J.G. Brown, (American 1831-1913) , ‘The Little Street Sweeper,’ dated 1865. Estimate: $15,000-$25,000. Image courtesy of Trinity International Auctions.
AVON, Conn. – Trinity International Auctions will conduct its fall auction of fine art and sculpture Saturday, Oct. 1, starting at noon Eastern. The auction will include 230 works and feature works by David Burliuk, Andy Warhol, Ralph Scarlett, Frederick Mulhaupt and J.G. Brown. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
In 1984, Andy Warhol created a print of ice hockey star Wayne Gretzky. It was Warhol’s intent to draw attention to the Canadian art market. Though Warhol was not a big hockey fan, he said of Gretzky, “He is more than a hockey player, he’s an entertainer.” Gretzky was Canada’s biggest celebrity in the 1980s and is still considered by many to be the greatest player of the game. The print is hand signed by Warhol and numbered 210/300. What makes it rarer is that it is signed by Gretzky lower right. This is one of the few pieces that is signed by Warhol and Gretzky jointly.
Another highlight is Frederick John Mulhaupt’s Hillside Farm on Cape Ann. Mulhaupt is considered the “Dean of the Cape Ann School” and this work was loaned to the North Shore Art Association in 1998 for the retrospective of the artist’s work. The 38- by 38-inch canvas was obtained from the artist’s wife by the present collector in 1963 and is pictured in the book that accompanies this lot.
The auction is strong in traditional American work, which include two pieces by Charles Warren Eaton—Winter Sunset in the Woods and Summer Landscape. Several other works are August Laux’s Chickens and Ducks in a Barnyard from an estate in New Rochelle, N.Y., Levi Prentice Wells’ Still life with Watermelon and Fruits and George W. Nicholson’s Romancing in the Snow.
A real jewel of the American offerings is a work by Arthur Bowen Davies titled Woodland Idyl, 1894. The provenance on the painting is from the artist’s grandson, Niles Davies, through Adelson Galleries to Herbert Brill, a noted collector of Davies’ works. The painting was exhibited in 1998 in Babcock Galleries, New York City.
J.G. Brown is represented with a strong work titled The Little Street Sweeper, dated 1865, whose provenance includes David Findlay Jr. Gallery in New York. Trinity has built a strong reputation for offering Russian work and this auction has numerous Russian works. David Burliuk is a favorite and this auction features five of his works; among them, Florida, dated 1961, Still Life With Flowers, Italy and a particularly charming work, Two Red Horses, which was executed prior to his arrival in America. Nicolai Fechin is represented with a charcoal work titled Head of a Woman from a private collection in New Jersey.
Other important Russian artists include Leon Baskt, Boris Kustodiev, Antolio Sokoloft, Michail Guermacheff, Konstatin Somov and Prince Paolo Troubetzkoy. Two particularly important works by Nicholai Sverchkov, A Groom and his Horse and Savely Sorine, a portrait of Prince Obolenoky, round out the Russian offerings.
Featured from European artists is a collection from a physician in Dalton, Ga., with works by Edward Smythe, Henry Dawson and Pieter Dommersen. Two fresh paintings to the market by Italian artist Michele Cascella from a collection in New York are additional highlights.
Previews will be conducted Thursday, Sept. 29, noon until 5 p.m. and Saturday, day of the auction, from 9 a.m. to noon.
Trinity International Auctions is at 2 Arts Center Lane. For information, 860-677-9996.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
