Clarke's Sixth Annual Fine Art Auction Rocks On - May 4, 2009

    LARCHMONT, NY, March 04, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Clarke's Sixth Fine Art Auction of May 4, 2009, two months from today, is expected to be its strongest to date. The ten-year old Larchmont company was confident based on its successful Fifth Fine Art Auction, which flew in the face of a rocky outlook for the fine art market. However, the depth and breadth of its American and International inventory for May, including many works with exhibition histories and of distinguished provenance, has now been strenghtened further by today's addition of 35 works from a private collection of Rockport paintings.

Fresh-to-Market
Clarke prides itself on sourcing fine art from estate and private collectors, most of which have never appeared at auction, and some of its finest works were identified by Clarke and consigned as part of the auctioneers's complimentary New York area appraisals. In some cases, the works were obtained personally from the artist by the collector and decades later, consigned directly to Clarke. The 1961 Eva Hesse, the Daphne Henrion-Hardy bronze, many of the Rockport paintings, and the personally inscribed complete Dali Biblia Sacra are examples.

New York
In addition to the Eva Hesse, highlights include an extremely rare circa 1855 still life by John Beigel, a large 1940 oil on canvas by Greek-American Jean Xceron, a portrait by Raphael Soyer, a 1949 work by Fredric Karoly, and mid-twentieth century paintings and bronzes from Alexander Redein, Herbert Kallem, and Lucia Salemme. The Beigel is only the second work by this 19th Century German-American artist to have surfaced at auction in the past 150 years.

African-American Art
African-American art, a Clarke specialty, will feature the historically important 1960 self-portrait by Bob Thompson and early works from Manuel Hughes as well as pieces from Richard Dempsey, Benny Andrews, Oliver Johnson, and Russ Thompson. The Thompson self-portrait comes with complete provenance and was exhibited at The New School in 1969.

On the Rocks? The Art of Rockport, Gloucester, Newport
Thirty-five paintings from some of the great painters of New England's famous art colonies will now be available at Clarke's Sixth Annual Fine Art Auction. Paintings from Emile Gruppe, Martha Walter, Anthony Thieme, Antonio Cirino, W.T. Richards, and A.C. Goodwin are featured, again fresh-to-market and most drawn from a single private estate. Many of the works also possess a Doll and Richards provenance, from one of Boston's - and America's - most distinguished galleries.

19th Century Marines
A pair of Richard B Spencer oils, a James Hamilton storm scene, and a Clark T Oliver are highlights.

International art includes a classic work from Paul Henry, genre watercolors from Ettore and Attilio Simonetti, oils from Carlo Donati, Henry Foley, Georgios Derpapas, Maximilien Luce, Gabrielle Rigo, Franticek Cermak, Eugenie Van Ham, and Peter Parsus. Clarke believes that one of the Donati's was exhibited in Venice c.1900; the Parsus was entered into the French "Prix Antral" competition in 1952. The Henrion-Hardy is a bronze bust of her lover, the novelist Arthur Koestler. Clarke is also featuring a collection of works exhibited in the 1960's at London's Grosvenor Gallery, recently deaccessioned by a Jewish institution.

Dali
Of special interest is the five-volume 1967 Biblia Sacra by Rizzoli with lithographs by Salvador Dali. Uniquely, this set was hand-inscribed in the frontispiece by Dali with his original drawings.

Founder and owner Ronan Clarke notes that "I saw a good auction ahead in May with the strong inventory Clarke had developed through February." He adds "but with the March addition of the superb Rockport collection, and other works still being consigned, we now have a great auction lined up for May 4th."

Clarke, still actively purchasing and accepting quality consignments for our May 2009 Fine Art Auction; specialists in African-American, American classic, Judaic, WPA, and New York artists.

For further information or late consignments, please call Clarke at 914-833-8336 or visit its website at www.clarkeny.com

About Clarke Auction Gallery

Clarke Auction Gallery, Westchester's Premier Auction Gallery, conducts catalogued sales monthly featuring distinctive fine and decorative arts, antiques, exceptional furniture, oriental rugs, sterling silver and mid-century modern. For further information, please contact us at (914)833-8336 or [email protected]

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