Art of Oyster Bay Auction, Live and Online

On Saturday, May 15, 2004 at Wychwood, author and Tiffany Design Director John Loring will auction over two dozen works from the Oyster Bay Historical Society's Art of Oyster Bay Exhibit for the benefit of the Society's Building Fund. Come to Wychwood or bid online.

May 5, 2004 -- On Saturday, May 15, 2004 author and Tiffany Design Director John Loring will auction over two dozen works from the Oyster Bay Historical Society's 2003 Art of Oyster Bay Exhibit for the benefit of the Society's Building Fund. The auction, which will be held at Wychwood, the home of Henry Luce III in Mill Neck, NY, will include historical scenes and personalities, as well as landscapes, village scenes, and harbor views from nineteen artists.

Franklin Perrell, curator of the Nassau County Museum of Fine Arts said of the Exhibit, "The quality is extraordinary and it is very impressive that there is this much talent in our community." Mr. Perrell's oil painting, The Birds Feast on Beekman Beach, was included in the Exhibit and will be part of the auction. Other artists represented include Dan Christoffel, George G, Mort Kunstler, and Susie G Peelle.

John Loring will open the proceedings at 4:00 p.m. with an illustrated lecture on the history of Tiffany & Co., where he has been Design Director since 1979. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served before the lecture during the silent auction of fifteen items from the Art of Oyster Bay Exhibit. Mr. Loring will act as auctioneer for the live auction after the lecture of the remaining twelve items -- and of a select quantity of authentic Tiffany artifacts and signed Oleg Cassini sketches of Jacqueline Kennedy. View and bid online for the items from the Art of Oyster Bay Exhibit until Friday, May 14, 2004 at 5:00 p.m.

Proceeds of the auction will benefit the Oyster Bay Historical Society's Building Fund, established to construct a safe, archival library and collections storage facility. The Society's collection is presently located in its Earle-Wightman House headquarters museum -- a small, 300-year old woodframe building.