Press Release

Atlanta, GA, USA, June 15, 2024 -- A rare circa 1976 Philip & Kelvin LaVerne ‘Chan Li’ cabinet and an oil on canvas landscape painting by K.D. Wiggins (N.M., b. 1956) are just a couple of the wild and wonderful items bidders will find in Ahlers & Ogletree’s Modern & Contemporary Art + Design auction scheduled for Wednesday, June 26th.

The auction, starting at 10 am, online and in Ahlers & Ogletree’s Atlanta gallery, contains 337 lots of Modernism and Outsider art, including original paintings, important furniture and decorative arts.

Highlights include a large collection of works by Philip & Kelvin Laverne, some with the original paperwork, a pottery jug by Pablo Picasso, original works by Steve Penley and Todd Murphy, a pair of Hunting Chairs by Borge Mogensen, tapestries by Jon Eric Riis and a Paradise Persian by American glassblower Dale Chihuly. A preview will be held at the gallery, June 24th and 25th, from 10am-5pm Eastern time.

The Philip LaVerne (American, 1907-1987) and Kelvin LaVerne (American, b. 1937) bronze and pewter chinoiserie ‘Chan Li’ cabinet from around 1976, boasts figural decoration and four doors, rising on meandering legs. The piece, which is depicted in Philip Kelvin LaVerne: Sculpture III, a copy of which accompanies the lot, along with a 1976 bill of sale, should bring $30,000-$50,000.

The oil on canvas by Kim Douglas (K.D.) Wiggins, a 1991 landscape work titled The Scarecrow, is signed and dated lower right and measures 30 inches by 40 inches (canvas, less the frame) (est. $12,000-$24,000).

There are several other fine offerings in the sale from Philip and Kelvin LaVerne, including these:

- A bronze and pewter chinoiserie ‘Spring Festival’ low console table from the second half of the 20th century, 56 inches wide, having figural decoration and rising on square legs, signed in mold and retaining a Philip LaVerne Galleries Ltd. label to the underside (est. $8,000-$12,000).

- A bronze and pewter chinoiserie ‘Kuan’ (or ‘Kuan Su’) mirror frame, second half 20th century, overall 27 ½ inches by 23 ¾ inches, having a repeating diapered pattern. The mirror originally contained a pastel by Philip LaVerne, dated 1978, not included in the lot (est. $6,000-$8,000).

- A circa 1965 figural bronze and pewter chinoiserie cocktail table having a shaped glass top, pierced figural decoration, and rising on French tied legs, signed in mold to top. Included with the lot is a marker over cartoon sketch and a photomechanical copy sketch (est. $5,000-$7,000).

Who has more star power, Pablo Picasso or Dale Chihuly? Both are in the auction. A Picasso for Madoura ‘Hibou’ (or owl) faience pitcher from 1954, 9 ¾ inches tall and decorated in medium blue on a white ground, marked and inscribed ‘Edition Picasso’, should realize $5,000-$10,000; while a blue and yellow blown glass piece by Chihuly titled Paradise Persian, 8 ½ inches tall and 9 ½ inches in diameter, signed ‘Chihuly’ to the bulb and marked ‘PP 03’ underneath, should reach $3,000-$5,000.

An authorized, circa 2014 oil on canvas copy of Mona Lisa after Fernando Botero (Colombian, 1932-2023) by Erasmo Arbokola Alvarez (Botero’s assistant, Colombian, 20th century), apparently unsigned and large at 73 ¾ inches by 65 ¼ inches (canvas, less the frame), has an estimate of $10,000-$15,000. Also, an untitled oil on canvas by Simone Lucas (German, b. 1973), titled Girl at Chalkboard, signed and dated to verso and also large, at 90 inches square (canvas, less frame), should make $7,000-$8,000.

To learn more about Ahlers & Ogletree and the Modern & Contemporary Art + Design auction scheduled for Wednesday, June 26th at 10 am Eastern time, please visit www.aandoauctions.com.

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