Thomaston Place Auction Galleries will be holding their sale of Asian and Indo-Persian Arts on June 2. This sale features 270 works from the Asian continent including China, Japan, India, the Himalayan region, and the Middle East. A particularly stunning aspect is a collection of 20 paintings by the Chinese modernist painter Wang Chi-Yuan (Wang Jiyuan) 王濟遠 (1893-1975). Born in Anhui (or Anhwei) Province in China, he studied at the Shanghai College of Art during the 1910’s where he learned both traditional Chinese and Western painting techniques. After trips to Europe and Japan, he heavily promoted Western-style painting techniques to students and colleagues. He was able to combine traditional Chinese aesthetics with modernist ideas of perspective, brushstrokes, lighting and sensuality. Wang was proficient with various mediums including ink,...Read More

Kara Mann is the founder and creative director of KARA MANN, the design firm she established in Chicago in 2005. In 2011, she expanded her firm to Manhattan, where she continues to work with an international roster of discerning clients and industry leaders on both residential and commercial projects. The New York Times describes her signature style, a balance of sophistication and edge, as “interiors with a subversive side.” In addition to numerous residential projects, Mann is currently working on a major renovation and re-imaging of the boutique Talbott Hotel in Chicago. In addition, she recently launched a new line of furniture for the venerable American brand, Baker Furniture. Follow Kara Mann: @karamanndesign Kara Mann got her start in Chicago after studying fine art, with a focus on ceramics, at Tulane University. She received a degr...Read More

Where other people see junk, Clare Graham sees limitless artistic possibilities. The 67-year-old obsessive collector and found-object artist stockpiles massive quantities of everyday items - bottle caps and buttons, dominoes and Scrabble tiles - in his Highland Park, Los Angeles studio, where he sets about turning them into sculpture, furniture, or anything else that takes his very active imagination. On Saturday, May 20, Rago offers bidders the chance take home a piece of Clare Graham magic when they offer works by the Californian artist in their Modern Design sale. Comprising five lots, these wonderful pieces combine vivid color and stylish design so seemlessly that occasionally, one has to remind oneself that they are made from recycled material. The transition is complete! Lot 2188 is a real eye-catcher - a chaise longue made from alumi...Read More

Pug, grog, fire, wedge, ball, wheel, coil, slip, throw, bat; if you arent familiar with ceramic vernacular you might notice the abrupt, Neanderthal-like language used to navigate the clay studio dialect. However, activating these one syllable words into an artistic process has proven to produce pristine and inventive aesthetics - some embracing the stone age, physicality of the sediment while others masquerade within the finer qualities. It is the choice of the maker to refine or reveal the primitive components of the medium. Consider the method of construction, glaze work, firing process and ideological concept in which the clay will be managed - all finished ceramics land somewhere on the creative gamut - it just depends on the intonation and interpretation determined by the speaker of the clay.  Coming up on May 21st, Rago Auctions will ...Read More

In early September of 1981, thousands of people gathered on the lawn of Colorado State University for a chance to catch a glimpse of the Pope of Pop, Andy Warhol. The Pop Art Exhibition, made possible by contemporary art collectors John and Kimiko Powers, included interviews, radio and TV appearances, and autograph signings with the art legend. The exhibition lasted less than a month, attracting tens of thousands of visitors, and while everyone who attended left with a greater understanding and appreciation for Warhol’s works, some left with a little something extra to commemorate the occasion. Lot 671 in Rago Auctions Upcoming Post-War/Contemporary Art Auction on May 6th, features one such ‘something extra’ – a commemorative screen-printed t-shirt sporting Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s Soup Can. Lot 671, Andy Warhol “Campbell’s Soup” screen-p...Read More

Short and sweet will be the order of the day when Skinner holds their Fine Prints & Photographs sale on Friday, May 19. With just 170 lots up for grabs, bidders will need to have their wits about them if they hope to walk away with one of the prized works on offer. This is a sale where quality, not quantity, is at a premium. Nestled snuggly in the back end of the sale is the forty or so works of photography being offered. A host of big names are represented here, including Ansel Adams, Cecil Beaton, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Jim Marshall, Ernst Haas, and Edward Burtynsky. A great catalog for people looking to get serious about collecting quality work, at price points that won’t blow the doors off the bank balance. Lot 166, titled Oxford Tire Pile #5, Westley, California, is by noted Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. Burtynsky made t...Read More

A torch, a hammer, a paint brush or a camera; innovations in art and design can be forged on the tips of a fiery weld or developed and submerged in a tray of cold chemicals- it is often those who persist with the most passion and fervor that make their craft appear ever so simple. In the midsts of an auction, its easy to forget the first block that these items passed; whether it be the midcentury drafting table of Mies Van Der Rohe or the industrial workbench of a young Louis Vuitton, a few minutes of bids can embody the significance of a lifetimes worth of achievements.  On May 11th - May 13th, Millea Bros Ltd. will host a their 3-Day Select auction on Bidsquare and offer a range of desirables from American Folk Art to French Avant-Garde photography and Couture & Luxury items. To power up this panoramic catalog, Millea Bros ignites Day 1 w...Read More

For hundreds of years playing cards have been bringing people, young and old, together around tables. From competing at snap as a child, to all night poker games in college, to trying our luck at blackjack in Vegas, cards elicit memories involving friends, excitement and usually good times. Indeed, for many of us, playing cards are a reference point for the evolving phases of our lives. And while you might not have always won - sometimes it might even have been painful - but then isnt that element of chance the continuing source of their appeal? On Saturday, May 6 Potter & Potter Auctions offers bidders the opportunity to take their interest in playing cards to a whole new level when they stage Day 1 of their Gambling Memorabilia sale. Over half the 634 lots on offer will be playing cards, a dazzling array of vintage pieces at price points ...Read More

We're not laughing at you, we're laughing with you! Really? Sometimes it's hard to tell. Decoding the human experience through somatic expression, specifically, laughter doesnt always arise from a place of true comprehension - these reactions can come from a multitude of misinterpretations - like knowingly driving through a chatter of half-patched potholes. A plastered smile can act as a camouflage for ones deepest anxieties - a different problem for every overexposed tooth. The latter is especially noticeable when the wattage is on full blast and nobody has cracked open this mouthy metaphor wider than Yue Minjun, Chinas leading Contemporary artist.  This spring, Rago Auctions will be offering six of Yue Minjuns iconic "laughing man" self portraits in their Post War & Contemporary Art sale on May 6th - each lithograph depicting Yue Minjun a...Read More

In the world of American figurative sculpture, Joe Brown is something of an icon. Specializing in athletes, he produced over 400 works in his career, including statuettes, portrait busts, and sculptures. The son of Russian immigrants, Brown was a gifted athlete, and in 1927 won a football scholarship to Temple University. He didn’t graduate, however, and after trying his luck as a pro boxer, got work as an artist’s model, where he discovered a love of sculpture. This led to a seven-year apprenticeship at the University of Pennsylvania.  Brown became the boxing coach at Princeton in 1937, continuing in that position until the early 1960s. He began teaching a sculpting course in 1939, became a resident artist at the university, and was made a full professor of art in 1962. He continued teaching at Princeton until his retirement in 1977. Brown...Read More