California art vying for top lot in Jan. 24 sale

Wil Timpe's "South of Nogales," with an estimate of $800 to $1,200. (All photos courtesy of John Moran Auctioneers)

MONROVIA, Calif. – Moran’s is looking forward to bringing an exciting selection of California art to auction, Jan. 24. As well as other American and European works spanning from the 19th century to the contemporary. Consignments have been rolling in from private collections across Southern California and beyond. The catalog features over 250 works of varying styles, schools and media.

European offerings are primarily Modern and Contemporary in nature, including selections by Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall, and Pablo Picasso. Harry Hall, Lesser Ury, and Rembrandt are present in their works.

Approachable estimates mark many examples of California art in this sale. This includes selections by Jessie Arms Botke, Ben Abril, Lockwood De Forest, Colin Campbell Cooper, and Peter Ellenshaw.

California art celebrates scenery

Select figural works are sure to appeal to a wide range of collectors. Among those is a charming portrait of a young woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat by Antonia Miether Melvill (1875-1972). Figural works are a specialty of Melville's. The present offering is a wonderful example of the artist’s painterly style ($800 to $1,200). Elmer Greene's female portrait, "Study" bears a pre-auction estimate of $1,000 to $1,500. William Frederick Foster's (1883-1953) illustrative composition will come to auction with an estimate of $1,000 to $1,500.

Western and Native American art offerings are generating pre-auction excitement. A portrait of “Iron Eyes Cody” is coming with a $1,000 to $1,500 estimate. A smaller-scale California art work by Benjamin Raborg is eying $600 to $900. Wil Timpe’s “South of Nogales” is one of six works by the western-genre painter on offer.

Townscapes attract early interest

"New Jersey Town," townscape by Sara Kolb Danner is heading to auction with an estimate of $500 to $750.

Painterly townscapes are plentiful in Moran’s January catalog. Calif. artist Sara Kolb Danner (1894-1969) cheerful fall townscape, “New Jersey Town” will come to bidders. It's estimate is $500 to $700. The townscape "Boston Commons" by George Loftus Noyes’s is aiming for $2,000 to $3,000. Another selection by an east coast artist, Anna Richards Brewster (1870-1952 Scarsdale, NY), offers a somber view of Boston, Lincolnshire in England, with the tower of St. Botolph’s Church dominating the composition. Brewster's painting of the gothic "Boston Stump" carries the title “Old Boston” and a $1,000 to $2,000 estimate.

Additional highlights include:

Art Deco bronze sculpture of a female nude seated on the back of a prancing deer. By Ida McClelland Stout (*-1927 Illinois) and offered with a $1,000 to $1,500 estimate.
A self-portrait pencil sketch by Frederic Remington (1861-1909 New York, NY), accompanied by a letter to an acquaintance is conservatively estimated to bring $1,000 to $2,000.
Edmund Henry Osthaus’ (1858-1928 Marianna, FL) watercolor portrait of a handsome English Setter will be offered for $700 to $900.
California art featuring gladiolus flower and figurine still life by Nell Walker Warner (1891-1970 Carmel, CA) is expected to bring $600 to $900.

In addition to California art landscapes, the January 24th Studio Fine Art catalog includes works of European and east coast American artists. German painter Gottfried Richter's (1904-1966) watercolor of a lodge high in a mountainous snow-capped surround. Dating to 1928, the work will be brought to the block with a $400 to $600 estimate. A diminutive scene showing cottages lining a riverbank with clothes drying on the line in the foreground by Old Lyme Colony artist Lucien Abrams (1870-1941) is sure to find a buyer with a conservative $400 to $600 estimate.

Three West Coast works primed for bidding battles

California-centric works include “Sunlit Landscape” by Lawton S. Parker (1868-1954 Pasadena, CA),

Art Deco bronze of a woman atop a prancing deer, coming before bidders with a $1,000 to $1,500 estimate.

estimated to earn $1,000 to $1,500. The painting provides a hazy impressionist view of tree-filtered light at sunset. A quintessential California scene of a poppy-filled meadow beneath a nearly cloudless sky by Angel Espoy (1879-1963 Seal Beach, CA) will come with an estimate of $1,500 to $2,500. Consigned from a private San Diego, CA collection, “Sierra Gold” by Carson City, NV-based artist Leland S. Curtis (1897-1989) provides a view of a sun-splashed mountainside, and is expected to earn between $1,000 and $2,000.

Also coming to auction is a handful of selections from the Fairbanks, Alaska Barrack Collection in the January catalog. A group lot of seven diminutive Alaskan landscapes by Jeanne Laurence (1887-1980) comes with a $600 to $900 auction estimate.

For more information, visit www.johnmoran.com, or call 626-793-1833.