R Wells Gallery

Monumental and really unusual. This asymmetric, biomorphic, looking glass is sure to not be a mass produced item. Playful india imposing, the pillowed surface of the wood makes you t...

Beautiful mid nineteenth century italian carved wood, gesso and gilded frame, right. Whether you wish to use this for a work of art or as a large, an incredibly impressive mirror, th...

An absolutely beautiful and well patinaed Italian, 18th century mirror. Between the coloration of the silver and and gold surface, along with the patina of those two metals and the o...

Titled, "the narrows of lake george" and purportedly by artist C.F. Brown and dated 1852. This is a highly detailed marble dust or sandpaper drawings The meticulously executed detail...

Handsome sculptural and comfortable. Those three words best tell the story of this wonderful example of an English, William IV, leather and carved mahogany chair from the 1830's It ...

This is an important original drawing by Frederick Stewart Church. Created at the end of the nineteenth century and mounted in what is a period "and I am assuming" its original frame...

This is an absolutely beautiful little jewel by American artist Charles Day Hunt. Created at some point in the 1870-1880's, this autumnal Hudson Valley / Adirondacks view, is just so...

Set is comprised of a shovel, tongs, poker and stand; four pieces total. Impressed manufacturer's mark to each tool ‘Gucci Made in Italy. This set is an excellent condition.And hones...

This is fascinating work of "trompe l'oeil" in a beautifully custom cut matting. The work itself dates from the mid 18th century and contains pages from books in several languages, s...

This is the large nineteenth century, french champagne grape gathering basket also referred to as a "hottes". In excellent condition, this basket is hand woven made from wicker and o...

A very handsome and well done charcoal of a nude male. Created in the academic style. Item is signed Should you require any additional images or have any questions? Please do not hes...

This is an exceptional, eighteenth century reproduction of a painting that was originally executed in the seventeenth century. Every detail is exact. When properly lit, you can see i...

This is fascinating work of "trompe l'oeil" in a beautifully custom cut matting. The work itself dates from the mid 18th century and contains pages from books in several languages, s...

Sailor-made from Nantucket, often called "McNamara's Lace" or fancy work, was typically crafted from durable materials found on ships, primarily fishing twine, white cotton rope, or tarred hemp. These functional art pieces, such as baskets, hammocks, and belts, were created using square knots during long voyages. This is an absolutely beautiful piece of sailor made macrame fringe. On it is a tag from the nineteen twenties stating " decoration for sea chest made on nantucket whale...

A great chest of drawers wrapped in lizard skins by R & Y Augousti of Paris. This design Duo of husband and wife have been creating luxury pieces since 1989 when the firm first s...

18th century Chippendale mahogany camelback sofa with scrolled arms, molded tapered legs and bowed front. This example has dynamic impact due to its super lines. The bowed front seat...

This sofa by Borge Morgensen, features gently sloping track arms with austere and refined silhouettes. It's finished in supple leather with a soft, warm patina that only time can c...

A beautiful American pastel, still life on paper circa 1860-1880. Likely from New York, this pastel is mounted in a beautiful gold gilded, period frame. The image complete with marbl...

This is a really grand piece. Likely hailing from Connecticut, Circa 1790 to 1810. The impressive top, a single Board of pine, measuring in at just over 100 in. This item retains all...

Sizes included in this description are with the shade. Period of the size of the vessel alone is eighteen inches in width and eighteen inches in height. The beautiful mottled surface...

A wonderful egg tempera on board painting by American Artist Meng S. Choy. This particular Orchid goes by its Latin name of, Norito Paphiopedilum . This item is signed and dated on t...

A wonderful egg tempera on board painting by American Artist Meng S. Choy. This particular Orchid goes by its Latin name of, Paphiopedilum Vietnamense. This item is signed and dated ...

A rare wrought iron coffee table with a nested stone top by Gilbert Poillerat, circa 1940. The wrought iron base has beautifully over accentuated scrolling legs and a tapering that a...

