John Toomey Gallery, 818 North Boulevard in Oak Park, is in the midst of their second of four auctions this year featuring art and ceramics from the estate of Candice B. Groot. If the first auction in February is any indication, the items will be in demand. Some of the works featured in the initial auction “exceeded estimates by twentyfold,” according to Lucy Toomey, who says the Groot estate “spans much of the late 19th through 21st centuries. It includes modern and contemporary art and ceramics, as well as erotica, fine taxidermy, automata, timepieces and decorative arts.” Proceeds will benefit the Virginia A. Groot Foundation, a nonprofit arts organization.
“Fire & Form: Fine Art & Ceramics Part I” highlights include works by American sculptor Robert Arneson, Ken Price, Beth Cavener Stichter, Vija Celmins, Ruth Duckworth, Jun Kaneko, Jan Fabre, Katsura Funakoshi, Diane Arbus, Ron Nagle, Deborah Butterfield, Peter Voulkos and Donald Roller Wilson. The remaining two portions of the Groot estate will be auctioned in August and November.
Candice Groot was an artist, teacher, philanthropist and collector who established the Virginia A. Groot Foundation in 1988, named in honor of her mother. The foundation awards annual international grants to contemporary artists to aid the development of their work.
The current sale takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through April 15, with extended hours and a reception on Thursday, April 14 until 7 p.m.
For more information on all of the works to be included in the auction, visit http://treadwaygallery.com (Auctions are held in conjunction with longtime affiliate Treadway Gallery of Cincinnati, Ohio).
— Ken Trainor
