African-American Art & Fine Jewelry Highlights at Gray’s
This month at Gray’s Auctioneers, we are delighted to highlight a collection of fine art by prominent African-American artists from our large auction of Fine Art, Furniture, Jewelry, and Decorative Art. One unfortunate legacy of our country’s struggles with its historic racism has been the neglect of black artists by critics and collectors until recent times. This month Gray’s is offering a number of artworks by important African-American artists in their October 10th auction.
Starting off the auction at Lot 1 is Michaelangelo Lovelace Sr.’s piece Stand and be Counted. Born in 1960 in Cleveland’s often brutal inner city, Lovelace was enamored withdrawing from a young age, and sought a way to escape the cycle of poverty through his art. Lovelace was accepted to the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1985, but was only able to complete a year and a half of his degree before the financial pressures of paying his way through art school while raising his young children as a single father took their toll. Discouraged, but never dissuaded from pursuing his dream, Lovelace finally found his voice through using painting to depict the harsh circumstances of inner city life in a singular folk-art inspired style that lends a whimsy and innocence to his painting’s often harsh subject matter. Lovelace has gone on to many successes, including having works of art in the collections of the Cleveland Clinic, Progressive Insurance and the Western Reserve Artist Archives. His paintings have been exhibited in Baltimore, Chicago, New York and throughout Ohio, and in 2015 he received the Cleveland Arts Prize, adding to multiple other awards and fellowships he has received throughout his career. Stand and Be Counted is a large acrylic on canvas painting depicting in intricate detail a crowd of hundreds led by then candidate Barack Obama, a delightful yet sobering reminder in our current political era of the optimism and excitement that accompanied the election of the first African-American president.
Up next are several works by renowned artist and scholar David Clyde Driskell (b. 1931), professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, College Park and perhaps one of the people most responsible for bringing attention to African-American artwork in the late 20th century. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, as the son of a Baptist minister and the grandson of a slave, Driskell’s work was informed by his sense of family, community, and roots from an early age. After marrying Thelma G. Deloatch, Driskell went north to study in Maine at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. In 1955 he earned his bachelor’s degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1962, while serving in the U.S. Army, he earned an M.F.A. from the Catholic University of America, also in Washington, D.C. Later, he studied at the Netherlands Institute for the History of Art in The Hague. Beginning as a painter of nature scenes, since the late eighties Driskell has worked primarily in collage and encaustics, often melding multiple disciplines in creating his evocative collages. He has been one of the foremost scholars of African-American art and folk tradition, publishing a number of books and essays on the subject as well as a documentary film for the BBC in 1990 called Hidden Heritage: The Roots of Black American Painting. In 2000, Driskell was honored by President Bill Clinton as one of 12 recipients of the National Humanities Medal. This month we have four of his works up for auction, including Lot 3 Mythic Door, Lot 4 Magic Temple, Lot 5 Sweet Treat, and Lot 6 Untitled.
Evangeline (EJ) Montgomery (b. 1933) is another seminal figure in the development of African-American art. Born in New York City in 1933, she began painting as a child and her first job after high school was painting faces on dolls and religious statues. In the mid-fifties she studied with local craftsmen in Los Angeles including African American jewelry designer Thomas Usher. After she received her college and BFA degrees, she began a long career as a curator, a platform she used tirelessly to fight for greater representation of African American artists. Appointed as an Ethnic Art Consultant at the Oakland Museum, Montgomery successfully organized eight exhibitions of established and emerging Black artists, including a 1971 retrospective of African American sculptor Sargent Johnson (1887-1967) and a 1970 exhibition on California Black Craftsmen. Now located in DC, Montgomery has continued as a tireless advocate for black artists through her work with the State Department’s Arts America program. Montgomery initially came to prominence as a metalworker, known in particular for her worked ancestral boxes “meant to hold something precious”. After becoming afflicted with Parkinson’s disease in her late career, Montgomery has turned her attention to printmaking, and the nine pieces up for auction this month at Gray’s date from this later period, including Lot 12 Caribbean Dream, Lot 13 Highland Flowers, Lot 14 Highland Pinecones, Lot 15 Celebration II, Lot 16 Soul Flowers, Lot 17 Butterflies 2, Lot 18 Celestial Moments, Lot 19 Serenity I, and a set of three monoprint etchings in Lot 20 including Leaf 2009, Wall Design 2009, and Woman 1968.