Using 1500 clothes pins to combine painting and sculpture to a dramatic affect is what artist Annie Morris is most famed for. Each peg is individually pai...

This is a little gem of a piece. Created Created in the in the Hudson valley, USA, circa 1790-1805. The beautiful raised panel doors We're completely hand carved Period The Chisel ma...

This is a very highly animated and extremely well constructed, early 19th century sheet iron weathervane. Please do look at the detailed images. The construction and surface are abso...

This is a beautiful and luxurious natural, blue fox fur lap blanket. Soft pelts with rich, earthen red-grey coloration, accented with black backing. This is perfect for a bed or jus...

[VASCULAR] Lymphatic nodes and vessels of the leg. Rare, circa 1826, first edition anatomical engraving by William Home Lizars (1788-1859) the talented Edinburgh artist and head of...

A spectacular and monumental pair of nickel silver plated lamps attributed to Mason Barbier. Retaining their original shades with matching silver piping. These are a real showstopper...

Very handsome late 18th early 19th century American Corner cupboard, found in a barn near West Stockbridge Massachusetts. It has an older but not original blue green painted surface ...

Daniel Wurtzel (American, b.1962) "Satyr-Boy," 1993. Carved Norway Maple. Signed with initials on right foot. Provenance: The Artist; Allan Stone Gallery, New York. This piece maint...

One of a pair of available. Mid-century modern Charlotte Perriand style daybed or a single sleeper. Solid wood construction, not veneer, with the most excellent surface. All webbin...

Fantastic sculpture by American artist Ronald Gonzalez. Titled Axe Man and created in the 1990s. This item is accompanied with a letter of authenticity from the artist. Ronald Mario Gonzalez is a sculptor and installation artist known for transforming timeworn objects and abject materials into haunting serial forms. Since the mid-1970s, Gonzalez has developed a distinctive visual language through reimagining discarded fragments as vessels of memory, identity, and mortality. His practice privileges process and improvisation through material invention and object investigations giving human presence and psychological weight to evocative heads, figures, and assemblages that explore loss and the reclaiming of history and memory. Gonzalez constructs an unsettling, yet deeply resonant sculptural universe memorializing and animating the passage of time and existential complexities of the human condition. His work has been the subject of numerous solo and group exhibitions including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D C. De Cordova Museum & Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA. Savanna College of Art & Design, Savannah, GA. The Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS. Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis, MI. Everson Museum, Syracuse, NY. Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, NY. Fisher Gallery, University of Southern California, LA. Allan Stone Gallery, NY. Salina Art Center, KS. Jonathan Levine Projects, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ. Intar Gallery, NY. Anthony Brunelli...

This is a wonderful 18th century graphite on paper. The male figure with his backside to us is reclining upon a large bolster with ease. Its detailed shading is showing us his firm m...

A very sturdy and charming, painted two drawer stand. American Circa 1810 to 1820. Made it popular with pine secondary wood likely Northern New England, likely Maine, retains the ori...

Beautifully carved Italian, likely Venice, 18th century Rococo console table with black Limestone top. The wonderful asymmetrical undulating forms that are carved are reminiscent of ...

This chair was created by Judith Leiber, most likely for a charity benefit, in 1995 . It is accented with signature pieces such as python skin and leopard printed suede used by Judit...

Wind, Ocean, Sun by Balcomb Greene painted in 1963. Signed on the front titled and dated on the reverse. Paintings of the Montauk coast by Balcomb Greene are few and far between. Thi...

Philippe Berry (French, 1956-2019), number 2 of an edition of eight, entitled: ''Sans les Mains'' (Without Hands), 1996, cast aluminum, initialed ''P.B.'', dated, and inscribed ''Fon...

A rare to find, matched pair of brass mirrors by mastercraft. Designed by William Doezema for Mastercraft, and produced in the 1970's. This pair is in excellent condition and has a gorgeous patina. These are not lacquered and can be polished to a very high gloss, should one wish to. Do not hesitate to contact me with any additional questions or image requests. This item can be viewed at The Berkshire Galleries of Great Barrington MA.

