by Agnes Pelton
Featured in
November 19, 2024
“Just up out of a deep, deep long sleep – I had to make several tries before I came to at all.”
~Agnes Pelton
January 19, 1942, letter to Jane Comfort
Sleep
It came to me many years ago after a mid-winter visit to the city and was the expression of the sudden quiet and winter peace of the windmill (on Long Island) which was then my home: The feeling of rightness in being there, and of a conscious gentle radiation of protection, through dark and uncertain places.”
~Agnes Pelton
Agnes Pelton (1881-1961)
Sleep, 1928 Oil on canvas
Signed and dated lower right: Agnes Pelton 1928
Signed again and titled along the bottom of the stretcher bar: Agnes Pelton / Sleep Artist’s handwritten card attached verso: Sleep / Agnes Pelton / Cathedral City / California
Attached to the bottom of the painting, verso, is Agnes Pelton’s typewritten summary of Sleep’s backstory: “Sleep by Agnes Pelton: It came to me many years ago after a mid-winter visit to the city and was the expression of the sudden quiet and winter peace of the windmill (on Long Island) which was then my home: The feeling of rightness in being there, and of a conscious gentle radiation of protection, through dark and uncertain places.”
Displayed in its original, Pelton-made, silver-gray frame
18” H x 20” W; Framed: 20” H x 22” W x 1.75” D
$300,000-500,000
Provenance:
The artist Agnes Pelton estate inventory, circa 1961, #76: “Sleep -V.- 20” x 18”-Photo” Private Collection, Minnesota
Exhibited:
Pasadena, CA, Grace Nicholson Art Galleries, “Decorative Flower Paintings and Abstractions by Agnes Pelton,” April 15 – May 1, 1929. Note: A news item published Thursday May 23, 1929 in the “Keyport Enterprise” (Keyport, New Jersey) “Borough Briefs” column states: “The exhibition of portraits, abstract and flower paintings by Miss Agnes Pelton at the Grace Nicholson galleries in Pasadena, Cal., was so successful that Miss Pelton was compelled to continue the exhibit for two weeks longer.” This would revise the exhibition dates to April 15 – circa May 15, 1929.
Los Angeles, CA, (Jake) Zeitlin’s Book Shop, “Abstract Paintings by Agnes Pelton,” June 1 – 15, 1929. Note: A news item published Sunday June 9, 1929 in the “Los Angeles Times” (Los Angeles, Calif) states: “The very interesting abstract paintings by Agnes Pelton, shown recently at the Grace Nicholson Galleries and reviewed in The Times, are now on view at Zeitlin’s bookshop until the 15th.”
New York, NY, Montross Gallery, “Abstractions by Agnes Pelton,” November 11 - 23, 1929, Sleep as no. 9. This solo exhibition also included The Fountains, Caves of Mind, Star Gazer, Incarnation, Messenger, Lookouts, Ecstasy, Inward, Being, Faith, Flowering, and Meadowlark’s Song – Winter.
New York, NY, Grand Central Palace, “Society of Independent Artists, 14th Annual Exhibition,” February 28 – March 30, 1930, Sleep as no. 798.
New York, NY, Argent Galleries, “Exhibition of Paintings by Agnes Pelton,” February 16- March 7, 1931, Sleep as no. 15. This solo exhibition of twenty-one works included Fire Sounds, Equilibrium, White Fire, Voyaging, Rose and Palm, A Lotus for Lida, Wells of Jade, Prayer, Translation, Bells, Peace, The Fountains, Being, Faith, Incarnation, Inward, Lookouts, Renunciation, Meadowlark’s Song – Winter, Efflorescent Decoration.
Plainfield, NJ, Plainfield Public Library, “Exhibition of Paintings by Agnes Pelton,” March 16 – 30, 1931, Sleep as no. 8. This large solo exhibition consisted of thirty works: Peace, Being, The Fountains, Flowering, White Fire, Prayer, A Lotus For Lida, Sleep, Rose and Palm, Translation, Inward, Thought, Voyaging, Lookouts, In Winter, Radiance, Fire Sounds, Renunciation, Faith, Equilibrium, Ecstasy, Incarnation, Wells of Jade, Meadowlark’s Song – Winter, Star Icon (2), Hibiscus (Beirut, Syria), Windmill Path, 4 Hawaiian Flowers (decorative panels, samples for custom orders), Phantasy of Frost and Fire, Star Icon (1).
