James S Avati Paintings & Artwork for Sale | James S Avati Art Value Price Guide

Nov. 23, 2023
Avati, James (1912-2005). "Journeyman".
Est: €3,000 - €5,000
Avati, James (1912-2005). "Journeyman". Oil on panel, 73x41,5 cm., signed "Avati" at the centre right, titled in the painting, framed. - With a copy of the paperback (New York, 1956, 27th printing, orig. wr. Bookblock loose and pages brittle; spine pasted over with sellotape). = The original painting for the Signet paperback by Erskine Caldwell. This lot is subject to 4% resale royalties ('droit de suite') over the total amount of hammerprice and buyer's premium. SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE III.
Bubb > Kuyper: Auctioneers of Books, Fine Arts & Manuscripts
Jan. 19, 2023
James S. Avati (1912 - 2005) Oil on Board.
Est: $1,800 - $2,400
Original Signet Paperback Cover for "Forever Amber". Signed with monogram14" x 30" unframed 16" x 33" framed. Circa late 1940's early 1950's.
Weiss Auctions
Oct. 10, 2021
James Avati (NY,NJ,1912-2005) oil painting
Est: $2,400 - $3,000
ARTIST: James Sante Avati (New York, New Jersey, 1912 - 2005) NAME: The Man Who Loved Children YEAR: 1969 MEDIUM: oil on board CONDITION: Minor damages to edges and corners. No visible inpaint under UV light. SIGHT SIZE: 28 x 26 inches / 71 x 66 cm FRAME SIZE: unframed SIGNATURE: unsigned NOTE: paperback book cover for a book The Man who loved Children by Christina Stead SIMILAR ARTISTS: Richard Sargent, Jessie Gillespie, Walter G Ratterman, Nell Brinkley, Ralph Pallen Coleman, Hal Foster, Rose Cecil Cecilia O'Neill, Walt Otto, Ron Lesser, Harold McCauley, Verne Tossey, Pearl Frush, Monte Crews, Freeman Elliott, George Rozen, Robert Kauffmann, Franklin Booth, Paul Stahr, Enrich Torres, Robert Berran, Jerome Rozen, Frederic Stanley CATEGORY: antique vintage painting AD: ART CONSIGNMENTS WANTED. CONTACT US SKU#: 117290 US Shipping $75 + insurance. BIOGRAPHY: James Sante Avati was an American illustrator and paperback cover artist. His father was a professional photographer in New York City. His mother died shortly after his birth. He was raised by his maternal aunt and eventually his father married her. While Jim was still young, his father died and another aunt and uncle helped to raise him in Little Silver, New Jersey, where he grew up. His uncle paid for his education at Princeton University where he obtained a degree in architecture in 1935.He was always interested in painting and loved to paint. After World War II, Avati obtained a job designing display windows at Fifth Avenue department stores in New York. But he continued to paint on the side and in 1948, impressed Kurt Enoch at New American Library, a new paperback publishing house. He was a hit from the beginning and changed the style of cover painting by the early 1950s. Among the authors he worked with included the likes of Theodore Dreiser, William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell, J. D. Salinger, James T. Farrell, Pearl Buck, John O'Hara, Mickey Spillane, Erle Stanley Gardner, Alberto Moravia, and James Michener.He used professional models at first but soon used friends, family and people off the streets of Red Bank, New Jersey, his home for much of his life, as models. He sought reality in his representations on canvas and real people worked for him better than professionals.He has been called the "Father of Paperback Book Covers" and the "Rembrandt of Paperback Book Covers"Avati eventually moved to Petaluma, California, to pursue a love interest, and fathered nine children through two marriages, including a son who became a well-known sculptor, James R. Avati, of Salt Lake City, Utah.He had stopped painting towards the end as he was losing his eyesight due to macular degeneration and died at age 92.
