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Greta Garbo

Warhol’s Greta Garbo as Mata Hari starring in Bruneau & Co. auction March 25

Greta Garbo
Andy Warhol original screenprint depiction of screen legend Greta Garbo as Mata Hari. Estimate: $20,000-$30,000. Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers image.

 

CRANSTON, R.I. – An original screenprint depiction of screen legend Greta Garbo as Mata Hari by Andy Warhol, plus additional artworks by Miguel Martinez, Walter Franklin Lansil, William Perkins Babcock, Craig McPherson and Bruno Bruni will headline a spring antiques and fine arts auction planned for Saturday, March 25, by Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.

In addition to the aforementioned artwork, the auction will also feature fine antiques, decorative arts, toys and comics. An uncataloged session will begin at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time; no online or absentee bidding is available. The cataloged session will start at noon, with over 340 lots to be sold live and online.

The catalog is brimming with quality antiques and decorative arts, to include a Pairpoint Puffy hummingbird and rose table lamp (below), a Rookwood vase by Jens Jensen, a George Nelson for Herman Miller modular sofa set, an Italian Baroque carved walnut chest, 18th century New England furniture, toys and comic books.

 

Greta Garbo
Pairpoint Puffy hummingbird and rose table lamp. Estimate: $2,500-$3,500. Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers image

 

The screenprint by Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987) of Greta Garbo (1905-1990) as Mata Hari (1876-1917) brings together three of history’s most compelling people. Warhol and Garbo are well known to most, but maybe not Mata Hari, the Dutch exotic dancer who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I and was then executed by firing squad in France.

An oil on pastel on paper painting of a woman by Miguel Martinez (American, b. 1951) is certain to attract keen bidder interest. With long-standing ties to Taos, New Mexico, Martinez is renowned for his modernist oil pastel paintings of women, many of them Hispanic looking, whose faces fill nearly the entire canvas. His aim is to reveal their souls and make them appear as if they’re alive.

 

Greta Garbo
Oil on pastel on paper painting of a woman by Miguel Martinez (American, b. 1951). Estimate: $3,000-$5,000. Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers image

 

Fans of marine renderings will be enchanted by the oil on canvas depiction of Boston Harbor by Walter Franklin Lansil (Mass./Maine, 1846-1925). Lansing was born in Bangor, Maine, and was a noted marine painter of sailing ships, often in Venetian settings. He worked in a style related to that of contemporary French artist Feliz Ziem (1821-1911), who also painted in that Italian city.

 

Greta Garbo
Walter Franklin Lansil (Mass./Maine, 1846-1925), oil on canvas depiction of Boston Harbor. Estimate: $2,000-$3,000. Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers image

 

Also up for bid will be an oil on canvas Barbizon landscape by William Babcock (American/French 1826-1899). Babcock was born in Boston but spent most of his life in France, where he lived as an expatriate. He studied with Thomas Couture in Paris, then went to the village of Barbizon where, along with other American artists, he did peasant genres, as well as Biblical scenes and still lifes.

Just in time for baseball season is a contemporary mezzotint of Yankee Stadium by Craig McPherson (New York/Kansas, b. 1948). Beginning in the 1980s, McPherson devoted his artistic energies to printmaking, and he produced mezzotints of New York City at night. These led to his creating a 90-foot mural cycle at American Express’s corporate headquarters in New York City.

Bruno Bruni (b. 1935) is active today and lives in Italy and Germany. He’s best known for his figure painting and lithography, but is also a sculptor. Two bronze sculptures by Bruni will cross the auction block. Bruni is fond of figures, florals and birds, he is especially focused on the female figure. As a lithographer, he is unique for his method of painting directly onto the stone.

To learn more contact Bruneau & Co. via e-mail, info@bruneauandco.com.

 

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Greta Garbo