Summer Art Exhibitions

Don't miss any of these spectacular art exhibitions in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California!

Source: San Francisco Botanical Garden Library

San Francisco Botanical Garden Library
"Dahlias! A Photographic Tribute to San Francisco's Official Flower"
Photography by Franck Avril May 4 – August 31, 2011

Asian Art Museum
Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance
February 25 – September 11

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso and the Parisian Avent-Garde
May 21 – September 6, 2011

De Young Museum
Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris
June 11, 2011 - October 9, 2011

San Francisco Maritime Museum
Mapping the Pacific Coast: Coronado to Lewis and Clark
Maritime National Historical Park
July 1 - October 31, 2011

Legion of Honor
Dutch and Flemish Masterworks from the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection
July 9, 2011 - October 2, 2011

California Historical Society
A Century of Landscapes: Selections from the California Art Club
July 14 – October 15

University of California , Berkley Art Museum
Rome, Naples, Venice: Italian Masterworks from the BAM/PFA Collection
July 6, 2011 - October 15, 2011

In Southern California:

Source: The Huntington Library and Art Collections

The J. Paul Getty Museum
Paris: Life and Luxury
April 26–August 7, 2011

Timken Museum of Art
George Inness in Italy
June 10, 2011 - September 18, 2011

The Huntington Library and Art Collections
Out of the Shadows: Joshua Reynolds’ Celebrity Portraiture and the Market for Mezzotints in 18th-Century Britain
July 2, 2011–Sept. 26, 2011

McKenney & Hall Portraits of Native Americans

Mo-Hon-Go An Osage Woman

No-Tim A Chippewa Chief

Petalesharoo A Pawnee Brave

Po-Ca-Hon-Tas

It is with the greatest pleasure that we introduce to you our latest catalog highlighting our extraordinary collection of portraits of Native Americans by McKenney and Hall. Thomas McKenney was Superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1816 until 1830, and one of a very few government officials to defend American Indian interests. When a large delegation of Indians came to see President Monroe in 1821, McKenney commissioned the portraitist Charles Bird King to paint the principal delegates, dressed in costumes of their choice. Many of the most prominent Indian leaders of the nineteenth century were among King’s sitters, including Sequoyah, Red Jacket, Major Ridge, Cornplanter, and Osceola.

McKenney later worked with James C. Hall, a Cincinnati judge and novelist, to compile copies of King’s portraits and produce History of Indian Tribes of North America in 1836. Most of King’s original portraits were subsequently destroyed in a fire at the Smithsonian in 1865, so their appearance in McKenney and Hall’s publication is the only record of the likenesses of many of the most prominent Indian leaders of the nineteenth century:

These hand-colored lithographs by McKenney and Hall remain as the most complete and colorful record of the native leaders who made the long journey to Washington to speak for their people. Please call Arader Galleries San Francisco location at 415.788.5115 to receive the catalog. There is also a great display of McKenney and Hall lithographs hanging at the San Francisco 432 Jackson Street location.

Celestial Charts by Johann Bayer

Though he was a lawyer and not an astronomer by profession, Johann Bayer created one of the most memorable seventeenth-century guides to the constellations, entitled Uranometria, in honor of Urania, the muse of astronomy. First published in Augsburg in 1603, the Uranometria included celestial maps that were not only highly appealing on a visual level, but also significant in the history of astronomy. They were the first charts to identify astral magnitude (brightness) with a lettering system, using Greek characters for the brighter stars and Roman letters for the fainter. Although the Italian cartographer Alessandro Piccolomini had earlier used a somewhat similar system, it was not until Augustin Royer used the Bayer letters in 1679, followed shortly by John Flamsteed, that the system gained currency among celestial chartmakers. Bayer’s atlas also added 12 new constellations, in the southern sky, to the 48 of Ptolemy.

Bayer’s stellar lettering system -- which we still use for stars visible to the naked eye -- and his presentation of the recently discovered constellations were significant contributions to celestial cartography. Ironically, it may be that his work on the atlas had an ulterior motive. Bayer, by profession a lawyer, was really an amateur astronomer. He dedicated his atlas to the city council and to two leading citizens of Augsburg, who rewarded him with an honorarium and, later, a seat on the council as legal adviser. In any event, these are important star charts of considerable charm from the early seventeenth century.

