Adalbert John Volck Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Adalbert John Volck Art Value Price Guide

Apr. 05, 2025
VOLCK, Adalbert John (*1828 Augsburg; † 1912 Baltimore) (?), Öl/Karton,
Est: -
VOLCK, Adalbert John (*1828 Augsburg; † 1912 Baltimore) (?), Öl/Karton, Nadelwald mit Dünenböschung, li. unten bez., 30 x 40 cm, beschnitten, kl. Retuschen
zeitGenossen Antiquitäten - Kunst - Design
Dec. 10, 2024
CONFEDERATE WAR ETCHINGS BY ADALBERT VOLCK, C. 1888
Est: $600 - $1,200
[CIVIL WAR]. ADALBERT VOLCK (1828-1912)."Confederate War Etchings." Folio (13 ½ x 1- inches), correctly issued without title page, 29 line etchings on India or chine colle paper tipped down on heavier, gilt-edged, paper stock, with tissue cover sheets to each plate as issued; printed index of plates leaf; originally bound within quarter leather and marbled boards, the front board and spine now missing. Minor edge chipping to marbled endpapers, with light, scattered foxing on some sheets--largely restricted to margins of mount sheets, with exception of three etchings--otherwise very good. Not dated, but published c. 1885 by Porter & Coates in an edition of 100 portfolios; "Printed on chine colle, this edition is Volck's work at its best [Voss, 1988]". Not in Sabin or Coulter. HOWES V138, "aa." ANDERSON, THE WORK OF ADALBERT JOHANN VOLCK, passim. The popular anti-Confederacy political cartoons of the great Thomas Nast inspired Adalbert Volck, a Baltimorean sympathetic to the Southern cause, to execute similar lampoons against the Union. Volck, through his caricatures, attacked the person and policies of President Lincoln and his Northern leaders. By using irony, sarcasm and ridicule, he attempted to sway popular sentiment toward the South. The original issue of etchings was largely suppressed by its creator as the caricatures bordered on treason and Volck, residing in Union-occupied Baltimore, was in risk of imprisonment. However, ten were published by Volck in London in 1863 under the pseudonym 'V. Blada' and titled: Sketches from the Civil War in North America. Following the war, Volck privately printed a complete set of the 29 under the title, Confederate War Etchings. The set was "made up of the suppressed sheets or printed from the original copper-plates [Howes]" and "distribution was likely limited to other sympathizers in the north, and few copies have survived--not surprising, considering the inflammatory content." Volck's work includes sharply satirical depictions of Lincoln, African-Americans and the abolitionist cause, alternating with sentimental depictions of the heroic Confederate troops and their families. The National Portrait Gallery mounted an exhibition on Volck during 2012-2013 featuring its set of Confederate War Etchings. RARE. Only one hundred sets printed.
Morphy Auctions
Mar. 21, 2024
America.- Confederate satire.- Volck (Adalbert Johann) Abraham Lincoln & Benjamin Butler as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, etching, [c. 1864]
Est: £200 - £300
America.- Confederate satire.- Volck (Adalbert Johann) Abraham Lincoln & Benjamin Butler as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, etching on thin China paper laid onto wove paper support, faint pencil inscriptions in the lower margin, 165 x 180 mm (6 1/2 x 7 in), repaired tear in the lower margin, but outside the image, some spotting and browning, with paper repairs visible verso, unframed, [circa 1864]
Forum Auctions - UK
Jan. 27, 2024
Adalbert Johann Volck, Confederate War Etchings, Rare Complete Portfolio
Est: $1,200 - $1,400
Adalbert J. Volck's (German/Maryland, 1828-1912) Confederate War Etchings portfolio, the complete portfolio with 29 chine-colle etchings plus index leaf on card and author's explanatory note printed on blue paper. Housed in the original cloth-spined hardcover portfolio case. From the edition of 100 published by Porter & Coates, Philadelphia, c. 1880s. Lot also includes a hardback copy of George McCullough Anderson's The Work of Adalbert Johann Volck (Baltimore: Private Printing, 1970). Ref.: Howes V138. Housed loose in portfolio with interleafing. Etchings in various sizes, mounted to card stock. Sheets: 15" x 11 1/4" each. Portfolio: 15 3/4" H x 11 3/4" L x 3/4" D. Note: This portfolio was originally issued c. 1863 under the pseudonym V. Blada. Prints from that edition and a second wartime edition are exceptionally rare. According to Howes, "[t]he original issue was probably suppressed by the author as the caricatures bordered on treason. The re-issued form was doubtless made up of the suppressed sheets or printed from the original copper-plates. One of the plates, 'Meeting of the Southern emissaries and Lincoln,' had evidently been lost in storage, so does not appear in that issue..." Mark E. Neely states that the Porter & Coates edition "was supposedly printed from the original Volck plates on fine paper, seamlessly affixed to heavier paper." (See Neely et al, The Confederate Image: Prints of the Lost Cause, pp. 51-54.)
Case Antiques, Inc. Auctions & Appraisals
Jun. 22, 2023
VOLCK'S CIVIL WAR SKETCHES. VOLCK, ADELBERT J. 1828-1912. Confederate War Etchings. Philadelphia, c.1880.
