BEVERLY, Mass. – On Saturday, June 20, Kaminski Auctions features an important piece of furniture by artist and craftsman Max Kuehne. Born in Halle, Germany; he immigrated to this country in 1890. He settled in Flushing, New York and began his formal art training at the New York School of Art where he studied under William Merritt Chase and Kenneth Hayes Miller.
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Kuehne first visited Cape Ann in 1912 and painted “plein air” scenes of Gloucester harbor. His works depicted the busy Gloucester waterfront and his style has been described “as a combination of Impressionism and Realism.”
After traveling in Europe for inspiration, he returned to Rockport, Massachusetts, on Cape Ann, which later became his regular summer residence. An accomplished artist, Kuehne was also an expert woodcarver and craftsman.
During the Depression years he turned to his woodworking, making decorative screens, tables and picture frames incised with gold and silver leaf and stunning glazes on gessoed surfaces. His furniture creations are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Brooklyn Museum and Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester.
Kaminski’s lot 6114 is an exquisite Max Kuehne handcrafted library table (above) with a gold leaf flowered surface (below) and signed on the lower center top surface by the artist. It is conservatively valued at $3,000-$5,000.
Fine art in the sale includes a work by the French artist Georges d’Espagnat (French 1870–1950), titled Woman on Red Sofa, oil on canvas, which was purchased at Christie’s London: Impressionist and Modern Paintings, Watercolors, and Sculpture auction in November 1994.
Jewelry offerings include a pair of 18K yellow gold earrings, with cabochon sapphires, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, valued at $3,000-$6,000 (below), and a signed Russian Fabregé silver and 14K gold and enameled cigarette case with diamonds and sapphires valued at $2,200-$2,500.
