Homer's Odd Isn't He

Upstairs Downstairs..An Update

2010-08-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

A Crazy New Staircase. I love the look of it but not sure I'd climb it without a rail. I'm sure its not finished, I hope. Of course you can see from an old post that the idea is hardly new.

From Gizmodo: "These are the stairs of the new Salvador Dalí museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Encased in 18-inch thick concrete walls, it can resist a 165mph Category 5 hurricane without blinking.The director of the museum says that the architecture "combines elements of the classical and the fantastical," like Dalí's own work. I will believe it when everything is covered in gold and time begins to melt. [Archdaily]

I have always had a love of staircases and thought that this would make a great subject for a posting here at Homer's Odd. My first memory of a staircase was of course sitting at the the top of the front hall stairs while the folks were having a party down below and wanting to be a part of all the fun until being told upon being caught, to get back to bed.

Staircases are grand and sweeping or they can be narrow and steep. Each design has it's own purpose and reason. The classic television series "Upstairs Downstairs," showed the importance of the staircase in Edwardian London.

Staircases are escapes or the route to love.

In my travels around the world, I have seen and climbed some great staircases. Starting from the Acropolis to St. Peter's, to Borobodur and Buckingham Palace.

These steps have always captured a greater moment in my memory than the place itself. It made me think. Why are stairs so important? A few thoughts come to mind. When climbing a new staircase you are rising, you are entering. It is unknown, it is a new experience. Your heart beats a bit faster, your eyes widen, the stairs are the cause.

Staircases are simply a functional architectural necessity to get you from one level to the next. They do however transcend their purpose in so many ways. They can denote class stratifications, they are pulpits, lecterns, they are structures used for grand ceremonial occasions.They are places of historic importance, they are the place where time changes. They are the spot where once your little girl bounced down in her pj's to where she threw her bouquet on her wedding day.

Staircases are where inaugurations are held or great civil rights speeches are given. I believe we choose staircases to hold these important functions because they symbolize transcendence. They allow the speaker and the audience to believe that we can achieve what is spoken. That is what makes stairs important. Be they wooden or marble I love to climb them. Here are a few pictures of great staircases.

Angor Wat

A Crazy Staircase

Grand Central Station New York City

Tulip Staircase Queens House Greenwich

Buckingham Palace Grand Staircase

Bovolostaircase Venice

Chambord by Da Vinci

The Exorcist Staircase, Georgetown

The Titanic Staircase

Survivors Staircase World Trade Center

Art's New Winners and Losers

2010-05-16T15:17:00.000-07:00

Art's New Winners and Losers
Sales are rising, but the recovery is leaving some artists behind. Why Renoir and Calder are up, and Munch and Hirst are down

Wall Street Journal, May 14, 2010
By KELLY CROW

"The bidding has started up again and prices are rising. Now, as the dust settles from the art-market upheaval of the last few years, a new art landscape is emerging.
The New Art Market's Ups and Downs

The major spring auctions wrapped up this week in New York with sales that nearly tripled last year's totals. A few artists appeared unaffected by the recent ups and downs of the market. A Picasso painting sold for $106.5 million, setting an auction record, and Andy Warhol's "Self Portrait" sold for $32.5 million, more than twice its high estimate.

But the playing field has been transformed by recession, and dozens of other top artists have been boosted or derailed by the boom-and-bust cycle. Some of the biggest stars from the art market's peak, such as Richard Prince and Damien Hirst, have been largely absent from auctions recently.

On the rise are Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet and Salvador Dali, names that a few years ago were unfashionable in some art circles. In recent years, some Western buyers dismissed their work as passé —crowd-pleasing but uninteresting. New art collectors, however, tend to gravitate to the European Impressionists that are pretty and accessible. Newly wealthy Asian buyers have been bidding up Renoirs and Monets.
[ArtPromo]

See a graphic about art's new winners and losers.

Market fluctuations can spark larger shifts in art-world taste. The Gagosian Gallery, a leading dealer of modern and contemporary art, mounted an exhibit of late-period Monets in New York this month—a move that the gallery says would have been unlikely a few years ago.

New York's chief auction houses, Sotheby's and Christie's International, say prices for any artist are heavily contingent upon the whims of supply. It's a rare occurrence that a seller consigns a work as important as Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust," last week's $106.5 million sale.

Still, a sweep of the spring auction results reveals fresh clues about which artists collectors feel more, or less, confident in now. "Before the crisis, people were buying everything," says David Nahmad, a modern-art dealer with galleries in New York and London. "Now, they're more selective."
[ADVISER5] Sotheby's

Pablo Picasso: 'Woman with a cat sitting in a chair,' priced to sell for $15 million, sold for $18 million at Christie's.

In all, Sotheby's and Christie's International brought in about $1.1 billion combined from their semiannual New York sales of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art, up from $408.8 million last May but down from their $1.4 billion peak two seasons ago.

As the auctions wrap up, here's a look at who's soaring and who's struggling in the new art market.
WHO'S UP

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Dealers say Renoir's soft-focus depictions of Victorian women and children are a favorite of Asian collectors, who have begun buying up iconic pieces from the Western canon. They're starting, as many new buyers do, with the broadly appealing Impressionists. Renoir's prices are lower than those of older peers like Monet.

Last November in New York, a Japanese collector paid Sotheby's $2.8 million for Renoir's "Woman with a White Hat," and minutes later a Chinese collector bidding over the telephone paid $962,500 for his "Still Life with Apples and Pears."

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Sotheby's

Claude Monet: Last week, Sotheby's sold 'The Effect of Spring at Giverny,' for $15.2 million, the seventh-highest price ever paid for a Monet at auction.
artmarket
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Claude Monet

The master of Impressionism seems to sell best during the uncertain days of a new auction cycle, when collectors prefer to stick with classics. At the start of the last market swell in 2005 and 2006, at least 18 of Monet's speckled pastorals sold for more than their high asking prices at major evening auctions, according to Art Research Technologies, a firm that tracks auction sales. On May 5, Sotheby's got $15.2 million for "The Effect of Spring at Giverny," the seventh-highest Monet to ever sell at auction. An Asian collector bidding over the telephone got that work.

Prices for Monet's paintings dated after 1905 are also expected to benefit from the high-profile show that opened this month at the Gagosian Gallery. Last spring, around 100,000 people visited the gallery's show of late Picassos, and dealers have subsequently credited the show with increasing demand for Picasso's later works.
[artmarket] Christie's

Alberto Giacometti: Number of his works that sold for over $20 million last week in New York: 3.

Alberto Giacometti

This onetime favorite of European collectors has gone global, with bidders from the U.S. and Russia joining in and pushing up his asking prices, dealers say.

Three months ago, Sotheby's in London sold his "Walking Man I" for $104.3 million, a record at the time for a work of art at auction. The buzz from that sale gave confidence to bidders during this latest round in New York: On May 4, Christie's sold Giacometti's bust of his brother, "Big Thin Head," to art adviser Guy Bennett for $53.2 million, over its $35 million high estimate.

Alexander Calder

The Philadelphia sculptor of kinetic abstract sculptures has floated above the recession. He had a banner year in 2009, with a record $41.5 million worth of his art selling at auction, according to Artnet, a firm that monitors sales. Six of his priciest pieces sold during the doldrums, including the 1934 mobile, "Five Pieces of Wood," which Sotheby's in London sold last June for $4.2 million. On Wednesday, another pair of mobiles sold for a combined $5.2 million.

American collectors say part of the reason for the strong sales was that the artist had been undervalued for too long, a fact that became clear as other art prices dropped. Compared to Jeff Koons's $25.7 million "Balloon Flower (Magenta)," Calder's dangling wire pieces still appear to be a good value, dealers say.

Jasper Johns

Rarity helps, especially in a recession. Between 2005 and 2009, nine works by this Pop pioneer wound up in the auction houses' major evening sales and they all sold, for roughly $13.3 million combined. That same number of pieces hit the evening sales this past week, thanks largely to a consignment of pieces owned by the late author Michael Crichton.

It proved a bonanza: Johns's "Flag" sold to New York art adviser Michael Altman for $28.6 million, above its $15 million high estimate. The Crichton works may also have spurred other collectors to offer up their pieces by Johns, including "Figure O," which sold for $4.1 million.

Jean-Michel Basquiat

The graffiti-influenced 1980s artist is the recovery's comeback kid. After his brightly colored paintings pushed above $14 million in early 2007, collectors watched his prices plummet.

Now, Basquiat's asking prices have dropped to between $2 million and $6 million and American Baby Boomers appear to be rushing back in to take advantage of the lower price tags. On Tuesday, Christie's asked at least $3.5 million for his "Man Struck by Lightning—2 Witnesses" from 1982 but got $4.8 million for it.

Basquiat's 1983 depiction of a saxophone player, "Untitled (Stardust)," also sparked a dogged bidding war at Sotheby's on Wednesday, ultimately selling to a woman in the salesroom for $7.2 million. The piece was set to sell for up to $6 million.
WHO'S DOWN

Kees Van Dongen

Last fall, this Dutch master of Fauvism seemed poised to enjoy a surge when Sotheby's in New York sold his creamy spare portrait, "Young Arab," for a record $13.8 million. Russian buyers were flocking then to his emerald-and-navy portraits of women. Since then, however, Russian collectors seem to have shifted back to homegrown favorites with a similar palette, like Natalia Goncharova, and U.S. buyers haven't stepped in to fill the void.

Sotheby's got $3.7 million for Van Dongen's "Woman with a Hat of Roses" on May 5, but another Van Dongen consigned to that sale was withdrawn by the seller at the last minute. In all, seven paintings by the artist have gone unsold this auction season, up from three last year, according to Art Research Technologies.

Pierre Bonnard

Sometimes collectors get spooked by an artist, even one firmly ensconced in the art-history textbooks. Between 2005 and 2006, at least 23 paintings by the French artist sold within or above their estimates at the auction houses' major evening sales. These included a lush view of "Two Fruit Baskets" that sold in November 2006 for $8.5 million.

Demand took a sharp turn last fall, however, after Sotheby's got no bids for Bonnard's "Nude Profile," which was priced to sell for at least $1.25 million. On May 5, another Bonnard went unsold, this time a Parisian street scene from 1904, "The Boulevard Outside: The Corner of Clichy Boulevard and Douai Street." Christie's sold a Bonnard, "Deadlock or Lane (Le Cannet)," from the Brody collection for $842,500 on May 4.

Mr. Nahmad said newer buyers may not be as familiar with Bonnard's oeuvre but added that the artist was more likely suffering from "bad luck."

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Christie's

Edvard Munch: Number of his works that failed to sell at auction between 2007 and 2009: 0. Number of works that failed to sell this spring: 3.
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Edvard Munch

Do collectors love this Norwegian artist when he's not screaming? Weeks after Lehman Brothers floundered in 2008, Munch's "Vampire" sold at Sotheby's in New York for $38.1 million. The work, depicting a red-haired woman hovering over a man in a black suit, was considered a masterpiece. It was also replete with the artist's dark and twisted signature imagery.

Since then, Munch works featuring happier subject matter have stumbled at auction. These include "Fertility," the $25 million field-couple scene that failed to sell at Christie's. The following night, Munch's 1916-17 image of a blue-eyed young girl sporting a bow in her hair, "Nude Half Figure," was expected to sell at Sotheby's for at least $1.6 million. It stalled at $1.4 million.
[artmarket] Sotheby's

DAMIEN HIRST: In 2008, $270.7 million worth of his art sold at auction. In 2009: $18.3 million.

Damien Hirst

The British artist who famously sold off $200.8 million worth of his own art at Sotheby's in London hasn't turned up much at major auctions since. Katherine Jentleson, head researcher with Art Research Technologies, said the milestone Sotheby's sale "severely diminished demand" for his works.

The hiatus may serve his market in the long run, since the appearance of rarity tends to whet collectors' appetites. But for now, his switch from ubiquity to virtual absence is hard to miss. In this latest round of sales, he only had one piece on offer in the important evening sales held by Sotheby's and Christie's. Sotheby's got $782,500 for his 2006 "The Trees the House," which uses butterflies to recreate the look of a stained-glass window. Two years ago, his major butterfly pieces were selling for as much as $4 million a piece. A spokeswoman for the Gagosian Gallery, which represents Mr. Hirst, said his paintings and sculptures are selling well privately, including a show last fall in New York that "sold out."

Richard Prince

During the peak years of 2006 and 2008, prices for Mr. Prince's work soared. In 2008, the artist's works sold for a combined $68.3 million at auction, but signs of trouble began to emerge: That year, at least nine pieces sold for less that their low asking prices, indicating that buyers and sellers were no longer in agreement on where his auction prices should be set. Last year, his auction sales total fell to $11.7 million, according to Artnet, likely an indication that fewer sellers wanted to risk offering Princes that might not sell. A spokeswoman for the Gagosian Gallery, which represents Mr. Prince, says the artist's prices and sales are fine.

Mr. Prince has one group of influential supporters: museum curators. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis recently mounted major Prince shows. Christie's sold one of his paintings, "Ranting and Raving," on Tuesday for $722,500, just over its $600,000 low estimate.

Correction & Amplification:
Gagosian Gallery represents the artist Richard Prince. A previous version of the article incorrectly said the Barbara Gladstone Gallery represented Mr. Prince."

Write to Kelly Crow at kelly.crow@wsj.com

I Always Wonder Too

2010-05-10T16:08:00.000-07:00

The Coy Art of the Mystery Bidder

New York Times May 7th, 2010

If you follow art auctions even peripherally, you know that each one leaves a trail of question marks. Who bought the van Gogh? Who bought the Johns? We would very much like to know. Sooner or later we usually do.

But last week, when an anonymous telephone-bidding buyer paid $106.5 million for a 1932 Picasso — the highest price ever for a work of art at auction — the secrecy felt especially irksome. Who bought the painting repeatedly defined by Christie’s as a “trophy” with the tremendous visual impact that is now being called “wall power”? Who had the willpower to keep mum? To abstain from indulging fully in the spectacle of such a public act of acquisition? One — nearly everyone — itched to know; in fact, felt robbed of a crucial piece of the action. In other words, as with the season’s finale of one’s most addictive television show, one felt thoroughly and adroitly manipulated.

The superrich have always sent very public mixed signals about their need for privacy. In this case the headline-making price and the anonymous buyer made that paradox and its manipulative aspects especially clear. But how private does someone who buys a painting at public auction for a world-record price want to be?