s then my home: The feeling
Literature:
Margaret Stainer, “Agnes Pelton,” (Fremont, California, Ohlone College Art Gallery, 1989), catalogue published to coincide with Ohlone exhibition, October 9— November 5, 1989. In this publication, curator Margaret Stainer provides chronological listings of select Pelton “Imaginative Paintings” dating from 1911 through 1917 and “Symbolic Abstractions” dating from 1923/24 through 1961. These are not checklists of works shown at Ohlone College in Stainer’s exhibition; they are incomplete “lifetime output” listings of Pelton paintings in these respective categories known to exist through archival sources and “best information” at the time of publication in 1989. Since that time, additional information has surfaced which expands and revises these lists. Stainer’s list of then-known Pelton abstractions for the year 1928 consisted of: Ecstasy (Des Moines Art Center), Star Gazer (Private Collection), Sleep, Meadowlark’s Song – Winter (Crocker Art Museum).
Ed Garman, posthumous inventory of Agnes Pelton’s abstractions, compiled circa 1961-62, entry no. 76, Raymond Jonson Archives, Agnes Pelton file, University of New Mexico Art Museum.
“The Art News,” volume 28, issue 7 (November 16, 1929).
“An Exhibit of Paintings: Miss Pelton Making Display of Her Work in New York”, “Matawan Journal,” Matawan, New Jersey, (November 15, 1929): page 2. This newspaper article provides titles of all works exhibited at Montross Gallery including Sleep.
“Agnes Pelton Will Exhibit in New York,” “The Courier-News,” Bridgewater, New Jersey, (November 7,1929): page 6, Ida H. Riley announces Pelton’s exhibition at Montross Galleries, Nov. 11 – 23, stating “These most unusual paintings were exhibited in Pasadena at the Grace Nicholson Art Galleries during May and at Zeitlin’s in Los Angeles during June. They are being exhibited in New York for the first time. These canvasses are remarkable for their beautiful, luminous color and for their imaginative range.” The abstractions “Being,” “Ecstasy,” “Faith,” and “Sleep” are mentioned along with a quote from Agnes Pelton: “The aim in these pictures has been to express, through pure and direct color and the; free rhythm essential to them, glimpses of what might be called symbolic vision.”
Agnes Pelton Paper, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, sketch and notes for Sleep, 1928. Notebook-Sketchbook IV, circa 1917 – 1929, frame 77-b.
“Floating, luminously protected…”
feeling of rightness in bein
~Agnes Pelton
Discovery
Acquired by the present owner decades ago in a gift exchange, Sleep is a rare find and revelatory addition to the Agnes Pelton canon, and only the sixth of her scarce transcendental abstractions to be offered at auction.
Along with Flowering (John Moran Auctioneers sale, Art + Design, August 13, 2024) Sleep is among the first wave of abstract compositions Pelton began to paint starting around 1925-26. Its sketchbook entry begins the year 1928 and is annotated with the comment “Home at Easter” which suggests it was probably conceived in April. On a timeline of Pelton’s creative evolution, Sleep appears in close proximity to Ecstasy (1928), Divinity Lotus (1929), Lotus For Lida aka Egyptian Dawn (1930), Incarnation (1929), Caves of Mind (1929), Radiance (1929), Winter (1929) and Star Gazer (1929).
Like Flowering, Sleep retains its original Pelton-made silver-gray frame, her exclusive choice for abstractions. Because of changing tastes and an unawareness of Pelton’s preference, the majority of her abstractions have been reframed to contemporary standards with few retaining their original frames.
“That’s what Miss Pelton loves doing, painting the sound of crackling fire, the picture of peace, as it formed in her own mind, of renunciation, of faith, of sleep.”
Jane Corby, “Windmill Home of Artist Inspires Unique Paintings,” Brooklyn Eagle, Brooklyn, New York, February 20, 1931
Agnes Pelton standing in the doorway of her home and studio at Hayground Windmill (built 1809), Water Mill, Long Island, circa 1921.
Photo: Agnes Pelton papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Sleep and meditation were the two primary sources of inspiration for Agnes Pelton’s abstract compositions. With sleep came dreams and during meditation she received visions; both provided images and narratives that Pelton entered into her sketchbooks with notes addressing forms and colors. In a January 1929 entry for an abstract composition titled Felicity, Pelton indicates that the idea came to her “between sleeping and waking.”
