Titled Dawn at the Assembly, the oil-on-canvas depicts a half dozen figures sleeping at their desks or on the floor or trying to stay awake reading newspapers - a scene no doubt reenacted at the statehouses in Harrisburg and Trenton at the end of more than one fiscal year. Painted in 1938 by the American Don Freeman (1908-78), it has a presale estimate of $1,500 to $2,500, according to the auction's online catalog accessible at www.freemansauction.com.

Another striking genre painting is by the Russian American Boris Zherdin, titled Fat Willy's Place and depicting a roadhouse packed with drinkers, cardplayers, and dancers. Signed in several places by the artist (who titled it "Fat Willy's Plase") and sold in 1996 at Sotheby's New York, it has a presale estimate of $3,000 to $5,000.

Of possible local interest is an oil-on-board titled Trees by the Banks of the Delaware by the 20th-century American Cesare A. Ricciardi, not a household name among painters perhaps but still one that has cropped up at several local auctions. A property from the estate of Dr. and Mrs. Meyer Naide of Philadelphia, it has a presale estimate of $200 to $400.

Another lot in the auction, with a presale estimate of $1,000 to $1,500, consists of two watercolors by the 20th-century Philadelphia African American Humbert Howard, one a desert landscape, the other titled Figures in Mardi Gras. Educated at Howard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Barnes Foundation, Howard was art director of the African American cultural center here, the Pyramid Club.

Also capturing the genre spirit, though admittedly an illustration, is a pencil-signed limited-edition lithograph by Thomas Hart Benton inspired by John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Titled Departure of the Joads, it has a presale estimate of $2,000 to $3,000.

The top presale estimate, $5,000 to $7,000, is for one of the sale's more classical works: an early-19th-century impression (according to the online description) of The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds, an etching, engraving and drypoint originally done in 1634 by Rembrandt Van Rijn. It was consigned by a Pennsylvania corporation, according to the description.

Other featured artists in the auction are Bernard Buffet, Mary Cassatt, Robert Riggs, and Salvador Dalí, with more than a dozen works generally expected to bring mid-three-figure prices. The statuary also includes a molded, hand-cast wood picture frame with mirror done in the Dalí style that has a presale estimate of $2,000 to $3,000.

Preview is an hour before sale time. For more information, call 215-563-9275.

Long-distance bidding. Beginning at 10 a.m. on July 18 and again at that time on Aug. 8, Keystone State Auctioneers of South Williamsport will be liquidating the library and fine-art collection of the late Thomas Albert, a collector and physician based in Mendocino, Calif., who specialized in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Although the estate has no local connection, and South Williamsport is close neither to Mendocino nor Philadelphia, reviewing the 450 lots in the July 18 session and bidding on them is easily done online at LiveAuctioneers by going to the auction's Web site, www.keystoneauctioneers.com.

Keystone's Jim Chamberlin said the auction house had established contact with a number of estate managers, often far removed from the area, after its liquidation of the Jack Palance estate. For those who wish to bid on or view the items in person, Keystone is open by appointment now and will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. next Friday and 8 a.m. to sale time on July 18 at the gallery at 1215 W. Southern Ave.

That session will include volumes and a limited number of first-edition books, early master art pieces, Santos wood carvings, Polynesian and South Pacific items, a 1300-1200 B.C. Shang Dynasty wine vessel, oil paintings, lithographs and prints, and several lots pertaining to Capt. Cook. The online catalog gives presale estimates generally starting with a two-figure minimum and indicates if bids have been submitted.

Among the books is a luxury three-volume set of The Essays of Montaigne ($100 to $5,000), a 14-volume compilation of the Bible containing the Old and the New Testaments plus the Apocrypha ($250 to $7,500), and an early volume in Greek of Homer's Iliad printed in Bern, Switzerland, in 1713 ($500 to $5,000). Among the Santos carvings is a statue of a bishop done in the 1800s ($50 to $1,000) and an early wooden headless, armless crucifix 16 inches tall ($50 to $2,500).

Polynesian and South Pacific items include a 47-inch-long model of a Kapingamarangi canoe with outrigger ($250 to $2,500) and a Malanggan wooden tribal statue from northern New Ireland ($1,000 to $9,000). Paintings include a maritime scene depicting five ships at sea, signed by Thomas Luny and dated 1831 ($1,000 to $15,000).

The auction lot attracting the most attention, according to a Keystone news release, is an early rare signed photograph by Edward Henry Weston. Its presale estimate is $1,000 to $50,000.