COWAN'S AUCTIONS MARCH 9 FINE AND DECORATIVE ART AUCTION TO HIGHLIGHT IMPORTANT KENTUCKY PAINTINGS BY PAUL SAWYIER
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Evan Sikes, Director of Marketing Communications
evan@cowans.com
513.871.1670 ext.30
COWAN'S AUCTIONS MARCH 9 FINE AND DECORATIVE ART AUCTION TO HIGHLIGHT IMPORTANT KENTUCKY PAINTINGS BY PAUL SAWYIER
CINCINNATI, OH—February 11, 2013—Cowan's Auctions Fine and Decorative Art Auction will take place on March 9, 2013. This 842-lot sale will feature important works from the Humphreys-Rayburn Collection of Kentucky paintings. The collection is the most widely exhibited collection of Kentucky paintings in private hands. Works from the collection have been exhibited at the Governor's Mansion in Frankfort, Kentucky, the Northern Kentucky University Art Gallery, the Owensboro Museum of Art, and the University of Kentucky Art Museum. The collection has been well documented in publications and includes major works by Kentucky artists, notably Paul Sawyier (1865-1917).
"We are privileged to offer some important examples from the Humphreys-Rayburn Collection," notes Graydon Sikes, Director, Paintings and Prints. "It is very well known regionally, and it was only natural that these paintings would be sold at Cowan's."
Featured in the auction is Paul Sawyier's The Kentucky Arsenal, a rare oil canvas estimated to sell for $50,000/75,000. Previous examples of Sawyier's work have sold well above their pre-auction estimates at Cowan's. Three other works by Sawyier are estimated to each sell for $20,000/30,000. "Sawyier was primarily known for his watercolors while painting in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Later, when Sawyier made a move to New York, by way of Brooklyn initially, and eventually to Fleischmann's, he became more interested in oil as a medium," remarks Graydon Sikes. "From personal correspondence, we know that Sawyier began touting his abilities in oil to his existing customers back in Kentucky. He died only a few years after arriving in New York, and as a result, his oil paintings rarely surface on the market."
The auction will also include other fine works by Kentucky and Cincinnati artists including Frank Duveneck, Henry Farny, Henry Faulkner, E.T. Hurley, Harvey Joiner, and Joseph Henry Sharp.
Other exceptional paintings highlighted in the sale include a Street View by William Zorach, estimated to bring $10,000/15,000, a work titled Nude at the Seashore by Joseph Henry Sharp is estimated at $5,000/10,000, and an important watercolor attributed to William Bartram, American naturalist, is expected to sell for $3,000/5,000.
An outstanding Regina Standing Music Box will hit the auction block in the March 9 sale. Estimated at $9,000/12,000, the music box dates to the late 19th century.
Furniture will also be featured in the auction. A Pennsylvania Chippendale Secretary Bookcase is estimated at $6,000/8,000. A Newport Chippendale Drop-Leaf Table is expected to bring $4,000/8,000, and a Kentucky Inlaid Cherry Corner Cupboard by William Douglass is expected to fetch $4,000/6,000.
Cowan's will offer a number of Tiffany items in the March 9 auction. A set of Favrile Sherbets is estimated at $3,000/5,000, a Studios Floor Lamp and a Favrile Punch Bowl are also expected to sell anywhere between $3,000/5,000.
In addition, the sale will include fine groupings of furniture; silver, ceramics, folk art and Chinese export ware. To view this and other sales catalogs, please visit www.cowans.com. If you have questions about this sale or consigning an item with Cowan's, please email decarts@cowans.com or call 513-871-1670.
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