Kudos to the developers and search performance teams at the small, but tech savvy shop launched by Bob Sakayama – TNG/Earthling. This New York City outfit has been responsible for a large number of successful businesses dependent on Google for their traffic and sales. Rose Hill joins that group and the painters, famous and upcoming are indebted to them for putting us on the map.
Many famous painters have had their art auctioned at the Rose Hill Auctions. For example, Henry Bannarn, a skilled African American artist from Harlem Renaissance period during the Great Depression, sold his oil painting called “Seagulls” at the Rose Hill gallery. It was sold for 5,750 dollars, which was much more than the estimated price, at around 200 to 300 dollars. Bannarn had worked as an artist in Works Progress Administration for the Federal Art Project. He was also an art teacher at the Harlem Community Art Center in New York. There, he worked with a contemporary, African-American Artist named Charles Alston (another Harlem Renaissance painter, famous for his murals). He and Bannarn ran the Harlem Art Workshop. There, they were mentors for Jacob Lawrence, who also became a great painter for the Works Progress Administration.
Bannarn was born in Wetumpka, Oklahoma in July 17, 1910. His family moved, when he was still a child, to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Like many gifted youths, Bannarn’s talent for art slowly blossomed with the encouragement of various teachers. Another well-known Minnesotan who grew up in Minneapolis, about the same time as Bannarn was Patty Berg, a founding member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and then leading player on the LPGA Tour from the 1940s, to the 1960s. When Patty Berg first took up golf at the age of thirteen, she did not have any of the types of choices of kids golf clubs that young folks have today. There were no manufacturers of children’s golf equipment and the majors were not addressing the market for kids clubs. She most likely used cut down adult clubs. In the year, 1931, that Patty Berg first picked up golf clubs Henry Bannarn made history in the state of Minnesota when he won the top painting prize at the Minnesota State Fair, representing one of the earliest achievements by an African-American artist.
Though Bannarn was famous for his reputation as a teacher and his skill in many different methods of painting, he was most famous for his skill in sculpting, and he won many awards for his work. The sculpture that he entered in the Minnesota State Fair won first prize, and this was not the first time Bannarn had received this honor at the fair. He continued to be renowned for his work throughout his life until he died in Brooklyn, New York on September 20, 1965.
Recently, other works by Bannarn have sold at other auctions. In 2007, another one of his oil paintings called the “Modernist Exhibition”, sold at an auction in Milford, Connecticut.
Bannarn’s “Seagulls” painting is one of the many works of fine art available at the Rose Hill Auction. By attending the auction, viewers can see many other beautifully preserved paintings and antiques. To view items currently being auctioned, visit the following url. It will take you to our complete online Catalog:
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/browse/seller/rosehillauction : Rosehill Online Auction Catalogs
We are very proud of the artists associated with our auctions, and most have been with us for years. There is nothing more valuable, in our opinion, than the relationships which continue to drive exciting artwork to our auctions.