The Arader Galleries this month continue to explore the relationship between the retailing of important images in their shops and their selling of them at auction. The entire category of collectibles is in transition and the firm, the leading dealer in the printed images field, testing the dividing line between these two very different markets. Interest in their material, Audubon and other exceptional prints, is unabated but increasingly buyers are looking for market confirmation for the prices they pay.
To manage this shift Mr. Arader has been offering, in a series of auctions, material with high estimates of $10,000 and less on an unreserved basis. This has made it possible for conservative bidders to acquire very nice lots at very affordable prices. It has also acquainted them with the Arader Galleries and opened paths for the firm to become, for these buyers, a regular source for many of the more expensive prints that rarely pass through the rooms. It is a remarkable effort.
Illustrating this story are 10 of the lots that will be sold without reserve. On most AE pages the Arader Galleries have also posted images, brief descriptions and links to other lots, in many cases more expensive lots. The education that Mr. Arader is getting is not tuition free and he has prepared himself for the possibility of occasionally losing money on lots in exchange for the clarification such sales provide.
For bidders, with the holidays at hand, it looks like Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are arriving early. If so, we now know that Santa lives in Pennsylvania.
The firm describes the sale this way:
‘A superb exhibition of nearly one third of the original hand-coloured aquatints from John James Audubon's magnificent double-elephant folio "The Birds of America", the single most important work on North American ornithology; about half of the original hand-colored lithographs from his Imperial folio "The Viviparous Quadrupeds", the first great all-American color-plate book; and some beautiful original watercolors on vellum from Pierre-Joseph Redoute's magnum opus "Les Liliacees." All are currently on view at the Gallery at 1016 Madison Ave., NYC, NY 10021.’
The sale is on the 9th beginning at 1:00 pm at 1016 Madison Avenue in New York. On the 8th, at 6:00 pm, Barney Lipscomb, the Leonhardt Chair of Texas Botany at the Botanical Research Institute Texas is giving an illustrated lecture “Art and Science: A Botanist’s Eye: Redoute and the Art of Floral Illustration.” The public is invited.
To arrange to view lots in person or to learn about bidding options contact:
The Arader Gallery
1016 Madison Avenue [bet. 78th and 79th]
New York, New York 10021
View the entire sale on Live Auctioneers and on Proxibid
Arrange to Visit: call 212-628-7625
Arrange to bid: Please contact Guernsey’s Auctioneers at 212-794-2280
Personally discuss your collecting interests with Graham Arader: 212- 628-3668
Descriptions for the numbered images accompanying this article.
Lot 12
John James Audubon
Red-tailed Hawk
Plate 51
Aquatint engraving with original hand color
37 5/8 x 25 ¼ inches
Retail price: $17,500
Estimate $4,000-5,000
No Reserve
Lot 13
John James Audubon
Chuck Will’s Widow
Plate 52
Aquatint engraving with original hand color
25 3/8 x 37 3/8 inches
Retail price: $25,000
Estimate: $6,000-8,000
No Reserve
Lot 90
John James Audubon
Ruddy Duck
Plate 343
Aquatint engraving with original hand color
38 1/8 x 26 5/8 inches
Retail price: $18,000
Estimate: $4,000-6,000
No Reserve
Lot 106
John James Audubon
Snow Goose
Plate 381
Aquatint engraving with original hand color
38 1/8 x 25 ¼ inches
Retail price: $18,000
Estimate: $5,000-7,000
No Reserve
Lot 113
John James Audubon
Red-breasted Merganser
Plate 401
Aquatint engraving with original hand color
38 ½ x 25 inches
Retail price: $45,000
Estimate: $7,000-10,000
No Reserve
Lot 140
John James Audubon
Canada Porcupine
Plate 36
Hand colored lithograph
21 ½ x 27 ¼ inches
Retail price: $14,000
Estimate: $3,000-5,000
No Reserve
Lot 169
John James Audubon
Common American Deer (Fawn)
Plate 81
Hand colored lithograph
21 x 27 1/8 inches
Retail price: $25,000
Estimate: $6,000-10,000
No Reserve
Lot 206
John James Audubon
American Black Bear
Plate 141
Hand-colored lithograph
20 ½ x 26 5/8 inches
Retail price: $22,500
Estimate: $7,000-8,000
No Reserve
Lot 221
Charles Lucien Bonaparte
American Ornithology; or, the Natural History of Birds Inhabiting the United States not Given by Wilson. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Carey; Carey & Lea, 1825-1833.
4 volumes
Folio (15 2/8 x 12 inches)
27 fine hand-colored engraved plates
Retail price: $13,750
Estimate: $8,000-10,000
No Reserve
Lot 256
George Brookshaw
Plate LXI-Grape Lady Bathurst Tokay, from Pomona Brittanica
Stipple engraving
Single sheet: 18 x 22 ½ inches
Image size: 13 ¼ x 17 inches
Retail price: $7,000
Estimate: $1,000-2,000
No Reserve
