New Orleans, LA, Feb. 2, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bill Rau, third generation owner of M.S. Rau Antiques and Fine Arts in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans, started 2012 thinking ahead to the next one hundred years that his family's world renowned antiques gallery will be in business. Steeped in history, Rau Antiques has been a solid fixture in New Orleans through the ups and downs of a city with its own remarkable history. Since 1912, Rau Antiques has seen a significant share of the world's pre-eminent antiques, fine arts and jewelry pass through its doors. Works by some of the most famous Impressionists, from Cezanne to Monet, as well as America's own illustrious painters like Norman Rockwell, spend very little time at Rau Antiques before being bought by collectors and museums around the world.
"Collecting has been the DNA of the Rau family for years," explained Bill Rau, third generation owner of the business. "Being able to source, sell and appreciate the heritage side of the business continues to be my passion, and I expect that M.S. Rau Antiques and Fine Arts will be around for another 100 years in the same location," added Rau. Specialists in 18th and 19th century antiques and art, Rau Antiques' vast inventory includes furniture from Versailles and other royal houses, early American industrialists, massive sets of sterling silver from King George VI and other pedigreed decorative art objects, porcelain and unusual rare items and memorabilia from American and European history.
When asked about the most favorite painting Bill Rau has sold to date, he explained, "History buffs like myself already know that Sir Winston Churchill's artistic skills continued to develop in and out of office, and one of the most majestic works he painted, and which we recently acquired and sold to a high profile celebrity, is the only work that he painted and gave personally to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and depicts the famed Tower of Katoubia Mosque at sunset with the snowcapped Atlas Mountains in the distance."
The piece of furniture that Bill Rau was most saddened to sell was a breathtaking, monumental carved wood sideboard depicting the great medieval Ballad of the Chevy Chase (of the Ballad of the Hunt), and crafted by the most famous of all wood carvers, Gerard Robinson of Newcastle. Gerard Robinson captured the glory and drama of the ballad in his remarkable sideboard, which he began working on in 1857 and completed six years later in 1863.
Also launching this year is Rau for Art Foundation, a non-for-profit program and art contest targeting high school art students in the 10th to 12th grades in local school districts with prize and scholarship money totaling $17,000 that will be awarded to winners and their high school art departments. Winners' artwork will be exhibited at the gallery in March. The panel of guest judges includes local artists Alex Beard and Steve Martin, plus local musician Jeremy Davenport and local attorney Christine Guillory. www.rauforart.com
Also on the horizon for 2012 is the publication of 19th century European painting by Bill Rau, which will cover topics such as the Barbizon School, sporting art, Pre-Raphaelitism, Impressionism and Venetian views. Closing each chapter will be brief biographies of leaders of the genre's leading artists.
Experience the company's one hundred years of acquiring antiques, jewelry and fine art at www.rauantiques.com
A photo accompanying this release is available at:
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