Nearly 500 lots of quality fine art, porcelain and decorative accessories will cross the block Saturday, Jan. 14, at the gallery of Elite Decorative Arts, located in the Quantum Town Center at 1034 Gateway Boulevard (Ste. 106-108) in Boynton Beach. The event will get underway at 1 p.m. (EST) with an in-house pre-sale slated for 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

            The pre-sale auction will feature 120 lots of Lladro, Lalique, Roseville, Delft, Baccarat, oil paintings, bronze, crystal and more. It will be a live-only auction (no Internet bidding) and all items will be sold without reserve (no minimums). For the main auction starting at 1 p.m., phone and absentee bids will also be accepted, with online bidding facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com.

            Works of fine art will headline the main auction, with original oil paintings by Ivan Choultse (Russ., 1874-1932) leading the way. A sunset snow lake scene is expected to fetch $40,000-$60,000, while a seascape should realize $30,000-$50,000. Important original works by Edouard Cortes (Fr., 1882-1969) and Jules Dupre (Fr., 1811-1889) will also come up for bid.

            “We’re quite proud of the quality artwork being featured in the January auction,” said Scott Cieckiewicz of Elite Decorative Arts. “Moving forward, we hope to dedicate auctions exclusively to high-end artwork and oil paintings.” Elite Decorative Arts has already earned a solid reputation as a premier auction house for Asian objects and fine decorative accessories.

            Decorative accessories in the January auction will include a magnificent Hanau (mid-17th century faïence factory founded in Hanau, Germany) silver and ivory Theodorich figure (est. $30,000-$40,000); a stunning pair of African elephant ivory tusks (est. $25,000-$35,000); and an exquisite 65-piece 19th century French necessaire small silver travel box (est. $10,000-$14,000).

            The Choultse paintings are the expected top lots of the auction. While still a young man, Choultse became the court painter to Czar Nicholas II. After the Russian Revolution, he moved to Paris in 1923 and was exhibited at the prestigious Salon des Artistes Francais. He later made side trips to Switzerland, where he honed his skills as a master landscape and mountain painter.

            The street scene by Edouard Cortes is expected to knock down at $30,000-$40,000. Cortes had the good fortune of maturing as an artist in Paris at a time when the “City of Lights” was at the epicenter of the art world. Parisian street scenes by artists like Cortes, Eugene Galien-Laloue (1854-1941), Luigi Loir (1845-1916) and Jean Beraud (1849-1916) were in high demand.

            Jules Dupre’s oil on canvas landscape rendering carries a pre-sale estimate of $20,000-$30,000. Dupre was one of the chief members of the Barbizon School of landscape painters. His work is defined by the sonorous and resonant colors he exacted from his palette. The subjects that seemed to most attract his attention were dramatic sunset effects and stormy skies and seas.

            Also featured in the auction will be a 1968 signed Modernism color lithograph by Marc Chagall (Russ./Fr., 1887-1985). The piece is expected to bring $10,000-$15,000. Chagall was born Moishe Shagal in Russia, but when he became a member of the Ecole de Paris, he adopted French citizenship and the French spelling of his name. Today, his work is highly collectible.

            Another name that will be familiar to art aficionados is that of Joan Miro (Span., 1893-1983). An abstract aquatint etching hand-signed by the artist should garner $6,000-$8,000. Miro left his native Spain for Paris at age 26 and became friends with artists such as Pablo Picasso. He became renowned for his abstract curvilinear design paintings, collages and murals.

            Another artwork expected to hit $6,000-$8,000 is a framed silkscreen by Friedensreich Hundertwasser (Austrian, 1928-2000). The son of a Jewish mother and a Christian father (who died when he was one), Hundertwasser was born in Vienna and studied at the Vienna Academy of Art. He left after only three months, but earned a reputation anyway as a fine modern painter.

            The auction will also feature a 17th century unsigned Old Master oil painting of dancing villagers (est. $20,000-$30,000) and a pair of 17th or 18th century Italian baroque oil floral still lifes (est. $6,000-$8,000 each). Also sold will be a stunning turquoise and diamond 18kt white gold necklace suite and a 14kt gold diamond deco brooch necklace (est. $20,000-$30,000 each).

            Previews will be held on Friday, Jan. 13, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturday, Jan. 14, the date of sale, from 10 a.m. until the first gavel comes down at 1 p.m. in the main auction. Elite Decorative Arts will be exhibiting at the Miami Beach Antique Show (Feb. 2-6, 2012 -- Booths 2105, 2107 and 2109). The event bills itself as the world’s largest indoor antique show.

            Elite Decorative Arts is currently accepting quality consignments for its upcoming Feb. 25 Decorative Arts Sale and its March 17 Chinese Antiquities Sale. To consign an item, an estate or a collection, you may call them at (561) 200-0893 or toll-free at (800) 991-3340; or, you can e-mail them at info@eliteauction.com. To learn more about Elite Decorative Arts, or to learn more about the Jan. 14, Feb. 25 or March 17 auctions, please log on to www.eliteauction.com.