Was it a Russian oligarch who didn’t want to call attention to himself, for fear of home invasion or too much unfriendly attention from Vladimir Putin? Was it a genuinely modest art lover who desired this particular Picasso beyond all else, would pay any price for it and wanted nothing so much as to quietly take it home, to an undisclosed location? More likely, it was someone in the vast gap between these extremes, perhaps someone with vast sums of money stashed in a Swiss bank account or a dubious tax shelter.

For a minute or two, I felt that the insistence on anonymity might qualify as mildly admirable behavior under the circumstances. It suggested that buying the picture, “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust,” wasn’t done just or even primarily for the attention. I thought of the relentless legacy opportunities that museums are pressed to create, slapping the names of trustees and donors on galleries, wings, auditoriums, facades, directorships, curatorial positions. (So far, I think, only full curatorial positions. I have yet to come across a Your-Name-Here Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art.) I remembered the enormous new wing of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, designed by Herzog & de Meuron and paid for by a family that preferred to remain anonymous. I wished someone like that would give $100 million to the New York Public Library and just let it go at that, no strings attached. Even more fatuously, I also wished that the Brody family, which put the Picasso on the block, had given it to a museum, settling for 50 years of private pleasure from a painting they loaned to an exhibition only once, plus their name in perpetuity on a modest pasteboard wall label.

That snapped me out of it. Strictly enforcing one’s privacy — at a time when so much goes public as fast at it happens — may be the ultimate public display of power, and thus the most erotic. The buyer is the puppet master whose puppets are the in-the-know few at Christie’s, from the top rank to the guy on the phone in the auction room relaying the bids. The rest of us don’t even need strings to be jerked around.

We look on, gape-mouthed, as the figure rises and then clamor to know. We think we are the observers, but actually we are the observed. It is Buyer X who is most in control and who therefore derives the greatest pleasure from the actual transaction. Anonymity only makes it that much more pleasurable and voyeuristic.

In this scenario, full disclosure becomes the relatively more admirable alternative, much the way it is with Oscar winners: someone standing teary-eyed at the microphone, saying how thrilled and humbled he is to be the owner of this fantastic painting. (“I’d like to thank my hedge-fund manager.”) Such openness might have given the event a veneer of normalcy. And it might have put our attention back on the art itself and made the whole thing less of a circus. But the art world and the world at large are now back in their boom-time positions regarding auctions, which is watching the money, oohing and ahhing and making the spending of it that much more of a turn-on.

Roberta Smith is an art critic for The Times.

So You've Decided That The Stock Market Is Not For you

2010-05-06T17:03:00.001-07:00

May 6 (Bloomberg) -- "A 1930s Bugatti has sold for about $30 million to become the world’s most expensive car -- with dealers predicting more records as billionaires look for alternatives to risky financial investments.

The Type 57SC Atlantic was bought in a private transaction for nearly as much as its asking price, dealers with knowledge of the matter said. The coupe had been owned by the New Hampshire-based neurologist Peter D. Williamson, a former president of the American Bugatti Club, who died in 2008

“Interest rates are low and some people have made a lot of money over the last year,” said John Collins, of U.K.-based Ferrari dealers Talacrest 2000 AD Ltd. “They want to buy real assets that have a limited supply and that won’t go down in value. Modern art and classic cars are tracking each other at the moment.”

Wealthy individuals are increasingly looking at physical objects such as art and cars because stock markets remain turbulent, dealers said. A 1932 painting by Pablo Picasso sold at Christie’s International in New York for $106.5 million on May 4, setting a record for any artwork at auction."

Keno Auctions Off to A Good Start

2010-05-05T19:33:00.001-07:00

From Luxist:
"The first auction from the Leigh Keno's new Keno Auctions house has brought some big results including the sale of one very expensive Chippendale chest. The auction was held last weekend in Stamford, Connecticut and had two sessions. The first part, the collection of H. Robert Leese of Pennsylvania, consisted of 178 lots, all of which sold without reserve. During the second session the James Beekman Chippendale carved mahogany chest of drawers from the shop of Thomas Brookman with carving attributed to Henry Hardcastle came up for bid. Antiques and the Arts reports that this New York chest, circa 1752 was estimated at $200/600,000 but sold for $1.428 million, setting a record for a New York piece of furniture.

The third session on Sunday brought the second highest price in the sale, when the portrait of Anna Brodhead Oliver circa 1743 was sold without reserve to David Schorsch of Woodbury, Connecticut, for $1,118,600. The estimate was just $40/80,000 and the portrait was the property of a descendant of the sitter. Leigh Keno said that the auction brought in a total of $5,818,460 including the buyer's premium but that four major postsale offers pending will boost the total to $6.014 million.

The blond twin Keno brothers are experts in American furniture and have often appeared on "Antiques Roadshow." Both Leigh and Leslie Keno have been interested in rare Americana since they were kids and have been involved in the antiques business since their teenage years and Leslie Keno was in the audience for this auction. The pair recently announced their own furniture line."

A DC May Auction at Weschlers

2010-04-25T16:38:00.000-07:00

Weschlers Auction House here in DC is having a nice sale this May 15th. I've picked a few pieces for your pleasure and the full catalogue is here.

I know my posts have been rare as of late and I hope that will change but life has been very busy and well, my colleagues, you know how much time this takes.Enough said.

I think there are some great buys here. Lets take a look. Cheers, Homer.

Lot 47
Kazutoshi Sugiura (Japanese b. 1938)
Iris No. 24
Woodblock print with gold metallic embellishments, 1980-1981, signed K. Sugiura and dated in pencil l.r.; also titled in Kanji and numbered 39/95 in pencil l.l. Framed.*
23-1/4 x 16-1/2 in (591 x 419 mm)
Estimate $500-700

Lot 86
American Silver Three-Piece Tea Service
Canfield Bro. & Co., Baltimore, Circa 1850
Consisting of a teapot, covered sugar bowl and a cream jug; each having an octagonal form engraved with scrolling floral sprays enclosing a shaped reserve with an arm and sword crest, the reverse with a blank reserve. Each impressed CANFIELD BRO. & CO, 2 and with a Gothic M within an oval reserve. Each with removed monogram or crest.
Height of teapot: 7-3/4 in (19.7 cm)
Total gross weight: 56.7 oz
Estimate $800-1,200

Lot 91
Set of Seven English Silver Plate 'Fox' Stirrup Cups
20th Century
Each of typical form; six engraved with monogram D.F.M., the seventh engraved BRIAR PATCH/ '49. Unmarked.
Height: 5 in (12.7 cm)
Estimate $400-600

Lot 181
Pair of French Art Deco Style Faux Ivory Inlaid Palisander Wood Nightstands
Post 1950
Each having an open niche and chrome-plated knob pulls; the first with two drawers, the second with a panel door. Each with minor abrasions to top; pulls with wear to plated surface.
Height: 24 in (61 cm); Width: 17-3/4 in (45.1 cm); Depth: 17-3/4 in (45.1 cm)
Estimate $500-700

Lot 195
Dutch Neoclassical Style Marquetry and Rosewood Crossbanded Satinwood Demilune Side Table
Early 20th Century
Having two marquetry tambour doors opening to view a divided storage compartment. Some losses to veneer; repairs to openwork skirt.
Height: 30-1/2 in (77.5 cm); Width: 30-1/2 in (77.5 cm); Depth: 16 in (40.6 cm)
Estimate $500-700

Lot 214
Italian Baroque Walnut Armadio
Composed of 17th-18th Century Elements
The two raised panel doors enclosing a divided interior each with five beige cloth-covered shelves.
Height: 92-1/2 in (235 cm); Width: 89-1/2 in (227.3 cm); Depth: 18 in (45.7 cm)
Estimate $10,000-20,000

Lot 220
Pair of Deruta Maiolica Blue and White Pictorial Chargers
20th Century
Each depicting deer within a scrolling foliate ground continuing to a flowerhead border within a scalloped edge. Verso of each inscribed in underglaze blue Deruta. One with repaired chip to rim; each with some chips and wear to glaze at rims.
Diameter: 15-1/4 in (38.7 cm)
Estimate $1,000-1,500

Pair of Herend 'Rothschild Bird' Table Lamps
Modern
Each with overall molded basketweave pattern.
Height of porcelain: 11 in (27.9 cm)
Estimate $500-700

Lot 255
George III Walnut High Chair
Circa 1760-1780
Having a screw-off arm rail over a beige and rose bird brocade silk upholstered slip seat and an adjustable foot rest. Repairs.
Height: 38 in (96.5 cm)
Estimate $700-900

Lot 268
George III Style Ebonized Wood Inlaid Mahogany Sideboard
Last Half 19th Century
Having a mahogany crossbanded top above a central crossbanded drawer flanked by a bipartite partial lead-lined bottle drawer and a panel door. Scattered repairs and losses to crossbanding and veneer.
Height: 28 in (71.1 cm); Width: 72 in (182.9 cm); Depth: 25-1/4 in (64.1 cm)
Estimate $1,500-2,500

Lot 271
George III Style Satinwood Inlaid Mahogany Bachelor's Chest of Drawers
Last Half 19th Century
Scattered repairs and losses to veneer; brasses replaced; pull-out sleeve lacking one pull.
Height: 35-1/2 in (90.2 cm); Width: 36-1/2 in (92.7 cm); Depth: 19 in (48.3 cm)
Estimate $700-900

Lot 277
George III Style Marquetry Satinwood Tambour Writing Desk
Late 19th Century
Having a frieze drawer pulling out to activate the tambour top enclosing an arrangement of three pigeonholes over three pen and ink bottle wells; the fold-out lid with marquetry musical motif.

Regency Style Yewwood Library Step
Circa 1900
Each tread inset with gilt-tooled greenish-brown leather. Top tread with one end cracked; repairs to post.
Height: 66 in (167.6 cm); Width: 20 in (50.8 cm); Depth: 27 in (68.6 cm)
Estimate $500-700

American Stained Maple and Pine Tavern Table
Pennsylvania, Late 18th-Early 19th Century
Interior of drawers painted salmon. Brasses replaced.
Height: 31 in (78.7 cm); Width: 60 in (152.4 cm); Depth: 32-3/4 in (83.2 cm)
Estimate $600-800

Federal Figured Maple Chest of Drawers
Pennsylvania, Circa 1820
Case possibly modified in size; some cracks to top; brasses replaced.
Height: 38-1/4 in (97.2 cm); Width: 30 in (76.2 cm); Depth: 20-3/4 in (52.7 cm)
Estimate $1,000-1,500

Maison Baguès Style Brass and Glass End Table
Circa 1950s
Having a round, black glass top raised on three bamboo-molded legs.
Height: 19 in (48.3 cm); Diameter: 15 in (38.1 cm)
Estimate $300-500

A Few April Auctions

2010-04-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

Mid April auctions abound and I've looked through three catalogues to find a few nice pieces for your perusal. Lets start with Doyle's auction tommorrow.

Lot 16
Richard Hayley Lever
American, 1876-1958
High Tide at Dieppe, 1902
Signed Hayley Lever (lr)
Oil on canvas
10 1/4 x 12 1/8 inches

Born in Adelaide, Australia, Hayley Lever demonstrated artistic ability at an early age. Traveling to England in 1893 to study art, in 1900 he moved to the artists' colony of St. Ives, in Cornwall, studying painting with Julius Olsson and Algernon Talmage, and painting impressionistic views of the town and harbor that established his reputation in England. Over the next decade, he also made excursions to coastal locales in France, such as Dieppe, Honfleur and Concarneau, painting marine subjects such as the present work.

Invited to exhibit at the Carnegie International Exposition in Pittsburgh in 1910, Lever submitted a St. Ives subject. Critics praised his sense of design, and his ability to evoke a sense of place. Around 1912, at the suggestion of American artists including Gardner Symons and Ernest Lawson, Lever traveled to New York; he spent the remainder of his career in America.
Estimate $1,500-2,500

Inscribed on the lining at reverse, High Tide, Dieppe, France, 1902. Lined. Areas of inpaint at upper right and left corners. Some pigments fluoresce under UV examination, including the signature.

Lot 385
Chinese Export Porcelain Covered Sauce Tureen and Stand
Circa 1830
Painted with brown floral sprays, heightened in gilt. Length of stand 8 1/2 inches.

The Elinor Gordon Gallery Collection

Estimate $600-900

Lot 370
Chinese Export Famille Rose Porcelain Wine Cooler
Painted with figures in an interior. Height 8 inches.

The Elinor Gordon Gallery Collection

Estimate $600-900

One side is broken into multiple large pieces and restored with re-painting starting with the tree on the left side down through the man in gray to the man in the yellow pants continuing through the lady in pink and through the shoulder and face of the woman and blue up to the top rim. One side pink panel restored from top to bottom and the handle.

Lot 207
Georgian Style Mahogany Upholstered Settee
Early 20th century
Raised on square tapering legs ending in spade feet. Length 7 feet.

Estate of Sara K. Greene

Estimate $700-1,000

Lot 192
English Green Painted and Gilt Decorated Tole Display Canister
With a glass insert front, inscribed 21-22 Bristol. Height 16 inches; Together with a Brass Chamberstick.

Estate of Sara K. Greene

Estimate $100-200

Classical Mahogany Sideboard
19th Century
The bow front center surmounted by a backsplash and flanked by two pedestals, above three frieze drawers, over two cupboard doors and two deep drawers, each pedestal enclosing a single drawer and a long cupboard door, raised on turned legs. Height 50 1/2 inches, width 6 feet 6 1/2 inches, depth 20 1/4 inches.
Estimate $1,500-2,500

Legs probably replaced.

A Great New Blog "DC By Design"

2010-03-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

I've been away. I promised a few weeks back that I'd send my congrats to a great new addition to the DC design, arts, and architecture blogger society.

However, my timing couldn't be better because Jennifer Sergent's new blog, " DC by Design," has a great new post on this year's DC Designer Showhouse, 2010. The Showhouse opens to the press tomorrow morning and regular work duties will keep me away, but I hope to cover the show in the near future. I know however that Jennifer will keep us up to date on all the exciting news from this worthwhile event. Cheer's Jennifer, and great good luck in this new adventure.

Althorp House Auction

2010-03-31T16:53:00.001-07:00

Paul Fraser Collectibles:

"Princess Diana’s Rubens for sale in $29m Spencer estate auction

From the childhood home of the People's Princess, this Peter Paul Rubens painting is up for sale

Around $29m of possessions owned by the Spencer family, relatives of the late Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, will be sold in London this Summer.

Rubens' painting, A Commander Being Armed for Battle, will take pride of place in the auction with a pre-sale valuation of £8m-12m.

