What makes the sale notable is that Graham Arader, who began in business in 1974 and today has galleries in New York, San Francisco, Houston, Philadelphia, and Denver, is planning to donate 20 per cent of the hammer price paid on each lot to the charity that the buyer designates.
Mr Arader said it was a chance to give something back to all the libraries, universities, foundations, botanical gardens, schools, zoos and other institutions that he had worked with over the years.
The sale includes The Greenland Whale Fishery by the British marine artist Robert Dodd, estimated at $100,000-150,000. In 1783, the year in which this work is dated, the British whaling industry saw a marked revival after a wartime depression.
