The Crocker Art Museum announced bidding is open for the 2021 annual Art Auction Season. Hosted virtually through Bidsquare.com, more than 300 works from the region's most prominent established and emerging artists are now available for art collectors of all levels.

“Proceeds from Art Auction Season will support the Museum's acclaimed exhibitions and education programs,” said Chelsea Larson, Director of Development. “These programs serve thousands of children and adults throughout the community each year.”

Big Names, Small Art (BNSA) is a virtual, silent auction of more than 200+ small artworks (12 x 12 inches or smaller). Bidding on each piece starts at just $25 regardless of the work's fair market value, making BNSA an excellent opportunity for art aficionados, as well as those who are new to art collecting. Online bidding for BNSA begins May 10 and closes Saturday, June 5, with one artwork every minute beginning at 1:00 PM. Bid now at www.crockerart.org/artauction.

The Silent Art Auction is a virtual auction featuring 100+ original works of art by some of the region's most renowned artists. Bid online now at www.crockerart.org/artauction. The silent auction closes Sunday, June 6, with one artwork every minute beginning at 1:00 PM.

An evening not to be missed, the Live Art Auction will be streamed on Saturday, June 5, featuring a live auction with real-time virtual bidding beginning at 8:30 PM. Bid online now at www.crockerart.org/artauction.

The Live Auction features 15 select original artworks by some of the region's most sought-after artists including:

Annette Corcoran
Represented by the Winfield Gallery, Corcoran has been a prominent clay artist since the 1970s and has work in numerous public collections, including the Crocker Art Museum, the Oakland Museum of California, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Contemporary Museum of Honolulu.

Geralyn Montano
Geralyn Montano’s work is included in the collections of the Crocker Art Museum, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and The Mexican Museum. Montano was nominated for the San Francisco Artist Award.

David Ligare
Represented by the Hisrchl & Adler Gallery, LewAllen Gallery, and Winfield Gallery; Ligare’s work is in museum collections worldwide including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Uffizi Gallery in Italy, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, the de Young Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Frye Art Museum, and the Crocker Art Museum where he held a solo exhibition in 2015. He is a member of the prestigious Academy of Design, which was founded by Cosmo de’ Medici in 1563 in Florence and nominally headed by Michelangelo.

Hung Liu
Born in Changchun, China in 1948, Liu was raised under the Maoist regime. Initially trained in the Socialist Realist style, Liu studied mural painting as a graduate student at the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing, before immigrating to the United States in 1984 to attend the University of California, San Diego, where she studied under Allan Kaprow. A two-time recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in painting, Liu also received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Printmaking from the Southern Graphics Council International in 2011. She is Professor Emerita at Mills College in Oakland.

The Crocker will feature all Live Art Auction and Silent Art Auction works in its annual Art Auction Exhibition. In addition to providing bidders a chance to browse the works at their leisure, the exhibition allows museum visitors to view spectacular works by many of the region's most distinguished artists, some of whom are represented in the Crocker's permanent collection. The exhibition will run from May 23 to June 6. Tickets must be purchased in advance.

To learn more about Art Auction Season, visit crockerart.org/artauction.