In December last year, a re-discovered unfinished portrait of a lady by Peter Paul Rubens was usurped as the top lot at a Sotheby's Old Master and British paintings auction.

(In the end, the surprise highest-grossing lot was a self portrait by Van Dyke, that sold for an incredible £8.3m.)

Later this year, the Spencers' painting will sell among 600 other lots in the sale according to a statement by Christie's.

Rubens' A Commander Being Armed for Battle, priced £8m-12m

The Spencer family's heirloom sale will also include more than a dozen 19th century carriages.

Since 1998, the family's Althorp Estate has hosted its Diana: A Celebration, an exhibition commemorating the Princess of Wales' life.

Proceeds from the sale will fund extensive restoration work to the Althorp Estate.

Naturally, any memorabilia associated with Princess Diana, is both valuable and sought-after.

Diana artefacts currently available on the market also include signed photos of Prince Charles with Diana; one with a baby Prince William; and one with both William and Harry.

At present, Diana autographs can command values anywhere from $4,000 to $20,000 or more - with Royal autographs boasting a provenance far superior to other celebrity memorabilia."

Holy Cow Batman!! Updated. It's Superman's Turn

2010-02-22T15:07:00.000-08:00

BBC News :First Superman comic sold for $1m

A copy of the first comic to feature caped hero Superman has been sold on the internet for $1m (£646,000).

The 1938 edition of Action Comics No 1 - which originally sold for 10c - was sold by a private seller to a private buyer, neither of whom was named.

Stephen Fishler, co-owner of the US auction website Comic Connect, said it was "the Holy Grail of comic books".

The sale smashes the previous record price for a comic book of $317,200 (£205,000) in 2009.

That was also a copy of Action Comics No 1, but in poorer condition.

Mr Fishler said the transaction happened minutes after the issue was put on sale at around 1030 local time (1530 GMT) on Monday.

He said that the seller was a "well-known individual" in New York with a pedigree collection, and that the buyer was a known customer who had previously bought an Action Comics No 1.

'A milestone'

"The opportunity to buy an un-restored, high-grade Action One comes along once every two decades. It's certainly a milestone," said Mr Fishler.

He added: "It is still a little stunning to see a comic book and $1m in the same sentence."

About 100 copies of Action Comics No 1 remain in existence and only two of those have a grading of 8.0 - very fine - including the one sold on Monday.

The previous record-holder had a grading of 6.0.

The cover of the rare issue pictures Superman lifting a car over his head

News-Antique.com, DALLAS, TX -- "When a truly exceptional copy of Detective Comics #27, the very first appearance of Batman, is auctioned by Heritage Auction Galleries in its Feb. 25 Signature® Comics & Comic Art Auction, it will set two important marks:

It will, more than likely, become the single most valuable comic ever offered at public auction. Though it's being sold with no reserve and no minimum bid, it's expected to bring at least $300,000. The current record for a comic sold at auction stands at $317,000, for a copy of Action Comics #1, sold last year at another auction house.

The other question the auction will settle, at least for the time being, is one of the great debates of Pop Culture: Who is worth more today, Batman or Superman?"

Heritage Auctions Press Release: "...When this issue was released with a May 1939 cover date, Superman was the only other superhero on the stands, save for the now-obscure likes of the Arrow and the Crimson Avenger. So it's no wonder that the striking cover by artist Bob Kane made a strong impact. It has taken its place as one of the most famous covers in the history of comics. Kane and writer Bill Finger (generally credited these days as a co-creator of the character) produced a hero to rival Superman without imitating the earlier character. As Jim Steranko noted, "Superman had given DC its strength, but Batman gave it tone. Of course, Superman was more impressive... but Batman was more fascinating."

"The Bat-Man" appeared in a six-page story that also introduced the character of Commissioner Gordon. The second-to-last panel revealed that this mysterious figure was in fact Bruce Wayne, introduced earlier in the story."

A No Reserve Auction In New Jersey. Some Good Guessing Some Bad

2010-02-17T15:04:00.000-08:00

The crazy world that is DC these last few weeks continues. Last night I headed home via the bus up Wisconsin Ave. Its not much more than two miles between the store and home. It took me an hour and a half. This city is still a mess and all this has been keeping me from my duties. Its called exhaustion. At any rate I reviewed Rago's auction results and I was pretty good at most guesses and bad at a few.

There were some great deals and it shows that our economy is still creating environments for great buys. Here again are my bids and what the items sold for. That was fun!
Sorry about the size of the pictures. Blogger software problems.

On February 12th and 13th, Rago's Auction House in Lambertville, NJ, is holding a big no reserve auction. No reserve means that there is no minimum that the auctioneer won't accept. As a result there no estimates as to where the bidding should begin. This makes for great fun amongst us auction hounds and can, with the right circumstances, result in a great buy.

Since there is no minimum bid denied to start the lot, the first offer can be way low. If there aren't enough people interested in the item, that price can stay low. It doesn't happen often but it does happen. This is a big auction so the chances for the great buy are good.

This a very large auction and a reflection of the the times. People are selling their treasures. Its not a fire sale, but obviously the house has many items it wants off the inventory list. Folks, this is an opportunity to grab something that might be on your list for a great price.

So this could be fun and a bit o'work and embarrassment for your friend Homer. I'm going to take a guess at what I think these items are worth. Most of them are outside my area of expertise, okay I'm Nooo appraiser but I have been doing this for awhile so I have "minimum" confidence..yea that was a pun. I'd love to hear what your estimate thoughts would be.This will makes the comments section funto read. Its a huge catalog which you can view here. I chose just a few items that I'll keep my eye on. Lets look.

Lot 178: TWO AMERICAN SILVER TANKARDS R & W Wilson octagonal coin silver tankard with engraved floral motif, Philadelphia, ca. 1825-1846 together with a Victorian sterling tankard with unknown hallmarks...
My bid is $800.00
SOLD FOR $336.00. Boy was I off there. Not a good start.

Lot 200: MIES VAN DER ROHE Pair of chrome and wicker lounge chairs. 34" x 21 1/2" x 30"
My bid $1,600.00
SOLD FOR $1,708.00. A good guess. Whew.

Lot 242: GLENN APPLEMAN Red ceramic Packard cookie jar. Dated 1980. Signed Appleman. 8 1/4" x 16" x 9 3/4"
My bid $300.00. Remember Warhol! That would be a great buy.
SOLD FOR $458.00. Not a bad guess.

Lot 328: DONALD DESKEY / BENNETT Pair of brass and enameled cast iron andirons. 15" x 8" x 17 1/2"
My bid $250.00. They look like aliens! Live Long and Prosper.
SOLD FOR $366.00. I might have stayed in too $300.00.

Lot 334: GILBERT ROHDE / HERMAN MILLER Pair of mahogany, burled walnut and rosewood etageres with steel pulls and interior adjustable shelves, each with glass doors and single shelf...
My bid $2,000.00. Electic mid century. Yea baby!
SOLD FOR $1,220.00. Went too high for those.

Lot 339: ART DECO Pair of club chairs upholstered in forest green leather. 34" x 32" x 34"
My bid $3,500.00. I love them, very Astaire/Rogers.
SOLD FOR $732.00. My goodness, perhaps they weren't in good shape. My bad.

Lot 352: FREDERICK WEINBERG (Attr.) Four faux bamboo bar stools with enameled steel bases and vinyl upholstery. Unmarked. 30 1/2" x 16 1/2" sq
My bid $900.00. Very Mrs. Robinson. I'd put faux leopard on them and have a Manhattan.
SOLD FOR $397.00. Somebody got a great buy.

Lot 429: MODERN Console table with glass top on enameled steel base. 29 1/2" x 48" x 16"
My bid $600.00. Its a classic, you could put that anywhere.
SOLD FOR $366.00. A steal!! I'm not doing well am I?

Lot 589: HARVEY PROBBER Cabinet with two leather-covered sliding doors concealing three drawers on one side and single shelf on the other, over a lower shelf on tubular brass legs...
My bid $800.00. Again, yeaa baby. Very "What is James Wearing."
SOLD FOR $183.00. OH MY GOODNESS..so way off.

Lot 593: BAKER Solid brass and glass tray table, its base in a bamboo pattern. Unmarked. 18 1/2" x 37 3/4" x 24"
My bid $999.00. My favorite piece. A total classic..so I ruined my bid.
SOLD FOR $427.00. I missed it, I missed it!!

Lot 861: MCHUGH (Attr.) Settle with reverse tapered posts and X-shaped arm inserts. 36" x 62" x 26 1/2"
My bid $400.00.
SOLD FOR $458.00. Finally, pretty close.

Lot 915: WELLER FOREST Two trumpet-shaped vases and a pitcher. Hairline to rim of pitcher. All stamped Weller. Pitcher: 5 5/8" x 6 1/2"
My bid $1,700.00. A roadshow favorite. Yawnnnn
SOLD FOR $397.00. What do I know?

Lot 1007: TANG STYLE Pair of carved wood red lacquered horses. 30 1/2" x 36" x 14"
My bid $400.00. That would be a great buy. Fingers crossed.
SOLD FOR $122.00. A decorative steal. Darn they went for nothing.

Lot 1013: ASIAN Two Chinese porcelain jardinieres or goldfish bowls, 20th C. Tallest: 12 1/4"
My bid $400.00. Low I'm sure.
SOLD FOR $61.00. Yes $61.00.

Lot 1073: NINE PAIRS OF BOOKENDS Shakespeare, Recumbent Lions, Town Crier, Bradley and Hubbard Book Reader, Liberty Bell, Native American and others, 20th century, tallest 7"..
My bid $489.00. I might be close, what do you think?
SOLD FOR $397.00. Close.

Lot 1077: BURL WOOD BOWL Shallow with much interior wear, uncertain origin and age. 10 1/2 X 3 1/4"
My bid $450.00. Could be way off.
sold for $397.00. I surprised myself.

Lot 1127: RICHARD GINORI Tea set with service for eight includes teapot, sugar, creamer with underplate, demitasse with saucers and cake plates. Marked Richard Ginori Italy...
My bid $1,200.00. Pretty set.
SOLD FOR $976.00. Good guess Homer.

Lot 1133: MINTONS FOR TIFFANY & CO. Gilt decorated porcelain dinnerware. Thirty-nine pieces include thirteen bowls, fourteen salad plates and twelve bread plates.
My bid $2,000.00. Can't put it in the dishwasher!
SOLD FOR $732.00. A deal I'm sure.

Lot 1167: BRONZE Pair of stylized conch shells. Each: 4 1/2" x 7" x 5"
My bid $300.00. Just like them.
SOLD FOR $976.00. Guess I wasn't alone in liking them.

Lot 1217: DECORATIVE Side table with white and blue porcelain trivet. 17" x 14" x 10 1/2"
My bid $250.00. That would be fair.
SOLD FOR $244.00. Right on the money.

Lot 1248: OCEANLINER DECK LOUNGE CHAIR, c. 1910 folding hardwood lounge with caned seat, back and foot rest. Provenance: Pacific & Orient ocean liner. 31" x 60" x 23"
My bid $425.00. Thinking bout trips past.
SOLD FOR $427.00. A great way to end my guessing game!

I don't think I did too bad and it was a fun challenge.

A Very Nice DC Auction, Delayed By Snow, Results

2010-02-14T14:08:00.000-08:00

Due to the amazing snowstorms the Weschler's auction was re-scheduled to yesterday.
Weschlers Auction House here in DC is having an unusually large mid-winter auction on February 6th. It took me a good hour to peruse the entire catalog and I had so many things catch my eye that I recommend fans to take a look at the whole listing. You can do that here. Here's a hint, if you love Flora Danica, there is a huge amount of beautiful pieces.

Prices seem to have stabilized but there are a few pieces featured below that I think are great deals. I hope its a cold rainy day and that I have it off because I'd love to spend a couple of hours at this event. So here we go, just remember I saw many other things that looked great.

Lot 350
Charles X Applewood Secrétaire à Abattant Second Quarter 19th Century
Estimate: $800 - 1200
SOLD FOR $550.00. Oh my gosh what a steal!

George IV Rosewood Four-Tier What-Not Circa 1825
Estimate: $1000 - 1500
SOLD FOR $2,200.00. Wow that estimate was low.

Regency Parcel Gilt and Decorated Black Painted Beechwood Armchair Early 19th Century
Estimate: $500 - 700
SOLD FOR $900.00 A great deal for such a nice looking chair.

George III Style Walnut Bedside Stand Early 20th Century
Estimate: $300 - 500
SOLD FOR $350.00. Fair and a very nice buy.

George III Style Mahogany Oval Extension Dining Table First Half 20th Century
Estimate: $600 - 800
SOLD FOR $550.00. A tremendous deal. This is why I always tell newlyweds to go to the auction house.

Pair of Victorian Tole Painted Cornucopia Wall Vases Last Half 19th Century
Estimate: $1000 - 1500
SOLD FOR $750.00. Very decorative but still not cheap.

Set of Twelve Royal Copenhagen 'Flora Danica' Reticulated Luncheon Plates Dated 1980-1984
Estimate: $6000 - 8000
SOLD FOR $4,800.00. If its your thing, you got a good deal.

Meissen Ornithological Serving Dish and Six Plates Outside Decorated, Late 19th-Early 20th Century
Estimate: $400 - 600
SOLD FOR $550.00. Fair.

Two Georgian Silver Mounted Shell Bowl Tea Caddy Spoons and a Snuff Box 18th-19th Century
Estimate: $400 - 600
SOLD FOR $550.00

Pair of Continental Silver Plate Single-Light Sconces Circa 1900
Estimate: $400 - 600
SOLD FOR $1,600.00. Hmmm, some serious bidding there.

Chinese Export 'Famille Rose' Charger on Later Stand Qianlong Period (1736-1795)
Estimate: $1500 - 2500
DID NOT SELL. I kinda think there might have been an age problem there.

Tabriz Rug Second Quarter 20th Century 13 ft 8 in x 10 ft 1 in (417 x 307 cm)
Estimate: $1000 - 1500
DID NOT SELL

Lot 360
Biedermeier Flame Birch Caned Bergère Circa 1825
Estimate: $400 - 600
DID NOT SELL. How did that happen?

Mother Nature Wins

2010-02-10T15:16:00.000-08:00

These are pictures I took during the early week before the massive blizzard hit today.

We surrender here in DC to the great Mother Nature. All I could do today was look out from the 18th floor at what can only be described as the most intense blizzard I've ever seen. Everything shook and is still shaking. I really thought my floor to ceiling glass doors might blow in.

