Neal Auction Company

Anyone else feeling the spirit? We certainly are! Browse Olympic and inspired finds featured in our UNRESERVED @ Neal Online Only Auction. Live bidding begins on August 7 & 8 at 11 am. Browse and bid now at nealauction.com!

Shop our Mid-Century, Modern, Contemporary Art & Design Post-Sale at nealauction.com now!

Bid live TOMORROW, July 18th at 1 pm in in our Mid-Century, Modern, Contemporary Art & Design Auction!

https://www.nealauction.com/auction-catalog/Mid-Century,-Modern-&-Contemporary-Design-Auction_AVAKVPS0GN/

Visit nealauction.com to place a bid on this work by on offer Thursday during our Mid-Century, Modern, Contemporary Art & Design Auction.

Lot 297. Billy Solitario (American/Louisiana, b. 1972), “Oysters”, 2013, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, 48 in. x 48 in., unframed.

We’re mixing things up with work by on offer in Mid-Century, Modern, Contemporary Art & Design Auction next week. Make sure you swipe to take a look at 🍟 Browse and bid now at nealauction.com!

There is a lot to love in our upcoming Mid-Century, Modern & Contemporary Art & Design Auction including this large scale canvas by Sam Ezell. Browse and bid now at nealauction.com. Bid live online or in person on June 18th at 1 pm.

Lot 100. Sam Ezell (American/North Carolina, b. 1953), “Hearts”, 2021, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, 41 in. x 52 in., framed, overall 42 7/16 in. x 53 1/2 in. x 1 1/2 in.

Buy-It-Now! Shop our Premier Collections Post Sale Opportunity for a limited time now at nealauction.com!

is finally here! Live bidding begins at 1 pm CT in person and online at nealauction.com. What’s your top lot?

Our team had the best time celebrating the South as a proud sponsor of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art’s Magnolia Ball! Thank you to the entire team the Ogden Museum for making this the best Magnolia Ball yet. Don’t miss “Southland,” an exhibition highlighting the landscape of the American South, on view through September 22, 2024! Also, even if you missed the celebration, you can always by donating to the museum. Learn more at ogdenmuseum.org!

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Have you gotten your ticket to Ogden Museum of Southern Art’s Magnolia Ball? The summer party, taking place TOMORROW Saturday, June 1, will feature live music, cuisine from your favorite local restaurants, specialty cocktails and a silent auction. This year’s event celebrates the exhibition “Southland.” Purchase your tickets today at ogdenmuseum.org/magnoliaball.

Don’t forget to place your bids in the silent auction too! https://my.onecause.com/event/organizations/sf-001C000001fnsRGIAY/events/vevt:1cada69a-8b75-4b6d-9b89-f419196618a0/auctions/silent-auction

Art created by women and sold by women. Bid live today beginning at 2 pm on 100 pieces of art created exclusively by female artists. Visit nealauction.com or join us at 4038 Magazine Street today for Through Her Eyes: Women in Art!

Berenice Abbott was an iconoclastic photographer whose works and life transgressed the norms of the times. She studied sculpture in New York, Berlin and Paris, and she became a studio assistant to Man Ray who hired her because of her lack of experience with photography. In working with Man Ray, she discovered her love of the darkroom and began experimenting with a camera. She was a natural photographer with a keen eye. Upon her return to the United States in 1929, she was struck by New York and its rapidly transforming landscape. “Old New York is fast disappearing,” she noted. Thus began a five-year project called “Changing New York,” in which Abbott documented the dynamism of the ever-shifting cityscapes around her. In the 1930s, she began a relationship that would last about three decades with art historian and critic, Elizabeth McCausland. Together they lived in neighboring apartments in Greenwich Village and were described by friends as “homebodies with house cats.” After McCausland’s death in 1965, Abbott moved permanently to Maine and lived there until her own passing in 1991.

Visit nealauction.com to bid on lots 91 through 93 by and more work by female artists in our May 30th sale Through Her Eyes: Women in Art.

