This Irma Stern “Flower Still Life” painting was the top lot of the auction at $33,715 ($2/4,000).
Review by Andrea Valluzzo
WINDSOR, CONN. — Nadeau’s Auction Gallery debuted a new genre for its curated specialty auctions on March 5 when it conducted its inaugural Celebrating Women Artists auction. In honor of March being Women’s History Month and with International Women’s Day on the 8th, it seemed quite fitting that an international artist, German-South African Irma Stern, attained top-lot status in this sale.
Overall, the auction comprising 250 lots, mostly by American artists, attained $226,000 and was led by a still life of flowers by Stern, who is widely credited to bringing Modernism to Africa. Her 1948 painting attracted several bidders and blossomed at $33,715, well over its $2/4,000 estimate. “Her market spans a wide range depending on the individual work. We were hoping for this to exceed the estimate but it outshined our expectations,” said Adriana Ferraiolo, Nadeau’s director of administration.
Nadeau’s plans to hold more specialty auctions like this and was pleased with the results. “This was our first women artists auction; we hope to host more as well as have other small, special curated sales in the future,” Ferraiolo added. “We were excited to be able to focus on women artists to recognize their influence, amplify their voices and celebrate their often undermined impact on the art market.”
Jaune Quick-To-See Smith’s mixed media on paper “American Bison” sold for $12,540 ($12/18,000).
The auction was diverse with a range of artists, geographical regions and artistic styles represented. To complement the auction, Nadeau’s shared 15 biographies of female artists represented in the sale to their online platforms. “We do not always post artist biographies but for this sale we wanted to intentionally spotlight the artists and their backgrounds to give more character to each piece in the auction,” Ferraiolo added. Among those featured were Grace H. Birch, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Jane Peterson, Faith Ringgold, Judy Pfaff and Jaune Quick-To-See Smith. “We chose artists to highlight based on estimate, what item we expected may do well and we also tried to cover different genres and time periods with the biographies to show the range of the auction.”
A highlight of the sale that set an auction record for the artist was an atmospheric 2026 oil-on-canvas landscape by Birch (American, b 2000) titled “Last Light in the Valley,” which made $1,342. Depicting a stream meandering through a field under a sunset sky, the painting was evocative of the harmonious and luminous treatment practiced by artists of the New England Old Lyme Art Colony.
Among the top lots, not surprisingly, was an untitled torso by Abakanowicz (Polish, 1930-2017). The mixed media resin and jute artwork with burlap sack on panel from 1977 achieved $19,050 and came out of a New York collection where it had been since the 1990s.
This untitled Magdalena Abakanowicz mixed media artwork of a torso brought $19,050 ($10/20,000).
Japanese-American artist Toshiko Takaezu (1922-2011) was represented with a closed-form moon pot/vessel with rattle, circa 1990, which sold for $14,640, well beyond its $2/4,000 estimate. The globular form with a pointed finial was finished in deep cobalt and charcoal glazes and had incised linear decoration as well as the requisite clay rattle inside, a staple of her closed-form vessels.
“American Bison,” a mixed media on paper, by Indigenous artist Jaune Quick-To-See Smith (Salish-Kootenai, 1940-2025) went within estimate at $12,540. The energetic work featured a composition of stylized buffalo outlined in bold, gestural marks and layered in color against a saturated red ground.
Painterly abstracted works proved popular with buyers, as evidenced by a 1983 oil on canvas by Jan Baltzell (American, b 1948), “Distant Journey,” which made $8,540, while a 1949 Cubist figure in the manner of Amelia (Y Del Casal) Peláez (Cuban, 1897-1968) went for $6,985.
A member of the Cape Ann School of painting, Peterson had two artworks included in this sale. Known for her bold compositions using vibrant colors and expressive brushwork, the artist depicted a riotous bloom of zinnias in an oil-on-canvas that fetched $5,610 and had previously been exhibited at the Copley Society of Boston in 1953. Another painting depicting tiger lilies brought $5,280.
This Harriet Randall Lumis oil painting, “In Cummington, Massachusetts” went out at $7,320 ($2/4,000).
Rounding out the auction highlights were a Harriet Randall Lumis oil on canvas landscape, “In Cummington, Massachusetts” that realized $7,320, a watercolor and pencil costume design sketch for the Broadway musical Dreamgirls by Theoni V. Aldredge at $4,687 and a mixed media work of a doe-eyed “Woman in White with Veil and Cameo” by Margaret Keane, whose life story was told in the 2014 movie Big Eyes.
Next up for Nadeau’s will be its two annual major auctions to be scheduled in April or May, one focusing on Midcentury Modern and the other on antiques and Americana.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.nadeausauction.com or 860-246-2444.