I can't imagine what tomorrow will be like and when the anger over government services is going to boil over. My friends in tony Georgetown haven't seen a plow since all this started last Saturday nor have they had any mail delivery. Yet, the Wall Street Journal arrived every morning and UPS and Fed Ex made it to the store.

We had a lady come into the store yesterday who commented that she used to live in Tanzania and that the Giant grocery store down the blocked looked worse than anything she'd seen abroad. We are crushed here and I think it will be days to a week before we have the slightest recovery.

A ‘Roadshow’ Star Grabs the Gavel

2010-01-28T19:17:00.000-08:00

A brave man who I wish great good luck. Passion triumphs all.

NYTimes January 22:
By EVE M. KAHN

A ‘ROADSHOW’ STAR Grabs the Gavel."

"The Americana dealer Leigh Keno, as maniacally enthusiastic in person as he comes across on “Antiques Roadshow,” was recently giving a tour of his Upper East Side store. It closed last summer; a few forlorn typeset labels were still posted on the bare walls, but the usual displays of lightly polished brown furniture have been taken away. The rooms were piled instead with hundreds of consignments for an auction house he has improbably founded, at a sluggish time for the Americana market.

On Saturday he will hold an all-day sale preview at the Loews Regency Hotel on Park Avenue at 61st Street. (The auction is on May 1 and 2 at the Marriott Hotel in Stamford, Conn.) His new company, Keno Auctions, is filling a hotel conference room with scrimshaw, ceramics, nested baskets, silver (including web-footed 1780s sauceboats by Paul Revere), furniture (there’s an 1830s mahogany crib made by Duncan Phyfe for his grandson), and paintings and drawings (among them 1770s watercolors that a teenage boy painted of Revolutionary War soldiers bleeding on battlefields).

Mr. Keno bounced from topic to topic as he scrambled around the piles, pointing out some modernist furniture from his own collection; he may eventually hold a separate auction for those egg-shaped or rectilinear tables and chairs by Gerrit Rietveld, Carlo Mollino and Marc Newson. He spoke bluntly about market trends, but then quickly qualified his remarks so that his words in print would sound upbeat and not offend any dealer, auctioneer or collector.

After explaining that his auctions will offer fresh-to-market material rather than his inventory, “and that is refreshing,” he immediately added, “I don’t want to imply that everyone else doesn’t do that refreshing thing.” When asked why he is holding the sale in Connecticut, he mentioned the antiques stores in downtown Stamford that could use some publicity and his suburban customers’ possible distaste for Manhattan hotel and parking rates, but then added, “Can you say that without ... ,” and trailed off. “I love New York,” he said. “I don’t want to hurt anybody. My curse is that I want to make everybody happy. It’s a curse.”

The blond, wiry dealer, 52, who founded the store in 1986 after a stint at Christie’s, has become a public figure with his twin brother, Leslie, the director of American furniture and decorative arts at Sotheby’s. They have been profiled in New York and People magazines, published a memoir and appeared in 14 seasons of “Roadshow.” (Sometimes one can be spotted chatting up visitors in the background while the other is appraising on camera.) For two decades, until this year, Leigh Keno also rented a booth in January at the entrance to the Winter Antiques Show in Manhattan, which opens on Friday. Since he announced his auction business last summer, he said: “I’m so energized, I feel like I’m 28 again. I loved being a dealer, but it was time for me personally for a new challenge.”

But what about Americana’s falling prices, which have been widely reported in the trade papers? “It has definitely, you know, gone down in value, but truly great pieces still bring great prices,” he replied. He hopes to help reinvigorate the market by serving as charismatic auctioneer, at a pace of 70 lots an hour. “I whip up the crowd,” he said.

Most lots will have no reserves, and estimates will be so low, he added, that “people will lose sleep the night before.” The prices are meant to attract “the young collector,” he said, and encourage older consignors to approach him with housefuls of high-end and middling material. “We’ll just broom-clean,” he said. “We want to be full service.”

His competitors have been sending messages welcoming him to the scene, he said. “There’s enough merchandise, enough property out there, for everyone to be happy.”

Colin Stair, who runs Stair Galleries, an auction house in Hudson, N.Y., is one competitor who has congratulated Mr. Keno. The trade, Mr. Stair said, will monitor the new venture’s progress and turn out for the Stamford event. “I’ve rearranged my May sales so I can go check it out in person,” Mr. Stair said. But he would caution anyone who, like Mr. Keno, starts an auction house in midcareer, maneuvering hundreds of objects through hotels-turned-salerooms at razor-thin profit margins. “You have to be prepared for an initial bloodletting until you catch on,” Mr. Stair said."

Major Prices For Major Art Expected

2010-01-23T14:11:00.000-08:00

Wall Street Journal:1/22/10
"Set to Fetch a Grand Price"
By MARGARET STUDER

The first major European auctions of the year are turning up a number of heavyweight offerings.

For the first time in Sotheby's London Impressionist and modern art auctions (Feb. 3-4), three works will be offered that are each estimated at more than £10 million.
[Gustav Klimt's 'Church in Cassone-Landscape with Cypresses)' (1913) is estimated at £12 million-£18 million.] Courtesy of Sotheby's

Gustav Klimt's 'Church in Cassone-Landscape with Cypresses)' (1913) is estimated at £12 million-£18 million.

Gustav Klimt's "Church in Cassone-Landscape with Cypresses" (1913), a jewel-like work inspired during a summer trip to Lake Garda with his muse and lover, the fashion designer Emilie Flöge, is estimated at £12 million - £18 million. The painting comes from the collection of Viktor and Paula Zuckerkandl, patrons of the arts in Vienna in the early 20th century. The painting was inherited by Viktor's sister Amalie Redlich, who was deported to Lodz by the Nazis in 1941. After the war, the Lake Garda landscape resurfaced in a European family collection that acquired the painting in good faith. The family reached a deal with a Zuckerkandl heir to offer the painting at auction.

Also estimated at £12 million- £18 million is Alberto Giacometti's monumental, 183 centimeter-high sculpture "L'Homme qui marche 1" (1960), a lone and haunted man walking which has become one of the most iconic images of modern art, creating "both a humble image of an ordinary man, and a potent symbol of humanity," according to Sotheby's. The vendor, Commerzbank, acquired the sculpture when it took over Dresdner Bank, which had a substantial art collection.

Paul Cezanne's meticulously composed "Pichet et fruits sur une table" (1893-94), a still-life with succulent fruits, is expected to fetch £10 million - £15 million.

Meanwhile, a striking portrait at Christie's Impressionist and modern art sales in London (Feb. 2-3) will be Kees van Dongen's "La Gitane" (circa 1910-11) a sensual Spanish gypsy in blazing color (estimated at £5.5 million - £7.5 million). The painting is being offered at auction for the first time, as is Natalia Gontcharova's "Espagnole" (circa 1916), a dramatic painting fusing Cubist forms with the costume of a Spanish dancer (estimate: £4 million-£6 million).

The Perfect Story To Start The Weekend

2010-01-22T17:02:00.000-08:00

I always thought this might be true. Have a great weekend all.

Alcohol's Neolithic Origins
Brewing Up a Civilization

Speigel Online International:
By Frank Thadeusz

Did our Neolithic ancestors turn to agriculture so that they could be sure of a tipple? US Archaeologist Patrick McGovern thinks so. The expert on identifying traces of alcohol in prehistoric sites reckons the thirst for a brew was enough of an incentive to start growing crops.

It turns out the fall of man probably didn't begin with an apple. More likely, it was a handful of mushy figs that first led humankind astray.

Here is how the story likely began -- a prehistoric human picked up some dropped fruit from the ground and popped it unsuspectingly into his or her mouth. The first effect was nothing more than an agreeably bittersweet flavor spreading across the palate. But as alcohol entered the bloodstream, the brain started sending out a new message -- whatever that was, I want more of it! Full story here.

The Well Appointed Room Auction At Doyles

2010-01-20T01:35:00.000-08:00

From Doyle Auction House, "The well-appointed room is attractively equipped, artfully arranged and composed with a level of sophistication and comfort. Grand without being ostentatious, the well-appointed room is comprised of edited pieces that have history and purpose and that promote conversation and further study. Edith Wharton used the phrase often when she wrote about the stylish homes where her characters resided. The well-appointed drawing rooms in Wharton's novels were stylishly decorated and consisted of quality pieces that were timeless and evocative of a bygone era.

The Well-Appointed Room auction at Doyle New York on January 27, 2010 comprises almost 200 lots of furniture and decorations from Jonathan Burden, LLC, and John J. Gredler Works of Art, and globes and other articles from George Glazer Gallery. Through the vision of acclaimed interior designer Jeffrey Bilhuber, these renowned taste-makers create their own version of today’s Well-Appointed Room. The public is invited to the exhibition will be on view from Saturday, January 23 through Tuesday, January 26. Doyle is located at 175 East 87th Street in Manhattan. "

There are over 400 lots in this auction and many pieces that caught my eye. I do so appreciate a well appointed room where your eye just moves all around the room admiring well thought out acquired items. I could only bring a few treasures for your viewing here. Some are kinda pricey but they'd look good in any home. Take a look. You can view the entire catalogue here.

Edwardian Mahogany Partner's Desk
The rectangular leather inset top with opposing ratchet bookstands, above three long drawers, raised on square tapering legs ending in casters. Height 30 inches (76.2 cm), width 70 inches (1.78 m), depth 39 1/4 inches (99.7 cm).
Estimate $3,000-5,000

Grand Tour Plaster Intaglio Collection
19th Century
Fitted in 7 half leather bound double sided book-form cases, approximately 313 intaglios. Height of each volume 9 7/8 inches (25 cm), width 6 1/4 inches (15.9 cm).
Estimate $4,000-6,000

French Oak Library Steps
18th Century
Height 8 feet 1 inch (2.46 m).
Estimate $3,000-4,000

Group of Three Architectural Spiral Staircases
Each of various form. Height of tallest 22 1/4 inches (56.5 cm).
Estimate $800-1,200

Chinese Export Tole Painted Canister Lamp
19th Century
Decorated with chinoiserie figures on a red ground. Height 16 inches (40.6 cm).
Estimate $600-900

Irish Regency Style Partial Ebonized Mahogany Console
The rectangular line inlaid top with a rope carved edge, raised on lion carved monopodia supports ending in paw feet. Height 35 1/2 inches (90.2 cm), 7 feet 9 1/2 inches (2.37 m), depth 24 inches (61 cm).
Estimate $4,000-6,000

Pair of Worcester Blue and White Porcelain Vases
Circa 1770
Each of gu form, painted on each side with a chinoiserie figure surrounded by a floral and diaper ground, crescent mark in blue. Height 7 7/8 inches (19.5 cm).
Estimate $1,500-2,500. Yes, I'd make them into lamps. Sorry, but I would.

Provincial George II Oak Cellaret
Formed as a diminutive commode, with a hinged top above three false drawer fronts, raised on bracket feet. Height 18 3/4 inches (47.6 cm), width 18 1/2 inches (47 cm), depth 17 inches (43.2 cm).
Estimate $600-800

Royal Copenhagen Flora Danica Porcelain Cachepot
Painted with flowering botanical specimen within a gilt border, botanical identification mark, standard factory mark and number 20.3519. Height 6 3/4 inches (17.1 cm).
Estimate $600-900

George III Mahogany Writing Desk
Late 18th century
The rectangular leather inset writing surface with three-quarter gallery, above two drawers, raised on square tapering legs ending in casters. Height 29 1/2 inches (74.9 cm), width 37 inches (94 cm), depth 22 1/2 inches (57.2 cm).
Estimate $1,500-2,500

Pair of Chinese Export Porcelain Cranes
19th Century
Each molded standing on a stump. Height 15 1/2 inches (39.4 cm).
Estimate $2,000-3,000

Directoire Brass Bound Mahogany Fold-Over Game Table
Early 19th century
The elliptical hinged top raised on circular tapering legs ending in casters. Height 29 1/2 inches (74.9 cm), width 53 inches (1.35 m), depth 26 1/2 inches (67.3 cm).
Estimate $1,500-2,500

Restauration Gilt-Bronze Mounted Mahogany Library Table
In the manner of Jacob Desmalter, circa 1820
The dished rectangular top above a plain frieze with drawers at each end, raised on curule-form supports cast with rosettes and carved with anthemion ending in casters. Height 28 3/4 inches (73 cm), width 42 1/2 inches (1.08 m), depth 21 1/4 inches (54 cm).
Estimate $3,000-5,000

Motorcycle Diaries Part One

2010-01-18T19:44:00.000-08:00

'The Find of the Decade' - One of the First Ever Motorbikes up for Auction at Bonhams.

"Bonhams is delighted to feature the ultimate motorcycle 'Barn Find' at The International Classic MotorCycle Show, Stafford on 25th April 2010.

Bonhams is privileged to announce the sale of an original circa 1895 Hildebrand & Wolfmuller motorcycle at the first of its two annual Stafford auctions. Manufactured in Munich, Germany, the Hildebrand & Wolfmuller is of the utmost historical significance as the first powered two-wheeler to enter series production, and is the first such vehicle to which the name 'motorcycle' (motorrad in German) was ever applied." Full story from Motorcyclist.com

Isn't It Nice He Dressed For The Occasion

2010-01-14T13:46:00.000-08:00

And I wonder why they call us ugly Americans.

BELGRADE (AP).- Hollywood heartthrob Johnny Depp was honored Wednesday with a life-size statue in Serbia. The Pirates of the Caribbean star had a statue in his image unveiled to him by renowned Serbian director Emir Kusturica during an annual film festival — called Kustendorf — held in a mountain village in southwestern Serbia. Depp met with Serbian President Boris Tadic upon his arrival on Tuesday. He was then flown by helicopter to the mountaintop village constructed by Kusturica for one of his movies. Kusturica, a two-time Cannes Film Festival winner, said he plans to make a movie with Depp paying legendary Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. "Depp will be my guest for three days," Kusturica said. "He will lead several workshops for participants of the festival, drink wine, watch films and visit some locations where he will shoot a film about Pancho Villa."

Winter Antiques Show Washington DC

2010-01-12T18:22:00.001-08:00

Brrr it was a such a cold weekend for us DC'ers and yet it made the perfect weather to attend the Winter Antiques Show here in town for the weekend.

Thoughts about the show.
1. It looked very nice and I think the use of the Katzen Center at American University works well.

