Sanyu, a Chinese-French artist, was one of the prominent oil painters from China to have studied in France in the early 20th century. He was trained in calligraphy under the aegis of the Sichuan calligrapher Zhao Xi. Blue Chrysanthemums in a Glass Vase, an oil on Masonite in the manner of Sanyu, is a key highlight of the upcoming sale from 500 Gallery. It portrays a vase with flowers, which was one of the artist’s popular subjects. It exemplifies his style of simple compositions, neat lines, and an undiluted color palette.
A striking painting attributed to American artist Sam Francis also leads the catalog. The Abstract Expressionist gouache on paper will be sold with a frame. Francis developed a massive collection of works on paper, prints and monotypes, which are displayed across illustrious museums the world over. Another notable Abstract Expressionist work is attributed to Hans Hofmann. The German-born American teacher and painter is noted for creating a spatial illusion through use of bold primary colors and shapes. Also of note is Rosie O’Donnell’s The Pope’s Brother, a mixed media on canvas. To view the complete catalog and register to bid in the upcoming Contemporary Classics Auction, visit Bidsquare and browse other online auctions.
Hindman’s upcoming Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts Including Americana sale offers a range of memoirs, travelogues, and narratives that capture an era of expedition and adventure. Among the leading lots is The Cruise of the ‘Antarctic’ to the South Polar Regions, a memoir by Norwegian businessman and whaler Henrik Johan Bull. In this first edition, Bull chronicles his expedition on board the Swedish steamship ‘Antarctic’ searching for the elusive right whale. In 1893, Bull commanded the expedition on the Swedish ship, with Leonard Kristensen as captain. During the two-year voyage, the 31-man crew visited numerous islands before a small party of six men, including Bull and Kristensen, reached Cape Adare, Antarctica on January 24, 1895.
Another notable work in this sale is a first-edition copy of Captain George Back’s seminal work on Arctic exploration. In the travelogue, the author shares his experiences with Indigenous people, their culture, zoological observations, interactions with Cree, Chippewa, and Coppermine tribes, and observations of flora and fauna. Additional lots of interest include works by Roald Amundsen and British Parliamentary Papers relative to the Arctic Expeditions. Visit Hindman to view the full catalog and register to bid in this Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana sale.
Chinese artist Qi Baishi was known for his fanciful and quirky style of paintings. A self-taught painter, he was inspired by the Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden. He traveled to several picturesque locations in China and eventually settled in Beijing. An ink scroll painting of frogs by Qi Baishi is a key highlight of the upcoming sale at Showplace. Illustrating six frogs, the image is signed in calligraphy with two seals. An oil on canvas portraying a still-life illustration of a bouquet of flowers is another noteworthy artwork in the auction. Attributed to Juan de Arellano, the composition includes morning glories, an iris, a peony, and carnations. The Spanish painter of the Baroque era specialized in floral still-life paintings and was highly influenced by the likes of Daniel Seghers and Mario Nuzzi.
Two Art Deco sideboard consoles by American industrial designer Donald Deskey also lead the listings. The sideboards feature large drawers and lacquered burlwood. Both were manufactured by Schmieg, Hungate & Kotzian, Inc. in New York City and designed during the 1930s. To view the complete catalog and register to bid in the upcoming New York City Estate Auction, May 7 sale, visit Bidsquare and browse other online auctions.
American artist Lee Lenore Krasner (1908 – 1984) was an important figure in the Abstract Expressionist milieu. Her artworks are easily identifiable by their rhythmic quality, rich colors, and gestural brushwork. She is also one of the few women artists to have had a retrospective show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 500 Gallery’s upcoming sale will feature an abstract composition by Krasner. Unframed, the painting measures 20 inches in length and 50 inches wide. A signature can be found in the lower right corner.