This is a very handsome pair of custom-made lamps. They were produced in London in the mid-20th century and are made of Walnut with brass accents. It is quite possible that this is t...

The Mower, by Vilma Eckl, 1930's and an excellent color and condition. This item has been framed and matted with Museum quality and profession. The frame is absolutely gorgeous. The ...

The equestrian lamp is a bold and luxurious statement. Made from oil rubbed, brushed bronze, and hand stitched premium leather, the design and quality ...

A great looking Beidermeier looking glass. With excellent patina and retaining the original mirror, this is in a terrific state of preservation. Architectural with highly figured Wo...

Antoni Tàpies wool carpet, this work is 1 from an edition of 6 hand made in 1968, by Maolo Millares and Carola Torres (1926-1972), signed in the upper left corer. These were sold thr...

The VOLT chandelier, designed by Thierry Despont, is a classic blend of Art Deco and Steam Punk wrapped in elegance. These fixtures are available in either chrome or antiqued bronze ...

A wonderful pair of tin wall sconce with embossed pewter back-plates, This type of sconce was riginally formed by pouring melted pewter over cut and polished glass in the late 18th -...

A monumental, very beautiful and dramatic, custom three part dinning table in mahogany. This Thierry Despont creation is one of only two in existence. The 1st, created for a stunning...

Beautiful and striking woodblock print by American artist Juliette May Fraser. likely from the 1930's. This item is not framed or matted so it is easy to ship. Please ask should you ...

These incredible lamps were designed by renowned world designer Thierry Despont the 1990s. The quality and construction is of top grade. The bodies are made from Of high density figured maple, and the fittings are custom and made of bronze. Very few of these made. I am fortunate to be able to offer you four of them. They were never used and are in excellent condition. While Thierry Despont (1948 - 2023) was best-known for his architectural practice—for his integral role in the restoration of the Statue of Liberty, his re-imagining of the Ritz in Paris, and the interiors of the Getty Center (as well as for his notable private clients like Bill Gates and Calvin Klein)—he was also an accomplished painter, sculptor, author, and furniture maker. For additional images or information please do not hesitate to reach out. These items can be picked up in person at our New Jersey location. Hyperion, “The High-One,” is one of the twelve Titan gods of Ancient Greece. He was the son of Gaia (the physical incarnation of Earth) and Uranus (literally meaning “the Sky”). Hyperion, the Titan of Light, the “God of Watchfulness and Wisdom,” inspired this magnificent floor lamp.For available in total. Finish: Figured birch with antique bronze urn...

Seldom Seen pair of George Sellers plaster serpent lamps, each with urn form body and coiled snake in black. George Sellers is a classically-trained artist who studied sculpture in I...

The work and designs of Terry Desmond have been legendary for their quality and attention to detail. These sconces by Terry are no exception. While Thierry Despont (1948 - 2023) was ...

Gorgeous handmade single sconce by American Artisan Larry LeBeau. Created the 1980s, this fantastically heavy, textured bronze sconce is statement piece.

Scandanavian, mid century, Chesterfield Style leather tufted and buttoned wingback chair and matching ottoman. This chair features gently scrolled arms with austere and refined silho...

A very beautiful, American, 19th century maple double-sided music stand. Likely New York City from the 1840s. In excellent condition and retaining the original retractable candle arm...

