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William Sommer (American 1867-1949), ‘Girl in Pink Blouse,’ oil on canvas, signed William Sommer lower right, 26 x 20 inches. Estimate: $8,000-$12,000. Image courtesy of Rachel Davis Fine Arts.

Rachel Davis to ‘spring’ major fine arts auction March 19

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf

William Sommer (American 1867-1949), ‘Girl in Pink Blouse,’ oil on canvas, signed William Sommer lower right, 26 x 20 inches. Estimate: $8,000-$12,000. Image courtesy of Rachel Davis Fine Arts.
William Sommer (American 1867-1949), ‘Girl in Pink Blouse,’ oil on canvas, signed William Sommer lower right, 26 x 20 inches. Estimate: $8,000-$12,000. Image courtesy of Rachel Davis Fine Arts.
CLEVELAND – A welcomed rite of spring, Rachel Davis Fine Arts’ March 19 Fine Art Auction, just on the cusp of the vernal equinox, holds much more than the promise of the season to come: It will be an offering of significant and desirable paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture by American, European, and Japanese artists, ranging from Old Master to Contemporary.

LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.

As this cruel winter subsides, the Cleveland gallery will undoubtedly warm with enthusiastic bidders competing among themselves and with proxy, phone and on-line bidders for a vast array of many fresh to the market works from local, regional and national collections.

Homegrown artists most recently have basked in the light of well-deserved acclaim, manifested in significant prices achieved by Davis for art of the Cleveland School. Paintings by Cleveland artists will continue to blossom on March 19. The auction includes two oils by George Adomeit: an exceptional scene of Zoar from around 1900 and Monhegan, the artist enclave in Maine. Both works trace their provenance to the estate of Adomeit’s daughter.

There is a superb oil portrait of a Girl in Pink by William Sommer, as well as a distinctively modernist watercolor of cows by this artist whose reputation exceeds the regional to the international. Clara Deike’s Chestnut, a gouache from 1916, evokes her time spent at the artist retreat in Berlin Heights, Ohio.

The breadth of the regional offering, as refreshing as the new season, expands from the lyrical landscapes of William Zorach, to the acerbic satire of Louis Bosa, to the soft surrealism of Mary Spain; and further to the modernist craftsmanship of Lisa McVey as evidenced in a large biomorphic ceramic decanter and an Edward Winter copper enamel.

The auction will reach well beyond regional borders. There is an exceptional figurative oil by Raphael Soyer, and a lyrical interior scene by the Frenchman Marcel Dyf. The Dutch penchant for the landscape is affirmed in works by A. Chaplin, A.M. Gorter and J.B. Koekkoek. Regarded as among the finest sculptors of animals of her generation, Anna Hyatt Huntington’s capacity for scientific observation and elegant expression is embodied in her bronze of a panther.

The Davis spring auction is enriched by the downsizing of a major Midwest print collector. Buyers will benefit from this private deaccession by the opportunity to acquire works by Thomas Hart Benton, Fritz Eichenberg, along with prints by Seymour Hayden, Luigi Kasimir, Muirhead Bone, Rockwell Kent and Gerald Brockhurst. Modernity comes in like a lion with an etching by Pablo Picasso and a photolithograph by Salvador Dali. And the March 19 auction continues to ripen with a selection of contemporary prints by Joseph Albers, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Jim Dine, Robert Motherwell, Robert Indiana, Larry Rivers and Karl Schrag, to mention a few.

Preview for the March 19 auction opens to the public on Saturday, March 12, at Rachel Davis Fine Arts’ gallery at 1301 W. 79 St. in Cleveland. Bidding can be implemented in person, by proxy, via phone or on-line during the auction. For further information, call 216-939-1190, e-mail info@racheldavisfinearts.com, or visit the websites: www.racheldavisfienarts.com and www.liveauctioneers.com.

 

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Raphael Soyer (American 1899-1987), ‘Model on Bench,’ oil on canvas, signed Raphael Soyer lower right, 20 x 16 inches. Estimate: $6,000-$9,000. Image courtesy of Rachel Davis Fine Arts.
Raphael Soyer (American 1899-1987), ‘Model on Bench,’ oil on canvas, signed Raphael Soyer lower right, 20 x 16 inches. Estimate: $6,000-$9,000. Image courtesy of Rachel Davis Fine Arts.
Roy Lichtenstein (American 1923-1997), ‘'On,’ (Cortlett 32) - etching, 1962, signed, dated and numbered 30/60 in pencil, 5 13/16 x 4 3/8 inches. Estimate: $7,000-$10,000. Image courtesy of Rachel Davis Fine Arts.
Roy Lichtenstein (American 1923-1997), ‘’On,’ (Cortlett 32) – etching, 1962, signed, dated and numbered 30/60 in pencil, 5 13/16 x 4 3/8 inches. Estimate: $7,000-$10,000. Image courtesy of Rachel Davis Fine Arts.
Leza Mc Vey (American 1907-1984), Untitled, ceramic vessel with stopper, signed Leza on base of foot, 21 1/4 inches high. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Image courtesy of Rachel Davis Fine Arts.
Leza Mc Vey (American 1907-1984), Untitled, ceramic vessel with stopper, signed Leza on base of foot, 21 1/4 inches high. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Image courtesy of Rachel Davis Fine Arts.
Marcel Dyf (French 1899-1985), ‘Interieur,’ oil on canvas, 1976, signed Dyf lower right, signed, titled and dated verso, 28 x 23 inches. Estimate: $7,000-$10,000. Image courtesy of Rachel Davis Fine Arts.
Marcel Dyf (French 1899-1985), ‘Interieur,’ oil on canvas, 1976, signed Dyf lower right, signed, titled and dated verso, 28 x 23 inches. Estimate: $7,000-$10,000. Image courtesy of Rachel Davis Fine Arts.
Anna Hyatt Huntington (American 1876-1973), ‘Descending Panther,’ bronze sculpture, signed and dated ‘Anna V. Hyatt ’97’ at base, 6 1/4 inches high. Estimate: $5,000-$8,000. Image courtesy of Rachel Davis Fine Arts.
Anna Hyatt Huntington (American 1876-1973), ‘Descending Panther,’ bronze sculpture, signed and dated ‘Anna V. Hyatt ’97’ at base, 6 1/4 inches high. Estimate: $5,000-$8,000. Image courtesy of Rachel Davis Fine Arts.