LAMBERTVILLE, NJ.- On Saturday, December 1, 2018, Rago Auctions holds “Curiouser and Curiouser,” featuring outsider art, fine art and extraordinary objects.

Wander and wonder among over 300 lots of outsider and fine art; propaganda art; unusual decorative arts; photography; animalia; automata; lay figures and mannequins; magic, carnival, circus and sideshow; scientific, medical, and botanical; silver; grotto furniture; contemporary ceramics; erotica and more.

Among the artists whose work is included: Morton Bartlett, Raymond Coins, Joe Coleman, Howard Finster, Lonnie Holley, Sergei Isupov, William Kent, Royal Robertson, Daniel Rohrig (a new discovery), Judith Schaechter, Jon Serl, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Mose Tolliver, Karl Waldmann, Purvis Young, along with Old Masters and sets and costumes after Maurice Sendak.

Among other highlights: A painted wood sculpture of a young boy, ca 1840, attributed to Asa Ames; a life-sized mannequin; automatons, including an exceptionally rare, circa 1893 Parisian built automaton, “Clown Packing a Crate"; a swan-form grotto chair; a collection of funghi in the original museum case; and a Dr. Auzoux head.

Specialist-in-charge Marion Harris finds appeal in unexpected, often overlooked objects where classic meets curious, and the mundane can become miraculous. She is probably best known for discovering, in 1993, the work of then unknown and now iconic Morton Bartlett (1909-1992) and bringing his work to public acclaim by placing it in prestigious private and museum collections.

"Art that falls outside cultural norms has long been a source of inspiration and fascination for academic artists" says Marion Harris, specialist-in-charge. “Increasingly and especially in the past decade, traditional art institutions including the Metropolitan Museum, The Smithsonian and The National Gallery have focused attention on outsider art - all curating major and block-buster exhibitions."

Rago's Curiouser and Curiouser auction is pleased to represent the growing interest in the field and the current zeitgeist, in giving these works (and other unusual pieces) the attention and archival cataloging they - and the marketplace - deserve. The property on offer will appeal to classic, curious and even compulsive collectors who recognize the allure and importance of owning some of the remarkable, coveted and rare objects in this auction.