Shirley Woodson Reid (b. 1936) is yet another influential artist, educator, and scholar based in Detroit. An art education professor at Wayne State University from 1996 to 2000, Reid started serving as art education supervisor for the Detroit Public Schools in 1992. She also served as director of the Pyramid Art Gallery from 1979 to 1980. Since the seventies, Reid has been one of Detroit’s most prominent art historians, and has served on the board of numerous arts associations, including as President of the Michigan Chapter of the National Conference of Artists, a position she was elected to in 1997. Reid’s paintings of African American life are a part of 22 collections housed by the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Museum of the National Center for Afro American Artists (Boston), Detroit Edison, the Toledo Art Commission, Florida A&M University and Seagram’s. A series of four of her paintings entitled the Earth Angels Series are available for auction in Lot 7. With a deft use of contrast and texture, the series consists of four blindfolded portraits of various figures, each otherworldly, resolute, and yet suggesting vulnerability.
Also included in our African American collection this month are a series of three vibrant abstract works by Detroit artist Robbie Best (Lot 9 Untitled 2, Lot 10 Untitled 3, and Lot 11 Untitled 6) as well a splendid watercolor portrait in Lot 8 called Janis with Flowers by longtime Illinois based artist Mary Reed Daniel (b. 1946). In addition to the pieces by African-American artists, some highlights of the nearly 200 pieces of fine art in this auction include Lot 22, a bold and surreal Self-Portrait by Cleveland painter Scott Miller (1955-2008), Lot 21, a 1961 pencil sketch called Woman Baby Boots by Inuit artist Sharni Pootougook (1922-2003), and Lot 178, an exquisite bronze Standing Female Nude by the seminal German sculptor Marg Moll (1884-1977), whose surviving oeuvre represents only a fraction of her total output after much of it was destroyed by the Nazis. We are also featuring a voluminous collection of contemporary fine art prints from the K-Mart corporate collection.
This month’s auction also includes 76 lots of Asian artworks and decorative pieces, including a gorgeous Chinese Carved Black Opal Snuff Bottle in Lot 248 that catches the light with a dazzling turquoise gradient, and Lot 249, a Chinese Export Silver Figure of Shouxing, the god of human longevity and one of the Sanxing or “Three Stars” of Chinese folklore along with Fuxing, the god of prosperity, and Luxing, the god of status. If you missed last month’s Asian-themed auction or are looking for more items to complement your collection, there’s an abundance still to explore.
While artworks make up the bulk of the October 10th auction, we would be remiss if we did not mention some highlights from the huge jewelry collection being featured this month, including Lot 210: a Platinum, Diamond, and Emerald ring set with one round brilliant cut, fancy yellow diamond weighing approx. 5.18cts, with a VVS2 clarity and natural fancy yellow even color, and also set with ten full-cut diamonds weighing approx. 1.20ctw, with a VS clarity and G-H color; two emerald cut diamonds weighing approx. 0.80ctw, with a SI-1 clarity and H-I color; and two emerald cut natural green emeralds weighing approx. 1.00ctw with a fine color and clarity. Lot 211 is a 14 kt. Yellow Gold, Platinum, and Diamond ring set with one brilliant round cut diamond weighing approx. 1.36cts, with a SI-2 clarity and D-E color, and also set with ten princess cut natural diamond melee, total approx. weight 0.65ct, all SI clarity and near colorless. Other fabulous jewelry pieces are Lot 202: a 14kt. White Gold and Diamond Drop Pendant necklace, and Lot 204: A 14kt. White Gold, Diamond, and Ruby bracelet. All of these above include GIA reports. In addition to these stunning pieces, there are a variety of other beautiful necklaces, earrings, rings, pendants, pins, and brooches up for auction.
Other highlights of the auction include Lot 331: A Set of Four German Rococo Style .800 Silver and Gilt Pepper Shakers and Salt Cellars, ca. 1900, Lot 398: a gorgeous deep blue Mashad Wool Rug, Lot 465: A Mother of Pearl Yamaha Apx-20 Electro-Acoustic guitar, Lot 466: A Miscellaneous Collection of Country Music Stars Fan Club Autographs and Photographs, and Lot 467: A Gibson Mastertone RB-250 Five String Banjo. If your interest is piqued, you can view the full auction catalogue.
