Featured Thrift Find - a Christie's Auction piece(?)! + a Andre Saturne painting!

I found these 2 pieces yesterday at my regular thrift store - the first one had a paper envelope attached to the back & inside that was what looks like a description card for the piece from a Christie's auction!

It is a print titled White Wing Silvery Gull (Plate CCLXXXII)
by Robert Havell after John James Audubon and the title of the auction appears to have been - Important American Furniture, Folk Art & Prints.

I googled it & found the actual auction - it sold for $3,250! (AFTER JOHN JAMES AUDUBON BY ROBERT HAVELL (christies.com ) - there was another link that showed one sold at Christie's for $1,000? (AFTER JOHN JAMES AUDUBON BY ROBERT HAVELL (christies.com )
Either way I am coming out way ahead if true.

Is this piece one of the ones that sold at Christies??

The 2nd piece I found was a original 1955 painting on board by Haitian artist Andre Saturne.

I hope you like these!
(and this may be the first time I didn't need help figuring out who the artist was on a piece of art I've found at a thrift store!)

Thanks for all the help, all the time!




BELOW IS A PAINTING BY WELL LISTED HAITIAN ARTIST ANDRE SATURNE - ONE OF THE EARLIEST ONE OF HIS I'VE FOUND & HAVEN'T SEEN ANOTHER ONE OF JUST FRUIT!
(I thought it was worth showing you guys - it was a good day to be a picker!)

 

Here is the signature & the back of the Andre Saturne painting - I know the artists in Haiti paint on almost anything they can find because there isn't many art supply stores on the island, but this is the biggest board (is this what is called a board - for 'painted on board'?) I've seen a painting on!

 

Your after-Audubon print was Lot #11 in Christie's No. 1882 sale in 2007 . Your first link is to Lot #241 in Christie's No. 1959 sale in 2008 which realized $3,250. Your second link is to Lot #63 in Christie's No. 2670 sale in 2013 which realized $1,000. The last two aren't the same print as the sizes and conditions are different. That could account for the difference in sale price or the market may have softened. Both were framed. You can check the descriptions to see if either might be your print but I would think a great coincidence. Anyway, the Christie's provenance is valuable. The condition looks good. The frame is attractive. Well done on your find.

Debora

 

Both Christie's prints seem to have a line on the right side that I don't see on yours. The clouds on the left seem to be colored differently also so I'd guess (without any knowledge) that yours is not one of these exact examples.

 

Or it's because I use my cell phone to photograph, then send to my email, then save on my computer, then resize to fit here (and usually click the auto enhance to make photo nicer because my phone's camera isn't the best).
Where would paper maker's
watermark be so I can look for the mark?

 

I'll measure it & check; thanks Debora.

 

What, you want us to see it clearly?

You do a good job, all kidding aside.

I found this rather interesting article on Whatman paper and watermarks. I don't know that it applies to yours but interesting and they mention location.

https://www.audubonart.com/blog/aud...ubon-s-havell-edition-of-birds-of-america-363

 

Thanks!

 

It say to shine a light behind the paper to see the mark but I can't while in frame & don't want to remove it - but thanks again for the link, that was interesting!

 

I saw just under 26" x just under 20" measuring to inside edge of matting, Debora

 

Debora - I found this ( Important American Furniture, Folk Art and Prints Including American Folk Art From The Atwater Kent Museum Of Philadelphia (christies.com) ) - and it goes from lot 10 to lot 12; lot 11 is missing?? Any idea what happened? (Thank you!)

 

No idea. Strange, no?

Debora

 

Auction houses sometimes make unsold lots disappear in their post sale online cataloues.

 

Ah, interesting.

Debora

 

It's a completed auction, so the lot was probably withdrawn.

 

And ended up in a thrift store in Miami - lucky me! (My store has a small sign saying they are for profit & buy from other thrifts so it may have come from NY)

 

I regret to say, but this, if genuine (and it probably is), has been so badly re-colored as to be worth very little, which may be why Christie's withdrew it, if that's what happened. (So much speculation!)

Compare your example to the picture say_it_slowly posted - the gulls' feathers are less distinct, and the background is a muddy, blurry mess. Sadly, if displayed in a room that gets any light, these fade badly, and some people try to 'touch them up', but few people now have the skill of the colorists Havell (and other printers) employed back in the day.

You can see a high-res scan of one here, showing the incredible detail:
https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america/white-winged-silvery-gull

It's not impossible to find original Havell prints - I've got one, a cousin of yours, the black-backed gull, which came through the local auction, but it's faded & torn, and has proven very difficult to sell. The kind of folks who have money to buy these things have enough to buy NICE ones. Still, good find, and good luck!