On July 28, Gray’s Auctioneers will be auctioning lot 177, a rare Civil War painting from1865 entitled ‘Our Flag is There’.
The signature is indecipherable however the Gray’s appraisal team has discovered a sketch by Thomas Nast which was featured on the cover of Harper’s Weekly, February 13, 1864. The sketch is an exact study for the painting. Thomas Nast famously caricatured political figures of his day and was declared the father of the American cartoon for his work at Harpers. He is credited with the creation of the modern version of Santa Claus, and Uncle Sam, as well as the political symbols of both major United States political parties: the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey. His early oil paintings are rare and all have historical and political significance. Of his paintings the most notable is ‘The Halt’ painted in 1864, depicting a Union soldier getting a drink of water from a sympathetic mother and baby, which sold at Doyles in 2007 for $252,000.
Gray’s will be open for preview of their 50th auction, at their spacious showrooms, 10717 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio from Monday July 25 – Wednesday July 27, 11am – 6pm. The auction will take place at 11am EST on Thursday, July 28. Live online bidding for this auction is offered by LiveAuctioneers.com. Gray’s also accepts absentee bids and telephone bid registration on their website. Gray’s Auctioneers is the only licensed, bonded and insured auction house in Cleveland holding monthly live auctions, and offering complimentary valuations every Friday between 11am – 4pm. Deborah J. Gray, auctioneer, opened her eponymous auction house in 2007, transforming the abandoned building that used to house a Citroen dealership into a driving force in the vibrant Cleveland Fine Art and Antiques auction market. The complete illustrated catalog for this auction can be found on Gray’s web site at www.graysauctioneers.com
