MONROVIA, Calif. – John Moran Auctioneers will conduct two auctions on Aug. 21: a Studio Decorative Art auction at noon Pacific Time and a Studio Fine Art auction at 4 p.m. The catalogs include a wide selection of fresh-to-the-market art and objects at a variety of approachable estimates; the majority of pieces on offer have been assigned estimates below $3,000. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.
Moran’s Studio Decorative Art Auction consists of 282 lots consigned from private Southern California collections and estates. The selections include clocks, sculpture, art glass, silver and objects of virtue.
Many of the fine Continental clocks on offer at the Aug. 21 auction hail from the estate of important collector and connoisseur of fine antique clocks, Harry J. O’Connor III. A longtime Laguna Beach resident, O’Connor was well-known for his taste and exceptional collection of clocks and antiques. A fine Louis XV-style gilt-bronze mantel clock consigned from the O’Connor collection features a handsome waisted case flanked by putti and is expected to bring $1,000-$2,000 (above). A delicate Louis XVI-style alabaster and gilt-bronze lyre clock from the collection is also sure to excite collectors and carries a conservative $500-$700 estimate. A handsome German bronze-mounted bracket clock by maker Lenzkirch is likewise estimated conservatively and is slated to head to the block with a $400-$600 auction estimate.
Additional highlights from the Estate of Harry J. O’Connor include a Chinese silver lidded box repousse decorated with figural scenes, birds and dragons (est. $400-$600), and a carved mother-of-pearl and silver box decorated with Zeus and Hera (est.$300-$400). A sleek English silver and guilloche enamel compact with maker’s marks for the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Co. Ltd. is expected to bring between $300 and $500.
Additional highlights from private collections include a large patinated and polished bronze horse sculpture by artist Loet Vanderveen (California, 1921-2015) (est. $600-$800). Born in Holland and settling in California in the 1960s, Vanderveen is well known for his sleek modernist animal sculptures.
Art glass selections include a D’Argental cameo glass cabinet vase decorated with sailboats off a rocky coast, which is expected to earn between $500 and $800. A René Lalique “Saint Francois” bird-motif vase is also expected to do well (estimate: $800-$1,200).
Moran’s Studio Fine Art auction will follow the decorative session at 4 p.m. and is a larger catalog at 313 lots. Primarily featuring works by American artists, pieces by European and Asian artists will also make their way to the block, with works ranging from the 19th century through present day.
Continental works both modern and antique are sure to intrigue collectors. French modern landscape artist Pierre de Clausade (1910-1976) is represented in the catalog by Dunes sur la Cote [Dunes on the Coast], a view of the beach on an overcast day (est. $800-$1,200). Two charming, cubist-influenced still lifes by Swedish artist Sven Gustafson (1896-1967) will head to the block with conservative estimates. A 1961 example by the artist of flowers in a white vase on a red background is expected to bring $500-$700 (below).
Hailing from Austria, Oskar Knapp’s (1944-1987) still life with flowers and wine goblets is a highly detailed composition and is conservatively estimated at only $500-$700. Italian artist Sergio Cirno Bissi’s (1902-1987) view of ballerinas backstage will also head to the block with a $500-$700 estimate.
Known for their biannual California & American Fine Art Auctions, it is perhaps unsurprising that Moran’s Studio Fine Art auction features a host of California landscapes. By way of example, San Diego artist Charles Arthur Fries’s (1854-1940 San Diego) oil painting Eucalyptus in Moosa Canyon is executed with a light touch and is expected to sell for $1,000-$1,500.
Scenes of pastoral life from a variety of artists will make their way to the block at Moran’s August Studio Fine Art auction. New York artist Clinton Loveridge’s (1838-1915) meticulously rendered painting of cows grazing in a field dotted with wildflowers has been assigned a $1,200-$1,800 estimate (below).
Adam Emory Albright’s (1862-1957 Warrenville, Ill.) sweet oil painting of two girls walking down a farm lane with a baby goat will head to the block with a $2,000-$3,000 estimate. John Haley (1905-1991), a modern watercolorist based in Berkeley, Calif., is represented in the August auction with a sweet double-sided watercolor depicting farmhouses and a barn in a rolling hills landscape (est. $1,000-$1,500).
Select work by contemporary artists consigned from private local Southern California collections will surely entice collectors; a brightly colored, graphically dynamic oil on canvas by artist Kristopher Doe (California, 20th-century), titled Johnnie’s French Dip, provides the viewer with an angle on the Culver City, Calif., restaurant’s iconic neon sign.
Moran’s is also set to offer select works by well-known California watercolorists such as Milford Zornes, whose 1981 Village Through the Trees belies the artist’s passion for travel, and uses tree trunks to play with composition, breaking up the scene beyond (est. $800-$1,200). One of Zornes’s contemporaries, Jade Fon (California, 1911-1983), is represented in the catalog with a view of Half Dome in Yosemite Valley and is expected to bring between $1,000 and $1,500.
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