Broward Auction Gallery LLC
Sep. 12, 2021
James Avati (NY,NJ,1912-2005) oil painting
Est: $2,700 - $3,400
ARTIST: James Sante Avati (New York, New Jersey, 1912 - 2005) NAME: Oriental Romance (titled on verso) MEDIUM: oil on board CONDITION: Very good. No visible inpaint under UV light. SIGHT SIZE: 26 x 26 inches / 66 x 66 cm FRAME SIZE: 34 x 34 inches / 86 x 86 cm SIGNATURE: lower left SIMILAR ARTISTS: Richard Sargent, Jessie Gillespie, Walter G Ratterman, Nell Brinkley, Ralph Pallen Coleman, Hal Foster, Rose Cecil Cecilia O'Neill, Walt Otto, Ron Lesser, Harold McCauley, Verne Tossey, Pearl Frush, Monte Crews, Freeman Elliott, George Rozen, Robert Kauffmann, Franklin Booth, Paul Stahr, Enrich Torres, Robert Berran, Jerome Rozen, Frederic Stanley CATEGORY: antique vintage painting AD: ART CONSIGNMENTS WANTED. CONTACT US SKU#: 118134 US Shipping $90 + insurance. BIOGRAPHY: James Sante Avati was an American illustrator and paperback cover artist. His father was a professional photographer in New York City. His mother died shortly after his birth. He was raised by his maternal aunt and eventually his father married her. While Jim was still young, his father died and another aunt and uncle helped to raise him in Little Silver, New Jersey, where he grew up. His uncle paid for his education at Princeton University where he obtained a degree in architecture in 1935.He was always interested in painting and loved to paint. After World War II, Avati obtained a job designing display windows at Fifth Avenue department stores in New York. But he continued to paint on the side and in 1948, impressed Kurt Enoch at New American Library, a new paperback publishing house. He was a hit from the beginning and changed the style of cover painting by the early 1950s. Among the authors he worked with included the likes of Theodore Dreiser, William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell, J. D. Salinger, James T. Farrell, Pearl Buck, John O'Hara, Mickey Spillane, Erle Stanley Gardner, Alberto Moravia, and James Michener.He used professional models at first but soon used friends, family and people off the streets of Red Bank, New Jersey, his home for much of his life, as models. He sought reality in his representations on canvas and real people worked for him better than professionals.He has been called the "Father of Paperback Book Covers" and the "Rembrandt of Paperback Book Covers"Avati eventually moved to Petaluma, California, to pursue a love interest, and fathered nine children through two marriages, including a son who became a well-known sculptor, James R. Avati, of Salt Lake City, Utah.He had stopped painting towards the end as he was losing his eyesight due to macular degeneration and died at age 92.
Broward Auction Gallery LLC
Jul. 04, 2021
James Avati (NY,NJ,1912-2005) oil painting
Est: $2,500 - $3,200
ARTIST: James Sante Avati (New York, New Jersey, 1912 - 2005) NAME: The Man Who Loved Children YEAR: 1969 MEDIUM: oil on board CONDITION: Minor damages to edges and corners. No visible inpaint under UV light. SIGHT SIZE: 28 x 26 inches / 71 x 66 cm FRAME SIZE: unframed SIGNATURE: unsigned NOTE: paperback book cover for a book The Man who loved Children by Christina Stead SIMILAR ARTISTS: Richard Sargent, Jessie Gillespie, Walter G Ratterman, Nell Brinkley, Ralph Pallen Coleman, Hal Foster, Rose Cecil Cecilia O'Neill, Walt Otto, Ron Lesser, Harold McCauley, Verne Tossey, Pearl Frush, Monte Crews, Freeman Elliott, George Rozen, Robert Kauffmann, Franklin Booth, Paul Stahr, Enrich Torres, Robert Berran, Jerome Rozen, Frederic Stanley CATEGORY: antique vintage painting AD: ART CONSIGNMENTS WANTED. CONTACT US SKU#: 117290 US Shipping $75 + insurance. BIOGRAPHY: James Sante Avati was an American illustrator and paperback cover artist. His father was a professional photographer in New York City. His mother died shortly after his birth. He was raised by his maternal aunt and eventually his father married her. While Jim was still young, his father died and another aunt and uncle helped to raise him in Little Silver, New Jersey, where he grew up. His uncle paid for his education at Princeton University