As many as 250 works of fine art in many genres will be offered. The sale will start at 6 p.m.
(MILFORD, Conn.) – Quality consignments are currently being accepted for a fine art auction slated for Thursday, Oct. 24, at Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers, in the firm’s gallery located at 354 Woodmont Road in Milford. Up to 250 works of art, spanning many genres, will come up for bid. Shannon’s conducts two fine art auctions per year.
Offered will be fine examples from the Hudson River School, American Impressionists, European and American Moderns and Abstract artists and more. Already consigned are works by noted artists such as Charles Courtney Curran, Franz Kline, Roy Nachum, Jane Peterson, Roy Lichtenstein Dwight Tryon and others. The list grows daily with the arrival of new paintings.
“We already have some wonderful pieces consigned, but we are still seeking more high-quality, fresh-to-the-market works by regarded artists,” said Sandra Germain of Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers. “We have a track record for attracting artworks that haven’t been on the market in recent history. We’ll continue in that tradition.” Consignments will be accepted until Sept. 13.
Ms. Germain added, “At Shannon’s we believe in a focused target marketing of every work of art that we have in each auction. We only conduct two auctions per year, so we are able to focus on each of the works of art we sell and can contact the buyers directly. It’s a unique approach that we take.”
One of the expected star lots of the October auction is a rediscovered abstract collage by the abstract expressionist master Franz Josef Kline (Am., 1910-1962). The untitled oil on paper, signed lower left and dated 1957 is a diminutive 8 ½ inches by 10 ¾ inches, bit carries a pre-sale estimate of $100,000-$150,000. The work was exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in 1962.
An anticipated rival to the Kline work for top lot honors is an oil on canvas painting by the American Impressionist Charles Courtney Curran (1861-1942). Titled Far Away Thoughts, the 22 inch by 18 inch work is expected to realize $120,000-$180,000. Curran was a genre and landscape painter, very prolific and known for his light-filled renderings, often of young women.
Another painting that could easily sail past the elite $100,000 mark is an oil on canvas depiction of a lady seated at her vanity by the Spanish realist Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta (It./Sp., 1841-1920). The painting has a pre-sale estimate of $100,000-$150,000 and is similar, in style and content, to another Madrazo that sold at Sotheby’s in 2011 for a little over $225,000.
A special group of eight works by the renowned Tonalist painter Dwight W. Tryon (Am., 1849-1925) is also expected to attract keen interest from bidders. All the paintings are from a private collection. An example is a 16 inch by 24 inch oil on panel titled Twilight Autumn, signed lower left and dated 1913 (and signed on reverse). It should change hands for $25,000-$35,000.
Tryon was one of America’s first Tonalist painters and became perhaps its best. He was greatly influenced by the Barbizon School of painting in France. His works were collected by Charles Laing Freer, the man behind the Freer Gallery of Art on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Freer believed that Tryon, Thayer, Whistler and Dewing represented the best of the Modern Age.
Two household names from the world of fine art will be featured in the auction. The first is LeRoy Neiman, the artist of bold life and bright canvases who died last year at age 91. Offered will be a 15 inch by 52 inch work titled Carousel (1957), once owned by stylist to the stars, Fred Glaser. Mr. Glaser did Barbra Streisand’s hair, as well as many other celebrities.
The other is Guy Carleton Wiggins (Am., 1883-1962), who became world-renowned for his Impressionistic snow scenes of New York City in the 1920s. One such work is expected to fetch $50,000-$75,000.
An oil on canvas painting showing a young woman bathing in an outdoor stream, with a female attendant, by the Philippine artist Fernando Cueto Amorsolo (1892-1972) is expected to breeze to $25,000-$35,000. The 30 inch by 24 inch work is signed and dated 1951. In May of this year, one of Amorsolo’s paintings was auctioned at Christie’s in Hong Kong for $65,000.
An oil on canvas painting by John Koch (Am., 1909-1978), done circa 1940 and titled Christmas Tree (36 inches by 30 inches), should command $35,000-$50,000. Koch was born in Toledo, Ohio but he studied in Paris and was active in New York and Provincetown, Mass. He was best known for his paintings of fashionable Manhattan and New England mansion dwellers..
Previews will be held daily starting Monday, Oct 13, and run through auction day, Oct. 24 (except Sundays, when Shannons Fine Art Auctioneers is closed). Preview hours are 11-6 (EST), except Oct 24, when the preview will end at 5 p.m., an hour before the auction start time. Online bidding will be facilitated by Artfact.com. Phone and absentee bids will also be accepted.
Historically, Shannon’s has specialized in American and European art executed between 1840 and 1940. In recent years the firm has expanded more into post-war modern and pop art. Shannon’s produces an extensive 132-page, color catalog, which is available for sale on their website (shannons.com). A large, 8-page color brochure will also be mailed to 18,000 clients.
Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers is always accepting quality consignments for future auctions. To consign a single piece of artwork, an estate or an entire collection, you may call them at (203) 877-1711; or, you can e-mail them at [email protected]. To learn more about Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers and the Oct. 24 auction, please log on to www.shannons.com