Dorothy Gillespie was a pioneer in metal sculpture - a painter, sculptor and installation artist whose career spanned over seven decades. She became well-known for her colorful painted arrangements of cut aluminum strips, and her work evidenced many of the important trends in American Art of the twentieth century. Gillespie attended the Maryland Institute College of Art and then moved to New York City in 1943 to study at the Art Students League of New York and Atelier 17, a printmaking studio that emphasized experimentation. She moved with her family to Miami in the 1950s, where she often encountered discrimination in the art world, being labeled a “”housewife painter.”” As a result of these early experiences, she was later an active part of the feminist art movement in the 1960s and 1970s and dedicated much of her time to education and social activism. Gillespie was one of the first artists to display her work in lobbies of public institutions and government buildings such as the Mayo Clinic, Epcot Center, Miami Public Library and Fort Lauderdale Airport.

Visit nealauction.com to bid on lot 59 by Dorothy Muriel Gillespie and more work by female artists in our May 30th sale Through Her Eyes: Women in Art.

Lot 59. Dorothy Muriel Gillespie (American/Virginia, 1920-2012), "Untitled: Ribbons", enamel on aluminum, signed, h. 12 1/2 in., w. 16 in., d. 16 in., acrylic base, overall h. 13 in.; accompanied by a copy of a receipt from Sue Lapin Art For Museums, Beverly Hills, CA, Jun. 3, 1985. (2 pcs.)
Provenance: The Estate of Caroline P. Ireland.

Laura Wheeler Waring was born in 1887 in Hartford, Connecticut to a pastor father and a teacher and amateur artist mother. After demonstrating artistic promise in school, she attended the prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. When she graduated in 1914, she received the A. William Emlen Cresson Memorial Travel Scholarship which led her to studying in Paris. This trip and subsequent visits to Paris greatly influenced her work. After returning to the United States, Wheeler Waring became a teacher at Cheyney Training School for Teachers, an all-Black school in Philadelphia where she established and chaired the art and music departments. In 1928 the Harmon Foundation put together a showcase of prominent artists of the Harlem Renaissance which featured Laura Wheeler Waring’s work. Following this exhibition, the Harmon Foundation requested her to complete several more portraits to include in their 1944 traveling exhibition which featured portraits of contemporary African Americans and their accomplishments. The success of the exhibition led to Laura Wheeler Waring becoming well known for her portraiture. Wheeler Waring died in her Philadelphia home in 1948, and several of her portraits are on display at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.

Visit nealauction.com to bid on lot 4 by Laura Wheeler Waring and more work by female artists in our May 30th sale Through Her Eyes: Women in Art.

Lot 4. Laura Wheeler Waring (American/Pennsylvania, 1887-1948), "St. Jean", oil on canvas, signed lower left, titled on stretcher, inscribed en verso, 30 in. x 36 in., framed, overall 35 in. x 41 in. x 2 1/8 in.

Megan Kimber graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Illustration. After stints in Orlando and New York, she then moved to Savannah where she received her MFA in Illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Kimber creates psychological portrait studies within environments reminiscent of the Brother’s Grimm fairy tales. She finds beauty in the unexpected with a color palette informed by the light at dusk. Her inspiration is drawn from nature, the woods of upstate New York where she spent her childhood and also her subjects themselves, as she has said: “The delicate strokes and strata are a glimpse into the internal world of the person I am painting – strong creatures they are, but they all have stories and they all have their cracks and fault lines and intricacies. I want my technique of painting to reflect that.

Visit nealauction.com to bid on lot 79 by Megan Kimber and more work by female artists in our May 30th sale Through Her Eyes: Women in Art.

Lot 79. Megan Kimber (American/Alabama, 20th c.), "Fisherman's Daughter", 2012, "Remember the Earth from which You Came", These Forms, They Cannot Take Shape", 2014, "Glass Carrier", 2014, "Wing & Bone", 2012 and "Oh, Thine with Four Legs and not Merely Two, Defend and Protect Us till the End", 2014, 6 ink and mixed medias on board, 3 signed and dated lower right, 2 signed and dated lower left, one unsigned, each with label with artist, title and 3 with date on backing paper, dia. 4 1/2 in. to 13 in. x 10 1/2 in., each framed, overall dia. 6 3/4 in. x 1 in. to 15 3/4 in. x 13 3/8 in. x 1 in.

