Alex Katz, Edwin Webster take giant steps at Capsule Auctions, Apr 29

Lowell Nesbitt’s stained glass light box, ‘Iris,’ estimated at $400-$600

NEW YORK – Capsule Auctions presents Giant Steps, a curated selection of 53 lots of fine, Modern, and Contemporary art scheduled for April 29 at 1 pm Eastern time. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

Notable works in this sale include a colorful 1920 Provincetown landscape painting in a cool, purple-dominated palette by Edwin Ambrose Webster, estimated at $20,000-$30,000, and which comes from a Brooklyn Heights estate, and two large-scale and sought-after Alex Katz editions, one of which is Ada and Alex, a 1984 screenprint in color on Arches paper estimated at $8,000-$12,000.

Edwin Ambrose Webster, Provincetown, Mass., landscape, estimated at $20,000-$30,000

Other notable offerings in the Capsule Auctions sale come from the estate of artist Lowell Nesbitt, including some of Nesbitt’s most enjoyed subject matter. Like his dear friend Robert Mapplethorpe, Nesbitt explored and celebrated flowers in his work; he is known for large scale compositions such as Pink Iris, a beguiling 1984 oil on canvas that measures 60 by 60 in and carries an estimate of $2,000-$4,000. Another Nesbitt piece in the auction, dating to 1980 and titled Iris, represents a foray into the medium of stained glass in the form of a limited edition light box, fashioned from oak by the artist. Numbered 32 of 100 and measuring 34 1/2 by 34 1/2 by 6 3/4 in, Iris is estimated at $400-$600.

Alex Katz, ‘Ada and Alex,’ estimated at $8,000-$12,000

The sale also features Brown’s Farm (Pastoral scene with cows), a signed 1987 oil on canvas by Lanford Monroe that depicts a naturalistic landscape of varying shades of green against an overcast sky. Brown’s Farm is estimated at $4,000-$6,000.