La Belle Epoque Gallery’s Next Auction Set For April 6

22/03/2024

NEW YORK CITY — A Herman Miller swag leg desk, Shafrazi Gallery Keith Haring catalog, a collection of Alan James Robinson suites, a near complete Wedgwood dinner set, a rare Phil Paradise mixed media on paper and original Fantastic Four storyboards are just a few of the articles to be featured in La Belle Epoque Auction House’s multi-estates spring 2024 auction. It will be conducted live in person in the firm’s 7,000-square-foot gallery as well as online via its own site and app as well as on Invaluable and Live Auctioneers.

The April 6 auction will offer more than 150 lots of rare and antique books that hail from the personal collection of the late Estelle Chessid, a member of the rare and antique book dealer community in Manhattan. Chessid championed the rare book community for more than 30 years, spending her final years creating art in her Upper West Side abode. With collections of New Yorker cartoonists and Pulitzer Prize winners, a highlight of Chessid’s collection are her first edition Alan James Robinson suites of engravings and etchings, including “A Fowl Alphabet,” “An Odd Bestiary” and “The Raven” by Edgar Allen
Poe. A surprisingly rare copy of a signed and inscribed novel titled How to raise your IQ by eating gifted children by New York Times author and cartoonist Lewis B. Frumkes is estimated at $800-$1,200.

Among bronzes, there are four Venturi Arte bronze lots estimated at $400/800 each from the studio of Gianpaolo Venturi, known in the industry for innovating bronze casting techniques. A bronze by Marcel Bouraine French, 1886-1946) titled “Femme Nue Se Touchant L’epaule” ($5/7,000), as well as a Georges Gardier (French, 1863-1939) animalier bronze ($600/800) are notable.

Rare copy of a signed and inscribed novel titled How to raise your IQ by eating gifted children by New York Times author and cartoonist Lewis B. Frumkes ($800-$1,200).

Numerous oil and acrylic works will go under the hammer, including two by New York artist John MacWhinnie previously exhibited in MoMA and the Guggenheim and known for painting portraits of Willem de Kooning, Truman Capote and Roy Lichtenstein. “Seated Muse” ($500/700) and “Patricia with Creep” ($1/2,000) are notable. A spectacular selection of Nineteenth to early Twentieth Century oil paintings will be presented alongside lithographs and works on paper, including a Mary Frank British/American, b 1933) edition of 250 ($300/600). Frank’s works are included in the permanent ollections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art at Yale University and The Jewish Museum. A Salvador Dali etching, “Don Quijote,” is listed with an estimate of $400/800. A rare Picasso “Le Cheval du Cirque” lithograph inscribed “Lithographie pour muse reatu” is believed to be from the 1957 collection limited to the edition of 275 ($500/800). A rare gelatin silver photograph of Josephine Baker by G.L. Manuel Frères has an estimate of $600/800. Photographs from the same sitting are held in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art. Among an array of decorative objects and collectibles is a 1960s era Hermes 3000 portable typewriter, including original cleaning brushes and instruction manual ($200/300). La Belle Epoque Auction House is at 71 8th Avenue. For information, 212- 362-1770 or www.labelleepoque.com.

Bronze by Marcel Bouraine (French, 1886- 1946) titled “Femme Nue Se Touchant L’epaule” ($5/7,000).