Born near the end of 1886 on the notorious Hidden Hill Plantation in Marco, Louisiana, Hunter moved to nearby Melrose Plantation in 1902 and worked in a variety of positions from cotton picker to housekeeper and cook. The plantation was owned by John and Cammie Henry and later, after the death of John, Mrs. Henry retained the property and continued to plant, sell crops and maintain the grounds. Melrose thrived under her care, and Mrs. Henry became known for her dedication to the arts and for her collection of historic and culturally significant items. She often hosted social gatherings for artists and writers, and Clementine Hunter, at the time a cook at Melrose, came across leftover paints and found inspiration to create her first paintings in the late 1930s or early 1940s. During this same period, François Mignon arrived at Melrose Plantation for a six-week visit that turned into a three decade long stay. He became the plantation's historian and befriended Clementine Hunter. With both Mignon and Henry encouraging Hunter to paint, she became committed to her art, creating not only beautiful small-scale paintings on canvas and board, but also large-scale murals which decorated the structures on the property. Hunter’s compositions reflected daily life at Melrose, and in her thick brushstrokes and strong primary colors, she documented the lively scenes that surrounded her from the labor-intensive cotton harvesting and pecan picking to the leisurely pursuits of Saturday nights at the juke joint. Hunter’s unique style and vision captured an integral part of southern history, and she was well-recognized in her lifetime for her artistic achievements with many exhibitions. Like so many artists, she had an intense desire to create, and her subsequent oeuvre is one that continues to receive global recognition and accolades to this day.

Visit nealauction.com to bid on lots 34 through 39 by and more work by female artists in our May 30th sale Through Her Eyes: Women in Art.

Jo Ann Greenberg was a Tampa, Florida native who moved to New Orleans in 1947 to attend Sophie Newcomb College and never left. She married, raised three children and then returned to Newcomb in the 1960s to earn her MFA. Her unique pottery received national recognition and a devoted local following, and she later ran a crafts gallery, Alternatives, in the Riverbend neighborhood. Greenberg’s instantly recognizable work includes richly carved elements of Louisiana wetlands and cavorting nudes that fill her creations with movement, whimsy and joy.

Visit nealauction.com to bid on lot 55 by Jo Ann Greenberg and more work by female artists in our May 30th sale Through Her Eyes: Women in Art.

Renowned for her self-taught painting style, Theora Hamblett became one of Mississippi’’s most celebrated and distinguished artists. Hamblett began her professional career late in life at the age of fifty-five, eschewing the abstract style popular at the time in favor of subjects more personal. Over the ensuing twenty-two years, she developed an extraordinary oeuvre that is as unique as it is powerful. Many of Hamblett’’s paintings concentrated on her childhood memories, especially of the chicken farm in Paris, Mississippi where she spent her childhood. In nearly all her landscape paintings, she included animals or people, with the belief that those additions gave life to the scenes. She also painted many landscapes that featured children playing games to evoke a sense of nostalgia. After an accident which broke her hip and required surgery in 1954, Hamblett began to paint her dreams and visions, many with religious themes and elements. The same year, New York gallery owner and famous collector, Betty Parsons, discovered Hamblett's work and subsequently one of her paintings was included in a 1955 show of new acquisitions at the Museum of Modern Art. Hamblett’’s paintings have two main hallmarks that set them apart: pattern and color. Almost obsessively flat areas of color off-set by the equally flat subjects are in dramatic contrast to her distinctive and highly patterned trees. The effect of the foliage evokes movement, as each leaf is individually painted resulting in layers of color. Hamblett was a lifelong resident of Lafayette County in Mississippi, and upon her death in 1977, she willed most of her collection of paintings to the University of Mississippi, making them rare to the market today.

Bid on lot 33 by now at nealauction.com.

