Estate of Value

Presents The Robert & Mary Jane Owens Estate Sale

Decoratives Arts Guide & Price List 2323 East 5th Street, Duluth, MN

February 15-16, 2014

Robert Reiley Owens (1920-2005) taught in the UMD English Dept from 1955 -1986. Born in York, PA he

served with an anti-aircraft group in WWII & saw action in Europe. In 1941 he received a B.A. degree from

Dickinson College & a Ph.D from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis in 1955. His interests ranged far

beyond literature & music -- he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the British Jane Austen Society, The First

Unitarian Church of Duluth & the Duluth-Superior Symphony Chorus. He was an active DFL Party member, a

long-term member of Life House, the United Nations Association & many environmental groups. The Owens

family spent a sabbatical year (1963-64) in Uganda, East Africa, where they formed life-long relationships.

Mary Jane Owens (1921 - 2005) moved to Duluth with her husband & family in 1954. She earned her BA from

Mount Holyoke College in 1945 and held an MA in English from the University of Tennessee (1950). From

1964 - 1991 she served the Duluth Public Library as a reference librarian. She was part of its move in 1980

from the old Carnegie building on 2nd Street to its present location & stressed the importance of the City of

Duluth preserving the Tiffany windows in that building. She was an expert gardener & was civic minded &

active in many organizations, including the League of Women Voters, CHUM & the Damiano Center. She &

her family travelled to Uganda in the service of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee & she & her

husband made many visits to Great Britain, Germany & many additional trips to East Africa.

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Artish unknown (American, late 19th/early 20th c.) Untitled (woman behind barred window), ca. 1900 Oil on canvas, 27 ¼ x 22 ¾” Housed in gilt, plaster, wood frame, 33 x 28 x 4” Label verso: “Geo Ryneal Jr Artists + Painters Supplies - 418 Seventh St - Washington DC” This romantic genre subject echoes stories like those of Princess Elizabeth or Anne Boleyn – women trapped by tragic circumstances & condemned by institutional authorities. It may also have a relationship to the1892 short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Considered an important early work of American feminist literature, the story illustrated 19th century attitudes toward women's physical & mental health. Sarah (Tenby) Owens remembers it in the attic & was told it had belonged to an aunt. When she was asked about it, Mrs. Owens replied, “That horrible thing!” Condition: Overall painting - Fair to poor. Canvas is thin & weak in places but intact; scattered paint losses, yellowed varnish throughout, some dark spotting in the face area; vigorous overcleaning of the surface shows in curved abraisions, especially at R. side; Frame - good to fair condition, a few losses to gilt & plaster at corners & edges. $350

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E. French (European, probably Brittish 19/20th c.) Untitled (Landscape) Gouache on paperboard, 5 x 15” Biography unknown; scenes of cathedrals, churches, townscapes; examples of this artist’s work have been seen in London art auctions. $85

Louis Kinney Harlow (American, 1850-1913) Untitled (Landscape) Watercolor on paper, 5 x 11 ¼” Harlow was a painter & etcher known for his New England seascapes, fishermen, farms, boats & coastal scenes. He was born March 28, 1850 in Wareham, MA. He attended school at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA. Harlow started his career as a professional artist in 1880 & exhibited with the Boston Art Club in 1883, 1885, 1887 & 1894. During the early 1880s Harlow taught in Detroit, then moved back to Boston in the mid 1880s. He later traveled to England, Paris & Holland & studied the work of the masters. Harlow’s work is represented in the collections of the Strong Museum, Rochester, NY & the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff, Alberta, Canada. $150

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Grant Wood (American, Anamosa, IA 1891 - 1942 Cedar Rapids, IA) Honorary Degree, ca. 1937 Lithograph on paper, 11 7/8 x 6 7/8” Signed “Grant Wood” pencil, LRC Condition: toning/discoloration to paper; in acidic mat $550

