One of State's Oldest, Largest Art Galleries on the Auction Block

One of the oldest art galleries in Oklahoma was on the auction block this weekend, and with all the pieces inside, it was the largest private art collection ever sold in the state.

Saturday, July 24th 2010, 6:17 pm

By: News 9


By Jacqueline Sit, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- One of the oldest art galleries in Oklahoma was on the auction block this weekend, and with all the pieces inside, it was the largest private art collection ever sold in the state.

Over 1,000 pieces of framed artwork were sold in The Colonial Art Gallery's art and antique auction on Friday and Saturday. Numerous antiques, fixtures and pieces of furniture and about 150,000 prints from the 1890s to the present were also sold at the auction. 

Willard Johnson opened the historic art gallery in 1919, and his son Willard Johnson II took it over in 1960.

When Willard Johnson II passed away in October, the family made the tough decision to close the gallery and put the art collection up for sale.

"There was really nobody to fill his shoes. People came down there to talk to him. They didn't come down to talk to me or my brother or anybody else. That was his place, that was him," said Pam Kanaly, Willard's daughter.

Willard Johnson II was very popular in the art community. His daughter said people used to visit him for hours to talk, laugh and joke about art.

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