Art Treasures Sale to benefit Lewes community village Aug. 30

An extraordinary variety of high-quality artworks donated to the Greater Lewes Community Village will be offered at the Art Treasures Sale from 5 to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 30, at the Brush Factory on Kings, 830 Kings Highway in Lewes.

More than 250 pieces will be featured in the sale, including a diverse selection donated by a Wilmington art collector and philanthropist. 

The art sale precedes the village’s Fifth Annual Attic Treasures Sale at the same location Saturday, Sept. 1. Visitors to the art sale will be able to view the array of donated, gently used merchandise including china, glassware, lamps, furniture, rugs, books, games, and beach and garden equipment that will be sold on Saturday of Labor Day weekend.

“We’ve received a much higher quality of art than in the four previous years I have worked on the attic treasures sale,” said Fred Dylla, a watercolor and woodcut artist. “Because of that, the decision was made to have this event separate from the attic treasures sale.”

Village volunteers Dylla, a retired physicist, and Arlene Matzkin, an architect and artist, acted as curators, identifying each artist where possible, setting the prices and hanging the works for display.

“Our largest collection is the watercolors,” said Steve Hanzel, chair of the attic treasures committee. “All of the art is value-priced,” he said, explaining that curators have priced each piece at a fraction of its market value. “Everything is priced to sell, with all proceeds going to benefit the work of the village.”

He said prices range from $10 to a high of $300, offering an opportunity for everyone to purchase one or more works of art, many of them from well-known artists with Delaware roots. One set of two miniature oil paintings is priced at $20. A high-quality print of Andrew Wyeth’s “Spindrift” can be purchased for $45, and a framed French woven tapestry is $250.

Collections have been arranged according to genre. The watercolors include a number of floral images by Rehoboth Art League member C. Viers Mace, followed by classical works that include European prints, Japanese woodblock prints and a gravestone rubbing. Displays of oil paintings follow, then groupings of acrylics, artists’ proofs and limited-edition prints, framed photographs, painted posters on tin that feature Rehoboth Beach art scenes from the ‘60s, and signed proofs of old British Rail travel posters.

Additional parking is available at the First Baptist Church of Lewes directly opposite the Brush Factory on Kings. Admission to the sale is free, but donations are appreciated. Catherine and Kevin Hester of Teller Wines have provided wine for the reception.

Jackie Sullivan, executive director of the Greater Lewes Community Village, said the Art Treasures Sale Aug. 30 and the Attic Treasures Sale Sept. 1 are the major fundraising events that enable the organization to provide volunteer services to help older adults enjoy independent lives at home or in assisted living centers. She said transportation is the major need for seniors who live in eastern Sussex County.