Arader Galleries PHL, NYC, SF

05/16/2024

John James and John Woodhouse Audubon
“Black-tailed Hare”
The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America
Philadelphia, 1845-49
Lithograph with original hand-coloring
Sheet size: 21” x 27 3/8”

Please contact (215) 735-8811

04/24/2024

School of Pierre Joseph Redoute (1759-1840)
Rose watercolor
c. 1815-1825
Watercolor on vellum
Image size: 13 3/4 x 10 1/2 in.
Frame size: 20 x 16 1/2 in.
Framed in gold-leaf

Painted on vellum, a highly unforgiving canvas, this lovely watercolor was painted by a student of the famed French court painter, Pierre Joseph Redoute. Under Redoute’s tutelage, some of the finest botanical watercolors were created, often focusing on a single plant or bouquet. This elegant watercolor brings to life the flower from bud to fully realized bloom. Delicate water dropets grace the leaves and the vellum creates a brilliant canvas for three dimensionality.

04/24/2024

Join us for The Philadelphia Show in the
East Terrace of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Featuring an outstanding selection of antiques, art and design presented by over forty of America’s leading dealers

Friday, April 26th - Sunday, April 28th
Preview Party, Thursday, April 25th

01/15/2024

We are thrilled to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Winter Show, a benefit for East Side House Settlement. This is our 43rd year exhibiting at this extraordinary fair which offers the best of the best! Come visit and see some of the treasures we been saving for this special event! . Opening Thursday evening with a Gala Preview, the show runs through January 28th at the Park Avenue Armory.

10/05/2023

Samuel Howitt (British, 1756–1822).
The Council of Foxes.
Watercolor with pen, brown ink and wash over pencil.
London, 1808.
Created for A New Work of Animals...Fables of Aesop, Gay and Phaedrus.
12 3/4" x 9" visible, 20 1/4" x 24 1/4" framed.
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For additional information, please contact Arader Galleries Philadelphia 215.735.8811.

01/24/2023

John James Audubon (1785-1851)

Plate CXXI Snowy Owl

from Birds of America

Engraved by Robert Havell (1793-1878)

Published: London, 1827-1838

Aquatint engraving with original hand coloring

Paper size: 38 1/2 x 25 1/2"

Provenance: John Vickers Painter Collection, Cleveland, Ohio.

A world famous stamp collector and banker from Cleveland circa 1880, Painter’s discerning eye for quality was unparalleled. The gradations of color, especially the greens and yellows, offer evidence of what Robert Havell and John James Audubon intended. All images have full margins (38 3/8 inches by 25 inches) and the color is rich and vivid. From the first edition “double elephant folio” engraved and printed on Whatman Turkey Mill paper by Robert Havell Jr in London from 1827-1838, the images are exceedingly fine.



John James Audubon is without rival as the most celebrated American natural history artist. Audubon devoted his life to realizing his dream of identifying and depicting the birds of North America, and his work has had profound cultural and historical significance. In the second decade of the 19th century, he set out to travel throughout the wilderness of the United States, drawing every notable species of native bird. His remarkable ambition and artistic talent culminated in the publication of the monumental Birds of America in 1827-38, a series of 435 aquatints that have only grown in fame since the time of their first appearance. This work established Audubon as an early American artist who could attract European attention, and for many, he personified New World culture and its emerging independent existence.

01/22/2023

This year marks our 42nd year exhibiting at the Winter Show! We support the hard work of the show’s beneficiary, East Side House Settlement, a community-based organization headquartered in the South Bronx. They work with schools, community centers, and other partners to bring quality education and resources to residents in the Bronx and Northern Manhattan. .
The show is open today for 12pm-6pm at the Park Avenue Armory. Come find a treasure!

01/21/2023

Opening night at The Winter Show in New York! Always delighted to welcome Audubon enthusiast Martha Stewart to the fair!

01/10/2023

The Winter Show 2023 open next Thursday, January 19th and it returns to the Park Avenue Armory! .
Here is a glimpse of last year’s stand. We have some wonderful surprises in store this year’s fair. .