Gray’s is open for in-person preview October 4th-10th; Monday-Friday 10am – 5pm, Saturday 12noon – 4pm. The auction starts at 11am EST on Wednesday, October 10th with live bidding available at GraysAuctioneers.com. The fully illustrated catalog is now online at GraysAuctioneers.com.
On September 12th, Gray's will be auctioning the private collection of the late Ronald J. DiCenzo, Professor Emeritus of History and East Asian Studies at Oberlin College, Ohio. DiCenzo was a beloved and integral member of the Oberlin faculty from his first arrival in 1972 through to his retirement in 2005. Born in Lackawanna, N.Y. to Frank and Margaret DiCenzo in 1939, DiCenzo began his distinguished academic career as an undergraduate at Canisius College in Buffalo before pursuing his graduate studies, first at the University of Kansas, then the University of Hawaii, and finally at Princeton, where he received his Ph.D. in Japanese history in 1978. As part of his studies, DiCenzo spent several years in Japan during the 1960s, where he first began collecting the wide variety of beautiful antiques now up for auction. As part of the Oberlin faculty, he galvanized student interest in Japan on campus just as it was rising as an economic and cultural superpower in the mid-1970s. DiCenzo went on to help Oberlin College affiliate with the newly-formed Associated Kyoto Program consortium of colleges in the U.S., through which he sent scores of students for study-abroad in Japan. DiCenzo passed away on November 4th, 2017, but his academic legacy, and enthusiasm for Japanese culture, and Asian culture more broadly, are brilliantly displayed through his magnificent collection of fine decorations and furniture now up for auction at Gray's.
Lot 307 contains a beautiful watercolor and ink scroll by early 20th century Chinese caligraphy artist Pu Jian (1893-1966) (also romanized as Pu Jin). A member of the Manchu imperial family and a cousin of the last emperor of China, Pu Jian was part of an elite Beijing painting circle known as the Songfeng huahui, or the Pine Breeze Painting Society, distinguished from other painting circles by the fact that most of its members were relatives of the Imperial family. Pu Jian lived through perhaps the most tumultuous period of modern Chinese history, surviving not only the fall of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) from which he drew his lineage in the Xinhai Revolution, but the period of brutal Japanese imperial domination that spanned the two World Wars, as well as the Chinese Civil War and the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 with its disastrous Great Leap Forward. Pu Jian's surviving works demonstrate his devotion to traditional Chinese painting and crafts in the face of all this tumult, displaying the resilience of one of the world's oldest cultural traditions in a century of bloody upheaval. The scroll, entitled Scholar in a Landscape depicts a Confucian scholar and his attendant traversing a bridge by a waterfall, surround by dense foliage depicted vividly in the traditional style practiced by Pu and his contemporaries in the Songfeng huahui.
Lot 398 is a large Japanese burled elm wood Tansu chest with brass mounts from the 20th Century. A style of mobile storage cabinetry originating in Japan's Edo Period, Tansu are specifically designed to be mobile and easily moved out of sight of visitors in order to maintain the minimalist aesthetic of traditional Japanese décor. The name is derived from the two characters tan and su, which refer to the storage of food and the carrying of firewood respectively. A longtime fixture of Japanese homes, large size cabinets such as the one up for auction are designed to be disassembled into smaller pieces for easy relocation. Anyone who has thrown their back out moving a heavy cabinet during a rushed move can attest to the elegance of the Japanese solution to this problem.
Another lot of interest is Lot 15, a pair of Chinese “Foo Dog” roof tile finials. While erroneously known as “Foo Dogs” in the West, the mythical creatures depicted in these finials and many other pieces of traditional Chinese art and sculpture are actually lions. These guardian figures have long been a fixture of Imperial Chinese heraldry, ceramics, and architecture, dating back at least as far as the Han Dynasty in the sixth century AD. They were traditionally placed in front of Chinese Imperial palaces, government buildings, temples, and the homes of the wealthy, and were believed to bestow a sacred protective power. The lions are nearly always depicted in pairs, as seen here, with a male lion leaning its paw on an embroidered ball representing Chinese Imperial supremacy over the Earth, and a female lion, sometimes with a cub playfully hanging on its back to represent nurture. While the guardian lions have long been a fixture of Chinese culture and can even be seen in Chinatowns in the US today, their appearance and design have varied quite a bit throughout different periods of Chinese history, with these particular lions dating to the Qing dynasty.