A handsome and sophisticated mixed media on canvas by American artist John Rigsby. Found in a original state of preservation. His works are few and far between. The following biography was submitted by John David Rigsby, Jr., son of the artist. The author is Lisa Rigsby Peterson, daughter of the artist, and owner of the copyright of the biography. John David Rigsby was born on October 10, 1934, the seventh child of an Alabama Depression-era sharecropper's son. He and his family moved frequently, from one one-room structure to another, often with no running water, no plumbing, no heat but the stove. His father was killed in a car accident when Rigsby was just 9 years old. Life for the remaining eight family members proved tumultuous and difficult -- food wasn't plentiful, nor money. The family moved from place to place, following work -- Rigsby attended 30 different schools before graduating from high school. Despite living in poverty, Rigsby demonstrated academic and artistic aptitude at a young age. Two oil paintings on covers ripped off of old books that he painted when he was eight years old show the promise of an imaginative and gifted eye. Rigsby was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1953. As he later wrote, "When basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, was over, I was told to go out and find a job. Jasper Johns was painting visual aids for the 28th Regimental Headquarters. He suggested the Band Training Unit." Rigsby played the clarinet in that unit, and after 2 years of service, he enrolled at the University of Alabama on the G.I. Bill to study art. After just two years, he left school and followed his mentor (and one of the greatest and longest-lasting influences on his art), Japanese artist and U of A art instructor Tatsu Heima, to New York City. Heima introduced him to Isamu Noguchi and suggested that Rigsby work as Noguchi's assistant. Instead, Rigsby chose a job as a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, since "the notion of seeing all of that art appealed more to me than the boring task of studio assistant." The opportunity was a rich one for Rigsby. He had a chance to study the masters, and cited Rembrandt with his simplicity and elegance as another of the most important influences on his work. In the years between 1957 and 1963, when Rigsby eventually earned his BFA in sculpture, the artist traveled back and forth between New York and Tuscaloosa, alternating study with forays into the fertile New York art scene. Rigsby exhibited some of his early sculpture work in 1958 at a small New York gallery, which was also exhibiting the work of Willem and Elaine de Kooning and Theodore Stamos. Shortly thereafter, searching for an educational venue closer to New York City, Rigsby visited New Haven, Connecticut, and spent an afternoon speaking with Josef Albers at Yale. Albers agreed to accept Rigsby into the Yale program on the condition that he take freshman drawing all over again. A brilliant opportunity, but, in Rigsby's words, "When it was time to register, I was hitchhiking back to Alabama, looking for food and shelter." Rigsby had his first one-man show at the University of Alabama in 1959. A visiting critic from New York, J.F. Goosen, reviewed the show and wrote "here is a talent which produces art because that is the thing for a gifted person to do. In his effortless ease of conception and execution, he has already achieved a goal that eludes many artists for a lifetime." Finally, in 1963, Rigsby received his degree in sculpture, dissolved a short-lived marriage, visited his family, packed up his car and headed permanently for New York. That year, his work was included in a group show at the Delgado Museum in New Orleans - which led to a one-man exhibit at the Delgado in 1964. During 1964, Rigsby took drawing classes at Columbia University, and worked at the General Post Office at night. He met his future wife, Linda Palmieri, and married. In 1965, his daughter Lisa was born, followed in 1966 by the birth of his son, John David Jr. In 1966, Rigsby had a successful one-man show at the Pietrantonio Gallery in New York. Shortly thereafter, he and the family moved to Tunis, Tunisia at the suggestion of a colleague, who urged him to "come paint by the light of Klee." Rigsby worked for the United States Information Agency as a teacher, and he spent the next year and a half painting over ninety paintings inspired by the smells, light, and Phoenician and Roman art surrounding him. He also executed a number of character and landscape drawings, capturing the Tunisian way of life. During his time in Tunisia, Rigsby's work was shown there in two major exhibits. Upon the family's return to the U.S. in 1968, Rigsby once again exhibited at the Pietrantonio Gallery. Later that year, Rigsby enrolled in Southern Connecticut State College's Urban Studies program, earning a master's degree in 1970. During his time at SCSU, Rigsby worked as the city of Bridgeport's Curator of Exhibits, driving a mobile art gallery from schools to neighborhood fairs and housing