where he obtained a degree in architecture in 1935.He was always interested in painting and loved to paint. After World War II, Avati obtained a job designing display windows at Fifth Avenue department stores in New York. But he continued to paint on the side and in 1948, impressed Kurt Enoch at New American Library, a new paperback publishing house. He was a hit from the beginning and changed the style of cover painting by the early 1950s. Among the authors he worked with included the likes of Theodore Dreiser, William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell, J. D. Salinger, James T. Farrell, Pearl Buck, John O'Hara, Mickey Spillane, Erle Stanley Gardner, Alberto Moravia, and James Michener.He used professional models at first but soon used friends, family and people off the streets of Red Bank, New Jersey, his home for much of his life, as models. He sought reality in his representations on canvas and real people worked for him better than professionals.He has been called the "Father of Paperback Book Covers" and the "Rembrandt of Paperback Book Covers"Avati eventually moved to Petaluma, California, to pursue a love interest, and fathered nine children through two marriages, including a son who became a well-known sculptor, James R. Avati, of Salt Lake City, Utah.He had stopped painting towards the end as he was losing his eyesight due to macular degeneration and died at age 92.
Broward Auction Gallery LLC
Jun. 06, 2021
James Avati (NY,NJ,1912-2005) oil painting
Est: $2,700 - $3,400
ARTIST: James Sante Avati (New York, New Jersey, 1912 - 2005) NAME: Oriental Romance (titled on verso) MEDIUM: oil on board CONDITION: Very good. No visible inpaint under UV light. SIGHT SIZE: 26 x 26 inches / 66 x 66 cm FRAME SIZE: 34 x 34 inches / 86 x 86 cm SIGNATURE: lower left SIMILAR ARTISTS: Richard Sargent, Jessie Gillespie, Walter G Ratterman, Nell Brinkley, Ralph Pallen Coleman, Hal Foster, Rose Cecil Cecilia O'Neill, Walt Otto, Ron Lesser, Harold McCauley, Verne Tossey, Pearl Frush, Monte Crews, Freeman Elliott, George Rozen, Robert Kauffmann, Franklin Booth, Paul Stahr, Enrich Torres, Robert Berran, Jerome Rozen, Frederic Stanley CATEGORY: antique vintage painting AD: ART CONSIGNMENTS WANTED. CONTACT US SKU#: 118134 US Shipping $90 + insurance. BIOGRAPHY: James Sante Avati was an American illustrator and paperback cover artist. His father was a professional photographer in New York City. His mother died shortly after his birth. He was raised by his maternal aunt and eventually his father married her. While Jim was still young, his father died and another aunt and uncle helped to raise him in Little Silver, New Jersey, where he grew up. His uncle paid for his education at Princeton University where he obtained a degree in architecture in 1935.He was always interested in painting and loved to paint. After World War II, Avati obtained a job designing display windows at Fifth Avenue department stores in New York. But he continued to paint on the side and in 1948, impressed Kurt Enoch at New American Library, a new paperback publishing house. He was a hit from the beginning and changed the style of cover painting by the early 1950s. Among the authors he worked with included the likes of Theodore Dreiser, William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell, J. D. Salinger, James T. Farrell, Pearl Buck, John O'Hara, Mickey Spillane, Erle Stanley Gardner, Alberto Moravia, and James Michener.He used professional models at first but soon used friends, family and people off the streets of Red Bank, New Jersey, his home for much of his life, as models. He sought reality in his representations on canvas and real people worked for him better than professionals.He has been called the "Father of Paperback Book Covers" and the "Rembrandt of Paperback Book Covers"Avati eventually moved to Petaluma, California, to pursue a love interest, and fathered nine children through two marriages, including a son who became a well-known sculptor, James R. Avati, of Salt Lake City, Utah.He had stopped painting towards the end as he was losing his eyesight due to macular degeneration and died at age 92.