2. The staff, volunteers and exhibitors couldn't have been more professional and nice.

3. For 99 percent of the pieces that caught my eye the prices meant that this was simply an exhibition and I can't believe that much business was conducted.

In this, the third dark winter of our recessionary times the show has to try new exhibitors and a broader range of goods to attract a wider audience. I simply can't see how anyone can make a living selling these goods at such high prices.

That said, I enjoyed myself and met many interesting people. Lets take a look at what caught my eye but won't be buying.

English Chinoiseri Cabinet, Circa 1700. Priced at $65,000.00. From G. Sargeant Antiques of Woodbury, CT.

Directoire Bouilotte Lamp. $10,500.00. A tad out of range ya think. G. Sargeant Antiques

19th Century French metal clock. It had to be 30 inches in diameter and from a decorative look, it was great looking. At $4,500.00 it was expensive bit not terrible. From the Finnegan Gallery of Chicago, IL.

Early 20th Century French Industrial Metal Cart. It does move but must weigh a ton. Perfect of a gourmet's kitchen and at $5,500.00 not exhorbitant for such a singular piece. Also form the Finnegan Gallery.

Tiger Maple end table, circa 1800, American, priced at $4,900.00. Its American so its expensive. From SAJE Americana of Short Hills, NJ.

19th Century Cast Iron Newfoundlands. Huge and fabulous and $34,000.00. From an estate in Rhinebeck, NY. Sold by Roberto Freitas, Stonington, CT.

Gustavian Sleeping Bench. 18th Century and it has a pull out bench below the seat, sorta of a an old fashioned trundle. $10,000.00. Dawn Hill Antiques, New Preston, Ct.

Regency 3 tier clothes tree. George Subkoff Antiques. $7,500.00. I'd need to buy better pants!

Biedermeier Walnut Armchair, circa 1830. Priced at $3,200.00. Not crazy. From Savenkov Gallery, Midlothian, Va.

Tigers, circa 1880. Asking price $9,500.00. Grrroowwwow! From Gemini Antiques, Lebanon, NJ.

A Yachtsman's Desk. English late 19th century, $14,500.00. Overboard!! From Antique American Wicker of Nashua, NH.

Another Sad Loss From The Great Recession

2010-01-09T16:39:00.000-08:00

One of my earliest culinary New York City memories is closing its doors, according to the New York Post and it makes me sad that this landmark seems to be another victim of this endless recession and union bickering, which means in the end, people out of work.

I don't think I was yet ten when I was taken for the first time to Gino's Restaurant on the UES just across the street from Bloomingdale's (the real one). I'll never forget seeing those dancing Zebras against the tomato red wallpaper. Me, "I love a good chicken parm." Grazie Gino's.

New York Post: "A legendary Upper East Side Italian restaurant may wind up sleeping with the fishes as a bad economy and a union fight threaten to drive it out of business.

Gino, a 64-year-old Manhattan red-sauce staple where the likes of Frank Sinatra once dined, is slated to close on Jan. 31, said Marco Dell'Aguzzo, the head of the eatery's union.

"We're very sad; we're like a family," said the 45-year-old waiter. "We've all been working for very many years."

Reports surfaced this month that the troubled Gino would be saved as a white-knight buyer rode in to scoop up the joint, famous for its zebra wallpaper and old-school dishes like veal parmigiana and chicken cacciatore.
BITTER TASTE: Waiter Marco Dell'Aguzzo blames the impending closure on the economy and a union contract fight.

But Dell'Aguzzo told The Post this week a buyer has not materialized and that the Lexington Avenue eatery will not survive.

Co-owner Salvatore Doria told The Post he couldn't talk about details of the restaurant's problems.

"In a few weeks, we'll know exactly what's the story," he said. "The place is known worldwide. It's a piece of Manhattan. The problem is the economy."

Dell'Aguzzo believes the owners of Gino floated the notion of a buyer so workers would stay on for one last Christmas season before the inevitable closing.

The union and management have been fighting since October, when the workers' contract expired and they balked at a request to pay half their health insurance and pension in a new pact.

Dell'Aguzzo said he was told that because of the economy, the owners wanted to sell but couldn't because of the labor contract.

News that the restaurant is on its deathbed left longtime patrons distraught.

"There's a general sadness and disbelief; it's a great tragedy," said Allen Falcona, 77, a patron since 1957.

"It will have a huge effect upon a lot of customers, who come daily and sometimes twice a day."

A Second City $100 - $200 Dollar Estimate Auction

2010-01-05T19:29:00.000-08:00

I know the holidays are over and who wants to spend any money, but a deal is a deal. I just went through Susanins Auction catalogue for their January 16th sale and think I found some great finds. Everything posted below except the glass coffee tables are estimated at between $100-$200 dollars. Most are decorative items and add so much to a room or end table. Lets take a look. Full catalogue here.

CHINESE ART DECO RUG.
6'1"x3'
$100/$200

PAIR OF CHINESE BRONZE FOO DOGS.
Height: 6.5"
$100/$200

CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN TEMPLE JAR.
16"
$100/$200

THAI GILT BRONZE BUDDHA.
19th centruy
13"
$100/$200

CHINOISERIE STYLE PAINTED MIRROR.
In a figural and floral motif
46" x 35"
$100/$200

PAIR OF GILT COMPOSITE THREE-LIGHT MIRRORED WALL SCONCES.
Not wired for electricity
H: 37" W: 12" D: 7"
$75/$125

THREE ENGLISH 19TH CENTURY IMARI PLATTERS.
$100/$200

TWO 19TH CENTURY ENGLISH MAHOGANY BOXES.
$100/$150

BURLWOOD MIRROR.
H: 46" W: 30" D: 2"
$100/$200

COLLECTION OF LEATHER BOUND BOOKS.
$100/$200

ENGLISH MAHOGANY BUTLER'S TRAY ON STAND.
Tray is 19th century
H:27" W:40" D:31`"
$200/$400

GRUEN WROUGHT IRON AND GLASS COCKTAIL TABLE.
H:19" W:51" D:31"
$600/$800

GEORGIAN STYLE MAHOGANY COCKTAIL TABLE.
H:19" W:39" D:39"
$100/$150

GEORGIAN MAHOGANY BOW FRONT CHEST OF DRAWERS, 18TH CENTURY.
H: 35" W: 34.5" D: 19"
$800/$1,200

CONTEMPORARY BRONZE AND GLASS COFFEE TABLE.
H: 18" W: 53.75" D: 30"
$200/$400

Art Market Still Suffering Recession-Induced Blue Period

2010-01-05T13:10:00.000-08:00

Wall Street Journal: 1/4/10
By KELLY CROW

The recession battered the art market for much of 2009, as prices for some of the world's top artists fell by a third and auction houses struggled to win over wary collectors.
The Journal Report

Some buyers who fled when the art market crashed in late 2008 have stepped back in recently, and a few paid record prices for masterworks. But the marketplace, from Miami to Moscow to Mumbai, remains pockmarked with shuttered galleries, smaller auctions and scaled-down art fairs. In the U.S., many museums have postponed pricey exhibits.

Sotheby's said it auctioned off about $2.3 billion of fine and decorative art last year, down 53% from 2008. The 2009 total included $441 million in contemporary art, down 68% from 2008; $471 million in Impressionist and modern art, down 57%; and $190 million in jewelry, down 13%.
[ART] Sotheby's

Alberto Giacometti's sculpture "L'Homme Qui Chavire"

Rival Christie's International PLC said it auctioned at least $2.5 billion of art, down 45.6% from $4.6 billion in 2008. Closely held Christie's said it would release complete sales figures later this month.

In a year of uncertain art values, some collectors sought stability in the Old Masters. Raphael's black-chalk drawing of a serene figure, "Head of a Muse," sold at Christie's in London last month for $48 million—the highest price paid for a work of art at auction all year. In the same sale, Christie's sold an earthen-hued oil by Rembrandt, "Portrait of a Man With Arms Akimbo," for $33.2 million.

Sotheby's, meanwhile, sold a rare, early silkscreen by Pop master Andy Warhol, "200 One Dollar Bills," for $43.8 million in November, more than tripling its high estimate. Sotheby's also got $19.3 million for an Alberto Giacometti sculpture of a toppling man, "L'Homme Qui Chavire," and $18.8 million for an Edgar Degas bronze ballerina, "Petite danseuse de quatorze ans."
video
News Hub: Buying Smart Art in 2010
2:44

Kelly Crow discusses which undervalued artists show promise in 2010.

The most striking sale of the year was the collection of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, nearly 700 objects—from Roman antiquities to Art Deco furniture to modern paintings—that were auctioned off by Christie's and the designer's partner Pierre Bergé for $443.1 million last spring.

Critics said the sale epitomized the excesses of the art world: Christie's printed $400 auction catalogs and conducted the sale in Paris's glass-domed exposition hall, the Grand Palais. But the spectacle helped draw thousands of bidders and fetch several record prices, including Henri Matisse's "Les coucous, tapis bleu et rose," which sold for $46 million; Constantin Brancusi's wooden totem, "Madame L.R. (Portrait de Mme. L.R.)," which fetched $37.7 million; and an Art Deco chair by Eileen Gray that sold for $28 million, 10 times its estimate.

The sale even sparked a diplomatic fracas after a Chinese antiques collector, Cai Mingchao, refused to pay the auction house $40.4 million he had bid for two bronze sculptures of animal heads, saying the pieces had been looted from China in the mid-1800s and should be returned to the government there free of charge. Mr. Bergé wound up keeping the bronzes, he said.
[ART2] Christie's

Piet Mondrian's "Composition avec grille 2."

The Yves Saint Laurent sale couldn't fix the art market's woes, however. Throughout the spring, auction houses cut staff and costs and struggled to secure enough top material to entice potential bidders, said Sotheby's Chief Executive Bill Ruprecht. Sellers wouldn't part with their prized offerings "unless the gas was about to be turned off," Mr. Ruprecht said, compelling auction houses to sell privately or make do with slimmer pickings offered at a fraction of boom-era prices.

In May, for instance, Sotheby's sold a blue Easter egg sculpture by Jeff Koons, "Baroque Egg with Bow (Turquoise/Magenta)," that belonged to hedge-fund executive Daniel Loeb for $5.5 million. Sotheby's got nearly four times as much for a Koons sculpture from the same series two years earlier.

Fewer than 550 artworks crossed the million-dollar mark at auction last year, half as many as in 2008, according to Artprice, a Paris-based database that tracks global auction results.

Yet those lower art prices—coupled with inflation fears—were the same factors that helped drive some international collectors back into auction sales rooms and art fairs during the fall, particularly buyers from Europe, Brazil and China who bought art as a hedge against possible inflation. Price levels have also begun to stabilize: Since September, Mr. Ruprecht said, 82% of Sotheby's artworks have sold for at least their minimum suggested prices.

So far, wine has been among the first collecting niches to regain its prerecession momentum, thanks largely to interest from China. Overall, Asian bidders took home a third of the wine sold last year at Sotheby's in New York, up from 4% four years ago.
Top Art Sales of 2009

Henri Matisse's "Les coucous tapis bleu et rose" was among the top selling artworks of last year.

Ed Dolman, Christie's chief executive, said he expects Asia to play an increasingly powerful role in the market's turnaround. After the last art crash in 1990, Mr. Dolman said, the "Japanese collectors disappeared and didn't come back for years, but the latest shock to our system hasn't really affected these newer Asian buyers." (Christie's switched its sales of contemporary Chinese art from New York and London to Hong Kong in early 2009.)

Although Americans sat on the sidelines for much of 2009, in recent weeks some contemporary collectors in the U.S. have rejoined the competition for top examples of artists' work.

American collectors and dealers won 82% of the offerings at Christie's Nov. 10 contemporary sale in New York, including pieces by Alexander Calder, Robert Motherwell and Donald Judd.

The recession has begun influencing the roster of sought-after artists. While art advisers expect prices to keep climbing for curatorial favorites like Louise Bourgeois and Cindy Sherman, whose prices didn't soar on speculation during the boom, they caution that the market may continue to test price levels for boom-era favorites like Takashi Murakami.

Banks are maintaining lower profiles in the art world these days. UBS AG closed its art-banking division last spring. The bank, a longtime sponsor of Art Basel Miami Beach, also decided not to host its traditional raw-bar and caviar buffet in a white tent on Miami Beach during the art fair last month. Also gone: the corporate art collection of Lehman Brothers. In November, 238 artworks that once hung on the walls of the failed securities firm were auctioned off at Freeman's Auctioneers for $1.3 million, doubling its presale estimate.

Robert Read, an art insurer at Hiscox, says banks may distance themselves even further from sponsoring art events and exhibits until the recession ends. "It's hard to stand in front of shareholders and say you're not hiring people but you're still buying art."

The Tucker Car Auction, A Question Of Authenticity

2010-01-04T13:27:00.000-08:00

I received this email tonight and feel compelled to pass it on as the letter seems very responsible.

A TUCKER CONVERTIBLE?
Over the past twenty years, the Tucker Automobile Club of America, Inc.—recognized as the foremost authority on Tucker Automobiles—has been asked repeatedly to make an official statement or a detailed response in regards to the authenticity of a purported Tucker convertible.

With the upcoming public auction of a vehicle which the sellers contend is an actual uncompleted Tucker Corporation convertible concept car, we feel compelled to restate our long-standing position:

The Tucker Automobile Club of America, Inc. (TACA) has never been presented with—nor have been able to find—any credible evidence to prove the authenticity of this or any other vehicle as being a Tucker Corporation intended convertible and therefore we can not certify it as such.

While TACA is certainly not ready to completely dismiss the possibility that a Tucker convertible could have been built by the Tucker Corporation, we have never discovered nor been presented with sufficient evidence to prove such a car was planned for or started at the factory.

It is worth noting that TACA maintains the Tucker Historical Collection and Library, an archive collection of several thousand original company documents, factory photos, and other materials. This includes production records for the prototype, known as the Tin Goose, and the 50 pilot-production Tucker sedans completed prior to plant operations ceasing, as well as inventory documents identifying surplus bodies, engines, and various parts. The National Archives holds vast amounts of Tucker Corporation-related material: the SEC investigation papers, trial transcripts, bankruptcy proceedings, and lawsuit documents. There are two private collections containing multiple copies of original company records including over 60,000 original blueprints for the 1948 Tucker Sedan. Yet, to date, no evidence has been found in any of these materials to support the claim of a Tucker Corporation convertible.

