Late Great Texas Artist’s Treasures Hit the Auction Block: Coveted Estate Saved From Harvey’s Wrath By Quick-Thinking Auction House

He was a giant among artists who lived and worked in Texas — and his multi-ton sculptures transformed public spaces and entered collections from Egypt and China to Manhattan, Houston, Dallas, Santa Fe, and Seattle.

And he literally carved out a practice from the most challenging material of all — granite, a medium timeless and unforgiving, which dates back to the age of the Pharaohs, and graced their tombs.

Jesús Moroles (1950-2015), died suddenly in a car accident, two years ago, and the Texas art world halted. Read about Moroles’ relationship with PaperCity and his history with this writer here.

Now a respected regional auction house has beat out the bigger players in the art market, to land the Moroles estate, bringing it home to the town where the artist enjoyed some of his earliest successes.

Those successes include Texas Artist of the Year honors in 1989, bestowed by Art League Houston, as well as the acclaimed commission soon after for the Police Officer Memorial, dedicated to fallen officers, which lends gravitas to the Memorial Drive thoroughfare to downtown.

PaperCity received the first call with the news that Houston’s Lewis & Maese Auction Co., co-owned by David Lewis and Ernest Maese, will auction the estate of the legendary sculptor, Wednesday, November 15, at the auction house’s headquarters in the Washington Avenue Arts District, at 1505 Sawyer Street.

The contents of Moroles’ home and studio, based for decades in Rockport, Texas, will be on the block. Some 200 lots are set to live auctioned, at one of the most anticipated events of the year in the Texas art-and-collector community.

Ernest Maese told us, he expects Moroles’ own sculptures to begin at around $50,000; the final auction estimates are being confirmed as the auction house is still cataloging the sale.

Lewis and Maese win kudos for preparing the auction under duress, traveling to Rockport to save the contents of the artist’s studio and home, days before and then immediately after Hurricane Harvey pummeled the coastal Texas fishing town and resort.

Besides Moroles’ own avidly collected sculpture, auction goers will have a chance to acquire lots from his personal collection, including artists whom he had a friendship with and admired: James Surls, Larry Bell, Eduardo Chillida, and Luis Jimenez, who, like Moroles, also tragically passed away in his mid sixties.

Chinese antiquities, most notably, a large tomb figure of a prancing horse, previously auctioned by Christie’s, will also come across the block. Moroles had a special affinity for China, and had worked on many commissions there, including the honor of being tapped to create a sculpture for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The Lewis & Maese Moroles Auction benefits the artist’s estate.

Auction Preview days: Sunday, November 12, noon to 4 pm; Monday, November 13 through Wednesday, November 15, 10 am to 5 pm; auction Wednesday, November 15, 6:30 pm. Additional details coming soon, here.