projects. After completing his degree, Rigsby had an exhibit at the Telfair Museum in Savannah, Georgia. This exhibit caught the attention of a member of the search committee looking to hire an artist for a newly-developed program in neighboring South Carolina. In 1970, Rigsby was selected as the first Artist-in-Residence in the state of South Carolina for the National Endowment for the Arts Artists in Schools program. His work with the newly-integrated students at Beaufort (SC) High School over the term of his residency precluded substantial work on his own art. He did, however, set up a studio in downtown Beaufort, and was able to create a modest number of paintings, which were included in exhibits at the Columbia Museum in South Carolina in 1971 and Yale University in 1973. At the end of his residency in 1974, Rigsby was named the National Visual Arts Coordinator of the Artists in Schools program for the NEA, a post he held for two years. In this position, Rigsby traveled the country, reviewing grant applications, meeting with state leaders in government, education and the arts to promote program concepts and explore local opportunities. The message he repeated over and over again echoed that of one of the other major influences on Rigsby as an artist - Ruth Asawa Lanier, whose words taught him that all of the work that the artist does is the artist's work, not simply the paintings he creates. In his capacity as National Coordinator, as well as many times in the future, Rigsby stressed that artists function in the same way as any other person in society, and deserved the same respect and place for their work as did all other professions. After two years traveling the country, Rigsby was ready for a change, saying "for the first time in my adult life, there was not a body of paintings to show for the years put into my work." In 1976, a summer retreat to the mountain community of Central City, Colorado, led to a permanent relocation. Eventually settling in the small town of Evergreen, Rigsby followed his own advice about artists becoming actively involved in their communities, and he established the Evergreen Visual Arts Center. The Center provided working space for artists, classes for adults and children, and, most importantly, a place for Rigsby to create his own work. Buoyed by the opportunity to concentrate once again on his art, and inspired by his new surroundings, Rigsby entered an extremely prolific period in his career. In 1977, he organized a traveling exhibition of his paintings, which showed at the Kimball Arts Center in Utah, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the Arvada Center in Colorado. 1978 brought more exhibits, notably in Aspen and Denver, as Rigsby's work continued. He took an extended trip to visit his mentor, Tatsu Heima, in Japan, where he climbed Mt. Fuji, followed by travels to Tehran, Delhi, and several European countries. He chronicled his impressions from his travels in a small collection of paintings upon his return to the U.S. - the beginning of a practice which would continue through the rest of his life. In 1979, Rigsby's marriage failed, and at the same time he lost the lease to his Evergreen studio to redevelopment plans. In response to the personal chaos around him, Rigsby began a series of what he called "hard-nosed process paintings," the watercolor paintings of dots which marked his work from this period. The paintings gained him an NEA Individual Artist grant in 1980, as well as a Yaddo fellowship in 1981. The polka dot paintings were followed by a series of cupcake-like images, again examining space and color. During the early 1980s, Rigsby lived in a suite of old dentists' offices in a rundown part of Denver, with a studio in an area that reminded him of the Bowery in New York. In 1984, Rigsby founded the Progreso Gallery in the building where he lived, using the space both to show his own work and also to mount shows of the work of many Colorado artists. The gallery also served as a focal point for Denver's local arts community, hosting weekly discussion groups and classes. In 1984, Rigsby traveled to the Baja Peninsula and then in 1985 to Yugoslavia. After each sojourn, Rigsby returned to create vibrant and explosive paintings based on his experiences, showing them at his Progreso gallery and another alternative gallery in Denver, the Edge Gallery. The economic recession of the mid-eighties hit the art market and Rigsby hard, however, and although he continued to create new works of art, major exhibitions were difficult to come by. In 1987, Rigsby decided to leave Denver and spent six months in Barcelona, Spain. It was an electrifying trip for him. Rigsby wrote of that time: "The streets alone are a visual feast, and the additions of museums from Saarinen, Picasso and Miro to 12th century icons produced artistic indigestion. My paintings are always about the way things look and feel. Barcelona was a time machine extending those sensory and emotional concerns back to the Middle Ages. I felt the need to reduce my work to essential elements of color, scale, drawing