A New York City gallery was the successful bidder for the sale’s top lot, an Andre Brasilier (French, b 1929) impressionist portrait of a standing woman with flowers and vases, most likely his wife and muse Chantal. The oil on canvas titled on verso “Femme aux Bouquets,” signed lower left and dated 1962 on the canvas, sold for $64,900.
Review by W.A. Demers, Photos Courtesy Amero Auctions
SARASOTA, FLA. – Amero Auctions presented its winter 2022 auction on January 23, offering an eclectic collection from multiple estates to bring in the new year. Highlights included period American furniture, a pair of 72-light cherry stepback cupboards, a cherry serpentine Chippendale chest and an 1817 American sampler. Midcentury furniture from Milo Baughman and Robert Venturi and others crossed the block, as did Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Continental furnishings. Artists represented included Picasso, Joe Brainard, four paintings by Florida Highwaymen James Gibson and a painting attributed to Dutch Old Master Abraham Bloemaert.
Leading the sale was an Andre Brasilier (French, b 1929) impressionist portrait of a standing woman with flowers and vases, most likely his wife and muse Chantal. The oil on canvas titled on verso “Femme aux Bouquets,” signed lower left and dated 1962 on the canvas, sold for $64,900, above its high estimate, won by a New York City gallery. The stretcher bore labels, Findlay Galleries stamps, artist name and address and a Sennelier stamp. Measuring 51 by 38 inches, it had been purchased in New York in 1978, remaining in a private collection since. Painter, graphic artist and ceramicist, Brasilier has global appeal. He comes from a family of artists, the son of the symbolist painter Jacques Brasilier and his wife Alice Chaumont.
The sale totaled $550,000, according to owner Alan Amero with just 15 lots passed from the 400-lot offering. There were about 2,000 registered bidders vying on two online platforms and between 40 and 50 patrons bidding in person.
Attributed to Abraham Bloemart (Dutch, 1566-1651), a print, “Figure of a seated woman with flowing gown, table beside her with crown, scepter, and other items,” most likely a study for the print “Vanitas, vanitatum et omnia vanitas” published by Jan Saenredam in 1595, was bid to $11,685, nearly twice its high estimate. Executed in brown pen/ink on paper, the 10½-by-8-inch print sold in an ornate Nineteenth Century frame with inset scrimshaw bone panels and mother-of-pearl accents.
A surprising performance by a 1977 Joe Brainard (American, 1942-1994) untitled mixed media collage saw it more than triple its high estimate to bring $11,070.
Fine art outperformers also included a 1977 Joe Brainard (American, 1942-1994) untitled mixed media collage that more than tripled its high estimate to bring $11,070. The nocturnal-themed image was signed and dated 77 center left and had a sight size of 12 by 9 inches. It came from the estate of Adolph Green and Phyllis Newman.
Asian arts were led by a Chinese export silver story vase, which also finished at $11,070. Featuring a flared rim over bulbous body, flared foot and engraved with Chinese outdoor genre scenes and verses, the vase by an unknown maker bore a hallmark on foot and stood 8¾ inches high. Several dents and dings did not prevent it from exceeding its high estimate by ten times.
Also notable among the Asian material on offer was a Chinese silk embroidery screen, which realized $9,225, again surpassing its $2,5/3,500 estimate despite condition issues such as missing several pieces of the stand. Its embroidered silk center panel depicted an outdoor courtyard scene with figures and a multitude of birds bordered with inner foliate scroll rotating carved frame. The outer reticulated pierced carved frame had bamboo, floral and foliate scroll design and it stood on a matching reticulated stand base on four feet.
This Chinese silk embroidery screen, which realized $9,225, surpassed its $2,5/3,500 estimate despite condition issues such as missing several pieces of the stand.
After the iconic chairs designed by Armand Albert Rateau for Florence and George Blumenthal, a pair of bronze chairs with linked fish back, seat and arms, shell top rail, stippled frames and contemporary construction went out at $9,225.
Other furniture honors went to American pieces, including a pair of 72-light cupboards for $8,260 and an Aesthetic period pedestal for $7,995.
Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. Amero’s next sale is March 26-27, an offering of continental furniture and accessories and choice Asian material. For information. www.ameroauctions.com or 941-330-1577.