Grant Wood is best known as the painter of American Gothic. The iconic & often parodied painting depicts a farmer with pitchfork standing in front of his Carpenter Gothic style home with what most people assume to be his dour wife. In fact, Wood said he painted a farmer & his spinster daughter. He entered the painting in a competition at the Art Institue of Chicago in 1930. He won a bronze medal, a $300 cash prize & ultimately, the Institute purchased his painting where it remains today. Woods began his art education in at the Minneapolis School of Design & Handicraft (1910-1911) & later at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1913 – 1916) & spent several years studying in Europe. He eventually worked as an associate professor at the University of Illinois & in 1941 was appointed full professor there. He was also awarded honory degrees in 1941 from Northwestern University & Wesleyan University. He was a proponent of Regionalism & he created lithographs & paintings of American landscapes & rural life. His painting, Honorary Degree is a bit of a spoof on his part. It shows him receiving a degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison – he actually did receive a Doctor of Letters Degree from UWM. Humorously, he pictures himself short & pudgy (he was not), the academics bestowing his honors tall & gaunt look somewhat similar to the farmer in his famous painting and, with a tall gothic window in the background, a self-satirical reference to the fame of his 1930 painting American Gothic.

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Artist unknown Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite, ca. 1908 Panoramic photo, framed, 24” Haines Photo Co., Conneaut, Ohio $75

Artist unknown Untitled, (River Scene), ca. 1908 Panoramic photo, framed, 36” Haines Photo Co., Conneaut, Ohio $65

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Composer unknown, Antiphonarium, (Italian, Tuscan, ca. 14th century) 2-sheet spread from manuscript, ink & color on vellum, 17 ½ x 27” An Antiphonarium (latin) is one of the present Catholic liturgical books. It is intended for use by a liturgical choir & it contains the chants, verses & responses used in various parts of the Roman liturgy. $450

The Second Viscount de Santarem (1791-1856), Portugal Cartography, published in Paris,1841 – 1849 Approximate sheet size 25 x 19” each

These plates are from his work on the History of Cartography.

First to coin the word “cartographer”, de Santarem was Portugal’s state archivist.

Condition: Fair to Poor, tears, buckling, fading & discoloration, foxing.

$30 each

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Celestia Angenette Bloss (American, 1845-1888) Plates 1 – 4 from Bloss’ Ancient History, published 1845 7 x 9” each (framed together) Celestia Bloss Brewster was a history scholar at a time, mid-19th century, when this was rare for a woman. She also authored Heroines of the Crusades. Bloss began her teaching career in her brother-in-law’s home as a tutor to his children. Other neighborhood children began attending her classes & eventually Moore gifted her five acres in Brighton to build a school – The Clover Street Seminary. It opened in 1848 & Celestia fought to make it co-educational but it became a girls' school. However, it quickly became so well regarded for its high educational standards for women that young ladies were sent to attend classes there from well-to-do families all over the country. Conversely, after Celestia's death from consumption, the seminary eventually became St. Mark's School for Boys. $60

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Jesse Dorrance Kiser (American, 1922 – 1997 Phoenix, AZ) Family, Watching, ca. 1960s Oil on canvas board, 20 x 26” signed ULC Duluth artist & Owens family friend Dorrance Kiser was born in Nuyaka, Oklahoma, in 1922. He grew up in Alabama, attended Auburn University (the former Alabama Polytechnic Institute) & also studied at Columbia University, NYC. Kiser was influenced by modernist abstraction in art & design. He taught at the University of Minnesota Duluth from 1955 -1963, then moved to Colorado Springs, CO, where he continued painting & teaching. He worked in a wide range of artistic media including drawing, lithography, printmaking & painting. At the end of his career he worked as a technical artist & graphic illustrator in Arizona. The Tweed Museum of Art owns several of his large paintings & his family donated his print study collection to the museum. $500

Chris Owens (American 1947 – 2003) Untitled (hanging cloth) Pastel on paper, in wood frame, approx. 20 x 16” Signed “Chris Owen” pencil, LRC This piece hung in the powder room. $50

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Esther F. Reminton (American, 1902 – 2000 Minneapolis, MN) Untitled (sailboats at marina) Oil on board, 22 x 28”, signed LRC $350

Esther F. Remington (American, 1902 – 2000) Minneapolis, MN) Untitled (butterflies) Oil on board, in wood frame, 11 x 21 ¾ signed LRC” $325

Remington earned bachelor's & master's degrees from University of Minnesota Duluth (1956) & worked as an

artist & a teacher during the 22 years she lived in Duluth. Her painting Spring Morning-Central Park, was the

first winner of the Alice Tweed Tuohy Purchase Award, which added the painting to the museum collection.

