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Leading the single-owner collection of 21 Gertrude Abercrombie works is her 1953 painting, ‘Self and Cat (Possims),’ estimated at $300,000-$500,000. Image courtesy of Hindman

Collection of Gertrude Abercrombie artworks slated for fall auction

Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Leading the single-owner collection of 21 Gertrude Abercrombie works is her 1953 painting, ‘Self and Cat (Possims),’ estimated at $300,000-$500,000. Image courtesy of Hindman
Leading the single-owner collection of 21 Gertrude Abercrombie works is her 1953 painting, ‘Self and Cat (Possims),’ estimated at $300,000-$500,000. Image courtesy of Hindman

CHICAGO – Hindman Auctions will present the most significant selection of Gertrude Abercrombie paintings to ever come to market in Casting Spells: The Gertrude Abercrombie Collection of Laura and Gary Maurer, a single-owner auction scheduled for September 28. As the preeminent collectors of Abercrombie works, Laura and Gary Maurer’s collection of 21 magical and mysterious career-spanning works by the enchanting artist will provide bidders a unique opportunity to compete on the broadest offering of her creations as well as some of the physically largest paintings by the “Queen of the Bohemians.”

This alluring auction lineup will capture a wide swath of Abercrombie’s oeuvre from the late 1930s to the 1970s, featuring pivotal works ranging from her spellbinding self-portraiture to her transcendental landscapes, and from her iconic doors to her beloved cats. Highlighting the selection is a self-portrait from 1953 titled Self and Cat (Possims), an Abercrombie masterpiece that depicts a mystical Abercrombie alongside her favorite witch’s familiar, Possim. It carries an estimate of $300,000-$500,000.

Abercrombie’s 1942 work Solitude, estimated at $120,000-$180,000, is another major painting that will be offered. Abercrombie was also celebrated for her poignant miniatures that she often created as gifts. Her 8-by-10in Untitled (Blue Screen, Black Cat, Print of Same) from 1945 is a prime example. It will appear in the September 28 lineup with an estimate of $50,000-$70,000.

“As the door opened into the Maurers’ home, I was immediately thrown into the dizzying Abercrombie sanctuary they created,” said Hindman’s Vice President of Fine Art Joseph Stanfield, commenting on his first viewing of the collection. “Upon seeing Abercrombie’s unique storytelling and iconography so fully presented in the selection, I was completely under Abercrombie’s spell.”

The Maurer collection will travel to New York City for a preview in early September. In August, Hindman will announce additional details about the previews in New York and Chicago as well as more highlights from the collection.

Gertrude Abercrombie