Stop by Arader Galleries San Francisco location to see our fine selection of these incredible star charts. For more information, visit our web site, or call us at 415.788.5115

An Amazing Collection of Japanese Carriages

These extraordinary Japanese watercolors with stencil prints, from the Meiji Period, illustrate various types of Japanese carriages, Kago, or litter, and Jinrikisha, or rickshaws, of noble families from various cities in Japan. All of these types of transport would have been used by the Japanese nobility during the 19th century. From the end of the 12th century 1868, Japan was ruled by the samurai class, with each region being governed by a shogun (the highest military rank). In 1868, Japan underwent a series of events known as the Meiji Restoration, which restored the noble class.

The use of human-powered Kagu, or litter, for transport in Japan appeared as the population increased, and horses were restricted to military use. Kago were often used in Japan to transport the warrior class and nobility, most famously during the Tokugawa period when regional samurai were required to spend a part of the year in Edo (Tokyo) with their families, resulting in yearly migrations of the rich and powerful to and from the capital along the central backbone road of Japan. Jinrikisha, or rickshaws, first appeared in Japan in 1868, the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, and quickly became a popular mode of transportation.

The images are full body watercolor over a stenciled base and are still incredibly vibrant. A different family crest is shown on each carriage. We invite you to stop by the Arader Galleries San Francisco location to view the complete collection! Please call Arader Galleries at 415.788.5115 with any inquiries or questions.

Arader Galleries Charity Auction

It is a great pleasure to announce Arader Galleries third annual charity auction in New Orleans where 20% of the hammer price goes to the institution of your choice. Over the last three years Arader Galleries has proudly raised over $2,000,000 for over 25 deserving schools, hospitals, settlement houses, libraries and academic institutions that are so important to our clients.

The auction will be held on June 25th and 26^th, 2011 and will include over 65 of John James Audubon’s iconic aquatints from the Elephant folio Birds of America, published in London by Robert Havell between 1826 and 1838. The aquatints of birds by John James Audubon are true masterpieces of natural history art from the last 500 years and the iconic images are brilliant in their flawless artistic composition, the way they depict the life and movement of the bird, as well as providing scientifically accurate Linnaean detail.

Other highlights of the auction are the first imperial folio edition of Audubon's famous work The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, complete in three volumes and with 150 fine hand-colored lithographed plates, and works from other 19^th-century natural history artists including John Gould, Daniel G. Elliot and John Robert Thornton. A selection of fine maps and other color plate books from our collection will also be included.

We have chosen Neal Auction House to hold this auction because they have always been honest, helpful and accurate in their transactions with us over the last 15 years. We assure you that all purchases made by you at the sale will be delivered to you promptly, professionally, and at the lowest possible price. Also as a bonus please note that most of these pieces have been framed in elegant gold leaf moldings to full museum specifications.

Please let us know if you would like more information or would like to be sent a complimentary auction catalog.

Los Angeles Antiques Show

Arader Galleries is happy to announce that we will be participating in the Los Angeles Antiques show this year!

We hope you will stop by to see our extraordinary collection of antique prints and original watercolors!

The Los Angeles Antiques Show
Held at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Air Center

Opening night Preview Party

Wednesday April 13 benefiting P.S. Arts

Show Dates/Times
April 14 - 17, 2010

Thursday 11am - 7pm

Friday 11am - 9pm

Saturday 11am - 7 pm

Sunday 11am - 5pm

For information on the Los Angeles Antiques show, and the lecture series, please visit www.losangelesantiqueshow.com.

Helios: Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of Change

Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) was a brilliant, eccentric photographer, who gained worldwide fame photographing animal and human movement imperceptible to the human eye. A retrospective of Muybridge’s work currently on view at the SFMOMA is the first to examine the full scope of Muybridge's vision and his pivotal role in the creative transformation of 19th-century culture. The British-born Muybridge began his artistic career in the 1860s in California — then as now a fertile ground for innovation — and his images vividly capture a rapidly changing West. Bringing together hundreds of photographs and other objects made between 1858 and 1893, the exhibition offers a panoramic view of Muybridge's work within the landscape of his times.

Arader Galleries also has a fine collection of Muybridge’s photographs: the top image is a series of a bird in motion from his famous Animal Locomotion series, the bottom is a detail of a panorama of San Francisco dated 1877. Please contact Arader Galleries with any questions about these fascinating and historically important photographs.