Christie’s Americana Week
January 18-20
www.christies.com/americanaweek
+1 646-291-2224

NEW YORK CITY — Christie’s has announced its Americana Week 2023 lineup, which will include four live auctions January 18-20. It will begin on January 18 with the Outsider and Vernacular Art auction, highlighting artistic pioneers from Henry Darger to Bill Traylor, in addition to substantial works by Thornton Dial offered in “Things Grow in the United States: Works from the Collection of Jane Fonda,” a group of 14 objects. The group of artwork consists of paintings, sculptures, drawings and assemblages by Thornton Dial, Arthur Dial and Thornton Dial Jr. The group is being sold with thanks to the Fine Art Group.

Fonda is an avid collector and champion of the Dials’ art. She is on the board of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation & Community Partnership, an organization dedicated to promoting the work of Black artists from the American South and supporting their communities by fostering economic empowerment, racial and social justice, and educational advancement. Representing two generations of Southern Vernacular artists, the artworks in the sale include both figurative and abstract examples, addressing a range of historical and sociopolitical issues.

Jane Fonda comments, “When you look at the artwork made by these talented men and women from the American South, you see that it’s truly great, it’s truly original, it’s truly American. We cannot allow racism and discrimination to keep this art from being included in our national family of artwork, which it has been for far too long. Found objects are a tradition of Twentieth Century art. It’s Marcel Duchamp, his conversion of urinals into a so-called fountain, all the way to my friend Bob Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns — it’s not unique to these artists of the South. Dial used found objects in his environment, which I think is just so beautiful. He gave discarded things a second life, brilliantly repurposing material with an impact that very few artists ever had.”

Cara Zimmerman, head of Outsider Art at Christie’s, comments, “We are honored to offer works by these important artists in our upcoming January auction during Americana Week. The pieces proffer, through subject matter and media, an intensely powerful look into their creators’ experiences as Black artists in the American South. Works by Dial family members are now held in many museum collections, and their increasing presence in the American art historical canon is long overdue.”

The sale is led by two dynamic assemblages by Thornton Dial, each estimated to achieve $50/100,000. Dial was a groundbreaking American artist who has become known over the last four decades for his massive work comprising found and repurposed materials. His practice investigates a wide range of poignant topics, including social justice and human rights. Dial’s artworks have been acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and other important institutions.

Next up, on January 19, will be “From Peale to Peto: American Masters from the Pollack Collection,” which spotlights the exemplary still life paintings and portraiture of the Peale family’s artistic dynasty. Explore the immense continent as Western art by Frederic Remington and Albert Bierstadt leads into Hudson River School landscapes by Martin Johnson Heade and Thomas Moran at a various-owners Nineteenth Century American Art auction, also on January 19.

“Important Americana” is the cornerstone of Christie’s Americana Week and will take place on January 20. A previously unpublished portrait of George Washington illustrates the masterful talents of early America’s premier artist, Gilbert Stuart. Displaying the height of colonial craftsmanship, the furniture offerings include an extraordinary offering of Chippendale furniture, highlighted by a magnificent pair of Chippendale side chairs attributed to John Townsend of Newport. The varied folk art section features an exceptional Liberty weathervane, cigar store and carousel figures and New England portraits. Highlights include portraits by John Brewster Jr, Ammi Phillips, the Beardsley Limner and as seen left, Sturtevant J. Hamblin. This season’s American silver selection includes a number of beautiful works by Gorham and by Tiffany & Co., such as a silver and mixed-metal water pitcher, as well as important examples of Colonial American silver.

Christie’s is at 20 Rockefeller Plaza. For information, 212-636-2000 or www.christies.com.