A display of two delicate carp painted by Southeast Asian artist Lee Man Fong (1913 – 1988) is another notable lot in the sale. Two Carp is an oil painting stamped with the artist’s seal. The artist had a difficult childhood and practiced art at a young age to make ends meet. He learned to sketch life forms from Mei Yutian, a Chinese Modern artist. His subjects included traditional Chinese themes, animals, and scenic landscapes. Other key artists represented in the sale include Rockwell Kent, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Jean Cocteau, Georges Braque, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. To view the complete catalog and register to bid in the upcoming Prestige Collection: 19th and 20th Century Art sale, visit Bidsquare and browse other online auctions.
A pair of vintage 14-karat yellow gold earrings and a 14-karat gold graduated rope chain necklace will lead the upcoming Showplace Backstage sale, presented by Auctions at Showplace. The vintage yellow gold diamond-shaped earrings have open latticework with ten graduated pearl drops, measuring approximately 4mm to 5mm. The rope chain measures 16 inches long. Also among the leading lots is a Chinese pictorial carpet depicting a sailing ship with a figure and birds flying above.
Other featured lots include Hermès scarves. A notable lot is an Hermès silk twill scarf with the Vendanges pattern in red on a purple background. This 100% silk scarf marked Hermès was made in France. Vendanges in French means yielding grapes for wine-making, it is also a particular type of vintage French wine. The bright red basket and the vine leaves signify the ripening of the grapes in the basket. An Indian ‘Rikhi Ram’ carved rosewood sitar enhanced with bone motifs with a New Delhi-based maker plate is also noteworthy. The late founder Pt. Rikhi Ram was a great musician and renowned instrument maker. Visit Bidsquare for more information on the upcoming Showplace Backstage, Astoria, NY, May 14 sale and to browse other online auctions.
The latest Fine & Decorative Antique, Vintage, & Modern rugs sale from Nazmiyal Auctions will offer nearly 150 quality carpets from all corners of the globe. Among the top lots is an antique Persian Kerman Mashahir rug from circa 1900. This style of rug is named after the Urdu word for noblemen; in Arabic, mashahir can be translated to mean ‘famous person’ or ‘celebrity.’ Thus, Mashahir rugs often contain pictorial depictions of princes and rulers from Persian history. The available carpet shows a gathering of leaders and historical figures under a structure with elaborate pillars. Smaller figures surround the scene, all bordered by finely-woven script. Another notable Persian rug in the auction is a Tehran piece featuring a ‘Tree of Life’ design. Tehran rugs, a comparatively recent addition to the Persian rug tradition, are known for their high quality and garden-like designs.
Beyond Persian rugs, bidders can consider a Scandinavian Märta Måås-Fjetterström kilim rug from the mid-20th century. This Gron Ang pattern rug features an olive green background sprinkled with smaller squares and hatches. Additional lots of interest include a vintage Indian Agra rug that measures over 19 feet long, an antique Turkish jewel tone Oushak allover rug, and a Persian silk Kerman horse cover from the late 19th century. Find the complete catalog and register to bid by visiting Nazmiyal Auctions auction.
Richard Avedon was an American photographer famous for his fashion and portrait images. His works often captured large-format portraits, black-and-white images of leading personalities, and unknowns. A 1985 signed print by Richard Avedon is a key highlight of the upcoming sale at Sotheby’s. It comprises two black-and-white images of Clarence Lippard, a Nevada Drifter, in different poses. The reverse has an inscription ‘For Shelley’ along with the photographer’s In the American West stamp. The available lot comes from the collection of Shelley Dowell, studio manager and assistant on In the American West.
Another notable lot is American documentary photographer Dorothea Lange’s Mended Stockings. Framed in 1936 and possibly printed in the 1940s, the work reflects the Social Realist style. The intimate photograph depicts a woman’s legs and feet. This simple composition highlights the mended runs in the stockings and showcases the struggles of women. Lange (1895 – 1965) is noted for her Depression-era pictures and portraits of migrant workers in the 1930s. The catalog also offers works by Harry Callahan, Katy Grannan, Stephen Shore, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Robert Adams, and Lisette Model among others. Interested collectors can explore the complete auction catalog on Sotheby’s website and register to bid in the upcoming Pier 24 Photography from the Pilara Family Foundation Sold to Benefit Charitable Organizations Day Sale.