TACA and independent historians alike have investigated this contention at great lengths. While many respect the visual appeal and presentation of this “Tucker convertible," the overwhelming consensus of individual opinions continues to be that inadequate evidence exists to support the claim of this being an original Tucker convertible (with many believing that the evidence to date negates the possibility of it being a genuine Tucker convertible).

TACA recognizes that this vehicle appears to have been built using many authentic Tucker parts, such as an engine, some body panels, and etc. It may well represent, as a tribute car, what a Tucker convertible would have looked like had one been produced by the Tucker Corporation.

This vehicle has never been presented to TACA for a comprehensive review per our certification / authentication process, nor has the seller responded to our request seeking the engine serial number and data plate information. TACA has insufficient evidence to otherwise authenticate this vehicle as being a genuine attempt by the Tucker Corporation to produce a convertible model or concept. As always, the burden of providing adequate evidence to establish authentication falls on the presenter. TACA can only rely upon Primary evidence—direct, uninterrupted historical documents and materials—and formulate an opinion accordingly. If other such documentation proving (pointing to, indicating) the existence of a convertible project existed, it has not (never) been made available to TACA.

This is not a case of TACA having an interest in the existence or non-existence of such a vehicle: either way, TACA neither gains nor loses anything. We have no financial stake in taking sides. Our position is clear: without credible evidence, we cannot rewrite history; we cannot state that Tucker Corporation planned for or started a convertible project; nor can we certify this or any other vehicle as being an authentic Tucker Corporation convertible.

The Tucker Automobile Club of America, Inc. would welcome both the current owner and any prospective purchaser to become members of our organization, share in the ongoing research and findings, and join together as we strive to preserve the fascinating history of the Tucker automobile and all those who contributed to it.

Respectfully,

Jay A. Follis, President

Officers and Board of Directors

Tucker Automobile Club of America, Inc

"The Most Important American Car,"a 1948 Tucker 48 Convertible, Crosses the Russo and Steele Auction Block in Scottsdale, Arizona

For Immediate Release: Russo and Steele:
Scottsdale, AZ. (Dec 30, 2009) -- One of the nation’s premier collector car auctions, Russo and Steele Collector Automobile Auctions, will auction off the only Tucker Convertible ever made. Specializing in European sports cars, American muscle cars, hot rods and customs Russo and Steele's All Reserve format has continued to attract automobiles of the highest caliber. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this January 20-24, 2010 it held its first auction event in January 2001 with only 45 automobiles; today it offers over 600 of the finest automobiles in Scottsdale over a five day span.

This is THE Tucker Convertible, the one and the only. This is, for all intents and purposes, a newly finished Tucker 48, completed upon the specially box-wrapped ovular body/frame #57 from the Tucker Experimental Department. Only by seeing it in person can you fully realize how perfectly this car fits into Preston Tucker's original dreams for the Great American automobile and what a piece of automotive art that stands before you.

The Tucker 48 Convertible is painted Waltz Blue, a color said to come from Mrs. Vera Tucker's favorite dress. The light tan of the interior and convertible top are as if they've just rolled off the line in Chicago. The fit and look of the convertible top are astounding. The chrome...well, the chrome is perfect, from that massive prow to the six individual tips on the exhaust. Out front, you'll find a Tucker hallmark, the center headlamp that turns with the steering wheel. And, this one works!

Full story here.

A foreclosure auction for the super-rich

2010-01-03T08:07:00.000-08:00

The bids rise in $100,000 increments at this seven-bedroom, 11-bathroom Tarzana estate.
LA TIMES 1.2.10
By Lauren Beale
The bargain hunters jockey gingerly for a spot to park their luxury sedans and SUVs along Brewster Drive, a winding road in the hills of Tarzana.

It's a woodsy neighborhood of large homes behind wrought-iron gates, and more than two dozen shoppers are here to bid for a piece of it.

Housing auctions are plentiful these days, including builders' closeouts that lure hundreds of bidders to hotel ballrooms and public sales of foreclosures on the courthouse steps. But this time the steel-nerved speed-talkers at Kennedy Wilson Auction Group are unloading a palatial 13,500-square-foot bank-owned spec home that had been listed for $9.775 million just a year earlier. Full Story here and its a good read.

Top Auction Prizes of 2009

2009-12-28T14:52:00.000-08:00

Head of a Muse by Raphael Photo: CHRISTIE'S

A Great Read!!: "The Choicest Morsels"
I provided what photos I could find.

The Choicest Morsels
Business Standard
Scott Reyburn & Katya Kazakina / December 26, 2009, 0:26 IST

Highlights of 2009 in international art sales — still big money, but more conservative collecting.

A chalk drawing by the Renaissance painter Raphael that sold for $47.5 million topped auction sales in 2009, beating a Matisse still life of cowslips that made an artist record of $45.6 million.

Elsewhere, an Andy Warhol painting of dollar bills fetched $43.8 million, a Rembrandt portrait reached $32.9 million and an Art Deco chair owned by Yves Saint Laurent took $28 million.

Collectors responded to the financial crisis by selecting the best 20th-century classics, Old Masters, wine and jewellery. They shunned some contemporary art as prices halved and sales fell 75 per cent. Private transactions increased as sellers at public auctions were no longer guaranteed minimum prices in 2009.

Here are some of the key moments of the year:

February 5: Sotheby’s London sale tallied £17.9 million (then $26.15 million), the lowest at its Part I contemporary auctions in the city since 2005. On February 11, Christie’s International failed to sell Francis Bacon and Mark Rothko works that it expected would fetch as much as £5 million and £3.5 million.

February 23-25: Christie’s raised 342.5 million euros from the collection of late fashion designer Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge. The total was the highest at auction of a private art collection, and defied economic gloom, said dealers. It would have been higher had Cai Mingchao, the Chinese winning bidder on two Qing dynasty bronzes, not refused to pay his bill of 31.4 million euros.

The Matisse 1911 cowslips still life Les coucous, tapis bleu et rose made 35.9 million euros, paid by New York-based dealer Franck Giraud. Records were set for other modern artists Brancusi (29.2 million euros) and Mondrian (21.6 million euros), while the Eileen Gray airchair made 21.9 million euros, a record for any piece of 20th-century design and 10 times its low estimate.

April 30: An aluminum “Lockheed Lounge” chair by Marc Newson sold at Phillips de Pury & Co in London for £1.1 million, an auction record for contemporary design. Pieces by Zaha Hadid and Ron Arad failed to sell.

May 13: David Hockney’s portrait of philanthropist Betty Freeman fetched $7.9 million at Christie’s New York, setting an auction record for the 72-year-old artist.

Christie’s $93.7 million evening tally represented a 73 per cent decline from May 2008. The previous evening, its rival Sotheby’s took $47 million, down 87 per cent from the $362 million auction a year earlier when a single painting — Bacon’s 1976 triptych — fetched $86.3 million.

June 10: Dealers reported revived demand for contemporary works at the Art Basel fair in Switzerland. A diamond-encrusted sculpture by Takashi Murakami sold for $2 million at the VIP preview. While visiting the fair, Los Angeles-based collector Eli Broad said a decline in contemporary-art prices had “levelled out”./

July: The financier J Ezra Merkin, sued by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo over his role as a provider of client funds to Bernard Madoff, privately sold Rothko and other art that had been frozen in the litigation, for $310 million.

October: A new Leonardo da Vinci drawing was announced. A chalk, pen and ink drawing of a girl in profile, sold at auction for $19,000 in the late 1990s, was examined by the Montreal-based forensic expert, Peter Paul Biro, who found a fingerprint corresponding to one on Leonardo’s painting St Jerome. It was valued at £100 million by London-based dealer Simon Dickinson. Discreet approaches have been made to a number of prospective buyers by its owner, Paris-based trader Peter Silverman, said dealers.

November 11: Warhol’s painting of 200 $1 bills fetched $43.8 million at Sotheby’s in New York. The seller, London-based collector Pauline Karpidas, paid $385,000 for the work in 1986. The 1962 silkscreen was temptingly estimated at $8-12 million and topped contemporary-art auctions that marked a return of confidence among both sellers and buyers, said dealers.

November: Shanghai-based collector Liu Yiqian paid about 170 million yuan ($25 million) at Poly International Auction Co in Beijing for a Ming Dynasty scroll by Wu Bin, a record for a Chinese painting. It was one of the high prices paid in 2009 by mainland buyers for pieces with Imperial connections.

December 1: A ring with a five-carat pink diamond sold for a record HK$83.5 million ($10.8 million) at Christie’s Hong Kong. During the sales, Christie’s sold HK$40 million of wine, including a 78-bottle lot of 1999 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, which fetched HK$1.44 million.

December 8: A drawing in black chalk by Raphael sold at Christie’s London for £29.2 million, an auction record for any work of art on paper. The work had been entered by the heirs of the British collector Norman Colville, with a low estimate of £12 million. It was bought on the telephone, dealers said, by the US-based collector Leon Black, a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Earlier in the sale, Rembrandt’s 1658 canvas, Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo, sold for £20.2 million to a telephone bidder later identified as Las Vegas casino developer Steve Wynn. The painting was sold by Johnson & Johnson heiress, Barbara Piasecka Johnson.

A Classic Reminder Of What Christmas Is All About?

2009-12-24T14:12:00.000-08:00

Linus reminds us below. Merry Christmas everyone. Peace.

Thats what its all about Charlie Brown.

A Partdrige In A Pear Tree Kinda Xmas Story

2009-12-21T18:48:00.000-08:00

Working in retail during the Christmas Season, my third, takes nerve, endurance and occasional fun and today we had fun.

Opened for the first day after the incredible snowstorm here in DC, we found ourselves so busy that it was hard to keep up with what had to be accomplished. We did however find time to pull off a stunt that had us falling off the chairs with cheer and Xmas spirit among our close working group.

Last Friday before the storm hit, UPS delivered a package to the store for one of the elegant ladies I'm so lucky to work with, who wasn't working that day. The package said it was perishable and should be opened immediately. Those of us in the store looked at each other wondering wether we should open the box to keep it from spoiling through the weekend. At this point we didn't know that a historic snowstorm was on the way and that we wouldn't be open for the weekend before Christmas.

So,,,we opened the box to find a lovely tin of individually wrapped cookies that would be fine through the New Year and we looked at each other and said, "Oh we have to do something fun here."

Looking around the store I spied a bowl of faux pears and it struck me. The box said, "Perishables." So we carefully took out the cookies and artfully, with beautiful tissue, placed the fake pears in the box. Very Harry and David mind you, and so they sat through an historic snowstorm til this morning.

Need I say more.

She opened the box and saw the beautiful tissue, wrapping these perfect pears.We sat there silently and cooed and ahhhed, waiting for her comments to erupt. It took a good six seconds after she opened the box and pulled out a fake pear for her to react.

Needless to say we laughed forever. A Merry Christmas to all co-workers. There are days we want to strangle each other and days we love each other. The latter was today.

Oh My Washington And Snow. It's So Pretty.

2009-12-18T19:16:00.000-08:00

My town is going crazy but I think and hope it will be a beautiful White Christmas here in DC. It looks like I'll have time tomorrow to update. Merry Christmas all.

Here's what I'm singing tonight.

I Guess I Need More Than New Undershirts

2009-12-17T19:45:00.000-08:00

Douglas Friedman for The New York Times; Typography by Jennifer Green

NYTimes: "Dress Codes
Dressing for Success, Again
By DAVID COLMAN
Published: December 16, 2009

"THE runaway phenomenon that is “Mad Men,” with its stylish depiction of Kennedy-era New York, where men dressed with style and philandered with impunity, has handed modern men their very own “Sex and the City” fantasy."

For the past two years during my mid-life career change I have relished the fact that I haven't had the need to put on a suit and tie and have loved the kakhi's and sweater look. I vowed never to care about being all spruced up.

However, just the other day a guy came into the store, I'd say early thirties and I admit I took a second look. From the Dark Blue Cashmere towncoat to the perfectly shined loafers, he looked like a million bucks and he reminded me of me at that age.

So this article from the today's New York Times caught me by surprise! I've become what I least want to be and from here on pledge to return to being a well dressed gentleman. Kudos to my friend and always well dressed blogger, "Easy and Elegant Life." He is and always should be a role model and I can't believe the NYTimes didn't credit/mention him!! I simply don't want to be a sloppy old fart. Okay I was never sloppy and I won't wear a bow tie unless its with a Tux. Here's the NYTimes article. Its fun and now I have to think about what to wear this Saturday night!

Not Sure This Is An Improvement But Like The Effort

2009-12-10T16:50:00.000-08:00

From Gizmodo:The Plaza del Torico in Teruel, Spain was renovated with something even better than yellow bricks—over 1230 color-changing LED lamps embedded in the pavement.

It's kind of like that fiber optic pavement you might have seen at an amusement park in the past, only on a larger scale. The whole system can be programmed to change colors and patterns in sequence. [Arch Daily via notcot Images via Duccio Malagamba]

Rembrandt Portrait, Raphael Drawing Set Sale Records

2009-12-09T16:40:00.000-08:00

Bloomberg News:
By Scott Reyburn

Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- A portrait by Rembrandt sold for 20.2 million pounds ($32.9 million) at Christie’s International today in London, a record for the artist at auction. Less than an hour later, a Raphael drawing fetched 29.2 million pounds, the most paid for an Old Master drawing at a public sale.

The two works had the highest valuations on an Old Master painting and drawing, said the auction house. Valuations of a diminishing supply of Old Masters have shown little change and, for the rarest works, increased, said dealers. This contrasts with estimates for contemporary art, which have been slashed by as much as 50 percent after the financial crisis.

“Prices at auction are very strong because there isn’t much out there,” Johnny van Haeften, a London-based dealer, said in an interview. “People don’t want to sell at the moment. They’re saying, ‘If I let a painting go, where do I put the money? I’d rather keep it in a work of art.’”

Barbara Piasecka Johnson, the Johnson & Johnson heiress, was the seller of the 1658 “Portrait of a Man With Arms Akimbo” at Christie’s sale of Old Masters and 19th-century art, said dealers. The price for the Dutch artist exceeded the 19.8 million pounds paid by the late Maastricht-based dealer Robert Noortman for a portrait of an old woman at Christie’s, London, in 2000. That picture now belongs to the U.S.-based collector Eyk Van Otterloo.

The Rembrandt work that sold tonight, which had a low estimate of 18 million pounds, was bought by a single telephone bidder giving instructions to Paul Raison of Christie’s.

Black Chalk

The black-chalk study for the head of a muse in Raphael’s 1510-11 Vatican fresco “Parnassus” had been entered by the heirs of the British collector, Norman Colville, with a low estimate of 12 million pounds.