07/31/2022

The Newport Antiques show, a benefit to raise funds and friends for the Newport Historical Society is open on Sunday, July 31st for the final day. Located at it’s new home 250 W. Main Road, it is literal feast for eyes. Come find a treasure….or two and support the important work of the Newport Historical Society. The show is open from 10am to 4pm on Sunday.

05/28/2022

American Philosophical Society]
・・・
Thanks to a generous donation by Graham Arader and Lori Cohen, five rare botanical watercolors, valued at $1.75M, are now part of the collections of the American Philosophical Society. Both beautiful and beneficial, the plants illustrated by Jacques le Moyne de Morgues c. 1565 were included in one of the earliest collections of French botanical illustrations. American Philosophical Society]

04/02/2022

We are thrilled to be exhibiting at the Winter Show in Spring! This year the show is being held at Barney’s former flagship location at 660 Madison Avenue. Our stand is 4-16 on the 4th floor and we have brought some wonderful treasures!

03/14/2022

02/03/2022

Nicolas Robert (French, 1614-1685)
Untitled (Large Red flower)
Pencil, watercolor and body color on prepared vellum, with pencil, gold and brown ink framing lines
ca. 1670
Vellum size 17 1/4 x 12 3/4 in
Frame size 27 3/8 x 22 5/8 in

Nicolas Robert was one of the greatest natural history artists of the seventeenth-century, and his work established standards combining scientific accuracy and aesthetic appeal that influenced generations of artists and won the respect and patronage of the French royal family. Robert created a vast, exquisite body of work for the French Crown. Along with other artists, Robert was commissioned by Gaston d’Orleans, brother of Louis XIII, to create watercolors of the rare plants and exotic birds he had assembled in his garden at Blois and the Ménagerie at Versailles. Robert’s talent was recognized quickly as being superior to that of other artists working for the royal family, and after Gaston d’Orleans’s death, he was quickly placed under the patronage of the Sun King, Louis XIV. As a reward for the stunning works he painted for the king’s personal collection, Robert was named Peintre Ordinaire du Roiinches in 1666, a title that confirmed his continuing fame and patronage.

Robert was the first significant contributor to a collection of fine watercolors on vellum that became known, collectively, as the Velins du Roi (the King’s Vellums). The watercolors Robert completed under Gaston d’Orleans and then Louis XIV for the royal collection fed the interest and provided the inspiration for the great masters of botanical and ornithological art who followed: Jean Joubert, Nicholas Marechal, Gerard van Spaendonck and, of course, Pierre-Joseph Redouté. Thus, the extremely fine print work of Parisian natural historians and flower painters as late as 1825 can be traced directly back to the strength of Robert’s tradition.

Recognizing the greatness of the Velins, Napoleon Bonaparte continued work on this monumental and exquisite undertaking and these remarkable works were probably completed by Robert under his patronage.

01/22/2022

Our Masters Drawings exhibit kicks off this evening. Curated by art historian Alison Petretti, the show features a 17th century watercolor of an American Flamingo by Nicolas Robert. The Phoenicopterus ruber is the only species of flamingo that naturally inhabits North America. 

NICOLAS ROBERT (FRENCH, 1614-1685), the first Peintre ordinaire du Roi pour la miniature to the French Court

Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) [The American Flamingo]
Pencil, watercolor and gouache, on vellum, with gold border
ca, 1675
Vellum size: 14 1/2 x 10 5/8 in Frame size: 20 1/2 x 24 3/4 in
Provenance: Marcel Jeanson

In 1666, Nicolas Robert became the first artist to be appointed Peintre ordinaire du Roi pour la miniature.  His splendid designs were painted from the Jardin des Plantes and Menagarie at Versailles.

Nicolas Robert was one of the greatest natural history artists of the 17th century. His work established scientific accuracy and aesthetic appeal standards that influenced generations of artists and won the French royal family’s respect and patronage. Robert created a magnificent body of work for the French Crown. He was the first significant contributor to a collection of delicate watercolors on vellum that collectively became known as the Velins du Roi (the King’s Vellums). The watercolors Robert completed under Gaston d’Orleans and then Louis XIV for the royal collection fed the interest and inspired the great masters of botanical and ornithological art who followed.

