In what may be a “First” for Clarkesville, if not for all of Habersham, a lifetime Folk Art collection will be “under the hammer” at the end of this month. Nineteen pieces by North Georgia un-schooled artists are to be auctioned in Clarkesville on Friday evening, March 29th, at the Once Upon A Time Co.
Owner and auctioneer, Wallace Wenn, will conduct the sale for an un-named Habersham family, along with two other art collections from local consigners. In addition to fine art, some estate furniture and antique items will be offered.
According to Wenn, “we have had a few individual pieces of folk art to sell over the years, but this is the first actual collection we’ve seen offered at auction. And auctions are the traditional way art collections are sold. Plus, all the pieces are by North Georgia artists.”
From R.A. Miller, of Rabbittown fame, to the splendidly named “The Beautiful City of Love Coming Down,” by Littleberry Royal, alongside works by Catfish Man, Cornbread, Tubby Brown, Eric Legge, Patience Hamilton, and others, a total of more than 19 works are included in the auction. Contemporary art is also represented in a separate collection from Cornelia, which includes work from listed modern artists, as well as a few pieces from local artists.
“Our auctions have usually consisted of antique furniture, china and glass, with some prints and pottery on an irregular basis,” said Wenn. “Now we have an entire collection of Folk Art, and we hope it will bring a more far-ranging audience. And this will be the greatest number of art pieces we have had to auction in a single sale in many years.”
Wallace Wenn and his wife, Dellie, have owned and operated Once Upon A Time since 1985. They began auctioning items in 1999, first in Toccoa, and then in a building adjoining their store on Washington Street.
“We moved out of the next-door building a few years ago, but we missed auctioning. So we re-arranged and down-scaled a bit to hold auctions in our basement – the “underground” sale room. It has worked out well,” says Wenn.
