Americana

Americana

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 368. Jon Serl (1898 - 1993).

Property from the Collection of Lisa and John Genesta of California

Jon Serl (1898 - 1993)

"Camera"

Lot Closed

January 25, 10:28 PM GMT

Estimate

5,000 - 7,000 USD

We may charge or debit your saved payment method subject to the terms set out in our Conditions of Business for Buyers.

Read more.

Lot Details

Description

oil and enamel on artist board

mid-20th century

18 ⅜ in. by 14 ¾ in.


signed JON (lower right) and inscribed CAMERA on verso.


Please note that this lot will not be on view during the sale exhibition. It is located at our Long Island City, New York storage facility. If you would like to examine it in person before the sale please make an appointment with the Americana department at 212-606-7130.


Please note that we have a new registration process and we highly recommend registering early to the sale. If you encounter any difficulty, please contact the Bids Department at bids.newyork@sothebys.com or call +1 (212) 606-7414 for assistance. 

Jon Serl (né Joseph Searles) was born in Oleans, New York on November 6, 1898. He was a peripatetic female impersonator and vaudeville performer known as "Slats" early in his life. When the silent film era ended in the late 1920s, he was called Jerry Palmer, a voice-over artist for actors whose voices did not fare well in talkies, and later became Ned Palmer, a migrant fruit picker, during the Depression. After WWII he moved to the desert near Palm Springs, took up painting, and remained self taught. He appeared on the Johnny Carson show twice and was a friend of Clark Gable, Hedda Hopper, and Howard Hughes. A local character and celebrity, he died in Lake Elsinore on June 24, 1993. Serl's paintings are figurative and narrative, often with mystical elements, and often with elongated people at play. His works are held in the American Folk Art Museum, National Museum of American Art, and New Orleans Museum of Art.