Gray’s Auctioneers will wrap up the year with a fine art, furniture and decorative art auction on Wednesday, December 11, online and at the Cleveland Gallery located at 10717 Detroit Avenue, starting at 11 a.m. sharp. Eastern time. Treasures from beautiful properties in northeast Ohio will be on display, along with a wonderful collection of Persian rugs, rugs and rugs.
Artwork will be on offer in abundance, starting with Lots 1 and 2, a pair of oil-on-panel paintings by Harold Newton, one of the founders of the legendary artist group Florida Highwaymen. Both paintings depict a moonlit beach, gently lapping waves and rustling palm trees in the warm evening breezes. The glow of the moon seems to peek under the frame, a masterful and elegant trick of the eye.
Both paintings carry estimates of $3,000 to $5,000. The Florida Highwaymen were a group of 26 African-American landscape artists in Florida. Together they created a body of work of over 200,000 paintings from the 1950s to the 1980s, despite numerous racial and cultural barriers. Today, their works are highly coveted by collectors. Gray’s sold a Newton beach scene at its auction on August 28, 2019, for $20,000 (hammer price).
As a founding member, Harold Newton (1934-1994) was one of the most important members of the Highwaymen. Like the others, he mainly painted scenes of the Florida coasts and wetlands, which the men sold door-to-door and from the trunk of their cars, along the A1A and US1 coastal roads, often for very little money. ‘money. Harold Newton has died aged 59, just a year after suffering a debilitating stroke.
Lots 9 and 10 are beautifully rendered domestic scenes in oil on canvas with figures that appear to have been painted by the same early artist, in the style of the Dutch or Antwerp Old Masters of the 17th or 18th century. Both are unsigned and each measures 28 ½ inches by 16 ¾ inches. They were given reasonable pre-sale estimates of $5,000 to $7,000 each.
Lot 11 is a charming portrait of a young girl in a white dress by American artist Henry Inman (1801-1846). Inman was an accomplished portrait, genre, and landscape painter, but he truly excelled in portrait painting. Among his many subjects were prominent political figures, Native Americans, British luminaries and others. The lovely auction portrait is expected to change hands for $2,000 to $4,000.
Another striking painting is Lot 8A, a depiction of a grieving Mary Magdalene by Peter Rothermel (American, 1817-1895). The signed work, estimated between 2,000 and 5,000 dollars, recalls a pre-Raphaelite beauty. Rothermel is well known for his biblical subjects, although his most famous painting is The Battle of Gettysburg, a massive work of art that hangs in the Philadelphia State Museum.
Lot 5 is a dynamic 19th century seascape by Edward Moran (1829-1901), the English-born American artist of maritime paintings. The signed oil on canvas, 16 inches by 20 inches (by sight) captures sailors clinging to a boat as a gust whips through the ocean and swells the sails. The painting is expected to fetch between $3,000 and $5,000. Moran is known for his series of 13 historical paintings on the marine history of the United States.
The auction presents a fascinating collection of Japanese paintings and prints, starting with lot 77, an amusing and playful gouache on silk by Kamisaka Sekka (1866-1942), a marvelous scene of several figures swept away by a flurry of wind that whipped an umbrella with an outstretched hand. The 50 ½ inch by 19 ½ inch (at sight) work, titled Figures in a gust of windis estimated at $2,000 – $4,000.
The Asian portion of the auction also includes Satsuma, Kutani, Imari and other fine china; silvered and enameled bronzes, brass, gods and Buddhas; and many other decorative art objects and furniture.
The furniture category will be dominated by a 19th century Régence lemon wood coffee table, painted in the style of Angelica Kauffmann (Swiss, 1741-1807). The 57 ½ inch wide table is expected to sell for between $5,000 and $7,000.
The auction will conclude with a generous collection of rugs, runners and carpets, including Lot 308, an Antique Caucasian Kazak Wool Rug, circa 1880, 6ft 4in by 6ft 9in (est. $4,000 – $6,000); and lot 293, a magnificent 20th century Persian silk and wool rug copied from a design of a rug in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England, measuring 18 feet by 12 feet 1 inch (estimated between $3,000 and $5,000).
A total of 355 lots will be auctioned. The full catalog is online now and pre-bidding is open at GraysAuctioneers.com. All lots can be viewed there and on LiveAuctioneers.com and Invaluable.com. Telephone and correspondence bids will also be accepted. Previews begin Thursday, December 5 and run through Tuesday, December 10, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST; and Saturday, December 7, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery is closed on Sundays. Exhibit halls will be open for last-minute previews on auction day, December 11, with doors opening at 9:30 a.m.
Gray’s Auctioneers & Appraisers is one of Northern Ohio’s leading licensed auctioneers and appraisers for fine art, jewelry, antiques, decorative arts, rare books and antique rugs. An auction house with three decades of experience in the art business, Gray’s experts now offer traditional real estate services.
Gray’s specialists have worked with museums, educational institutions, corporations and private collectors to achieve maximum value from their collections at auction. Gray’s auctioneers are licensed, insured and bonded to the State of Ohio. To learn more, please visit www.graysauctioneers.com
Gray’s Auctioneers & Appraisers is still accepting quality submissions for future auctions. To inquire about selling a single piece, an estate, or an entire collection, you can call them at (216) 226-3300; or, you can email their assessments department at [email protected].
To learn more about Gray’s Auctioneers & Appraisers and the live, online auction scheduled for Wednesday, December 11 at 11 a.m. EST, visit www.graysauctioneers.com. Updates are released often.
