BLOOMFIELD, N.J. – A two-day Collectors’ Passion & Fine Art Sale with a diverse offering of fine art ranging from traditional to contemporary, plus a fabulous selection of photography and wonderful decorative arts, will be held Wednesday and Thursday, April 17th and 18th, by Nye & Company Auctioneers. April 17th will be both live and online; April 18th will be online-only.

The April 17th auction will be held in the Nye & Company Auctioneers gallery, located at 20 Beach Street in Bloomfield, starting promptly at 10 am Eastern time, and online via the newly revamped Nye & Company website (www.nyeandcompany.com), where people can go to bid directly through the company website as well as manage and monitor their bids. They’ll also be able to bid via LiveAuctioneers.com and Invaluable.com. Phone and absentee bids will be taken.

The full catalog can be viewed now at www.nyeandcompany.com. “Most of our consignments have come from private estates and collections, and in fact we have works consigned from as far away as Ibiza, Spain,” said Andrew Holter of Nye & Company Auctioneers. “In particular we have two superb Alfred T. Bricher coastal seascapes from the estate of a Park Avenue resident.”

Both of the Bricher (American, 1837-1908) paintings are signed oil on canvas works carrying pre-sale estimates of $30,000-$50,000 each. One, titled Coastline, depicts a sailboat along a coastline. It measures 14 ½ inches by 32 ½ inches (sight). The other, titled Rocky Coast, shows a rowboat on a rocky coastline. It measures 17 ½ inches by 38 ½ inches (sight). Both are framed.

The auction also contains artworks by contemporary artists such as Mark Mennin, Mario Arlati, Jan Stussy and Purvis Young. The photography portion includes such notables as Jock Sturges, Mary Ellen Mark, E. J. Bellocq, Eugene Atget, WeeGee, Jim Marshall and Mario Cravo Neto.

The furniture is a diverse group of 18th-20th century American, English, French and Italian pieces. There is even a fine selection of adorable 18th and 19th century miniature furniture.

A mixed media abstract painting by the Italian-born artist Mario Arlati (b. 1945), titled Passato, Presente, No Limit, 35 ½ inches by 51 inches, verso signed by the artist and titled and dated, has an estimate of $6,000-$8,000; and an acrylic on Masonite by Jan Stussy (American, 1921-1990), titled Homage to Rodin, 48 inches by 48 inches, signed verso, should command $3,000-$5,000.

A gelatin silver print by Ernest J. Bellocq (New Orleans, 1873-1949), The Storyville Portrait (circa 1911-1913), printed later by Lee Friedlander, 10 inches by 8 inches, with reproduction limitation stamp on verso, should reach $1,500-$2,500; while a gelatin silver print by Mary Ellen Mark (American, b. 1940), titled Streetwise, Tiny in Her Halloween Costume (Seattle, Wash., 1983), printed later, probably signed, dated and numbered from an edition of 25 in graphite to verso, 18 ¼ inches by 12 inches on 20 inch by 16 inch paper, is expected to hit $1,000-$2,000.

The furniture category is teeming with tantalizing choices, like the handsome Chippendale mahogany chest-on-chest, circa 1770, with original brasses, 6 feet 4 inches tall (est. $2,000-$4,000); the French Louis XVI marble-top mahogany cylinder front desk, circa 1790, 45 ¾ inches tall by 51 inches wide (est. 1,500-$2,500); or the classical mahogany metamorphic armchair made in Italy around 1820, with a caned seat and unfolding to steps (est. $800-$1,200).

Other noteworthy lots include a lovely Japanese Meiji period (19th century) Shakudo silver gilt cockerel bird figure, mounted on a wooden base and standing 14 inches tall (est. $5,000-$10,000); and The Cole Porter Etagere: a brass and metal frame bookcase with six black-lacquered shelves, based on the original design by Fred Victoria for Billy Baldwin and his client, the legendary songwriter Cole Porter, 8 feet 6 inches tall by 48 inches wide (est. $2,000-$4,000).

All items in the auction will be available for preview at exhibitions starting Monday, April 8th, thru Friday, April 12th, from 10 am to 4 pm; then on Sunday, April 14th, from 12 noon to 4 pm; and Monday and Tuesday, April 15th and 16th, from 10 am to 4 pm. All times quoted are Eastern.

John Nye had a long and fruitful career at Sotheby’s before he and his wife, Kathleen, acquired Dawson’s in 2003 and started Dawson & Nye. With the move to Bloomfield seven years later, they renamed the business to Nye & Company (Auctioneers, Appraisers, Antiques). The firm is nationwide, but the vast bulk of the business comes from trusts and estates in the tri-state area.

For more information about the upcoming Collectors’ Passion & Fine Art Sale scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, April 17th and 18th, please visit www.nyeandcompany.com, the firm’s new and improved website with proprietary auction software. Updates are posted often. The full color catalog can be viewed there, and on www.LiveAuctioneers.com and www.Invaluable.com.

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