An original oil on board painting of a lone woman by the sea, done by the renowned Dutch artist Josef Israels (1824-1911), sold for $20,700 at a multi-estate sale held Apr. 25 by Gordon S. Converse & Co., the fledgling auction firm launched just last year. The painting – titled Watching and Waiting and measuring 26 inches by 19 inches – was the top lot of the 300 items offered.
Josef Israels(1824-1911) – Watching and Waiting
It was just the third-ever auction for Gordon S. Converse & Co., but it was a good one, loaded with vintage clocks, period furniture, estate silver, collectible books, fine art and more. And it was the last auction held in the firm’s Malvern facility, which it quickly outgrew. Future auctions will be held somewhere in nearby Wayne, Penn. (also a suburb of Philadelphia), at a yet-to-be-determined location.
Other art auctioned included:
An oil on canvas seascape by Julius Rose (German-born American, 1828-1911), showing a ship entering a rocky cove or fjord (30 inches by 48 inches), realized $1,955. Mr. Rose had a studio in New York, where he became a noted landscape painter. Also, a lithograph in a matted frame, by Marie Laurencin (French, 1885-1956), an artist known for her ethereal female figure renderings, made $288.
Other prints did well, too. A set of twelve framed prints of exotic interest by Joao Barbosa Rodrigues (1842-1909), an important Brazilian botanist who did studies of Amazon regional flora life, made $3,105; a J. J. Audubon print of the Great White Heron, signed by R. Havel (1835), and framed, realized $2,415; and a Japanese print of the Grand Canyon (11-1/2 inches by 17 inches) rose to $345.
All prices quoted include a 15 percent buyer’s premium.
Gordon S. Converse & Co. is always accepting quality consignments for future sales. To consign an item, estate or collection, you may call them directly, at (610) 722-9004, or inquire by e-mail at Gordon@ConverseClocks.com. To learn more about Gordon S. Converse & Co., you may log on to www.AuctionsatConverse.com or www.ConverseClocks.com. Both sites are highly informative.
Anyone interested in finding out what an item might be worth can find out by sending a photo of the item, along with a check for $40, to Gordon S. Converse & Co., Attn: Gordon Converse, 25 West Lancaster Ave., Malvern, PA 19355.
