PO Box 2135
Asheville, NC 28802
United States
Based in Asheville, North Carolina, Brunk Auctions has been conducting sales of fine and decorative arts for over 30 years. Auctions are held in our North Carolina sale room but attracts a global audience. Founded by Robert Brunk in 1983, the auctions became well known for their integrity and profes...Read more
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Oct 17, 2024
(British, 1825-1855)
or A Sailor's Wedding, from Etudes de Moeurs, M. Knoedler, New York, and Goupil & Co., Paris, publishers, 1855, Claude Thielley, lithographer, Lemercier, Paris, printer, hand-colored lithograph on paper, sight 17-1/2 x 20-3/4 in.; painted wood frame with eglomise mat, 25-3/4 x 28-1/2 x 1 in.
Note: Drawing on memories from his earlier life in the port city of Baltimore, Maryland, Woodville arranged a large group of figures in the light, airy space of the office of a justice of the peace. At the center, a strapping red-haired sailor holds the arm of his demure bride. The dramatic moment is rendered with remarkable economy, from the irritated reaction of the judge interrupted at his supper, to the conciliatory gesture of the bowing groomsman, to the oblivious pride of the sailor and the humble expectation of the elderly members of the wedding party in their "Sunday best." A subsidiary drama unfolds in the doorway, where two African-American figures hold back a crying child and a grizzled old sailor looks in from the street. The details that set the scene, from the books and papers overflowing the horsehair trunk, to an almanac page pasted to the bookcase, to the red spittoon and glistening andirons, all "finished as with a microscope," add to its visual effect. The work evokes genre painting's earlier roots, mocking its lower-class subjects for the amusement of patrons of presumably higher station, while depicting a modern moment. The original painting by Woodville is in the collections of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.
Purchased items will be available for pick up or shipping from our Asheville, North Carolina auction facility within ten business days of the auction will be assessed a storage fee of $5.00 per day, per item. Purchaser agrees that packing and shipping is done at the purchaser's risk and that the purchaser will pay in advance all packing expenses, materials, carrier fees and insurance charges. At our discretion, items will either be packed by an agent such as a packaging store or Brunk Auctions. Please allow two weeks for shipping after payment is received. Shipment of large items is the responsibility of the purchaser. We are happy to provide names of carriers and shippers if a purchaser so requests. Brunk Auctions will have no liability for any loss or damage to shipped items.
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