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
VOLCK'S CIVIL WAR SKETCHES. VOLCK, ADELBERT J. 1828-1912. Confederate War Etchings. Philadelphia, c.1880. Folio (380 x 292 mm). Index leaf, without title page as issued, 29 line etchings on India paper, mounted on stiff card. Original cloth backed boards, some wear, corners neatly repaired, some minor foxing, dampstain to lower margin, not affecting plates. Custom cloth clamshell box, morocco lettering piece. Provenance: W.C. Church (pencil note to title label, pasted to cover, numbered in ink '69,' printed '100 Sets Printed'). EARLIEST OBTAINABLE EDITION OF VOLCK'S FAMED CIVIL WAR ETCHINGS. The second edition, reissung work that was originally published as Sketches from the Civil War under the name 'V. Blada,' a pseudonym intended to protect the artist from treason charges over the controversial contents. This is the re-issue described by Howes, with the wartime issues being rare to the point of extinction, none having appeared in the market in modern times. The sketches are superbly exectuted and often reproduced in modern histories. 'The vitriolic nature of some of these drawings leaves no doubt the V. Blada felt strongly and expressed those feelings in the manner he knew best... His weapons were his artistic temperament and ability' (Anderson, The Work of Adalbert Johann Volck, passim). Not in Sabin or Coulter. Howes V-138, 'aa'.
Bonhams
Nov. 17, 2022
[CIVIL WAR]. VOLCK, Adalbert J. (1828-1912). Confederate Wa...
Est: $1,000 - $2,000
[CIVIL WAR]. VOLCK, Adalbert J. (1828-1912). Confederate War Etchings. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, [ca. 1882]. Folio. Complete with 29 etchings (380 x 291 mm). With publisher’s index sheet and explanation page. In original cloth-backed portfolio with printed paper label on front board (portfolio heavily worn and soiled, front board of portfolio loose, prints toned, dampstained and rubbed). THE FIRST OBTAINABLE EDITION OF THESE RARE ETCHINGS, ONE OF 100 COPIES PRINTED. The true first edition is virtually unobtainable, with only a few copies printed, and almost none surviving. Volck was a German-American dentist from Baltimore, who strongly sympathized with the Confederacy; he created these etchings to belittle Abraham Lincoln and support the Confederacy. His inflammatory etchings were quickly suppressed; in the 1880s, Porter and Coates were able to obtain the plates of 29 (of the original 30) etchings and re-publish them. Years later, Volck expressed regret for belittling Lincoln, although he never stopped his admiration of the Confederacy.
Potter & Potter Auctions Inc.
Jun. 27, 2020
ADALBERT J. VOLCK (BALTIMORE, 1828-1912) IMPORTANT ANTI-LINCOLN CIVIL WAR CARTOON
Est: $800 - $1,200
ADALBERT J. VOLCK (BALTIMORE, 1828-1912) IMPORTANT ANTI-LINCOLN CIVIL WAR CARTOON, hand-colored etching on woven paper, probably the artist's proof for "The Enlistment of Sickles' Brigade", featuring a heavyset "Colonel in / Sickles / Brigade", with another figure pulling a flask from the colonel's pocket, and a woman pulling the toupee from a man holding the "Holy Bible". Housed under glass in a period giltwood frame.
Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates
Aug. 24, 2016
ADALBERT JOHANN VOLCK (German/American, 1828-1912) PORTRAIT OF GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE RIDING TRAVELER.
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
Oil on canvas. Housed in a contemporary frame. Signed and dated lower right "A.J. Volck 1872". Note: Dr. Adalbert Johann Volck was a confederate sympathizer who published political illustrations in the Baltimore Sun during the Civil War. Much of the work he created during the Civil War was deliberately destroyed by the Union Army. Only a few of his sketches survive in the Pratt and Peabody Libraries' special collections in Baltimore. He was a personal friend of General Robert E. Lee, thus created many sketches of the general. SIZE: 24" x 22". Overall: 27-1/2" x 25-1/2" PROVENANCE: George Rothwell Brown, Vienna, Virginia; by descent to Mr. & Mrs. Rothwell Hutton Brown, Virginia; By descent to current owner. CONDITION: Craquelure, spotty and discolored varnish, scattered retouch, pinholes and small patch on verso. 50359-1
James D. Julia
Mar. 21, 2016
Adalbert Johann Volck, Four Etchings , Civil War Interest
Est: $100 - $200
Each a caricature of a civil war figure, signed in the plate, each with pencil text.
Locati LLC
May. 17, 2014
Adalbert Volck (MD, 1828-1912), Landscape
Est: $100 - $10,000
Adalbert Volck (MD, 1828-1912), Landscape oil on canvas, signed at lower left "A. J. Volck," presented in a contemporary gilt frame. SS 13.5 x 11.5 in.; DOA 16.75 x 14.75 in. Volck, a German immigrant who settled in Baltimore, is best remembered for his pro-Confederate political cartoons and satirical drawings. The Estate Collection of Dr. & Mrs. R. Lewis Wright, Richmond, VA
Leland Little Auctions
Jul. 13, 2013
Adalbert Johann Volck (German
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
Adalbert Johann Volck (German/Maryland, 1828-1912), "The Christmas Hunt: Still Life with Ducks, Wine, Lemon, Cigar Box, and Holly", 1873, oil on board, signed and dated lower right, 26 3/4 in. x 21 1/2 in. (oval), framed.
Neal Auction Company
Nov. 05, 2012
Portrait Plaque of Bearded Man by Adalbert J Volck
Est: $700 - $900
PORTRAIT PLAQUE- by Adalbert J. Volck (1828-1912), profile of a bearded man, in lead, copper clad, Signed: A J Volck, H. 4" x W 3 1/8". From the Marvin Sadik Collection.
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries
Apr. 03, 2011
After Adalbert Johann Volck (German, 1828-1912). Artist and Model, painted faience sectional tile pictures, framed
Est: $250 - $350
After Adalbert Johann Volck (German, 1828-1912). Artist and Model, painted faience sectional tile pictures, framed dated 1882; each picture in three-tile sections, in wood frame, one depicting artist in woods with brushes and box, with matching model, 19th century woman, each signed "A.J. Volck 1882," 25 x 9 1/2 in. including frame
Alex Cooper