The evening begins at 6:30 PM with cocktails, a light supper, and a chance to view the lots. The auction of fine art immediately follows. Guests are encouraged to enjoy coffee, cordials, and dessert after the bidding. Catering by Framboise, led by Chef Frank Puleo, will once again cater the event.
Tickets are $100 each, or $90 for museum members.
The auction block features 45 works of art, including antique and contemporary paintings, prints, photographs, and objects.
Works of art in the auction are currently being exhibited in the museum’s Writing Room, and are also posted online at www.noblemaritime.org/auction. On that page, interested buyers can leave an order to bid on any piece, or make a reservation to attend the event and bid in person.
“I am particularly excited by the wide variety of art and antiques we have on the auction block this year,” commented Ciro Galeno, Jr., the museum’s executive director. “There is Hard! Lee!, a dramatic lithograph by John A. Noble, N.A. (1913-1983) that is seldom available for purchase as it sold out during the artist’s lifetime.”
“The oldest piece in the auction is an engraving of a ship by William Henry Toms (c. 1701-1765) from 1737,” he added. “It is particularly special because it was given to us for the auction by the late collector George Way (1950-2019) on his last visit to the museum this past spring.”
Scott Van Campen, Executive Director of MakerSpace NYC, will preside as auctioneer for the first time.
“Scott is a great friend to us here at the museum and has assisted us with many projects over the years, including the restoration of Robbins Reef Lighthouse. We are so grateful that he has agreed to be our auctioneer this year, and it underscores the level of support that exists between arts and cultural organizations here on Staten Island,” Galeno said.
“That is further reinforced by the inclusion of an oil painting by my colleague Lynnanne Daly, who runs the Art Lab,” he added.
In addition to Hard! Lee!, there are three other works by Noble on the block. There are the lithographs Wild Calm, done in 1952, and Schooners Running for Cover behind Cape Henry, circa 1930, done in 1980, and a reproduction of the oil painting Outer Jib.
There are also prints by William Dyce (1806-1864), Richard Aberle Florsheim (1916-79), Luigi Kasimir (1881-1962), Pierre Marie Alfred Montader (1855-1925), Bert Stern (1929-2013), Charles Turzak (1899-1986), and Herman Zaage (1927-2008), one of the museum’s first Trustees.
Contemporary printmakers William Behnken, N.A., Martha Ives, Bill Murphy, Amy Silberkleit, and Ellen Nathan Singer donated a selection of lithographs, etchings, linoleum cuts, woodcuts, and aquatints to the block.
In addition to Daly, painters whose work is in the auction are Nancy Bonior, Jack Demyan (1923-1999), Minnie Ettlinger (1919-2006), Kathy Krantz Fieramosca, Halina McCormack, Steve Negrón, and Frederick Tordorff.
Willie Chu, Glen DiCrocco, Bill Higgins, Bo Kass, William E. Lyons, Michael McWeeney, Lance J. Reha, Captain C.J. Restivo, and the family of Eric Holmes (1960-2014) donated photographs.
A hand-carved Noah’s ark set by Lisa Ricke created in the style of 19th-century folk art is on the block, as is a necklace made out of rutile quartz with tourmaline crystals by Sage Reynolds.
Artist Elle Finn donated a pen and ink drawing and an artist book featuring her love of figs. Elizabeth Sollazzo-Daland donated a piece made entirely of encaustic and cold wax.
An Art Deco malachite vase designed by Curt Schlevogt (1869-1959) is on the block, as is a tapestry by Sage Reynolds made of hand-painted, 100% rag paper.
Sarah Yuster donated a giclée of one of her most recent paintings and a limited edition print of a painting by museum Trustee John Stobart rounds out the selection.
The Noble Maritime Collection is located in Buildig D, a former mariners’ dormitory at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, New York, and is open to the public from 12 until 5 PM, Thursdays through Sundays.
To learn more about this unique maritime museum, or for more information about the auction, call (718) 447-6490 or visit www.noblemaritime.org.