Rise Delmar Ochsner was born and raised in New York City where her mother was an artist. She graduated from Columbia University and Tulane Medical School in New Orleans where she practiced as an ophthalmologist for almost twenty years before retiring. She had discovered her own love of art while at Columbia and continued to paint through medical school and beyond. Ochsner earned commissions to paint Mick Jagger for a poster for his New Orleans tour stop, a portrait of Queen Noor of Jordan, Carol Burnett’s cat and fifty famous chefs for the Mondavi Winery. She relocated to Santa Barbara in 1995 to be a full-time artist, however, missing medicine, she returned to the practice in 2007. After nineteen years away, Delmar Ochsner moved back to New Orleans where she lives today saying: “I came back for the hugs from my patients and my friends, and I’m delighted to be here again.” Her works have been featured in numerous exhibitions locally and nationally. While known primarily as a figurative painter, Delmar Ochsner has an expressive, colorful style that translates beautifully to expansive landscapes, polo scenes and charming pet portraits.

Visit nealauction.com to bid on works by Rise Delmar Ochsner on offer Thursday, May 30th!

Discover your next treasure in our May 16th UNRESERVED @ Neal Online Only Auction. Browse and bid on furniture, jewelry, art, couture and more at nealauction.com

On offer Friday, April 19th during our Premier Estate Collections Auction:
Lot 373. Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), "Hibou", painted and glazed white ceramic pitcher, 1954, from the edition of 500, inscribed "Edition Picasso Madoura", and with the Edition Picasso and Madoura Plein Feu pottery stamps on underside, h. 9 3/4 in.,
Ref: Ramie, Alain. Picasso Catalogue of the Edited Ceramic Works 1947-1971, Madoura, #253.

Discover work by Mary Kirk Kelly on offer Friday, April 19th during our Premier Estate Collections Auction. Browse & bid now at nealauction.com!

O. Winston Link was a renowned photographer known for his stunning images of the American railroad industry. His work captured the essence of a bygone era, showcasing the beauty and power of locomotives in a way that was both artistic and nostalgic. Link's photographs not only documented the trains themselves but also the people and communities that were impacted by them. His attention to detail and unique approach to capturing motion and light set his work apart and solidified his legacy as a master of railroad photography. Through his lens, Link was able to transport viewers to a time when the railroad was not just a mode of transportation, but a symbol of progress and innovation.

On offer Friday, April 19th:
Lot 222. O. Winston "Ogle" Link (American, 1914-2001), "Hotshot Eastbound, Iaeger, West Virginia", negative creation date 1956, print date 1988, gelatin silver print, pencil-signed, dated, negative notation "NW 1103", additional printing notations and copyright stamp with negative notation en verso, image 15 1/2 in. x 19 5/8 in., sheet slightly larger, unframed.

By the mid-1970s, Rodrigue had built a solid reputation for his scenes of Cajun folklife, resulting in an expanded clientele and book opportunity with Oxmoor House, publisher of Southern Living Magazine in 1976. The large format book, The Cajuns of George Rodrigue, featured carefully selected (by the artist) images of his recent paintings, including “The Rope from Corine Street / Swing in Opelousas” offered here. Each image was accompanied by Rodrigue’s descriptions in both English and French. The important volume was chosen by The National Endowment for the Arts and Rosalynn Carter as an Official White House Gift of State during the Carter administration. The paintings included in the book are the artist’s best early canvases and represent a seminal period in Rodrigue’s career. Often based on 1920s-30s period photographs from his mother’s album, Rodrigue’s Cajun paintings reflect his interpretation of a fading era and his own heritage with a contemporary and unique approach. His timeless figures inhabit a landscape unmistakably familiar and beloved by the artist. The two sources of light in “The Rope from Corine Street / Swing in Opelousas,” the girl on the swing and the sunlight beneath the trees, serve to highlight the often-shadowed landscape of Acadiana and allow Rodrigue’s Cajuns to shine from within with the hope of a displaced people. In Rodrigue’s own words: “I suspend the girl from the tree to create the illusion that the Cajun is a ghost who really never touches the ground nor the sky. This rope represents the movement in time, the movement in a culture, movement which brings changes.”

