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Friday, February 5, 2010

PAINTING OF HAITI CAPITAL TO SELL AT BONHAMS TO AID EARTHQUAKE DAMAGED COUNTRY

An oil painting of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, by Louis Aston Knight (American, 1873-1948), is estimated to sell for $6,000-9,000 at Bonhams in New York and will aid AmeriCares, the nonprofit global health and disaster relief organization currently working in Haiti.
 
Born in Paris, Louis Knight studied there under Robert-Fleury Lefebvre and his father, Daniel Ridgway Knight. He is known chiefly as a landscape painter and was the recipient of numerous awards during his lifetime.
 
The painting shows a view over the capital: the cathedral and the National Palace (which now houses some of the Haitian government offices) are visible on the right. The Palace was destroyed in 1912 and rebuilt from 1915 to 1934. In this latest earthquake the Presidential palace was again destroyed.
 
Giles Peppiatt, Director of Topographical Pictures at Bonhams the international fine art auction house, said: “When the owner of this painting heard about the disaster in Haiti she asked us to sell it on behalf of a charity currently working to help the people of Haiti. The money raised by this picture at our saleroom in New York will go to AmeriCares, and we look forward to a successful auction.”
 
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further seven throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston in the USA; and Switzerland, France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com.
 
About AmeriCares:
AmeriCares is a nonprofit global health and disaster relief aid organization, which delivers medicines, medical supplies and aid to people in crisis around the world.  Since it was established in 1982, AmeriCares has distributed more than $9 billion in humanitarian aid  around the world and across the United States.  For more information, log onto www.AmeriCares.org

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