The brilliance that made the Sun King recognize Robert as the preeminent watercolorist of his day is still evident in these well-preserved works. The birds are defined with subtle modulations of delicate hues, and the simple yet monumental compositions combine flawless artistry with Robert’s exceptional attention to scientific precision.

For information on this work, please contact (215) 735-8811.

01/08/2022

Maria Sibylla Merian (German, 1647-1717)
Study of a tulip, two crocus and two insects
Black lead, pen and black ink, watercolor and bodycolor with gilt framing lines, on vellum
Vellum size: 13 x 9 1/4 in.
Frame size: 23 3/4 x 20 1/2 in.

Maria Sibylla Merian’s paintings reflect the classic combination of objects found in a cabinet of curiosities. Eager to acquire the latest discoveries, wealthy collectors employed artists to record their rare cabinet collections. In several of Merian works the tulip is placed at the center of the arrangement, reflecting its relative rarity and high value during the seventeenth century. The demand for tulips reached such a height that they became prized items in collections of exotic treasures.

Merian not only concentrated upon the beauty of flowers but in the majority of her compositions included insects, an unusual consideration for a woman of the seventeenth century.

Maria Sibylla was born in Frankfurt, Germany on April 2, 1647, to the famous publisher, Matthias Merian (1593-1650), and his second wife, Johanna Sibylla Heim. At the age of three, her father died and one year later her mother married the Dutch painter, Jacob Marrell (1613-1681), also a resident of Frankfurt. He provided her with early artistic training and introduced her to natural history illustration. At the age of eighteen, Maria Sibylla married Johann Graffe, a former apprentice of her stepfather, and moved to Nuremberg. She gave birth to two daughters, Johanna Helena and Dorothea Maria, and during this time painted watercolors on vellum for sale. Apart from the work of her stepfather, Merian was also acquainted with the work of other painters, such as Nicolas Robert (1614-1685), painter to the French Crown.

In 1685, Maria Sibylla left her husband and with her daughters and mother joined a spiritual community established by the Labadist sect. Fourteen years later she embarked, with her daughter Dorothea, upon a voyage to Surinam (now Guyana) to record the natural life of the Dutch colony.

01/08/2022

John James Audubon (1785-1851) & John Woodhouse Audubon (1812-1862)
Ocelot or Leopard-Cat Pl. L###VI
From The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America
New York: J.J. Audubon, [1845-1849].
Drawn from nature by J.J. Audubon and J. W. Audubon, backgrounds after Victor Audubon, colored by hand by J. T. Bowen of Philadelphia
Lithograph with original hand-coloring
Paper size: approx. 21 1/4 x 27 3/4"

With the publication of “The Birds of America” earning John James Audubon tremendous fame he became interested in his next large-scale project. In the early 1840’s he began working on “The Viviparous Quadrupeds Of North America” with the help of his son John Woodhouse Audubon. They would produce 150 folio drawings, measuring approximately 22x28 inches, hand-printed and hand colored by J.T. Bowen of Philadelphia. Each lithograph is hand-colored and many images are the work of John Woodhouse Audubon as his father’s health declined.

For further information, please call (215) 735-8811.

01/05/2022

Pieter Schenk (1660-1711) and Gerard Valck (1652-1726)

Diversa Orbis Terrae

Amsterdam, 1706

Engraving with original hand-coloring

Framed dimensions: 19 3/4 x 22 1/2”

This handsome Pieter Schenk world map dates from 1706 in a double hemisphere projection. The information is largely based on Carel Allard’s map of 1696.

Filled with cartographic interest, California is shown as an island, the inclusion of the mythical Laguna de Xarayes and an incomplete Australia.
For more information, please call (215) 735-8811.

