The auction will be held online and in Bruneau’s gallery, at 63 Fourth Avenue in Cranston, R.I., starting at 12 noon Eastern. It will be preceded by a live-only DiscoverIt sale (no online bidding)
CRANSTON, R.I. – An oil on canvas landscape painting by the Scottish-born abstract modernist William Gear (1915-1997), titled Paysage, Mai 50 (May Landscape, 1950), is the expected headliner in a 436-lot Estate, Antiques, Fine & Decorative Art Auction planned for Saturday, November 25th, by Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers, in their Cranston gallery at 63 Fourth Avenue.
The auction will begin promptly at 12 noon Eastern time and will be preceded by a live-only DiscoverIt Estates Auction (no online bidding) starting at 10 am. The noon auction will feature furniture, fine art, sculptures, modern design, art pottery, Waterford crystal, Baccarat chandeliers and other lighting, fine Oriental rugs and carpets, and unusual items from all over New England.
“This is one auction that will hold great appeal for the modern art collector, with many different styles being offered, including pop art from Red Grooms and James Rizzi to Mexican muralists Francisco Zuniga and Manuel Herrera,” said Kevin Bruneau, company president and auctioneer of Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers. “More and more we are seeing these works rise greatly in value.”
The William Gear painting depicts an amalgamation of abstracted naturalistic forms in an earthly palette, over a gray background, and is housed in a 33 inch by 26 ½ inch frame. It’s signed and dated in the lower right corner and on verso and is a fine example of Gear’s work embodying his long and stellar career. Bruneau & Co. has assigned it a pre-sale estimate of $10,000-$20,000.
The painting has a compelling back story and provenance. In 1950, the same year Gear painted Paysage, Mai 50, he left Paris, where he’d been living, for New York, to take part in a joint exhibition with Jackson Pollock. It would be his one and only American exhibition. While in the States, he met his future wife, Deborah Chertok, and he gifted this very painting to her sister.
“Sometimes the story can be just as interesting as the item itself,” said Travis Landry, Bruneau & Co. specialist and auctioneer, “and the provenance of the William Gear painting is certainly that. For an artist who only exhibited once in the United States, and very briefly at that, it’s very rare to find one of his works stateside. It’s an unusual offering I’m sure collectors will appreciate.”
Other artworks in the sale will include a 23 ½ inch tall figural bronze sculpture of a woman by the aforementioned Mexican muralist Francisco Zuniga (1912-1998), on a marble plinth (est. $2,000-$3,000); and a large (50 inch by 80 inch, framed) oil on canvas maritime seascape work of a brigantine ship at sea by Wesley Elbridge Webber (Am., 1841-1914) (est. $8,000-$12,000).
An oil on canvas board impressionist harbor scene by Rhode Island painter Frederick Usher DeVoll (1873-1941), depicting a dry-docked vessel and laborers, is expected to hit $3,000-$5,000, while another artwork of sorts – a circa-1935 General Motors United Motor Service double-sided ovoid porcelain sign showing a convertible roadster, should make $1,500-$2,500.
A Chinese Qing Dynasty (Guangxu Period, 1875-1908) famille rose porcelain baluster form vase, 17 ½ inches tall, decorated with lotus flowers, warriors, elders and more, should realize $2,000-$3,000. Also, an Art Nouveau Secessionist patinated bronze and Loetz art glass table lamp attributed to Gustav Gurschner (Germany/Austria, 1873-1970) should bring $2,500-$3,500.
A circa-1850 Turkish ultra-fine weave silk carpet, 6 feet 9 inches by 4 feet 10 inches, decorated with stylized flowers and tendrils against a dark blue central field, has an estimate of $3,000-$5,000; while a 17th century hand-woven wool tapestry, most likely Flemish, large at 8 feet 5 inches by 6 feet 2 inches, showing a hunting dog and game bird, should sell for $2,000-$3,000.
A pair of Russian Potemkin Imperial Glass Works faceted gilt beakers, made circa 1780, will be sold as single lots. One is decorated with a barbaric scene of neoclassical figures, some on horseback, engaged in battle (est. $800-$1,200). The other is decorated with three ovoid panels of individualized neoclassical women, separated by architectural elements (est. $600-$900).
Internet bidding will be made available through Bidlive.Bruneauandco.com, Invaluable.com, LiveAuctioneers.com and Bidsquare.com. Phone and absentee (left) bids will also be accepted. Previews will be held on Friday, November 24th, from noon to 9 pm; and Saturday, November 25th, the date of auction, when doors open at 8 am until the start of auction at 12 noon Eastern.
To learn more about Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers and the Nov. 25th two-session auction, visit www.bruneauandco.com. To contact Bruneau & Co. via e-mail, use [email protected]