Broward Auction Gallery LLC
Apr. 04, 2021
James Avati (NY,NJ,1912-2005) oil painting
Est: $2,200 - $2,500
ARTIST: James Sante Avati (New York, New Jersey, 1912 - 2005) NAME: The Man Who Loved Children YEAR: 1969 MEDIUM: oil on board CONDITION: Minor damages to edges and corners. No visible inpaint under UV light. SIGHT SIZE: 28 x 26 inches / 71 x 66 cm FRAME SIZE: unframed SIGNATURE: unsigned NOTE: paperback book cover for a book The Man who loved Children by Christina Stead SIMILAR ARTISTS: Richard Sargent, Jessie Gillespie, Walter G Ratterman, Nell Brinkley, Ralph Pallen Coleman, Hal Foster, Rose Cecil Cecilia O'Neill, Walt Otto, Ron Lesser, Harold McCauley, Verne Tossey, Pearl Frush, Monte Crews, Freeman Elliott, George Rozen, Robert Kauffmann, Franklin Booth, Paul Stahr, Enrich Torres, Robert Berran, Jerome Rozen, Frederic Stanley CATEGORY: antique vintage painting AD: ART CONSIGNMENTS WANTED. CONTACT US SKU#: 117290 US Shipping $75 + insurance. BIOGRAPHY: James Sante Avati was an American illustrator and paperback cover artist. His father was a professional photographer in New York City. His mother died shortly after his birth. He was raised by his maternal aunt and eventually his father married her. While Jim was still young, his father died and another aunt and uncle helped to raise him in Little Silver, New Jersey, where he grew up. His uncle paid for his education at Princeton University where he obtained a degree in architecture in 1935.He was always interested in painting and loved to paint. After World War II, Avati obtained a job designing display windows at Fifth Avenue department stores in New York. But he continued to paint on the side and in 1948, impressed Kurt Enoch at New American Library, a new paperback publishing house. He was a hit from the beginning and changed the style of cover painting by the early 1950s. Among the authors he worked with included the likes of Theodore Dreiser, William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell, J. D. Salinger, James T. Farrell, Pearl Buck, John O'Hara, Mickey Spillane, Erle Stanley Gardner, Alberto Moravia, and James Michener.He used professional models at first but soon used friends, family and people off the streets of Red Bank, New Jersey, his home for much of his life, as models. He sought reality in his representations on canvas and real people worked for him better than professionals.He has been called the "Father of Paperback Book Covers" and the "Rembrandt of Paperback Book Covers"Avati eventually moved to Petaluma, California, to pursue a love interest, and fathered nine children through two marriages, including a son who became a well-known sculptor, James R. Avati, of Salt Lake City, Utah.He had stopped painting towards the end as he was losing his eyesight due to macular degeneration and died at age 92.
Broward Auction Gallery LLC
Feb. 07, 2021
James Avati (American/New York, 1912-2005)
Est: $800 - $1,200
James Avati (American/New York, 1912-2005) , "Oriental Romance", oil on masonite, signed lower left, titled en verso, 30 in. x 30 in., framed in oval mat
Neal Auction Company
Jan. 03, 2021
James Avati (NY,NJ,1912-2005) oil painting
Est: $2,200 - $2,500
ARTIST: James Sante Avati (New York, New Jersey, 1912 - 2005) NAME: The Man Who Loved Children YEAR: 1969 MEDIUM: oil on board CONDITION: Minor damages to edges and corners. No visible inpaint under UV light. SIGHT SIZE: 28 x 26 inches / 71 x 66 cm FRAME SIZE: unframed SIGNATURE: unsigned NOTE: paperback book cover for a book The Man who loved Children by Christina Stead SIMILAR ARTISTS: Richard Sargent, Jessie Gillespie, Walter G Ratterman, Nell Brinkley, Ralph Pallen Coleman, Hal Foster, Rose Cecil Cecilia O'Neill, Walt Otto, Ron Lesser, Harold McCauley, Verne Tossey, Pearl Frush, Monte Crews, Freeman Elliott, George Rozen, Robert Kauffmann, Franklin Booth, Paul Stahr, Enrich Torres, Robert Berran, Jerome Rozen, Frederic Stanley CATEGORY: antique vintage painting AD: ART CONSIGNMENTS WANTED. CONTACT US SKU#: 117290 US Shipping $75 + insurance. BIOGRAPHY: James Sante Avati was an American illustrator and paperback cover artist. His father was