Agnes Pelton reading in interior. Image courtesy of Michael Kelly
Flowering made its public debut in the exhibition Abstractions by Agnes Pelton, (November 11 - 23, 1929), at the Montross Gallery, New York City, in the company of The Fountains, Star Gazer, Being, Incarnation, Ecstasy, and Meadowlark’s Song –Winter, works which today are widely exhibited, reproduced, and the focus of ongoing scholarly analysis.
Notes on Sleep
Agnes Pelton’s handwritten sketchbook entry for “Sleep” includes the title, date and inscription: “1928 [underscored twice] / Home at Easter / Sleep,” along with a line drawing of the composition and the following notes:
The Montross catalogue features an introduction written by Agnes Pelton which provides a glimpse into her creative mind and allows us to see Flowering through the lens of her visionary sensibilities:
“Soft phosphorus oval body - not quite opaque - an inner state not seen but felt - Soft green gray or pearl - faint glow - Surroundings dull - opaque - beneath rich dark forms are there holding it or reaching toward it - color somewhat like moon mist but more yellow, slight veins of color or lightdelicate, over the opaque part of it.”
The importance of sleep to Pelton’s spiritual nourishment and creative process is further revealed in her statement: “A night under stars. Coming out of sleep & consciousness overlapped a moment and I held a nearer feeling or perception of the stars. I was nearer them, or else their potencies reached me — rayed out toward me, softer, filial, or streaming, speaking, reaching, giving messages.”
“Agnes Pelton and Occulture”, Spiritual Moderns: Twentieth Century American Artists & Religion, 2023
Agnes Pelton, sketch and notes for Sleep, 1928, Notebook-Sketchbook IV, circa 1917-1929, frame 77
Agnes Pelton Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Pelton’s comment “color somewhat like moon mist but more yellow” refers to her circa 1911 painting Calm (Moon Mist), which is referenced in an inventory of known works listed on page 22 of Margaret Stainer’s Margaret Stainer’s exhibition catalogue “Agnes Pelton”, Ohlone College Art Gallery, Fremont, California, 1989 [the exhibition dates were October 9 - November 5, 1989].
“That’s what Miss Pelton loves doing, painting the sound of crackling fire, the picture of peace, as it formed in her own mind, of renunciation, of faith, of sleep.”
~Jane Corby, “Windmill Home of Artist Inspires Unique Paintings,” “Brooklyn Eagle,” Brooklyn, New York, February 20, 1931
Agnes Pelton, Calm (Moon Mist), circa 1911 (detail), Private Collection
“This picture came to me during a spring vacation in the country at Easter after several exhausting months of portrait commissions in a suburban city.”
~Agnes Pelton
Sleep was conceived in 1928, most likely during a recuperative stay at Wild Farm, Pelton’s 54-acre rural retreat in Killingworth, Connecticut.
Wild Farm, circa 2004, former vacation home of Agnes Pelton, Killingworth, Connecticut
Photo courtesy of California Desert Art/Ann Japenga
The isolated setting of Wild Farm with its swaths of dense forest also provided the inspiration for Vine Wood, Pelton’s entry in the landmark Armory Show of 1913.
The Windmill: Birthplace of Pelton’s Transcendental Abstractions
Spiritual batteries recharged after her vacation at Wild Farm, Pelton returned to the creatively stimulating environs of her windmill on Long Island for the following seven months. A visitor described the romantically picturesque home and charming impression it made on her with its “aroma of a tasty supper drifting from the kitchen, crystal candlesticks, a purring cat in an armchair, and an old piano which the artist proceeded to play.”
Agnes Pelton, Hayground Windmill (the artist’s residence and studio) Bridgehampton, New York, circa 1920-22, Lincoln Galleries, NY
Pelton’s mindset and art were profoundly affected by her move in 1921 from Brooklyn to the windmill. As quoted by Erika Doss in “Spiritual Moderns: Twentieth-Century American Artists & Religion,” Pelton saw it as a “mystical house…reaching into Heaven and radiating from its center.” The relocation brought a sweeping change from bustling city life to quiet, picturesque seclusion, black night skies, and glowing stars. Living full-time in the solitude of this idyllic rural environment brought Pelton into intimate communion with nature, where her “art of the heart” evolved progressively into abstraction. In 1923, she wrote “I love it here, and feel happier & more contented than I have anywhere before” (Michael Zakian, “Agnes Pelton: Poet of Nature”, Long Island, 1995, p. 30). In addition to Sleep, the abstractions Being, The Fountains, Messengers, Flowering, Alchemy, Illumination, and Fire Sounds date from Pelton’s windmill period.
