Rare Landscape Paintings by Reuven Rubin to Sell at Clarke Auction Gallery

Clarke Auction Gallery will start 2023 by offering two important works by Romanian-Israeli artist Reuven Rubin in the upcoming New Years Estate Auction on January 22, 2023. The sweeping auction catalog features nearly 575 lots of fine and decorative art, jewelry, Asian works of art, and more. 

Reuven Rubin’s Road to Safed from 1927 headlines the sale (lot #50; estimate: USD 250,000 – $350,000). This extraordinary landscape is signed in the lower left and was formerly held in the collection of Hope Weil. According to Weil’s family, Reuven Rubin knew Hope on a personal basis and made her acquaintance after she purchased one of his paintings at an auction. Road to Safed is an early work by Rubin that shows a stretch of mountainous Galilean coastline leading to Safed, the highest city in Israel. The artist belonged to a pioneering group of painters who sought to depict the region of Palestine in fresh, modern ways during the 1920s. 

Also noteworthy in the sale is a canvas landscape painting by Rubin showing three small groups of homes nestled between rolling hills (lot #51; estimate: $100,000 – $150,000). For this work, Rubin embraced a warmer color palette of brown and sage green to create light and ambiance. Pops of red, yellow, and blue make the houses stand out. In the foreground, a person leads a camel along a twisting mountain road, offering a visual entrance to the scene. Two sketches by Rubin and a pair of lithographs, also from the estate of Hope Weil, will be available as well. 

Other notable works of fine art in this sale include an oil on canvas painting, titled Ladies With Parasol, by Chinese artist Gao Xiao-hua. This figural work depicts three women standing on a cobbled street while wearing traditional garb. Gao is particularly known for his colorful depictions of the Yi people of China’s Sichuan region. He was trained in Western art styles during the 1980s, after China’s Cultural Revolution had decimated the country’s art scene. His works evoke a changing China and the traditional people who are often excluded from mainstream narratives. 

Fine art collectors can also consider a flower and landscape painting by David Burliuk (lot #70; estimate: $6,000 – $9,000); a linocut, oil, and ink work by Angel Botello (lot #83; estimate: $4,000 – $6,000); and a 1961 abstract painting by Latvian-American artist Raimonds Staprans (lot #43; estimate: $4,000 – $6,000). 

The January estate sale will feature additional items of note, including:

• Pablo Picasso white earthenware pitcher (lot #100; estimate: $8,000 – $12,000) 
• Large glass Seaform vase by Dale Chihuly (lot #112; estimate: $3,000 – $5,000) 
• Sterling silver Acorn flatware set from Georg Jensen (lot #480; estimate: $2,000 – $3,000) 
• Vintage lady’s Rolex wristwatch in 18-karat gold (lot #553; estimate: $1,500 – $2,000) 
• Large Italian 20-light multi-shade chandelier (lot #199; estimate: $1,000 – $1,500) 

Clarke Auction Gallery was started in Westchester, NY in 1998. Since his arrival, Clarke has moved from being a picker to owning two retail Antique Stores and All Boro Estate Liquidators (as featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Cranes and Fox 5 News) to opening his own Clarke Auction Gallery, which fast became Westchester’s Premier Auction House. Clarke Auction Gallery runs monthly to a packed house and is situated in the center of Larchmont, NY.

The upcoming New Years Estate Auction will begin at 10:00 AM EST on January 22, 2023. Visit Bidsquare to view the complete catalog and register to bid.