a professional photographer in New York City. His mother died shortly after his birth. He was raised by his maternal aunt and eventually his father married her. While Jim was still young, his father died and another aunt and uncle helped to raise him in Little Silver, New Jersey, where he grew up. His uncle paid for his education at Princeton University where he obtained a degree in architecture in 1935.He was always interested in painting and loved to paint. After World War II, Avati obtained a job designing display windows at Fifth Avenue department stores in New York. But he continued to paint on the side and in 1948, impressed Kurt Enoch at New American Library, a new paperback publishing house. He was a hit from the beginning and changed the style of cover painting by the early 1950s. Among the authors he worked with included the likes of Theodore Dreiser, William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell, J. D. Salinger, James T. Farrell, Pearl Buck, John O'Hara, Mickey Spillane, Erle Stanley Gardner, Alberto Moravia, and James Michener.He used professional models at first but soon used friends, family and people off the streets of Red Bank, New Jersey, his home for much of his life, as models. He sought reality in his representations on canvas and real people worked for him better than professionals.He has been called the "Father of Paperback Book Covers" and the "Rembrandt of Paperback Book Covers"Avati eventually moved to Petaluma, California, to pursue a love interest, and fathered nine children through two marriages, including a son who became a well-known sculptor, James R. Avati, of Salt Lake City, Utah.He had stopped painting towards the end as he was losing his eyesight due to macular degeneration and died at age 92.
Broward Auction Gallery LLC
Sep. 13, 2020
James Avati (American/New York, 1912-2005)
Est: $1,800 - $2,500
James Avati (American/New York, 1912-2005), "Oriental Romance", oil on masonite, signed lower left, titled en verso, 30 in. x 30 in., framed in oval mat
Neal Auction Company
Jul. 22, 2017
James Avati (1912-2005)
Est: $300 - $500
James Avati (N.Y./N.J. 1912-2005) "COUNTY FAIR SEPTEMBER 1911". Oil on canvas laid down on masonite. Unframed 48" x 31".
Copake Auction Inc.
Aug. 16, 2014
PORTRAIT OF ADMIRAL SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON. COVER ILUSTRATION FOR "THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY" OCTOBER 1960 BY JAMES S. AVATI (AMERICAN 1912-2005).
Est: $2,200 - $3,200
Oil on board, 12 1/4 x 17 1/2 inches, sight. Together with the framed "Atlantic Monthly" cover, titled "Samuel Eliot Morison, Why Japan Surrendered." (2)Provenance: Descended in the Morison family.
Bourgeault-Horan Antiquarians
Jul. 31, 2013
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) Chinese Warlords, pap
Est: $800 - $1,200
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) Chinese Warlords, paperback cover Oil on masonite 25.5 x 25.5 in. Signed lower right
Heritage Auctions
May. 04, 2011
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) The Humorous Side of
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) The Humorous Side of Erskine Caldwell, paperback book cover, 1951 Oil on canvas 27 x 22.5 in. Signed lower left
Heritage Auctions
Oct. 15, 2010
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) Catcher in the Rye paperback cover, 1953 Oil on board 22 x 18.5 in. Signed lower right This illustration is the celebrated paperback cover painting for J. D. Salinger's novel Catcher in the Rye, New American
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) Catcher in the Rye paperback cover, 1953 Oil on board 22 x 18.5 in. Signed lower right This illustration is the celebrated paperback cover painting for J. D. Salinger's novel Catcher in the Rye, New American Library/Signet, 1953. This iconic piece is perhaps Avati's most famous painting, done for one of the most important and well-known books of the 20th century. This cover art was also used in subsequent printings of The Catcher in the Rye, but was heavily cropped and obscured. Avati has been dubbed the "Rembrandt of paperback book cover artists."
