LARCHMONT, NY.- Clarke Auction Gallery is leaping into the fall season with an unprecedented two-day auction October 29-30; sessions start at 12 pm daily, featuring a highly curated selection of A-list art, jewelry, silver and decorative objects. Make no mistake though, while this sale is far-ranging, art collectors will want to take notice as nearly half the lots in the first day alone are artworks.
The selection of fine art in this auction that came from an important New York City gallerists estate was so good and large that we decided to expand to a two-day auction format, said owner and auctioneer Ronan Clarke. We are also excited by some very choice examples of diamond jewelry, Rolex watches, and statement pieces for the home.
Latin American art has been growing by leaps and bounds as a highly sought after segment in the art world and will feature in some important works in this sale. Highlights include a signed Roberto Matta (Chilean, 1911-2020) oil on canvas, estimated at $30/50,000. The painting retained a gallery label for The Marble Arch Gallery, 79th St. NYC, and measures 23 by 28 inches.
Contemporary works continue to attract new collectors daily and abstract painter Leonardo Nierman (Mexican, b 1932) is represented here with a very large and early oil on Masonite ($3/5,000), signed and dated 1959, 48 by 96 inches. ($3/5,000)
Among American artists, Aldro Hibbard (1886-1972) is a renowned name, long celebrated for his New England landscapes, particularly Vermont snowscapes. In this sale is a charming and folky oil on canvas, Country Fair ($20/30,000), signed, depicting a rural 20th Century country fair on an autumn day. This painting is one of my favorites in the sale. It is Hibbard at his best, where he has captured on canvas the essence of country life and the energy of a fair from the animals and people to the colorful balloons and attractions, Clarke said, noting that the painting was used in a 1947 Maxwell House coffee advertising campaign.
The fine art offerings in this auction are quite diverse, ranging from three paintings by Orville Bulman (American, 1904-1978), Les Tres Bon Jour ($10/15,000) and Crows Nest ($3/5,000), both 1967, and Les Soeurs Dumond, ($2/3,000), 1965, to a Theo Tobiasse (Israeli, 1927-2012) signed oil on canvas, Pour grace le temps, sarrete de temps en temps, ($20/30,000).
Also highlighting this category is an untitled acrylic on canvas by Robert Goodnough (American, 1917-2010), signed to lower right ($5/7,000); an Ivan Fedorovich Choultse (Russian, 1874-1939) oil on canvas, signed ($10/15,000) and a John Edward Costigan (American, 1888-1972) signed oil on canvas, Woman and Child with Goats in a Field ($10/15,000).
Jewelry always performs well here and the category is especially strong this time around with over 350 lots of jewelry and silver items on offer, led by a whopper of a platinum ring, set with a 4.5+-carat round brilliant cut diamond flanked by tapered baguettes ($20/25,000) and a diamond and platinum floral spray brooch with over 11 carats of pear-shaped, marquis cut and baguette diamonds ($5/7,000). Also featured will be antique, Victorian and Mughal jewelry along with fine designer jewelry by Raymond Yard and others.
For buyers looking for fine watches, this auction has something for both men and women in the form of two vintage Rolex watches: a vintage mans Rolex Oyster perpetual day-date 18K gold watch with box/papers, Ref#X144828m ($8/12,000); and a ladies Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust (President) 18K yellow gold automatic watch Ref/model #6917 ($4/6,000).
Statement pieces and fine decorative objects for the home will be well represented here, led by a finely hand woven antique carpet ($4/6,000) with a fine weave, decorated all over with animals, trees, warriors and more, possibly a lavar Kerman, messing 14 feet 1 inch by 9 feet 10 inches.
An important collection of objects dart has been consigned here with over 20 antique or vintage gold boxes, an array of gold mesh purses, Russian enamels and antique Tiffany objects.
Also crossing the block is a select grouping of Midcentury Modern furniture from Edward Wormley for Dunbar Angle sofas and an Eero Saarinenen for Knoll childs Womb chair.
Rounding out the auction will be a Worcester Silver Co. English Onslow sterling flatware set from the early 1960s ($2/3,000); a grouping of numismatics to include three $20 double eagles and several $5 Liberty Head half eagles; and of interest to history collectors, a full set facsimile of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender documents from V-J Day ($1,5/2,500), rolled, totallign eight pages.