On offer April 19th:
Lot 362. George Rodrigue (American/Louisiana, 1944-2013), "The Rope from Corine Street (Swing in Opelousas)", oil on canvas, signed lower left, signed, titled and 3 "George Rodrigue" stamps on stretcher, "George Rodrigue Gallery, Lafayette, LA" label, 2 "Everson Museum" labels, one typed with artist, title and provenance and "Arvest Galleries American and European Works of Art, Boston MA" label on reverse of frame, inscribed with provenance on backing board, 24 in. x 28 1/4 in. , original frame, overall 29 3/4 in. x 33 5/8 in . x 1 5/8 in.

With a history of over 200 years and owning some of the best Grand Cru and Premier Cru in Vosne-Romanée, Comte Liger-Belair is at the top of the list of the best producers in Burgundy. When the Liger-Belair family settled in the region in the 14th century they acquired the Château de Vosne-Romanée and acquired over 60 hectares of prime vineyards. Their most famous vineyard still owned by them today is the Grand Cru vineyard of La Romanée where the Liger-Belair family is the sole owner, therefore making it a monopole, coming in at just over 2 acres in size. Up until 2001, the Forey family was farming and making the wine under a sharecropping arrangement and the wines were sold under various negociant contracts. Effective with the 2002 vintage, Louis-Michel Liger-Belair assumed responsibility for all vineyard and vinification work of La Romanée and the wines have achieved another level of ethereal beauty. Its brilliance lies in its harmony, no one feature dominates another. Louis-Michel has taken a “less is more” approach with regards to vinification contributing to the wines ability to age so patience is required for this great terroir to fully express its genius. Approximate annual production is 3000-4200 bottles.

On offer April 19th:
Lot 488. Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair La Romanée Grand Cru 2011, 2 bottles, 750ml.; each capsule has very light dents and scratches on top. (2 bottles) Provenance: Stored in Martin’s Wine Cellar long-term wine storage facility at Wines Unlimited, New Orleans, LA since 2012.

Note: Neal Auction would like to thank Liz Dowdy Mitchell, Advanced Sommelier, Head of Wine at Vinovest for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.

Jewelry is back and better than ever in our April 19th Premier Estate Collections Auction. Explore the exquisite selection of jewels online now at nealauction.com! Join us tomorrow for Exhibition to see these pieces and more in person!

Renowned for her self-taught painting style, Theora Hamblett became one of Mississippi’s most celebrated artists. She began her professional career later in life at the age of fifty-five, eschewing the abstract style popular at the time in favor of subjects more personal. Over the ensuing twenty-two years, she developed an extraordinary oeuvre that is as unique as it is powerful. Many of her paintings concentrated on her childhood memories, especially of the chicken farm in Paris, MS where she spent her childhood. In nearly all her landscapes, she included animals or people, with the belief that those additions gave life to the scenes. She also painted many landscapes that featured children playing games to evoke a sense of nostalgia. After an accident which required surgery in 1954, she began to paint her dreams and visions, many with religious themes and elements. The same year, famous New York gallery owner, Betty Parsons, discovered Hamblett’s work and subsequently one of her paintings was included in a 1955 show of new acquisitions at MoMA. Her paintings have two main hallmarks that set them apart – pattern and color. Almost obsessively flat areas of color off-set by the equally flat subjects are in dramatic contrast to her distinctive and highly patterned trees. The effect of the foliage evokes movement, as each leaf is individually painted resulting in layers of color. She was a lifelong resident of Lafayette County, and upon her death in 1977, she willed most of her collection to the University of Mississippi, making them rare to the market today. The painting offered here is a masterful example of Hamblett’s intricate brushwork and saturated palette - highly reminiscent of her 1952 painting “Path and Pasture” which holds the auction record for her work. In “Children’s Playground,” her figures balance precariously on a large, felled tree, with boys and girls perched on the exposed stump and fallen trunk. The immense scale of the tree and technicolor sky embody childhood fantasy, and this painting, more so than any other canvas by the artist that has been offered at auction, poignantly captures the vibrant, imaginative magic of children immersed in play.