The record price for an Old Master drawing at auction was jointly held by Michelangelo’s “The Risen Christ” and Leonardo da Vinci’s “Horse and Rider,” both of which fetched 8.1 million pounds with fees at Christie’s in July 2000 and July 2001 respectively

Audrey Hepburn Will Alawys Be Great

2009-12-09T09:32:00.000-08:00

She will live forever.

Hepburn's dress takes nearly $100,000 at auction

(AP) – 5 hours ago

LONDON — The black cocktail dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in "How to Steal a Million" has sold for nearly $100,000 at auction.

Kerry Taylor Auctions says the Chantilly lace dress sold to an anonymous bidder for 60,000 pounds (about $97,700).

It was one of 40 items from Hepburn's wardrobe sold off by her friend Tanja Star-Busmann.

The auctioneer said Tuesday's sale made a total of 268,320 pounds. It says half of the net proceeds will go to The Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund.

Some Fun Xmas Buys At Ragos Auction House - Results

2009-12-08T16:52:00.000-08:00

Ragos Auction House in Lambertville, NJ is having an estate auction this December 5th. I went through their catalogue and found some very fun things that I for one would love to find under the Christmas Tree this year. We'll take a look afterward to see what they went for. Let's look shall we? Here's the entire catalogue.

William E. Skilling (American 1892-1964) "Zebra", oil on canvas (framed). Signed. 48" x 60" Provenance: Bucks County Estate"

$3,000 - $4,000
SOLD FOR $5,795.00. I love Zebras. He was kinda pricey.

Pair of Dresden exotic bird figurines, 19th C. Brightly colored, standing on branches. One marked Dresden. Tallest: 14 1/4"

$600 - $800
SOLD FOR $732.00. Nice looking on the right mantel.

Remember these? They didn't sell last time and I would so love to see them in person.
Fine pair of tortoiseshell chairs in the Regency style with horsehair upholstery, late 19th/early 20th C. 34" x 19 1/2" x...

$8,000 - $12,000
SOLD FOR $9,760.00. God I wanted to see them! Cheer's new owner.

So different for a shelf.
Spirit house, Thailand. Carved wood and gold leaf with ornate designs. Known as a spirit house or san phra phum, these small...

$200 - $400
SOLD FOR $153.00. Very fair very cute.

What great mantel pieces. I think they are just great looking.
Pair of Chinese cloisonne elephants, 19th/20th C. Facing in opposite directions as they stand at rest on supporting platforms,...

$4,000 - $6,000
THEY SOLD but the price reported was mistyped I'm sure so I'll go with $3,416.00. Pricey L'elephants.

Chinese tea cannister on a wrought iron base, 19th C. 58" x 21" dia."

$400 - $600
SOLD FOR $915.00. Such an interesting piece.

Horse portrait, 19th C. Oil on canvas (framed). 20" x 24"

$1,000 - $1,500
SOLD FOR $1,098.00. Very fair.

I can't say how much I love these. I've never seen anything like them.
Pair of figural sailboat andirons, 20th C. In full sail with flags waving. Wrought iron with sheet metal sails. 26"

Auction Date: Sat, December 05, 12PM

Estimate: $400 - $600
SOLD FOR $1,098.00. Not surprised. I'd love to have seen them in person.

Turn this into a lamp
English barrister wig in 19th C. Toleware box, the name Gardner S. Bazleye in gilt stenciling. Box: 11"

Auction Date: Sat, December 05, 12PM

Estimate: $500 - $700
SOLD FOR $1,037.00. A bit pricey.

French marble column clock, 19th C. Figural chariot figure on top, time and strike movement. 22"

Auction Date: Sat, December 05, 12PM

Estimate: $700 - $900
SOLD FOR $1,098.00

The Turner Prize 2009

2009-12-07T15:42:00.000-08:00

Why do all the interesting art prizes seem to come out of the UK? I thought today's announced winner, Richard Wright, was a great choice though I'm saddened that the piece will be destroyed at the end of the exhibition.

The Turner Prize is a contemporary art award that was set up in 1984 to celebrate new developments in contemporary art.

The prize is awarded each year to a British artist under fifty for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work in the twelve months preceding'

From Financial Times: "Richard Wright wins Turner prize

By Peter Aspden, Arts Correspondent

Published: December 7 2009 20:22 | Last updated: December 7 2009 20:22

Richard Wright, the Glasgow-based artist who paints abstract designs on to site-specific surfaces only for them to be destroyed at the end of their display, is the winner of this year’s Turner prize.

Mr Wright, who at 49 only just qualified for this year’s prize for the work of a British artist under the age of 50, was nominated for exhibitions of his painting at Pittsburgh and Edinburgh.

The judges praised the “profound originality and beauty” of his work. “[He] uses elaborate and labour-intensive methods to create transient works that respond directly to the architecture and context of a space,” they said. “Rooted in fine art tradition yet radically conceptual in impact, his works come alive as they are experienced by the viewer.”

Mr Wright was presented with the £25,000 prize at Tate Britain on Monday by Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate. The other finalists, Lucy Skaer, Enrico David and Roger Hiorns, received £5,000 each.

The choice to reward an essentially decorative painter will delight traditionalists, although the way in which Mr Wright works, painting on awkward or delicate surfaces that do not last, is decidedly contemporary. Mr Wright’s installation at Tate Britain’s current Turner prize show is a huge, untitled gold-leaf work which took three weeks to paint on one of the gallery’s walls. It will be destroyed at the end of the exhibition.

Mr Wright graduated from Glasgow School of Art and spent 12 years painting on canvas before giving up on his art in the 1980s. When he started again, he decided to display his work on unorthodox surfaces. “I wanted to get at the idea without the object getting in the way,” he said.

Influences on his highly labour-intensive, decorative work include medieval painting, gothic iconography and typography. In 2004, as part of a group show, he put up prints of his designs over torn posters and the graffiti-filled walls of Mexico City. “I wanted to make work that is part of everything else,” he said.

Mr Wright’s victory defied the bookies, who had strongly favoured Roger Hiorns. His installation “Seizure”, in which he pumped 75,000 litres of copper sulphate solution into a south London council flat to create a crystalline structure, has attracted thousands of visitors.

The Turner prize has lost some of its controversial edge in recent years. But Stephen Deuchar, the outgoing director of Tate Britain, said the annual exhibition of shortlisted artists’ work was as popular as ever, with last year’s show attracting more than 90,000 visitors."

That December Coupon at Kellogg

2009-12-06T18:09:00.000-08:00

A Hidden Treasure. Through the month of December you can come in and ask for the December Coupon which is good for any full price in stock piece and get 25% off. Homer's tip of the day.

I'm happy to report that we were busy at the store over the Thanksgiving Weekend. The weather wasn't all that great and I've come to know that when Mom and Grandmom have had enough of the family they come to us for some Christmas ideas and a bit of shopping in the best store in DC.

Everyone worked hard to make the store look cheery and welcoming and I took these pics to show it off. We have lots of great gifts for Xmas parties and there is going to be a great sale this week for four days only. Come in and ask for Homer and I'll show you the secret deals.Enjoy and come on by!

Weschler's December Auction

2009-12-06T13:05:00.000-08:00

There were some nice deals had at today's auction. Almost everything I picked sold for less then their estimates. It makes me think that the economy is still in the tank despite the media and administration saying we are coming out of these dark days. Results below.

There are some nice pieces for sale at Weschlers' Auction House here in Washington DC on their December 5th sale. With Santa on his way I personally prefer a gift from an auction house, since it requires just a small bit more effort to acquire. I also don't mind if that gift doesn't fit under the tree. Actually I prefer if it doesn't! I have thrown a few pieces of jewelry into my choices, for that hidden small box underneath the tree. Diamonds and pearls simply look silly on me!! Wait, I forgot about cufflinks.I might have to take another look. Anyway, lets take a look at a few items up for auction. The full catalogue can be seen here. I'll report back on what they sold for.

Lot 731
Otis Pierce Cook, Jr. (American 1900-1980)
Rockport Street Scene, Summer
Signed Otis Cook l.r.
Oil on canvas
20 x 24 in (50.8 x 61 cm)
Estimate $2,000-3,000
SOLD FOR $1,400.00. A Nice buy. I liked it.

Lot 672
Willy Brandes (German 1876-1956)
Bringing in the Cows
Signed W Brandes l.r.
Oil on panel
13-1/4 x 19-1/4 in (33.7 x 48.9 cm)
Estimate $800-1,200
SOLD FOR $500.00. Another nice buy.

Lot 631
Norwegian Rosewood Mobile Drinks Table
Rasmus & Solberg, Circa 1962
Having a circular half-hinged top opening to view a revolving gray plastic insert with twelve glass slots and two removable pie-shaped trays centering a cylindrical ice well. The interior with an applied gold foil label inscribed 1st PRIZE NORWEGIAN DESIGN/ COMPETITION 1962/ DES. RASTAD OG RELLING/ PROD. RASMUS SOLBERG.
Height: 18-1/2 in (47 cm); Diameter: 23-1/2 in (59.7 cm)
Estimate $500-700
SOLD FOR $300.00. I didn't see it to inspect it but thought it a fun piece. Hope the buyer loves it.

Lot 611
French Art Deco Chrome-Mounted Ébène-de-Macassar Two-Pedestal Desk
Circa 1930s
The right side with a pull-out leaf; each drawer fitted with a chrome-plated ball pull. Some repairs and cracking to veneer.
Height: 31 in (78.7 cm); Width: 55 in (139.7 cm); Depth: 31-1/4 in (79.4 cm)
Estimate $2,000-3,000
SOLD FOR $1,600.00. Again sold on the cheap. I think some deals were had.

Lot 602
Pair of Art Deco Style Bone Inlaid Ébène-de-Macassar Serpentine Consoles
Circa 1950s
Minor chips and restorations to veneer.
Height: 36 in (91.4 cm); Width: 36 in (91.4 cm); Depth: 15-1/4 in (38.7 cm)
Estimate $2,000-4,000
SOLD FOR $4,800.00. Great looking pieces for the right spot.

Lot 596
Pair of Belgian Art Deco Brass Mounted Ebonized Wood Nightstands
Design by De Coene Frères, Circa 1940s
En suite with preceding lot. Each panel door opening to view a birchwood veneered interior. One stamped on underside with encircled G.R. mark. Each with minor abrasions to the top.
Height: 21-3/4 in (55.2 cm); Width: 20 in (50.8 cm); Depth: 14 in (35.6 cm)
Estimate $800-1,200
SOLD FOR $1,100.00. A fair price.

Lot 593
French Art Deco Style Brass-Mounted Figured Walnut Escritoire
Circa 1960s
The slightly slanting, hinged writing lid opening to view a gilt and tooled tan leather writing surface beneath an arrangement of four pigeonholes, two stacked drawers and a small panel door with chrome-plated brass knob pulls above a single frieze drawer. The underside of case with applied brass tag impressed L III/ 5 88. Minor chips and abrasion to veneer.
Height: 39 in (99 cm); Width: 29 in (73.7 cm); Depth: 16 in (40.6 cm)
Estimate $800-1,200
DID NOT SELL

Lot 575
Antoine Vriens (Belgian 1902-1987)
Toilette
Signed Vriens and dated 1937
Bronze sculpture with dark brown patina
Height: 23 in (58.4 cm)
Estimate $2,000-3,000
SOLD FOR $1,800.00

Lot 574
Arthur Dupagne (Belgian 1895-1961)
Man on a Pirogue
Signed DUPAGNE
Bronze sculpture with dark brown patina raised on a green and black rectangular marble base
Height of sculpture: 14-1/4 in (36.2 cm)
Estimate $5,000-7,000
DID NOT SELL

Lot 547
Daum Ormolu Mounted Mottled Glass Plafonnier
First Quarter 20th Century
Having a domed, circular form composed of blue and green mottled glass fitted with three ormolu ram's head mounts. Unsigned.
Diameter: 22-1/2 in (57.2 cm)
Estimate $500-1,000
SOLD FOR $1,700.00. Loved that piece.

Lot 527
Murano Glass Vase
Signed Toso, Circa 1950s
Having a tapering clear glass form with controlled bubble decoration and applied vertical ribs. Inscribed TOSO/ MURANO.
Height: 13-1/4 in (33.7 cm)
Estimate $500-700
SOLD FOR $950.00

Lot 99
Platinum, Diamond and Emerald Floral Brooch
Set with twenty round brilliant-cut diamonds weighing approximately 2.70 carats, sixty-nine straight baguette-cut diamonds weighing approximately 3.25 carats, and thirteen pear-shaped graduated emeralds weighing approximately 3.25 carats.
Total weight of diamonds: 5.95 carats
Gross weight: 13.7 dwt.
Length: 2 inches (5.1 cm)
Width: 1-1/4 inches (3.2 cm)
Estimate $3,000-4,000
SOLD FOR $2,600.00

Lot 60
18-Karat Yellow-Gold, White-Gold, Diamond, Ruby and Black Enamel 'Panther' Pendant
The eyes set with two round faceted rubies weighing approximately .06 carats, the whiskers set with two round brilliant-cut diamonds weighing approximately .02 carats, and the bail set with four round brilliant-cut diamonds weighing approximately .05 carats.
Total weight of diamonds: .07 carats
Gross weight: 15 dwt.
Length: 2 inches (5.1 cm)
Width: 1-1/4 inches (3.2 cm)
Estimate $600-800
SOLD FOR $550.00

Hidden Treasure

2009-12-05T18:34:00.000-08:00

By: Frances D'Emilio, Associated Press Writer
ROME (AP).- Italian tax police said Saturday that they had seized works by Van Gogh, Picasso, Cezanne and other giants of art in a crackdown on assets hidden by the disgraced founder of the collapsed dairy company Parmalat.

Authorities estimated the 19 masterpieces stashed away in attics and basements were valued at some euro100 million ($150 million).

Parma Prosecutor Gerardo Laguardia said that, based on wiretapped phone conversations, officials believed at least one of the paintings hidden by Calisto Tanzi was about to be sold.

"We got lucky. We learned that there were negotiations under way to sell one of the paintings" and raid three apartments in the area of Parma, near Parmalat's headquarters, Laguardia said in an interview on Italy's Sky TG24 TV. He didn't identify the painting.

Bologna-based tax Police Col. Piero Iovino told The Associated Press by telephone that investigators believed the entire batch of paintings, watercolors and drawings were up to be sold. The prospective buyer was a Russian, possibly living in Italy, Iovino said.

