Artwork highlights from the Irmo sale include Norman Lindsay’s watercolor The Sinking Galleon, expected to exceed $20,000 at auction, and Gustave Surand’s oil painting of wild animals, Orpheus charming the animals (Out of Competition), considered one of Surand’s greatest works from his “wild animals period,” and a regular subject for reproduction. ($10,000/$15,000)
Also on offer is an original watercolor by John Hancock, a mysterious poet, illustrator, and mystic whose watercolor paintings are of imagery given to him in a vision. Hancock was diagnosed with Bright’s disease and died by suicide at 22. With his early death, his artwork is exceedingly rare, with this watercolor expected to exceed $1,000 at auction.
In addition to the Irmo collection, the Lacy collection offered concurrently at the same November auction contains many items sure to be appealing to collectors.
“Dr. George D. Lacy assembled one of the finest collections of Americana, world history, and modern literature that we’ve seen,” said Reingold. Highlights include autograph letters or documents by Frederick Douglass, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, and others. Also included are rare cartes de visite of John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln (photographed by Matthew Brady), and Mary Todd Lincoln, as well as one of the only views taken of notorious Andersonville prison during the American Civil War.
“This collection may be one of the only chances for collectors to acquire this rare and unusual material,” said Reingold.
The auction is scheduled for November 2025.