The Far East has long been known for some of the finest ceramic and metal works in the world, which make up the bulk of this month's auction. Leading off the auction this month are a collection of Chinese Blanc de Chine ceramic figures. Known to the Chinese as Dehua porcelain, this style of porcelain production dates back to the Ming Dynasty, and is produced in the town of Dehua in the Fujian province. First exported to Europe in the early 18th century, these ceramics became internationally popular for their uniquely pure ivory tone, which results from a special kilning process which removes nearly all traces of Iron Oxide from the raw porcelain, preventing any discoloration. Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 are Blanc de Chine figures of Guanyin, one of the most sacred bodhisvattas of Chinese religion and folklore. Lot 9 is a large singular male “Foo Dog”. Lot 10 is two smaller male Foo Dogs together with a Guanyin, Lot 11 is a matched pair of male and female Foo Dogs, Lot 12 is a collection of six smaller Blanc De Chine decorative items, including Guanyin, Budai or the “Laughing Buddha”, Gautama Buddha, and small lidded bowl. Lot 13 is a 9'' Blanc de Chine vase depicting mythical creatures in relief.
Beyond Blanc de Chine, the wide variety of other fine porcelain objects and decorations up for auction is simply astounding. Lot 96 is a Chinese Blue and White porcelain basin, Lot 65 is two palace sized Blue and White porcelain vases, Lot 110 is a large Chinese archaic style storage vessel, Lot 114 is two large porcelain vases depicting birds resting among flowered branches. Famille jaune, noire, rose, verte are French terms commonly used to classify Chinese porcelain by the dominant element in its color palette. Lot 20 is a Famille Jaune porcelain vas, Lot 28 is two Famille Rose porcelain vases, Lot 24 is a pair of Famille Jaune fishbowls, Lot 26 is a Famille Verte vase. Lot 18 is a pair of eye-popping high relief vases. A number of Japanese ceramic objects are also up for auction, including Lot 437, a Japanese Imari porcelain lidded jar, and Lot 467, two blue and white Japanese Porcelain vases.
Another uniquely Chinese approach to decorative crafts is the art of Cloisonné ,a technique for affixing gemstones, colored glass, or vitreous enamel to metalwork objects. While the technique is believed to have originally been developed in the Byzantine empire, it had spread to China by the early 14th century, where it was perfected in the form best known today. Metal works such as pottery and figurines are smelted with compartments built in, to which pieces of colored enamel are later attached with thin gold or silver wires and then fused together in a kiln. The resulting objects are sturdy and colorful, combining the long term resilience of ceramics with the pictorial vibrancy of stained glass or painted sculpture. There are over 30 lots of Cloisonné objects up for auction this month, with some particular highlights being a large temple size censer in Lot 255, two large pedestals in Lot 262, two incense burners in Lot 261, two smaller wood and Cloisonné pedestals in Lot 263, a pair of large vases in Lot 264, and a pair of double gourd vases in Lot 265.
In addition to ceramic and metal works, a number of finely detailed carved wood and stone items are also up for auction, including Lot 214, a carved hard stone landscape depicting a number of figures huddled around a cliff side temple beneath a tree. The detail work and color of this object are exquisite. Lot 238 is a pair of carved elm architectural brackets, depicting the fearsome visages of a dragon clutching an embroidered ball, yet another example of magnificent craftsmanship. Lot 372 is a large carved hardwood drum depicting another dragon, Lot 208 is a set of six brilliantly carved hard stone figurines, Lot 342 is a carved and gilt lacquered plaque depicting birds resting among a dense thicket of floral plants, while Lot 343 is a similar gilt and lacquered wooden plaque, this one depicting an aquatic scene of fish and squid surrounding a waterside shrine.
We've only barely scratched the surface of the wide variety of objects up for auction, as Dr. DiCenzo's collection was perhaps one of the most extensive in Ohio. While most of the lots mentioned thus far are Chinese in origin, there are a wide variety of Japanese artifacts as well, such as the set of 12 woodblock prints in Lot 336 or the authentic Katana with Saya in Lot 405. Any enthusiast of East Asian culture, craftsmanship and décor will be sure to appreciate the over 500 lots in this auction, and you can view the full catalog now.
Gray’s is open for in-person preview September 6 - 12; Monday-Friday 10am – 5pm, Saturday 12noon – 4pm; or by appointment. The auction starts at 10am EST on Wednesday, September 12th with live bidding available at GraysAuctioneers.com. The fully illustrated catalog is available online now at GraysAuctioneers.com.
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