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Art, Architecture, and Design
475. Audubon: Sharp-Tailed Grous Lithograph. Original hand-colored lithograph from The Birds of America series, 34.5 x 24.5, double elephant folio edition, issued as Plate CCCLXXXII, No. 7, entitled “Sharp-tailed Grous, Tetrao Phasiandlus,” which depicts male and female birds with brilliant natural detail. Captions to lower left and right corners read: “Drawn from Nature by J. J. Audubon, F.R.S. F.L.S.” and “Engraved, Printed, & Coloured, by R. Havell, 1837.” Affixed to a same-size cardstock mount. In fine condition. Starting Bid $300
Degas reproaches a French journalist— “You saw very well my impatience”
one page both sides, 3.75 x 6, no date, circa 1890. Letter to the literary critic Louis Ganderax, in full (translated): “Yes, it’s true, my dear Ganderax, I was surprised by this journalism. You saw very well my impatience at the table at Mme. Straus’ house when you quoted me to your neighbor. It doesn’t bother me any more. Le Dariger and l’evenui were honorably quoted. I believe I’ll be safe at your house. You’ll put a little space between us—peace in the household.” In fine condition. Accompanied by a receipt from noted autograph collector Paul C. Richards. Starting Bid $300
Degas comments on a sculpture and Mary Cassatt in a letter to a fellow artist
477. Edgar Degas Autograph Letter Signed. ALS in French, signed “Degas,” three pages on two adjoining sheets, 4 x 5.25, June 13, 1889. Letter to fellow artist Albert Bartholomé, in full (translated): “I’ve often thought of the pleasure I did not give myself on the day of the Christ’s departure. It would have been possible to follow as far as Dammartin, have breakfast, and take the train to be gently lulled back to sleep on the way to Paris...I’ve put in a lot of work on the little wax figure. I’ve made a base for it with pieces of linen soaked in a more or less wet plaster. Madame Cassatt continues to do well. The dressing was changed on Monday. Everything is getting better. Give my respects to Monsieur de Fleury and to the inventors, if they’re there.” In fine condition. A fascinating artistic letter, connecting Degas with two artists he mentored—Mary Cassatt and Albert Bartholomé.Starting Bid $500
Gauguin writes to Pissarro, commenting on Monet, Degas, and his own work: “I can only do one thing: paint. For everything else, I’m an idiot”
478. Paul Gauguin Autograph Letter Signed. ALS in French, signed “Gauguin,” two pages both sides, 8.25 x 10.75, Dillies & Cie letterhead, [no date, but annotated 1885 in pencil]. Important handwritten letter to his friend and mentor Camille Pissarro, commenting on fellow painters Claude Monet and Edgar Degas, and offering an assessment on the state of his own work and finances. In part (translated): “Claude Monet’s reception is indeed an important event, but I’m quite afraid that it’s a personal effect and not an Impressionist one...Degas’s behavior is becoming more and more absurd, and besides, it’s a law that men who aim to have a reputation as intellectuals are absurdly stupid in their behavior. Believe me, Degas has done our movement a lot of harm; I know that the art hasn’t suffered, and that’s fortunate. You’ll see Degas end his days more unhappy than the others, offended in his vanity by not being the only one and the first, and there will come a day when no one asks him anything any more; then he’ll complain about humanity...
My Rouen series that you talk about is only a transition...as things have been turning green recently, I’ve settled down to work outdoors, and without effort or an established intention to make something bright and luminous, I’ve arrived at a different result from that of Rouen. I think I can affirm that there’s enormous progress, I feel it: it’s more supple, brighter, more luminous, without having changed method...
Right now I’m entirely out of courage and expedients. Poverty in a strange town! Without credit and without money. Every day I ask myself whether I shouldn’t go to the attic and put a rope around my neck. What holds me back is painting, and that’s the stumbling block right there. My wife, my family, the whole world is after me for this damned painting, claiming that it’s shameful not to earn one’s living. But human abilities aren’t sufficient for two things, and for my part, I can only do one thing: paint. For everything else, I’m an idiot. Painting: I don’t have anything to buy paints with, so I’m limited to drawing; that’s less expensive. The German paints they sell here are dreadful; they don’t dry well, and after a certain length of time, some areas are oily and others are entirely soaked in. And I can’t sell anything, neither a drawing or a painting, not even 10 francs. I’ll send some things to Paris in a bit, so ask Durand Ruel to take something of mine, the price doesn’t matter, in order to buy paint.” In very good to fine condition, with some light stains, and small bits of silking to reinforce chipping to the bottom edges. Starting Bid $2500
Rare oversized photograph presented by Picasso to his trusted housekeeper
479. Pablo Picasso Signed
Photograph. Rare oversized vintage matte-finish 9.25 x 11.75 photo of Pablo Picasso with his wife and muse Jacqueline Roque, boldly signed and inscribed in black felt tip to their beloved housekeeper Ines Sassire, “Pour Ines, Picasso, 17.6.67” and “et Jacqueline.” Reverse bears a Photo France-Soir credit stamp. In very fine condition.
Picasso met Ines Sassier while vacationing in Mougins in 1936 and, delighted by her charm, promptly welcomed both her and her sister to the staff at his Rue de Boétie apartment. She remained Picasso’s close friend, advisor, cook, and confidante for more than three decades. A rare oversized pose of the smiling artist, enhanced by its great associations. Starting Bid $500
480. Norman Rockwell Signed Print.
Color 28.75 x 9 print of Rockwell’s iconic 1967 painting entitled ‘Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas,’ signed along the bottom in black felt tip, “Sincerely, Norman Rockwell.” Matted and framed to an overall size of 35.25 x 16. In fine condition. Starting Bid $200
Aerial drawing and blueprint set of Wright’s never-built ‘solar hemicycle’ Syracuse residence
481. Frank Lloyd Wright Design Drawing and Lot of (9) Blueprints. Hand-
drawn overhead design of the “Residence for Dr. Donald S. Grover, Syracuse New York,” executed under Frank Lloyd Wright’s oversight at his studio, 36 x 27, with the inside of the hand-drawn red ‘Taliesen’ box to the bottom left signed by Wright in pencil, “F. LL. W, Mch. 15/50.” Impressively triple-matted and framed to an overall size of 45 x 37.5. The drawing is accompanied by a complete bound set of nine printed working blueprints, 36.5 x 29.75, comprising plans for the plot (including layout, gravel, elevation, and grading); ground floor (including plumbing and heating details); main floor (including wiring and electrical symbols); mezzanine (including masonry); elevation; sectionswork (including space, glazing, linoleum, carpentry, millwork, and hardware); mezzanine framing; roof framing; and millwork details. In overall very good to fine condition, with light creasing and stains to the drawing, and edge tears and creasing to the rolled blueprints, heaviest to the edges, with the ninth blueprint sheet no longer bound to set. Starting Bid $500
