Clars – Lux Jewels & Timepieces, Modern & Contemporary Fine Art Auction
November 16th – 18th
16th Luxury Jewels & Timepieces – 9:30am PST
16th Modern + Contemporary Fine Art – 2pm PST
www.clars.com
5644 Telegraph Ave. Oakland, CA 94609

OAKLAND, CALIF. — Clars will host its luxury, jewels and timepieces auction on Thursday, November 16, beginning at 9:30 am Pacific time. The sale includes a selection of diamond, colored gemstone, antique and signed jewelry.

The sale is highlighted by a selection of diamonds, which includes a diamond and platinum rivière necklace ($25/35,000); a diamond and 18K white gold ring ($15/25,000); a diamond and platinum bracelet ($4/6,000).

Complementing the auction will be gemstones, including, a Colombian emerald, diamond and 18K white gold ring ($3,5/4,500); a pair of diamond studs with jadeite jade and 18K gold jackets ($3/5,000); a cultured pearl and 18K gold necklace, Mikimoto ($1,5/2,500).

Makers such as Tiffany are represented with, a carnelian and 18K gold cuff, Sonia Younis for Tiffany & Co, circa 1973 ($3/5,000), as well as an 18K gold knot necklace, Tiffany & Co. ($3/5,000).

A collection of jewelry by Arthur King, including a coral, diamond and 18K gold clip brooch will cross the block. Angela Cummings is represented in an aquamarine, diamond and platinum necklace,1999 ($1/1,500).

Also leading the sale is a selection of timepieces led by a Patek Philippe & Co. Swiss 18K gold wristwatch, Ref. 3257 ($1,5/2,500); a Tiffany & Co. Swiss 18K gold and diamond “Vannerie” wristwatch ($2/4,000); a Cartier 18K gold “Tank Louis” wristwatch, Ref. 2442 ($2/3,000).

Day 2, November 17, at 9:30 am, features interiors and design.

In fine art, the sale offers a selection of highlights showcasing the American landscape. One standout is a large oil painting by American artist Joseph Rusling Meeker titled “Bayou Barbary – Near Lake Maurepas, Louisiana.” Meeker was well-known for his depictions of Louisiana swampland, and his work is regarded as a great example of American Luminism, which focused on the effects of light on landscapes. The piece in this month’s auction shows the bayou with a large cypress tree in the foreground, Spanish moss hanging from its branches.

Also featured in the Friday sale is an oil painting by Utah artist Kirk Randle. This large-scale narrative piece shows a group of Native American men on horseback, riding over the snowy ground, with teepees and trees in the middle ground and the moon glowing over mountains far in the distance. An oil by California Impressionist Samuel Hyde Harris depicts a familiar view of green farmland with a house in the background and a large tree in focus, its branches full with leaves.

A diverse collection of decorative arts and furniture from the Eighteenth to Twentieth Centuries highlights a wide range of items, from sterling silver, Meissen porcelain and Steuben glass. The variety continues with a NY Giants Baseball Club sterling season pass, Hawaiian poi bowl, Wooly mammoth tusk and Bronze Age fragments. Contemporary furniture from a St Helena cult winery rounds out the selection.

Day 3, November 18, at 9:30 am is devoted to art, furniture and Asian material. The Saturday sale offers works by notable artists. Included are several paintings by California Modernist Helen Dunham, whose color-and-line compositions evoke the playfulness of Paul Klee, a mixed-media portrait by Arthur Secunda that transforms stones into facial features and a series of prints by American Pop artist Red Grooms consisting of portraits of Nineteenth Century artists. Also included in the sale are prints by Native American artists from the Pacific Northwest, bronze and composite figural sculptures, a variety of California landscape paintings and more.

Asian art will present an array of works of art and decorations from China, Japan and the Himalayas. Some of the highlights from the sale include a Japanese red coral carving of the lucky god Jurogin, a Nineteenth Century Chinese export gilt-lacquered desk and several lots of Chinese export porcelains spanning the period of late Ming dynasty to the late Qing dynasty. There is also a group of antique and decorative Tibetan bronze Buddhist statues and figures on offer.

Previews are Wednesday November 15, 1 to 5 pm.

Clars Auction Gallery is at 5644 Telegraph Avenue. For information, www.clars.com or 510-428-0100.

OAKLAND, CALIF. — On November 16, Clars Auction Gallery will present several special works in its dedicated Modern and contemporary art sale. For the first time at auction, the firm will present a work by Austrian painter Goetz Valien. Valien worked for much of his adult life as a movie poster artist and is also known for winning a lawsuit against the estate of German painter Martin Kippenberger, which allowed him to take credit for his role in the painting of the “Paris Bar” series, previously credited solely to Kippenberger. Valien’s work in this sale is a monumental acrylic on canvas painting of a dream-like scenario in which a figure walks through a maze of metal bars at twilight, evoking influences, including Edward Hopper and Giorgio de Chirico.