and format. The [resulting] color studies speak eloquently for themselves, and in doing so, redefine all of the work I've done in the past 35 years of painting." Rigsby completed over a hundred paintings while in Barcelona - color studies, street portraits of the characters he encountered on a daily basis, and a number of dark landscape paintings. He found time to run with the bulls in Pamplona, and began writing stories about his adventures that were later published. Upon his return to Denver in 1988, Rigsby continued to explore the alter egos of the color studies - he concentrated on a series of dark paintings, all prominently featuring back. He commented about these black paintings that he " decided it was time to explore the perception of the eye and physical space as defined by low -light conditions…I find these paintings elegant, joyous and light-filled, with no feeling of heaviness at all." In mid-1988, Rigsby moved permanently to Houston, Texas, where he would spend the last five years of his life. Once in Houston, Rigsby made a discovery that would serve as the inspiration and material for some of the last works of his career. In 1989, he discovered a salvage yard filled with scrap rubber, and he began working on black rubber sculptures, as well as paintings with rubber elements incorporated. He made strong connections in the Houston alternative arts scene, and became a regular contributor and art critic for a local weekly newspaper, The Public News. From 1989 through 1992, he exhibited his sculptures and paintings at Houston's Brent Gallery, Fountainhead Gallery, and Blaffer Gallery. He also produced an installation of his rubber sculptures on the roof of the Diverse Works Gallery in Houston. 1992 also marked Rigsby's return to Denver when he exhibited his sculptures at the Payton-Rule Gallery in Denver, leading to an Absolut Rigsby commission by Carillon Importers. The 1990s were a tremendous struggle for Rigsby, with financial crises compounded by physical trauma (he accidentally sawed off the top joint of the index finger of his left hand while working in his studio). Although his work was being shown, it wasn't selling, and the tremendous financial pressure he felt weighed heavily upon him. He spent an increasing proportion of his time going to flea markets and garage sales, rehabilitating and repairing the things he bought there, and then re-selling them simply to raise enough money to keep a roof over his head. He had little time to paint or sculpt, the things in life that had always, no matter what the circumstances, brought him joy. Rigsby's final works were a series of intricate paintings and drawings on used books that he purchased at the flea market. Most of these drawings, which he referred to as sculptural form drawings, were executed on page after page of science texts, music books, and a Korean bible and fill hundreds of pages. Additionally, Rigsby created an exquisite book he titled 28 de los Angeles, in which his twenty-eight simple and elegant drawings of angels resonated with the influence of Rembrandt he had so admired in his early days. In a sense, Rigsby's final works, art created on used books which were the only materials he could afford, brought his work and life full circle from his childhood days. Rigsby's life, though begun and ended in adversity, was nonetheless illuminated and enriched by the irresistible impulse he had to create art and beauty. John David Rigsby was killed in a one-car accident in Colorado in August, 1993. Biography from the Archives of askART Following is a review by Michael Paglia of the artist's July 2004 retrospective at the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art. It was submitted by John Rigsby, Jr., son of the artist. There's a magnificent retrospective at Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art devoted to the work of the late John David Rigsby, who was a major powerhouse in Colorado's art scene. "Dots, Blobs and Angels" surveys more than forty years' worth of the remarkable artist's paintings and sculptures. The year 1993 was strange, and by that I mean terrible. Many of the city's galleries closed because of bad economic times, and then the artists started dying. In a matter of a few months, Denver lost three significant artists: Rigsby, experimental photographer Wes Kennedy...

Set of four 18th century Italian painted & parcel-gilt chairs, Venetian. These beautiful chairs have carved wooden frames with sweet detailing. The surface is painted green with ...

A very handsome, stately set of four, 18th century, neoclassical arm chairs. Great cream painted surface with maroon accenting. These chairs reek of the passing of time. All the Upho...

Superb early 19th century rosewood Regency table with beaded edge circular tilt-top. the top is hinged upon a highly unusual carved lattice work covered pineapple standard and gilde...

A wonderful egg tempera on board painting by American Artist Meng S. Choy. This particular Orchid goes by its Latin name of, Paphiopedilum Moquettianum. This item is signed and dated...