Remington established a scholarship to the University of Minnesota Split Rock Arts Program in 1974 as a

memorial to her husband Gilford, a noted professor & manager of the University of Minnesota Duluth Extension

Office. After Esther's death in 2000, her daughter, Gloria Jean Berman, contributed to the scholarship in

memory of her parents.

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Adolf Dehn (American, Waterville, MN 1895 – 1968 New York, NY) Untitled (landscape) Reproduction of watercolor painting, 20 ½ x 26” framed $50 Dehn attended the Minneapolis School of Art (today the Minneapolis Collegfe of Art & Design) where he met

Wanda Gag. Later he & Gag were two of only a dozen students in the US to earn a scholarship to the Art

Students League in New York. He was drafted to serve in World War I but, as a conscientious objector, jhe

neveer served. He did serve two years in prison. After the war Dehn went to Europe & mingled with groups of

intellectuals & artist include E.E. Cummings in Paris & Vienna. He was a two-time Guggenheim Fellowship

recipient & known for his technical skills, as well as his amusing & unusual depictions of human problems. He

is considered one of the best lithographers of the 20th century & he was active in & helped define several

movements of American art including Regionalism, Social Realism & caricature. Droll is remembered as a

prolific artist of great range. His works are held in over 100 museums, including the Smithsonian.

Astonishingly, over 25 museums hold extensive collections of between 25 to as many as 250 pieces of his

work. One of the largest collections of Dehn art is in Minnesota, held by the Le Sueur County Historical

Society at their museum in Elysian, MN.

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Charles Naghanub (American, Fond du Lac Ojibwe ) Original People, 1979 offset lithograph, signed & numbered, ed. 372/600, 13 ¼ x 16 ½” $60

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Carolyn Russell (American, Duluth, MN) Gloriosa from Below (Sunflowers), color photograph, 20 x 16” $150 Charles Russell was stationed at a Kansas Air Force base when he traveled to Bethany College to sing in Handel's Messiah. That's where he met Carolyn. "He sang well," she said. "He sat straight & held the book up properly." After they married, they moved to Minneapolis & sang in the Cathedral Church of St. Mark's choir. Charles, who was working as a bank executive, got involved with the Theatre in the Round. He acted in plays & later, served on the theatre’s board. When the Russells moved to Duluth in 1980, they were almost immediately selected for the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra chorus. Carolyn found an appreciative Duluth audience for her artwork. She was an accomplished photographer, & several art galleries hosted her exhibitions. (From UMD website)

Susan Dexter (American, New Castle, PA) Untitled (mushrooms on tree) Pastel on paper, 9 x 7” $65

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Artist unknown (Monogram “KAS”), Africa, probably Uganda, mid-20th c.) Untitled (market or harvest scene), ca. 1960s, Batik, 31 x 36” unframed $40

Artist unknown (Africa, probably Uganda, mid-20th c.) Untitled, (shore birds) ca. 1960’s Batik on cloth, approx. 12 x 12” $40

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FB Kamau (Africa, probably Uganda. mid 20th c.) Untitled (dancing women & drummer), ca. 1960s Batik, 28 x 34” (framed) $50

Artist unknown , Untitled (Rooster) Cut felt collage, 10 ¾ x 9” $25

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Bag, Woven plant fiber, East African, 37 x 19” $40

Mutuba tree barkcloth, Uganda, Africa (3+ square yards) $50 for the lot

The making of barkcloth has been a part of Ugandan culture for centuries. It is a sacred fabric which defines

the spirit of the Buganda kingdom. Barkcloth remains a ceremonial dress code for royalty, chiefs, & heirs

during coronations & funerals. The art of making barkcloth is disappearing to modern conveniences, & the

United Nations Educational, Scientific, & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has named it among the world’s

collective heritage. Barkcloth is harvested from the mutuba tree & does not harm the tree. The bark

regenerates & can be harvested repeatedly over dozens of years. It is an environmentally-friendly, renewable

material. This unique fabric can be incorporated into many modern uses, including fashion, accessories,

housewares, interior design, & art. The vision in Uganda is to create sustainable jobs by creating a global

demand for barkcloth. Video at: http://independentglobalcitizen.com/category/art/

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Artists Unknown Games Time, ca. 1964 Collage of various tree barks, 15 x 25” Group project from Mengo Girls School, Uganda – signed verso Condition: paperboard support badly warped $40

Artist Unknow Water pot (East Africa, 20th c.) Fired clay, incised design around neck, 13 ” high $100