Heritage Auctions
Aug. 17, 2010
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) A Place Called Esther
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) A Place Called Estherville, paperback cover, 1957 Oil on board 27.25 x 16.5 in. Signed lower right This illustration appeared on the cover of Erskine Caldwell's novel, A Place Called Estherville, Signet Books #1479, 1957. This piece was also reproduced in the Paperback Art of James Avati by Piet Schreuders and Kenneth Fulton, 010 Publishers, 2005. From the Estate of John McLaughlin.
Heritage Auctions
Aug. 17, 2010
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) Louisville Saturday,
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) Louisville Saturday, paperback cover, 1958 Oil on board 12 x 18 in. Signed with a monograph lower left This illustration appeared on the cover of Margaret Long's novel, Louisville Saturday, Bantam Books #A1848, 1958. "The famous novel of soldiers and lonely women. Love, quick ecstasy and heartbreak -- the whole violent impact of an Army camp on an American town." From the Estate of Charles Martignette.
Heritage Auctions
May. 06, 2010
Avati, James - Conjugal Love, paperback cover
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) Conjugal Love, paperback cover, 1952 Oil on board 20 x 17 in. Signed lower right This illustration appeared on the cover of Alberto Moravia's novel, Conjugal Love, Signet Books #922, 1952. It also appeared on the cover of a later printing, Signet Books #1288, 1956, but minus its background details. "Who is at fault when a husband dedicates himself to his work and his wife finds another lover as an outlet for her pent-up emotions?" From the Estate of Charles Martignette.
Heritage Auctions
Oct. 27, 2009
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) The Farmer's
Est: $2,500 - $3,500
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) The Farmer's Hotel, paperback cover, 1960 Oil on board 23 x 15 in. Not signed This illustration was used on the cover of a later printing of John O'Hara's novel, The Farmer's Hotel, Bantam Books, 1960. Avati only created six covers for Bantam in his early career (1949-50). During most of the period from 1949-1960 he worked almost exclusively for NAL/Signet. After 1960, her painted covers for a large number of publishers. "This unforgettable story of a handful of strangers, three women and five men, trapped by a blizzard into a shocking intimacy in a lonely roadside inn." From the Estate of Charles Martignette.
Heritage Auctions
Oct. 27, 2009
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) We Are the
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) We Are the Living, paperback cover, 1954 Oil on board 27.5 x 16.5 in. Signed lower right This illustration was the cover for the book by Erskine Caldwell We Are The Living, Signet Books, 1954. A copy of the book is included in this lot
Heritage Auctions
Jul. 15, 2009
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) President John
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) President John F. Kennedy Oil on board 20 x 16 in. Signed center left edge From the Estate of Charles Martignette.
Heritage Auctions
Jul. 15, 2009
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) Goodbye to
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) Goodbye to Berlin, paperback cover, 1952 Oil on board 24.5 x 20.5 in. Signed lower left This illustration appeared as the cover to Christopher Isherwood's novel, Goodbye to Berlin, Signet Books #937, 1952. "Here is Christopher Isherwood's brilliant farewell to a city which was not only buildings, streets and people, but was also a state of mind which will never come again. It is goodbye to a Berlin wild, wicked, breathtaking, decadent beyond belief. First published in 1939 this book throws a vivid light on the historical background of Hitler's rise to power." This book was the basis for the Broadway musical and film Cabaret. From the Estate of Charles Martignette.
Heritage Auctions
Dec. 07, 2007
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) ''Outcasts from
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
JAMES AVATI (American, 1912-2005) ''Outcasts from Eden.'' Oil and watercolor on canvas-mounted board. Provenance: Private Collection, Pennsylvania. Together with a copy of Katherine Sargent's Outcasts from Eden. Titled. 24 1/2'' x 14'' (image), 27 1/4'' x 16 1/2'' (sheet).
Rago Arts and Auction Center