RESULTS: The Arader Galleries December 5th Auction of Audubon’s Double Elephant Folio Aquatints and Hand Colored Lithographs, Historic Maps, Rare books, New York- centric Art, Natural History Watercolors & Color Plate Books, and American and European Oil Paintings

New York – The sale was active, with bidders at the gallery, on the internet and on the phones. The star lot was a first edition of John James Audubon’s Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America (estimate: $600,000 – 700,000, sold for $793,000), published in New York between 1845-48. Included are 150 hand-colored lithographs in a contemporary American deluxe binding of full maroon morocco gilt. Another extremely sought after lot was Audubon’s Plate 1: Wild American Cock, Male Turkey (estimated at $125,000 – 175,000, sold for $170,800). Both are auction records for this artist.

Healthy prices were also achieved for Audubon’s Plate 56: a lovely hand-colored lithograph of the American Bison, Male (sold for $30,500), and a rare first edition of Audubon’s octavo Birds of America, considered the first American edition (sold for $61,000).

Graham Arader, owner of Arader Galleries, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Houston said: “clearly Audubon’s are magic.  They sell and there are a lot of people out there who want them.”

Other lots of note that fetched strong prices were Roger Tory Peterson’s large-scale painting on canvas of Snowy Owls (sold for $85,400), John Gould’s Birds of Asia formerly owned by the illustrious banker J.P. Morgan (sold for $195,200), a handsome copperplate engraving of the City of New York by English artist William Birch (sold for $12,200) and an impressive oil painting of Niagara Falls by the colorist of Audubon’s plates, Robert Havell (sold for $24,400). 

Graham Arader will be donating 25% of the proceeds to support programs at eight universities that offer courses teaching students about world history and science through the study of early modern maps, art prints and books—pieces just like those on the auction block. (Alternatively, he'll donate 10% of the price of a piece to the buyer's charity of choice.) 

For more than 20 years, Mr. Arader has been working to get historic maps and artwork of the natural world in classrooms for students to study. At Northeastern University, for instance, students can take a course called "Picturing the World (or How We Came to Understand What Nature Is)," which "offers a multidisciplinary introduction to how we represent the world and the natural environment through hands-on study of early modern maps, art prints, and books," according to an online course description. Similar courses are available at the universities of Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina, as well as Marymount College in California and Switzerland's Franklin College. Prescott College in Arizona was recently added.

Mr. Arader hopes to have 200 schools involved in creating what he called a "new syllabus for American universities." He also wants to one day endow a professorship (or several) at a university, to continue to help students see the beauty of the natural world through documents often only found in libraries and books.

Avid collectors need not wait with baited breath for another such auction event. Part II of this sale will be held in May, 2013. Specifics to be announced in the coming months. 

With any inquiries, please contact Graham Arader at 703-627-0275 or grahamarader@gmail.com