12/27/2021

Christophe Paulin Chevalier de las Poix de Freminiville, sailor and naturalist began his career on the seas in 1801, inspired by the voyages of Captain James Cook, which he is reputed to have read for the first time at the age of 8. Rising steadily through the ranks he became a captain in 1830. During his many years at sea Freminiville was involved in several scientific expeditions; one of the earliest this voyage to the Artic in 1819. Between the years 1822 and 1823 he sailed with the Frigate "La Nereide" to the coast of west Africa. "La Nereide" departed the anchorage of the island of Goree on the morning of the 6th of May, 1822. Between 1823-1829 he sailed along the Central and Southern American coastline, and as on all his voyages, drawing coastal profiles and views, and specimens of exotic creatures, some of which were named in his honour, including a number of marine species, but most notably the Eagle Ray (Myliobatis Fremonvillei).

Please feel free to contact us with questions by phone at 215.735.8811,
or by email at [email protected]

12/18/2021

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John James Audubon (1785-1851)
Plate LXVI Ivory-billed Woodpecker
from Birds of America
Engraved by Robert Havell (1793-1878)
Published: London, 1827-1838
Aquatint engraving with original hand coloring
Paper size: 38 1/2 x 25 1/2"
Provenance: John Vickers Painter Collection, Cleveland, Ohio.

“The Ivory-billed Woodpecker confines its rambles to a comparatively very small portion of the United States, it never having been observed in the Middle States within the memory of any person now living there. In fact, in no portion of these districts does the nature of the woods appear suitable to its remarkable habits.

Descending the Ohio, we meet with this splendid bird for the first time near the confluence of that beautiful river and the Mississippi; after which, following the windings of the latter, either downwards toward the sea, or upwards in the direction of the Missouri, we frequently observe it. On the Atlantic coast, North Carolina may be taken as the limit of its distribution, although now and then an individual of the species may be accidentally seen in Maryland. To the westward of the Mississippi, it is found in all the dense forests bordering the streams which empty their waters into that majestic river, from the very declivities of the Rocky Mountains. The lower parts of the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, are, however, the most favourite resorts of this bird, and in those States it constantly resides, breeds, and passes a life of peaceful enjoyment, finding a profusion of food in all the deep, dark, and gloomy swamps dispersed throughout them.”



For further information, please contact (215) 735-8811.

12/15/2021

Arader Galleries is delighted to offer a unique collection of original watercolors prepared for a classic period work for every fly fisher and all trout anglers interested in the development of fly-fishing entomology, Leonard West's The Natural Trout Fly and its Imitation.

Leonard West was a stalwart of the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society (and President for 1916) and founding member of the St. Helen's Fly-fisher's Club. His approach to fly-fishing was based on the premise that "the angler with a knowledge of entomology, possesses a great advantage, and is able readily to select a fly." He made his intended audience clear in introducing The Natural Trout Fly and Its Imitation (1912). His go-to handbook was explicitly for the enthusiast fly fisher who possesses the naturalist tendency to classify to enhance their angling craft, not the conventional entomologist. In the essence of literary trends of his period, West compared his audience to "followers of the immortal Walton who prefer wading in a pellucid stream to the intricacies of an entomology."

With this poetic approach to a previously scientific subject, there were diversions from traditional natural science terminology. Instead of accepting the well-known entomological names of the insects described, West invented an entirely new nomenclature. His reason being, he believed that many anglers devoted too much attention to Ephemeroptera (species of mayflies) and not nearly sufficient to other insects eaten by the trout. He intended to provide anglers with broad knowledge, not an encyclopedic representation of all aquatic insects.

Imagery played an influential role in West's guide. The author pointed out different characteristics comparing species by shape, color, scale, and texture and aided in multi-step instruction in preparing artificial flies through illustrated plates. The present collection of original watercolors corresponds to the printed plates in this most covetable book for the sport fisherman.

A landmark for any fly fisher. For more information, please contact (215) 735-8811.

11/24/2021

The Eagle, Ben Franklin, and the Turkey

A year and a half after the Great Seal was adopted by Congress on June 20, 1782 – with the bald eagle as its centerpiece – Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to his daughter and shared some thoughts about this new symbol of America.

Franklin's Letter to His Daughter (excerpt)

"For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.

"With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country...
"I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America... He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on."
. For info, pls call 215.735.8811