CRANSTON, RI.- Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers’ online-only Spring Estate Fine Art & Antique auction planned for Thursday, April 8th at 6 pm Eastern time features over 400 lots of paintings, decorative arts, furniture, fine jewelry, silver, Asian arts and collectibles, pulled from prominent estates and collections across New England. Telephone and absentee bids will also be accepted.
“Having an online-only auction certainly takes away the action-packed feeling of a live sale, but the safety of our customers and employees is most important,” said Travis Landry, a Bruneau & Co. auctioneer and Director of Pop Culture. “Also, by using Bidlive.BruneauandCo.com on our mobile app, bidders are able to pay the same buyer's premium as if they were here in person.”
Kevin Bruneau, the president and owner of Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers, said he expects “a fun auction with a good eclectic mix of antiques and decorative arts sure to stir up some interest. It's great to see another Steven Weinberg like what we had in the past. I find his glass remarkable.
He was referring to two glass sculptures by Weinberg (American, b. 1954) that will be offered as separate lots. One is an untitled polished clear glass cove boat sculpture, with bullicante bubbles wrapped in cobalt blue textured glass (est. $6,000-$9,000). The 6 ½ inch tall sculpture is signed on the bottom edge. Weinberg was a two-time recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant. His sculptures are highly prized by collectors.
The other piece is an untitled Buoy Series vase-shaped clear glass sculpture with textured rust and a green overshot exterior (est. $2,000-$3,000). The sculpture is approximately twelve inches tall and eight inches in diameter, and has been signed on the bottom edge. Weinberg’s work has been shown in museums that including the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (N.Y.) and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.
Three nude study drawings by Richard Prince (N.Y., b. 1949) will be sold as one lot, with a pre-sale estimate of $20,000-$30,000. They include a charcoal drawing depicting the back of a nude woman glancing over her shoulder, a red pastel drawing of a nude woman facing away from the viewer with her hair in a bun, and an ink study of an androgynous subject facing away from the viewer. Prince’s work has been exhibited in numerous museums.
A trompe l’oeil oil on board still life painting by Fernand Renard (French, b. 1912), depicting exquisitely rendered oysters beside a lemon, along with a smattering of olives resting before a glistening wine glass, is expected to realize $2,000-$4,000. The work is 9 ½ inches by 13 inches (sight, less frame), and is signed “Renard” in the lower right corner. Renard is one of Europe’s oldest living artists. He was born prior to World War I.
A pair of Knoll Wassily chairs by Marcel Breuer (N.Y./Hungary, 1902-1981), featuring deep brown leather strapping and rich golden colored threading over seamless chrome frames, will be sold as one lot with a pre-sale estimate of $1,500-$3,500. The chairs are from the collection of a Newport, Rhode Island gentleman who purchased them directly from Knoll in 1978. One has a label reading, “Knoll International, September 27, 1977”.
An impressionist watercolor landscape painting on paper by Margaret Jordan Patterson (Mass., 1867-1950), depicting vibrant foliage along a mountain path, should gavel for $800-$1,200. The work, titled Hills with Chestnut Trees, is artist signed lower left corner and titled on verso. It measures 14 ¾ inches by 17 ¾ inches (sight, less frame). Patterson studied in Boston and took numerous trips to Europe to do sketches for her woodblocks.
A wood and leather station wagon nightstand by Paul Frankl (Austria/Calif., 1886-1958) for Johnson Furniture, having a rectangular top with a beveled edge over three drawers with leather strap pulls, is estimated to change hands for $300-$500. Frankl had a gallery on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, where his client list included such A-list celebrities as Fred Astaire, Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Walter Huston and Alfred Hitchcock.
A circa 1907 gold pocket watch made by the Waltham (Mass.) Watch Company, in a 14kt gold case decorated with a shield and having a face featuring Roman numeral numbering and inner workings set to a hunting movement configuration, should fetch $400-$600. The watch, housed in a handsome glass display dome, is marked “P. S. Bartlett, Waltham, Mass.” on the face. It came from the collection of a Jamestown, Rhode Island woman.