A warm and gracious hostess, Pelton regularly entertained visitors at the windmill, treating them to tea, music she provided on her piano, and her art. It was in this richly nurturing setting that Sleep was painted in advance of Pelton’s first visit to Southern California in October of 1928.
During her approximately nine-month stay in South Pasadena through June of 1929, Pelton exhibited Sleep at the Grace Nicholson Galleries in Pasadena (now the USC Pacific Asia Museum) and Jake Zeitlin’s Book Shop in downtown Los Angeles. The Grace Nicholson installation was announced in the Pasadena Post newspaper on April 12, 1929: “Another Wonderful Art Exhibit – Agnes Pelton’s flower subjects – the portraits and her Mysticism Paintings – marvels of color – occupy one of the small south galleries.”
Grace Nicholson Galleries, Pasadena, circa 1927 Photos: Calisphere.com
Agnes & Frida: History in the Making
Flowering made its public debut in the exhibition Abstractions by Agnes Pelton, (November 11 - 23, 1929), at the Montross Gallery, New York City, in the company of The Fountains, Star Gazer, Being, Incarnation, Ecstasy, and Meadowlark’s Song –Winter, works which today are widely exhibited, reproduced, and the focus of ongoing scholarly analysis.
The Montross catalogue features an introduction written by Agnes Pelton which provides a glimpse into her creative mind and allows us to see Flowering through the lens of her visionary sensibilities:
In late 1931, Pelton returned to California and made it her permanent home, settling in Cathedral City near Palm Springs. Prior to arriving, she visited San Francisco where her abstraction Ecstasy, painted in 1928 during the same period as Sleep, was featured in the Sixth Annual San Francisco Society of Women Artists exhibition at the Legion of Honor. In lofty company, Pelton shared the walls with Theresa Bernstein, the late Mary Cassatt, and perhaps the most notable participant, “Senora Frieda Rivera” as she was then known—Frida Kahlo—making her public debut as an artist with a portrait of herself and Diego Rivera. Pelton, a seasoned art world veteran with academic training, teaching positions, and a fifteen-year exhibition history, had recently celebrated her 50th birthday. In contrast, Kahlo was 24 and taking her first step as a professional artist; she did not have her first solo exhibition until 1938.
Ecstasy (1928) by Agnes Pelton and Frida and Diego Rivera (Coll. of SFMoMA), 1931, by Frida Kahlo, both exhibited at the Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, November 4 - December 3, 1931
The Uncommon Theme of Sleep
Sleep is paired with Pelton’s corresponding poem, plus the rare addition of explanatory notes detailing the backstory of the composition. These consist of a typewritten summary attached to the back of the painting and two longer archival versions, each with unique elaboration, one handwritten, one typewritten. Both were made for a lecture Pelton gave in late 1930 at the Master Institute of United Arts, New York City, founded by painter-philosopher Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947) and his wife, Theosophist-writer Helena Roerich (1879-1955). The Roerichs’ Agni Yoga system of enlightenment was a foundational influence on Pelton’s personal spiritual beliefs and the corresponding metaphysical principles that inform her abstractions.
“Sleep: is the picture of an arrival at a temporary destination snugly established in our own compartment or our own private train leading to some place of which we remember nothing. It is here presented by the mind as a state of being we all enter gladly and with relief. Its naturalness after days of normal activity does not lesson the mystery of its actual condition and the need of entering it in a positive and peaceful state of mind; with a consciousness of protection as in the prayers of childhood, “I pray the Lord my soul to keep - God keep us through the night.” And here we arekeeping ourselves, or being kept. Floating through a rather sinister region we become a sphere of immunity, self sustaining, insulated from danger by the protective glow we have unconsciously called out from within to keep us through the night.
This picture came to me during a spring vacation in the country at Easter after several exhausting months of portrait commissions in a suburban city. It represented to me an unapproachable haven, though temporary, a sphere of immunity and refreshment. The egg shape being of such universal significance may suggest some other state of being, but I interpret it as it came with the feeling of safety and renewal it brought me.”