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Artist unknown (Hmong) Untitled (Hmong traditional fiber art) Applique or reverse applique technique, 47 x 18 ½” Five square fabric designs with motif of 4 hearts in each, surrounded by white “seed” stitching, inner border of triangular black & white mountain design. http://hmongembroidery.org/reverseapplique3.html $150

Artist unknown, Polish (Zakopane workshop) Untitled, (Bird Design) Kilim rug, Flax & wool, approx. 30 x 22” $50

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Artist unknown Untitled (warrier on elephant), mid-20th c. Rubbing from stone carving, Thailan Charcoal on paper, framed, approx. 22 x 28” $100

Glenn C. Nelson (American, Racine, WI 1913 – Nokomis, FL 2010) Bowl, 1959, Stoneware ceramic, 3” high x 12” diameter, signed $175

Born in Racine, WI in 1913, Glenn Nelson earned a BS in Art Education from Milwaukee State Teachers

College after serving in WW II (1949),& an MFA from the University of Iowa, where he was hired as a ceramics

instructor in 1952. Nelson came to the University of Minnesota Duluth in 1956 to establish a ceramics program.

He taught undergrad & graduate students, created his own art, collected ceramics for the university’s Tweed

Museum of Art, & authored the book Ceramics. Nelson’s technical knowledge, understanding of international

design, & aesthetic sensibilities were transmitted through his well-known book, Ceramics, which significantly

raised the bar for ceramics education & studio practice. Five editions were published between 1957 & 1983, &

it became a leading technical & design resource in the US, Canada, & Great Britain. Nelson’s influence

continues to resonate with potters & collectors near & far.

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Stoneware container, ca. 1867-1897, Cowden & Wilcox, Harrisburg, PA 12” high, blue floral decoration Condition: chips at top lip Between 1852 & 1924, there were nine manufacturers in chronological succession making “Harrisburg blue” stoneware pottery. Cowden & Wilcox was number six of nine, stamping pottery with that name from about 1867-97. $175

Linda S. Franzel-Anett (American, born 1951. Lives & works in Chippewa Falls, WI)

Franzel has worked with hand-made paper, cast paper, yarn dying, weaving, & other fabrics. Her work was published & written about in FiberArts magazine, Sept/Oct 1985. She lived & worked in Duluth in the 1980s-90s, & now resides in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where she is active in that area’s arts programs.

Linda S. Franzel-Anett (American, born 1951. Lives & works in Chippewa Falls, WI) Inner Lights III, bunched, folded & sewn fabric, 16 x 20” (in acrylic box frame; signed/titled verso) $80

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Linda S. Franzel-Anett (American, born 1951. Lives & works in Chippewa Falls, WI) Untitled, fiber art wall hanging, approx. 18 x 24” $80

Linda S. Franzel-Anett (American, born 1951. Lives & works in Chippewa Falls, WI) Untitled fiber art wall hanging, ca. 1980s/90s, sheer fabric, red polyfill-stuffed additions at center, steel armature, 58” diameter, 7” depth $50

Linda S. Franzel-Anett (American, born 1951. Lives & works in Chippewa Falls, WI) Untitled fiber art wall hanging, ca. 1980s/90s, red sateen-like fabric, polyfill, steel armature, 55” diameter, 12” depth. Good condition; one loose seam at bottom with minor loss to fill.

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Linda S. Franzel-Anett (American, born 1951. Lives & works in Chippewa Falls, WI) Untitled, ca. 1980s/90s Gold Sateen-like fabric, polyfill, steel armature, 57” diameter, 12” depth $50

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Linda S. Franzel-Anett (American, born 1951. Lives & works in Chippewa Falls, WI) Untitled fiber art wall hanging, ca. 1970s knotted & woven cotton, wool & synthetic yarns, on wooden stretcher, 45 x 79 $175

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Linda S. Franzel-Anett (American, born 1951. Lives & works in Chippewa Falls, WI) Untitled fiber art sculpture ca. 1970s Knotted & woven cotton, wool & synthetic yarns, 2 circular steel armatures, approx. 120” high x 60” diameter $250

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Linda S. Franzel-Anett (American, born 1951. Lives & works in Chippewa Falls, WI) Untitled fiber art sculpture ca. 1970s Knotted & woven cotton, wool & synthetic yarns; 1 circular steel armature, approx. 50” high $250