Gray’s Auctioneers has posted the results of sale for the life’s work and collection of a previously unknown, self-taught Cleveland artist, Ronald Carvell Meaux, whose introduction to the art market sparked international interest and fiercely competitive bidding at Gray’s June 27 fine furniture, paintings & decorative arts auction.
Sold in group lots, Meaux’s portfolio of imagery secured hammer prices that well exceeded estimates and expectations for this previously unknown artist, totaling more than $10,000. Meaux’s lyrical abstractions express the pathos of an embattled, homosexual, African American man struggling with his identity in a Midwestern city in the 1960s. Featuring such titles as “Bacchanale with Telepathic Window” and “The Metamorphosis and Influence of an Ancient Demi-God” or “Aphrodite Feigning Virginity, Summer 1965,” his dynamically expressive paintings and works on paper are a revelation of the artist’s personal demons.
Born in 1945, Meaux died in a state of total reclusion in 2012, with neither friends nor family to take on his final expenses. Gray’s is currently working with the consignor and local authorities to see that the proceeds from the artist’s exceptional auction performance are used to finally and properly put Meaux’s body to rest, bringing dignity to the passing of this Cleveland artist.
For additional information, www.graysauctioneers.com or 216-458-7695.