Although the function of sleep is of universal relevance as a necessity of life for all sentient creatures, it is an uncommon theme in artistic depictions. The best-known artwork to address the darker, dream-state aspects of sleep is The Nightmare, painted in 1781 by Henry Fuseli (Swiss/English, 1741-1825).
Detroit Institute of Arts, Permanent Collection
Agnes Pelton’s typewritten statement explaining the origins and meaning of Sleep, Agnes Pelton file, Raymond Jonson Archive, University of New Mexico Art Museum, Albuquerque, NM
Reviewing the Whitney Museum of American Art’s 2020 exhibition “Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist,” Kassandra Ibrahim observes that “Pelton seemed to have been following a tradition of artistic interest in nocturnal fascinations, similar to that of 19th century painter Henry Fuseli.” Ibrahim, however, makes the distinction that Pelton and Fuseli present “two opposite experiences of dreaming: the elevated blissful consciousness in Pelton and the horrifying nightmare in Fuseli, compliments to one another, representing the binary nature of dreams” (Kassandra Ibrahim, “A Review of Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist,” Art Ramblings, Fordham University online, November 30, 2020, https://artramblings.ace.fordham.edu/?p=3463).
In contrast to Fuseli’s picture, which offers only a disturbance of sleep with no redemption or escape, Pelton’s glowing cocoon provides a refuge of peaceful protection.
“Many of Pelton’s works include a light-filled orb or egg. A cosmogonic symbol par excellence, it is found in many creation myths, symbolic of creativity, often splitting open to form a new world. Pelton’s eggs are transparent with light emanating from their centers. Two such works must have had great significance for the artist, because she repeats the first version [of] Light Center (1947-48). Both paintings feature a pale, almost white, transparent egg that glows from within, surrounded by darker blue forms. They present a portrait of the divine center of the artist’s personality. Similar forms can be found in many of Pelton’s works such as Wells of Jade (1931), Interval (1950), Focus (1951), and Departure (1952). It is as though she has captured divinity in this orb or egg, and it creates an energetic center, projecting these energies outward toward the viewer.”
(Ann McCoy, “Agnes Pelton, Desert Transcendentalist,” The Brooklyn Rail, Art Seen, May 2020, https://brooklynrail.org/2020/05/artseen/Agnes-Pelton-DesertTranscendentalist/)
While as a general rule Pelton did not create pictures in series—her numerous Star Icon variants being a notable exception—there are occasional instances of overlap with some compositions sharing common traits. This is the case with Sleep and Wells of Jade (1931), which could have been painted side-by-side using the same color palette.
“We become a sphere of immunity, self-sustaining”
~Agnes Pelton
Agnes Pelton, Wells of Jade (1931), University of New Mexico, University Art Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Transcendental Abstraction as Universal Truth and Personal Experience
The transcendental abstractions of Agnes Pelton—or Abstractions with a capital ‘A’ as she referred to them—are known for their spiritual and painted light, life-affirming symbolism, and positive energy. Yet despite this overarching theme of optimism, Pelton did not shy away from literal or metaphoric darkness. In many of her compositions she addresses the Yin-Yang polarities of life by incorporating forms that are both beneficent and menacing, rendered in colors that are correspondingly radiant and dark. In a sketchbook entry for an untitled abstract composition dated July 5 (1928) which appears just a few pages after Sleep, both “serenity” and “confusion” have been noted by Pelton as key spiritual dynamics she wants to convey, indicating her desire to articulate the concept of duality.
Agnes Pelton’s handwritten price list featuring Sleep (entry #8) Plainfield Public Library exhibition, New Jersey, March 1931
“…there was a place - or a state of being - in which no fears could reach me at all...”
Agnes Pelton’s handwritten notebook entry quoting from the novel “FEAR” by John Oliver Rathbone (1928), AAA Notebook/Sketchbook VI, 1930-1935, frame 14
Although Pelton dealt with lifelong physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual issues linked to anxiety, she was equally driven by a strong impulse to survive and thrive through introspection and spiritual exploration. Her voluminous notebooks and personal correspondence attest to her unrelenting quest for knowledge she could use for self-help and healing.
Agnes Pelton’s transcendental abstractions address universal truths through their symbolic depiction of personal experiences. Sleep is such a picture with its nurturing, cocoon-like safety provided by a light in the darkness; the light of still, silent, innerglowing faith in which Pelton and the viewer are “floating, luminously protected” during unconscious dreaming hours.
