscape.
All prices quoted include a 23 percent buyer’s premium.
Bidders eager for a pop of color were not confined to the American Southwest. Vase De Fleurs dans une Interieur, a lively still life by Jean-Jules Louis Cavailles (French, 1901-1977), sold for $6,765. The oil on canvas work, measuring 35½ inches by 29 inches, will now reside in its new home in London.
Another still life, this one by Cleveland-born artist Bob Paul Kane (1937-2013), 33½ inches by 49½ inches framed, titled Still Life at Breakfast with Yellow Chair, sold for $3,198.
A Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973) linocut tied with Daughters’ Taos Homestead for top billing; both sold for $19,680. Toros Vallauris, a black and orange Picasso print, portrayed a bullfighter and was signed by the artist in red crayon. The 1958 linocut came from a Cleveland interior designer’s collection and was housed in a 35½ inch by 29½ inch frame.
Screenprints in colors performed well in the event. Bridget Riley’s (British b. 1931) Elapse, was featured in the Print Club of Cleveland edition no. 60 for 1982. The framed piece depicting multicolored vertical waves measured 46½ inches by 31½ inches. Monica in Robe with Motherwell by Tom Wesselmann (American, 1931-2004), a sizable screenprint weighing in at 51½ inches by 60½ inches framed, portrayed a woman loosely robed in repose. Both works by Riley and Wesselmann earned $9,225.
For details contact Cynthia Maciejewski at 216-245-6707 or cynthia@neueauctions.com.
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