Also coming in the sale is a large screenprint by American Pop art icon Andy Warhol. This piece, titled “Letter to the World (The Kick) from Martha Graham,” depicts American dancer and choreographer Graham performing in a full-skirted dress in tones of blue. Graham is known for her unique technique, emphasizing “contraction and release” and having a major influence on American dance since the 1920s. This print is one in a series of three that Warhol made featuring Graham, and it features his trademark screen-printing style that comprises solid blocks of monochromatic tones with a strong outline and lined detail, like the pink seen here in the folds of Graham’s dress.

Another highlight is an oil on canvas painting by Latvian-American artist Raimonds Staprans. Staprans is known for his large swaths of bright color, often oranges and blues, and his understated treatment of subject. This piece, titled “Red Sun,” depicts a stylized landscape rendered primarily in saturated tones of red and orange, with patches of bright green and blue. The sky dominates the image, taking up more than half of the canvas with its red and pink hues, which surround the pale orange dot of the sun hovering over the horizon. Staprans moved from his native Latvia in the early Twentieth Century and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he has remained active since, hosting a 60-year retrospective exhibit at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento and the San Jose Museum of Art in 2018.

A sculpture by contemporary Portuguese multimedia artist Joana Vasconcelos is formed with a ceramic statue of a dog covered in a net of colorful, hand-woven crochet detail. A quote from the National Museum of Women in the Arts reads that in this series, Vasconcelos brings to light the “dissonance between handcrafted and manufactured” by covering a mass-produced dog statue with a painstakingly crafted textile. The juxtaposition is both jarring and aesthetically appealing; the colorful yarn seamlessly fits the dog’s body, while at the same time, the life-size animal appears lifelike enough to become uncanny. This work, along with others by Raymond Pettibon, Christopher Brown, Matt Gondek and more will be available to bid on.

Bidding for Clars’ November 16 auction is available by phone, absentee bid and live online at live.clars.com and through liveauctioneers.com. Clars Auction Gallery is at 5644 Telegraph Avenue. For information, 510-428-0100 or www.clars.com.

1. A coral, diamond and 18k bi-color gold necklace, Vourakis. 2. A pair of coral, diamond and 18k bi-color gold ear clips, Vourakis. 3. A pair of jadeite jade, diamond and 18k gold earrings. 4. A diamond and platinum bracelet. 5. A diamond and platinum riviere necklace. 6. A Tiffany & Co. Swiss 18k gold and diamond ‘Vannerie’ wristwatch. 7. A diamond and 18k gold bracelet.
1. Raimonds Staprans, Red Sun, 1967, oil on canvas, 28″ x 34″. 2. Joana Vasconcelos, Cesar, 2006, faience dog and handmade cotton crochet sculpture, 30.25″ x 12″ x 20″. 3. Matt Gondek, Pinky and the Brain, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 48″ x 72″. 4. Goetz Valien, Ego, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 108″ x 120″. 5. Andy Warhol, Letter to the World (The Kick) from Martha Graham, 1986, screenprint, 36″ x 36″. 6. A Paul Frankl Speed Chair and Ottoman, circa 1949, from the estate of Charlton Heston.

1. Kirk Randle, Untitled, oil on board, 39″ x 63″. Provenance: Commissioned directly from artist (Scottsdale, AZ). 2. A Tiffany Studios ‘Turtle-Back’ desk lamp. 3. Joseph Rusling Meeker, Bayou Barbary – Near Lake Maurepas, Louisiana, 1877, oil on canvas affixed to masonite, 30″ x 24.5″. 4. A pair of Michael Taylor (Supplied) Benches, 1985. 5. A John Cederquist ‘Saw Shimi’ art lounge chair. 6. Samuel Hyde Harris, Tree on Farmland, oil on board, 16″ x 20″. 7. A Chinese export gilt lacquered desk. 8. A NY Giants Baseball Club Sterling Season Pass, dated 1923. 9. Gordon Onslow Ford, For the Rain…, 1984, acrylic on canvas, 44.5″ x 70″. 10. A Hawaiian poi bowl. 11. A Japanese red coral carving of Jurojin. 12. A Dirk Van Erp copper and mica table lamp. 13. A Dirk Van Erp copper and mica handled oil lamp.
5644 Telegraph Ave. Oakland, CA 94609 | (510) 428-0100
In Person + Online Bidding | Preview: Nov. 15th, 1-5 PM PST
www.clars.com info@clars.com