Researched and compiled by Michael Kelley, 2024
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Unless alternate payment arrangements are made immediately following the auction, successful Live Auctioneers bidders will be automatically charged via Live Auctioneers’ LivePayments 24 hours after the auction. Payments made through Live Auctioneers LivePayments are subject to an additional processing fee and any applicable state sales tax.
(b) Collection: Buyers are strongly encouraged to collect purchased items from the sale site at the time of the auction. Packing material and labor are provided free of charge at the sale site during the auction. Packing and handling of purchased lots is undertaken by Moran solely as a convenience to customers. If a buyer opts to use this courtesy packing and handling service, Moran is not liable for damage to property, regardless of cause.
(c) Storage and Abandonment. Following the auction, uncollected lots shall be relocated to and stored in Moran’s warehouse. Moran shall retain possession of all purchases until full payment has been received from the buyer. Lots remaining uncollected after the fifth business day following the sale, regardless of payment status, are subject to a per-lot daily storage charge of $10.00. In addition to other remedies available by law, Moran reserves the right to impose upon delinquent buyers a separate 1% monthly charge (of the purchase price, or the maximum permitted by law) commencing on the sixth business day after the sale date. If a buyer fails to retrieve a purchased lot within thirty (30) days after the date of sale (the “Retrieval Period”), Moran may, without further notice, (a) continue to store the lot in Moran’s warehouse, or at the warehouse of a third-party, subject to the storage charge described above; (b) deliver the lot to the buyer at the buyer’s expense; or (c) sell the lot at auction without reserve at a place and time determined by Moran in its sole discretion.
(d) Consequences of Late Pick-Up/Abandoned Property. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Moran has no duty to store any lot indefinitely. Any purchased lot that remains in Moran’s possession sixty (60) days after the Retrieval Period (collectively, ninety (90) days) will be deemed abandoned (“Abandoned Property”) and title to it will pass to Moran. Moran may, in its sole discretion, discard or sell any Abandoned Property and may keep any proceeds from any such sale. Moran may not be held liable for any claims related to Abandoned Property. Moran is not responsible for damage or loss that occurs to Abandoned Property and Moran is not responsible for insuring Abandoned Property after the Retrieval Period.
(e) Shipping. As a courtesy to buyers, Moran provides a list of preferred shippers who are in the business of transporting antiques and works of art. Buyers are responsible for arranging their own shipping estimates and deliveries. Moran, in its sole discretion and as a courtesy to buyers, may arrange to have purchased lots packed, insured, and forwarded by a third-party shipper at the request, expense, and risk of the buyer. In circumstances where Moran arranges for such third-party services, Moran may apply an administration charge of 15% of that service fee. Moran assumes no responsibility for acts or omissions in such packing or shipping by other packers or carriers, even if recommended by Moran. Moran also assumes no responsibility for any damage to picture frames or to the glass therein.
(f) All Sales Final. Notwithstanding other terms mentioned herein, refunds may be given in Moran’s sole discretion. Refunds requested on the grounds of authenticity must be made within 180 days of the auction and accompanied by a supporting written statement from a recognized authority (defined as a person who has authored, edited, or substantially contributed to a monograph on the artist; a person who has curated, organized, or substantially contributed to a solo exhibition on the artist; or a person who has represented the artist’s estate or someone who represented or worked closely with the artist while they were alive and, in any of the foregoing instances, physically handled works of the period, medium, and subject matter in question during the course of their duties) stating that the object sold is incorrect or not the work of the artist. Dealers, appraisers, and representatives of other auction firms do not qualify as authenticators of individual artists unless they have had such specific involvement with that artist’s work, as specified above, in addition to their daily duties. Refunded lots must be returned to Moran in the same condition as when sold. Moran does not grant extensions to refund considerations based upon authenticity due to shipping delays. There are no exceptions to this refund policy.
LIABILITY AND LIMITED WARRANTY
(a) Liability. The buyer expressly agrees that (i) neither Moran nor the seller shall be liable, in whole or in part, for any special, indirect, or consequential damages, including, without limitation, loss of profits, and (ii) the buyer’s damages, if any, are limited exclusively to the original purchase price paid for the lot.