Champion of racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity F. Winold Reiss believed that an artist must travel to find interesting subjects. His pastel on paper titled Plenty Treaties, from circa 1943, is available in the upcoming Western & Contemporary Native American Art Auction, offered by Hindman. Winold Reiss (1886 – 1953) was a German-American artist, graphic designer, and portraitist. He moved from Germany to the United States in 1913. After exploring the U.S., he was able to follow his interest in Native Americans, working for a lengthy period on the Blackfeet Reservation. The available painting portrays a Blackfeet leader in traditional dress, sitting at ease on a buffalo robe, conveys solidity and strength suggestive of endurance. Reiss painted more than 250 works of Native Americans during his career. His artworks thrive on diversity and are considered cultural assets.
Ed Mell’s Vaulting Clouds, a 1993 oil on canvas, signed, titled and dated on verso, is another lot that colorfully represents the Western and contemporary themes of the auction. Mell (b. 1942) is an American painter inspired by the Colorado Plateau and Sonoran Desert. The ever-changing skies and landscapes within this region are subjects Mell describes with sophistication of design and palette. Mell’s works are in many public and private collections like Tri-Star Pictures, Phoenix Art Museum, Kartchner Caverns State Park, Diane Keaton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Babbitt. The sale also offers sculptures of the West by Ed Mell. Visit Hindman for more information on the upcoming Western & Contemporary Native American Art auction.
James Augustus Van Der Zee was a leading American photographer, celebrated for his portraits of the Black middle class. He would often retouch the negatives to enhance the aura of his images. Some of his well-known subjects included Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Countee Cullen. A set of 18 photographs by Van Der Zee along with three selected studio portraits are a key highlight of the upcoming sale, presented by Hindman. The 18 gelatin silver prints have been printed by Richard Benson, with each consecutively numbered ‘I- XVIII’ and ’13/75′ in pencil on the mount. In the image of a wedding portrait, the photographer adds special effect of a ghostly child, suggesting the couple’s future. This exemplifies the artist’s style of portraying his own perspective in the visual documentation.
Two other noteworthy works are photographs by Peter Beard from his momentous publication The End of the Game. Titled Tsavo Park and But Past Who Can Recall or Done Undo (Paradise Lost), the unique gelatin silver prints are inscribed in ink on the recto. The photographs document the impact of overpopulation and starvation on animals in Kenya’s Tsavo lowlands and Uganda parklands during the 1960s and 70s. Visit Hindman to view the complete catalog and register to bid in the upcoming Photographs sale.
The Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce were ratified in Paris on February 6, 1778 by France and the newly formed United States. In the Treaty of Alliance, American independence was specified as a requirement for peace against Great Britain. In addition, any peace agreement between France and the United States had to be ratified by the treaty. Britain anticipated this economic and friendship alliance would grow, and it did, but the biggest concern was the possibility of being attacked by France, especially in Ireland, at that time an integral part of Britain. The upcoming Books and Manuscripts sale, offered by Freeman’s, will particularly highlight a copy of Plan of Defence for Ireland from Sir Henry Clinton, the British Commander-in-Chief in North America. An anticipated French attack on Ireland during the American Revolution prompted this British plan. The 58-page manuscript plan was handwritten by Clinton. There are two other copies of this manuscript, one at the National Library of Ireland and one at the British Library, though the British Library copy has different dates and titles.
Additional lots of interest in this sale include A Plan of the City and Environs of Philadelphia. In 1777, William Faden, King George III’s royal geographer, published this map of Philadelphia in London. Watermarks are shown on the map, as are the names of landowners in rural areas. Visit Freeman’s to view the complete Books and Manuscripts catalog and to place a bid.
