Sarah Wall Wows The Fine Art World

Artist Sarah Wall explains her "Ride The Wave" on Saturday night. 

By Thomas Leturgey

Young prodigy artist Sarah Wall had an incredible debut on Saturday Night’s edition of The Fine Art Auction.

In her first live television appearance, the 17-year-old North Carolina native sold six pieces (along with a gifted #1 proof) for $29,700.

Wall was the featured guest of auctioneers Richard English and Mitch Carter. Bids came from all over the country, including North Carolina, Texas and even Maui.

Fine Art Auction host Richard English talks with guest Sarah Wall.

The daughter of the famed Chinese immigrant artist Daniel Wall had pledged to donate the full 10% buyer’s premium of the sales to her philanthropic endeavor, the Art to Heart Foundation. With day one sales, Wall has raised $2,970 for the charity that assists autistic children.

“So, I am 17 and I’ve been selling art for 4 years,” she told English before successfully auctioning off her first work, the color-splashed 23x26 “Alternate Reality.” The piece features a woman’s face (she admits to rarely painting humans) and as a female artist, considers it “very personal.” When English slammed the gavel down, the debut offering netted $6,000 for an art collector from North Carolina.

Sarah Wall's "Alternate Reality" kicked off the show for $6,000.

Wall credits her father for helping with her love of art. “It’s inevitable that it as passed on to me,” she comments. “I’m excited to showcase my work.”

When asked about her personal connection to the autistic community, there she credited her mother who is a special education teacher. “That’s where my passion came from,” she continued. “I’ve been around autistic kids.” She says that children with verbal communication problems can express themselves with art. She equated that issue with being an introvert. “In kindergarten, someone asked if I did talk.”

Sarah isn’t sure when she started painting, but did “from as young as I can remember.” She drew on floors and walls, among other familiar surfaces. Sarah did spend a lot of time with Daniel Wall in his studio.

Both Walls use a lot of bright paints and imagery in their work. Landscapes and subjects like butterflies are often used.

A screen shot of Sarah's Saturday Night "Wall of Art."

Sarah mentioned the texture of wood being something that inspires her paintings. She was at a home improvement store and stared at the woodgrain of plywood. “I was imagining what you could do with that,” she said. Workers at the store cut one of the sheets into pieces for her so she could paint.

A couple of the original acrylic paintings that were auctioned Saturday featured the use of wood grain to represent sand and water.

Wall attends a prestigious boarding school (she said her classmates were unaware that she was going to be featured over the weekend) and is preparing for university study. She told Carter that she will pursue Fine Art, and most likely a second major she hasn’t decided upon yet.

Carter noted that Wall, for her age, is one of the highest priced artists working today. Her “Autumnal End” sold for $48,000 at another auction. He also noted that he has own Daniel Wall for nearly 20 years and the famed artist knew his daughter was a special painter “ten years ago.” Not long after that she won an art award named for the like of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Some five other paintings, with names like Ride the Wave, Wild Beauty, Lily Pads, Sandstorm and Polar Love, sold between $6,000 and $3,700. Works like Ride the Wave that features sea gulls, and Wild Beauty showcased a butterfly, which she considers a symbol of freedom. “Beauty” was one of her “more abstract” and “spontaneous” pieces.

Sarah Wall explained that her "Polar Love" is all about family.

Wild Beauty and Lily Pads had fast and furious bidding toward the end of their allotted time.

Her Sandstorm is from Wall’s “Desert Mirage Series” that addressed global warming. Salvadore Dahli was an inspiration for that work, which she calls “surrealist” and “experimental.”

Polar Love is a work that exhibits a momma bear and two babies in a family pose. Carter called Wall a “math whiz” with many interests, ala Leonardo DaVinci.

The night ended with a plug for Sunday Night’s return visit with founding host Ray Taylor. Six more original works will be auctioned. It’s unsure whether Taylor will offer a premium-free “Wall of Art” with limited proofs like English sold separately and in lots Saturday Night.

Sarah Wall returns to the Fine Art Auction on Sunday at 7:00 p.m.