(b) Limited Warranty. ALL PROPERTY IS SOLD AS IS. Neither the seller nor Moran or its associates make any representation, express or implied, warranty (including merchantability and fitness), or guarantee in condition, age, size, provenance, medium, signature, inscription, exhibition history, importance, rarity, country of origin, genuineness, historical relevance, monetary or other value, framing or lack thereof, mounting, conservation, coloring, palette, inscription, edition, style, label, or other descriptor. No statement in the catalogue, brochures, website, bill of sale, invoice, any supplementary material, or statements by any Moran employee shall be deemed a warranty, representation or assumption of liability.
(c) Descriptions. No warranty, whether express or implied, is made with respect to any description contained in this auction or any second opinion. Any description of the items or second opinion is for the courtesy of identifying the items for those bidders who do not have the opportunity to view the lots in person, and no description of items has been made part of the basis of the transaction or has created any express warranty that the goods would conform to any description made by the auctioneer. Color variations can be expected in any electronic or printed imaging and are not grounds for the return of any lot.
(d) Estimates. All estimates provided are carefully considered opinions of Moran’s specialists and are merely suggested guidelines for interested buyers. Buyers must be aware that all property sold is subject to fluctuating values depending on the subjective interests of collectors and a wide variety of other uncontrollable factors. The lots auctioned may sell at prices above, within, or below estimate.
(e) Notices, Demands, and Refunds. Any demands for refunds, problems with the lot(s) sold or notices of any kind concerning the auction shall be made (1) in writing and addressed to John Moran Auctioneers, Inc, 145 East Walnut Avenue, Monrovia, CA 91016 or (2) via email at info@johnmoran.com.
(f) Notices, Demands and Refunds: Any demands for refunds, problems with the lot(s) sold or notices of any kind concerning the auction shall be in writing and addressed to John Moran Auctioneers, Inc, 145 East Walnut Avenue, Monrovia, CA 91016.
ADDITIONAL MATTERS
(a) Copyright. The copyright on all images, illustrations, and written material produced by or for Moran for its auction is and will remain at all times the property of Moran. Moran and the seller make no representation or warranty that the buyer will acquire any copyright or reproduction rights to a purchased lot.
(b) Buyer’s Breach of Conditions. If a buyer fails to comply with any of these Terms, Moran may, in addition to asserting all remedies available by law, including the right to hold that buyer liable for the purchase price, (i) cancel the sale, retaining as liquidated damages any payment made by the buyer; (ii) resell the property without reserve at public auction or privately upon notice to the buyer; or (iii) take such other action as Moran deems necessary or appropriate. If Moran resells the property, the original defaulting buyer shall be liable for the payment of any deficiency between the original sale price and any subsequent mitigation sale, including warehousing, the expenses of both sales, reasonable attorney’s fees, commissions, incidental damages, and all other charges due hereunder. In the event that such buyer pays a portion of the purchase price for any property, Moran’s shall apply the payment received to such property that Moran, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate. Moran shall have the benefit of all rights of a secured party under the Uniform Commercial Code as adopted in the State of California.
(c) Governing Law. The rights and obligations of the parties with respect to these Terms and the conduct of the auction shall be governed and interpreted by the laws of the State of California.
(d) Arbitration. Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the breach, termination, enforcement, interpretation, or validity thereof, including the determination of the scope or applicability of this agreement to arbitrate, shall be determined by private arbitration before an arbitrator. The arbitration shall be administered by JAMS pursuant to its Comprehensive Arbitration Rules and Procedures. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. This clause does not preclude the parties from seeking provisional remedies in aid of arbitration from a court of appropriate jurisdiction. The parties shall maintain the confidential nature of the arbitration proceeding and the award, including the hearing, except as may be necessary to prepare for or conduct the arbitration hearing on the merits, or except as may be necessary in connection with a court application for a preliminary remedy, a judicial challenge to an award or its enforcement, or unless otherwise required by law or judicial decision.
In any arbitration arising out of or related to these Terms, the arbitrator shall award to the prevailing party, if any, the costs and attorneys’ fees reasonably incurred by the prevailing party in connection with the arbitration. If the arbitrator determines a Party to be the prevailing party under circumstances where the prevailing party won on some but not all of the claims and counterclaims, the arbitrator may award the prevailing party an appropriate percentage of the costs and attorneys’ fees reasonably incurred by the prevailing party in connection with the arbitration.
(e) Severability. Should any of these conditions be deemed unenforceable, invalid, or illegal in any court having jurisdiction, that part shall be severed from these Terms and shall have no effect on the enforceability of the remaining provisions contained herein, which shall remain valid to the fullest extent permitted by law.
