RELEASE | Americana Week at Christie's
New York – Christie’s is pleased to announce Americana at Christie’s New York, a series of live and online auctions, viewings and events, from September 17-22. The week includes sales across American Art, American Furniture, Silver Outsider and Folk Art and features The Private Collection of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan. Works in all auctions will be on public exhibition starting September 17 at Rockefeller Center.
Americana at Christie’s New York embraces the patriotic spirit behind American furniture, folk art and silver and blends that energy with innovative outsider art. Highlights include a sword owned by Benjamin Franklin, Tiffany & Co. and Gorham silver, a sculpture from Outsider Art star William Edmondson and two pieces by the renowned self-taught artist Sam Doyle. The pulse quickens with the auction of The Private Collection of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan, which encompasses furniture, decorative pieces, books, memorabilia, jewelry and artworks from the Reagan’s Los Angeles home, opening a window into the legacy of an iconic president. In all, the September 2016 Americana auctions at Christie’s will offer over 952 lots and is expected to realize upwards of $8.5 million.
Auction Details:
ONLINE AUCTIONS
American Art | Online | 16 September – 22 September 2016
The Private Collection of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan | Online | 19 September – 28 September 2016
LIVE AUCTIONS
Important American Furniture, Silver, Outsider and Folk Art | 20 September 2016 | 2pm
The Private Collection of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan | 21 September – 22 September 2016
Preview:
Christie’s Galleries 20 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10020
September 17-21, 2016
American Art | Sept. 16-22 | Online
The multi-sale event begins with the online sale of American Art from September 16-22, which will include works by Andrew Wyeth, Norman Rockwell, Milton Avery, Thomas Hart Benton, William Merritt Chase and Childe Hassam, among many other notable artists. Comprised of 104 lots, the sale represents a breadth of genres within American art, such as Hudson River School, Impressionism, Modernism, Western, Illustration and Sporting art. With estimates starting at $3,000, this mid-season sale offers many accessible price points for collectors.
The auction includes many works from significant private collections, including Wind River Mountains—Indians Chasing Deer by Alfred Jacob Miller, which is being sold from an Important Baltimore Collection and has been in the same family since it was painted in 1853 (estimate: $100,000-150,000). The sale shows the variety within the American Art collecting category, with highlights including five works by Andrew Wyeth, a collection of Sporting Art from the Collection of Kate Webb Harris from Shelburne, Vermont, a group of Western art from the Collection of Lois and Harry Horvitz, and a private distinguished collection of classic 19th Century American Art. The sale also features works deaccessioned from museums to benefit future acquisitions including the Bass Museum of Art, the Honolulu Museum of Art, and the Seattle Museum of Art, among others.
Important American Furniture, Silver, Outsider and Folk Art | Sept. 20 | 2pm
Christie’s sale of Important American Furniture, Silver, Outsider and Folk Art will present nearly 150 lots from the 17th through 21st centuries.
Leading the sale is The Benjamin Franklin Silver-Hilted Small Sword (estimate: $200,000-300,000), which once belonged to America’s foremost statesman Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). Franklin was a key figure and signatory to the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and the United States Constitution in 1787 and stands as the only figure to have signed all of the most crucial documents relating to the founding of America. During his nine years in France, Franklin also won over the hearts and minds of the French people, including Pierre Jean Georges Cabanis (1757-1808), to whom Franklin gifted this sword. It has remained in Cabanis’ family until now.
Another highlight is A Monumental Carved, Painted and Polychrome-Decorated Spreadwing Eagle (estimate: $100,000-150,000) attributed to Wilhelm Schimmel (1817-1890). Large in scale, the work exemplifies Schimmel’s masterful paint-decorated animals, which he carved in exchange for room and board from families around Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He fashioned lions, roosters, dogs and other figures, but his most successful sculptures are majestic spreadwing eagles. The example offered here is a monumental work, exceptional for its extremely rare large scale, crisp carving and elongated, delicate form. Continuing the eagle motif is A Pair of Classical Carved Mahogany Eagle-Based Card Tables (estimate: $40,000-80,000), highly unusual in their motif and expertly carved. Both of these objects come from the Warner Foundation, which was originally compiled by the noted and highly regarded collector Jack Warner of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The sale also includes a selection of Aesthetic and Renaissance Revival material from a Distinguished American Collection.
Also featured in the auction is a robust and dynamic selection of Outsider Art, led by a spectacular limestone sculpture titled Critter (estimate: $50,000-150,000) by William Edmondson (1874-1951), large scale mixed-media constructions by Thornton Dial (1928-2016), and works by iconic African-American artists Sam Doyle (1906-1985) and Bill Traylor (1854-1949) among others.
The sale closes with a selection of silver, led by a Tiffany & Co. American silver water pitcher made for the Paris Exposition in 1900 (estimate: $15,000-25,000). A fine selection of works of Gorham Martele and Tiffany Chrysanthemum round out the offering.
The Private Collection of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan | Sept. 21-22 | 10am
This landmark Collection will be on view at Christie’s New York September 17 to 20 and is slated for sale September 21 and 22, with live and online components, to coincide with Americana auctions at Christie’s.
Among the iconic objects included in the sale is A Signed Fragment of the Berlin Wall, an evocative relic symbolizing one of President Reagan’s greatest foreign policy achievements (estimate: $10,000-20,000). Other featured objects emblematic of the ‘Reagan Era,’ include President Ronald Reagan’s Cowboy Boots by Tony Lama, a gift from Western actor Rex Allen (estimate: $10,000-20,000); A Series of Personal Doodles by President Ronald Reagan on White House Stationary (estimate: $2,500-3,500); and An Official NFL Wilson Football, Signed and Inscribed, “Win One For the Gipper Ronald Reagan,” (estimate: $5,000-10,000).
The sale also encompasses furniture and decorative works supplied by William (Billy) Haines Inc., in the ‘Hollywood Regency’ style, jewelry and handbags from Mrs. Reagan’s collection, books with personal dedications, presidential mementos, and fine art from the Reagan’s home in Los Angeles. Many of these objects were used by the President and First Lady during their time in the White House and are designated as such with a green label.
Per the Reagans’ wishes, proceeds from the Collection sale are designated for The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. There are over 700 lots with estimates on individual items ranging from under $1,000 up to $50,000, and the auctions are expected to realize in excess of $2 million total. Full release is available here.