No arrests were announced as part of the art seizure.

Tax police said Parma prosecutors are opening a probe into alleged concealing of assets in Parmalat's bankruptcy case.

Parmalat, the dairy conglomerate known for its long shelf-life milk grew from a small dairy distributor in Parma, into a diversified, multinational food company by 1990, but collapsed in 2003 under euro14 billion in debt — eight times what it had previously acknowledged — in what remains Europe's largest corporate bankruptcy. Many small investors who lost their life savings were among some 40,000 defrauded bondholders.

Italian courts have already ruled that Tanzi bore the brunt of responsibility for the collapse. Tanzi was convicted by a Milan court last year of market-rigging and other charges in one of multiple probes. He is currently on trial for alleged fraudulent bankruptcy.

Tanzi has blamed the banks for the labyrinth of deals that helped swell the company to a global empire with operations in more than 30 countries, but also led to the company's collapse.

For years after the collapse, Tanzi was rumored to have had a "hidden treasure" somewhere. On Nov. 29, a state TV show alleged that Tanzi had hidden a collection of artwork to try to shelter himself from the effects of looming collapse of Parmalat.

"I don't have any secret cache" of paintings, Tanzi told reporters the next day on the sidelines of his current trial in Parma, repeating his ongoing dismissal of reports that he had a so-called "little treasure" of assets squirreled away.

A lawyer who represents Tanzi and serves as his spokesman didn't answer his cell phone Saturday.

Police showed some of the paintings to journalists near Parmalat's headquarters Saturday.

After the TV show, "we tightened the screws" and zeroed in on Tanzi son-in-law Stefano Strini, Iovino said. "He told us that the paintings were Tanzi's" and led police to the apartments, he said.

As the corporate failure loomed, Tanzi moved to safeguard his wealth by hiding "property whose value endures through time," Iovino said.

Among the masterpieces was a pencil on paper portrait of a ballerina by Degas, two Van Goghs, including a depiction of a trunk of a willow tree and a still life, a watercolor by Cezanne and a pencil-work by Modigliani.

Tax police official Massimo said some of the paintings were carefully wrapped for protection, but that other paintings, including a Picasso, were left open in the store room

YE OLDE CONVENT GARDEN TOY STORE

2009-12-03T19:21:00.001-08:00

Benjamin Pollack's Toyshop

"The history begins in 1856 in Hoxton, an area of London bordered by the wealth of the City and the poverty of the East End. This is where Benjamin Pollock was born. At this time the toy theatre trade was flourishing in Covent Garden's Theatreland. By the time Benjamin Pollock had married Eliza Redington and inherited her father's Theatrical Print Warehouse, the toy theatre trade had been overshadowed by new fangled novelties such as magic lanterns, gramophones and the wireless.

However Mr Pollock, in his dark and dusty shop in Hoxton, carried on supplying theatrical sheets costing a penny plain and twopence coloured. His customers were local children aspiring to the stage or city gents nostalgic for their childhood as well as actors of the larger stage such as Charlie Chaplin. Pollock, although not the most innovative producer of Juvenile Drama, was the most amiable and diligent.

When Robert Louis Stevenson went to visit Webb, a rival of Pollock, he found him disagreeable and after an argument went down the road to Pollock's shop and was so delighted with him he immortalised him in an essay 'If you love art, folly or the bright eyes of children, speed to Pollock's." Here is the link to the store.

This Might Be Helpful For The Holiday Travels Ahead

2009-12-03T17:04:00.000-08:00

Airline Baggage Charges made simple. From Lifehacker:"Nobody wants to get hit with a massive over-limit luggage charge when they're already stressed and rushing to catch their flight. Hit up Luggage Limits before you travel to avoid any check-in counter surprises.

We don't know if you've visited the web site of a major airline lately and attempted to decode their baggage policies but a significant number of the airlines have baggage policies that are not only buried deeply in their sites but written in a less than clear fashion.

Luggage Limits catalogs the baggage policies of over 90 airlines. Plug in what airline you are traveling with, your departure and arrival airports, and the class of your ticket—no surprise that first class has a higher luggage limit—and Luggage Limits spits out a comprehensive breakdown of cost of checking bags, the size limits for both standard and overweight/oversize baggage—and the associated fees—and the size and weight allowance for your carry-on and personal items. Reading the information on Luggage Limits for Northwest Airlines was much clearer than reading it on the Northwest web site, that's for sure."

Luggage Limits here.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2009-11-25T17:02:00.001-08:00

An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.
--Irv Kupcinet

I HOPE YOUR DAY REQUIRES A LOOSENING OF THE BELT AND A GREAT NAP. CHEER'S AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING, HOMER.

The Robert Isabell Auction

2009-11-19T17:22:00.000-08:00

Robert Isabell was a fascinating fellow who worked in the limelight of Manhattan and yet was a very private man from the midwest. Today's story in the New York Times about the auction of his estate is really interesting. The contents of his home in Manhattan, seen by few, was truly eclectic and makes his life and possessions all the more interesting.

A great read in today's New York Times.

Here's the E-Catalogue from Southebys

Holiday Auctions For That Special Gift

2009-11-17T17:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a list of upcoming auctions all taking place before the Holidays. Here are a number of auctions around the country and a link, worth a look for that special piece.

Lets start off locally at Weschlers.Fine Art & 20th Century Decorative Arts - Washington DC - December 5 2009 12:00PM

DOYLE AT HOME®
FINE FURNITURE, DECORATIONS AND PAINTINGS
Including Holiday Gifts

Auction
Wednesday, December 9 at 10am

Christie's Auction House: Important American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture. New York, December 2nd, 2009

Bonhams and Butterfields: American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture - December 2nd, 2009.

Susanin's in Chicago has some nice things for sale on December 5th, 2009.

Jewelry and Silver at Rago's on December 6th, 2009.

More on Walton Ford

2009-11-13T12:01:00.000-08:00

I wrote about Walton Ford early in Homer's start.I'm a huge fan of Mr.Ford and can't wait to see his new pieces now on exhibition at the Paul Kasmin Gallery through December 23rd.

Previous post included below.

Talent will out. I've recently been exposed to the great artist Walton Ford by Habitually Chic. I'm just surprised that I was unaware of his work, as it of a subject and genre that I have always loved. He will be exhibiting his work at the Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York from May 8 to July 3, 2008. I highly recommend seeing this work if you have the chance. While I might question the political undertones of these pieces, I cannot get over the sheer talent before my eyes and that always wins out.

From Artist 21, " Walton Ford was born in 1960 in Larchmont, New York. Ford graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with the intention of becoming a filmmaker, but later adapted his talents as a storyteller to his unique style of large-scale watercolor. Blending depictions of natural history with political commentary, Ford’s meticulous paintings satirize the history of colonialism and the continuing impact of slavery and other forms of political oppression on today’s social and environmental landscape. Each painting is as much a tutorial in flora and fauna as it is as a scathing indictment of the wrongs committed by nineteenth-century industrialists or, locating the work in the present, contemporary American consumer society. An enthusiast of the watercolors of John James Audubon, Ford celebrates the myth surrounding the renowned naturalist-painter while simultaneously repositioning him as an infamous anti-hero who, in reality, killed more animals than he ever painted. Each of Ford’s animal portraits doubles as a complex, symbolic system, which the artist layers with clues, jokes, and erudite lessons in colonial literature and folktales. Walton Ford is the recipient of several national awards and honors including a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Ford’s work has been featured at Bowdoin College Museum of Art, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art at Champion, and the Forum for Contemporary Art in St. Louis. After living in New York City for more than a decade, Walton Ford relocated his studio to Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Ford and his family reside in upstate New York."

From an earlier post, compare his work. It's an obvious evolution of a style I much admire.

I recently stumbled upon the University of Glasgow's Special Collections website and proceeded to spend a few hours gazing at the most beautiful old prints. Here you will find a selection of groundbreaking and wonderfully illustrated natural history books, from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries. All I could think of was covering my walls with some of these fantastic illustrations. I've selected just few to give you an idea of what a great resource this collection is for ideas and an appreciation of truly great art.Though I must say that I've always loved Turtles.

Maryalice Huggings

2009-11-12T19:37:00.000-08:00

Erik Jacobs - New York Times

I loved this story from the New York Times.

Mimi Read, NYTimes:11/11/09: For Maryalice Huggins, old things — particularly fine antiques — are living, breathing beings. Some radiate irresistible allure. Auctions might as well be singles bars.

So it’s perfectly in character that Ms. Huggins, 57, fell under the spell of an unusual old mirror and wrote a quirky book about her 10-year obsession with it. “Aesop’s Mirror: A Love Story” was published this week (Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus & Giroux), and like Ms. Huggins’s conversation, it is a looping expressway of intersecting stories and tangents.

“It’s written for people with short attention spans, like me,” Ms. Huggins said in her husky, animated voice.

Full story here.

200 One Dollar Bills Worth A Bit More

2009-11-12T17:33:00.000-08:00

Great news for the fall contemporary art auctions.

ART DAILY:NEW YORK, NY.- Tonight at Sotheby’s in New York, Andy Warhol’s monumental masterpiece, 200 One Dollar Bills, brought a remarkable $43,762,500, soaring past the pre-sale estimate of $8/12 million. Competition was fierce. Auctioneer Tobias Meyer opened the bidding at $6 million and was immediately met with an almost unheard of response - a bid of $12 million, twice his opening bid. Five more bidders raised their paddles before the winning bid was cast by an anonymous purchaser bidding on the telephone. The Warhol was the top-selling lot in a sale of Contemporary Art that brought an outstanding total of $134,438,000, far-above pre-sale expectations (est. $67.9/97.7 million) and with all but two lots finding buyers

My Modem Died

2009-11-09T17:17:00.000-08:00

PC problems..but I'll be back.

The Lombardi Cancer Center Gala And Auction

2009-11-02T18:40:00.000-08:00

Washington is indeed a small town and a couple of weeks ago a lovely lady came into the store and we got to chatting. One thing led to another and while we had actually never met before it turned out that we had dozens of friends in common.

The lady turned out to be Tanya Potter Adler and she is chairing along with her better half Howard, this year's Lombardi Cancer Center Annual Gala.

Dr. Potter and his wife Tanya, with Gala co-chairs Tanya Potter Adler and Howard Adler. "Tanya Potter Adler, along with her husband, Howard B. Adler, will co-chair the 2009 Lombardi Gala. Tanya is no stranger to Lombardi. Her father, The Honorable John Potter, MD, is the founding director of the cancer center. We are proud to have someone with such close ties to Lombardi, and the cancer cause, at the helm of our signature fundraising event."

The subject of this blog came up and how I focus a great deal on auctions. " Well really," said the young lady, " I happen to be chairing a charity event with an online auction." "Could you help us out?" To which I replied, "just tell me what to do."

So folks, here is something vastly more worthy than my usual nonsense.

Some of the important people we look to for help.

Drs. Subha Madhavan, Lucile Adams-Campbell, Claudine Isaacs and Shawna Willey of Lombardi

The 2009 Georgetown University Lombardi Cancer Center Annual Gala is having an online auction in addition to its silent auction held at the Gala. This very smart idea allows individuals with a stake in the important work the center does to participate and donate and win a great gift.

About the Gala:"The 23rd Annual Lombardi Gala, on November 7, 2009, is an unparalleled celebration to benefit Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Louis M. Weiner, MD, Director. This black-tie dinner dance features a cocktail reception and renowned silent auction; a raffle that includes a 2010 model Lexus automobile; presentation of awards to remarkable individuals for their fight against cancer; and more. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the Gala go directly to Lombardi for cancer research, education, and treatment.

Lombardi is just one of 40 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation designated by the National Cancer Institute, the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only one in the Washington, D.C. area. Named in memory of All Star Coach Vincent T. Lombardi, who was treated for cancer at Georgetown University Hospital, Lombardi’s world-renowned research faculty are discovering cancer risk factors, designing effective prevention strategies, and learning how to detect cancers earlier. They are developing and testing the cancer treatments of tomorrow – targeted therapies that will improve both survival and quality of life – and making progress toward the ultimate goal of eradicating cancer. Washington, D.C. has one of the highest cancer mortality rates in the country, and Lombardi’s team of oncology experts ready to help you, your colleagues, family, and friends.

We hope that you will join us at the event and in the fight against cancer." The link for the entire event is here.

The online auction runs from now until November 6th. The link to the online auction is here.

Lets take a look at some of the very nice pieces donated for the online auction and their bids and values.

Set of Six
Estimated Value $300.00

Buy Now Price $450.00

Item Number 16
Item Description

Cup and Saucer - Set of Six (6) English Aymsley bone china. Each cup has a different floral design. Late 20th century.
Special Instructions

High bidder must arrange for pick up item or incur shipping/delivery charges

Estimated Value $1,850.00

Buy Now Price $2,775.00

Item Number 19
Item Description

Crown Shaped Cruet Set English marked set of 4 crystal lacons, crown shaped holder. Salad set late 19th Century.
Special Instructions

High bidder must arrange for pick up item or incur shipping/delivery charges

Estimated Value $250.00
Buy Now Price $375.00

Item Number 20
Item Description

Brass Jardiniere (Planter) Dutch jardiniere. 19th century. Intricate hammered brass.
Special Instructions

High bidder must arrange for pick up item or incur shipping/delivery charges

Estimated Value $125.00

Buy Now Price $188.00

Item Number 6
Item Description

Austrian Crystal Covered Dish 20th century Austrain crystal covered dish with alpine decoration.
Special Instructions

High bidder must arrange for pick up item or incur shipping/delivery charges

Estimated Value $2,400.00

Buy Now Price $3,600.00

Item Number 5
Item Description

Art Deco Urn Go retro with this glass urn in the art deco style. With a black frosted background and carver stylized floral motif, circa 1920, this vase is truly stunning. It will look great with many decors. Signed by: Clianick.
Special Instructions

High bidder must arrange for pick up item or incur shipping/delivery charges.
Donated By:Sarah Boyer Jenkins

Estimated Value $150.00

Buy Now Price $225.00

Item Number 3
Item Description

Antique Porcelain Pitcher Collectors will be delighted to take home this antique porcelain pitcher. This Nippon with iris motif and gilt decoration is circa 1900.
Special Instructions

High bidder must arrange for pick up item or incur shipping/delivery charges.
Donated By:Sarah Boyer Jenkins

These are just a few of the very nice items up for bid and what a worthy way to have fun at an auction. I have attended the event a number of times and can say without reserve that it is a splendid example of people, power for good and is truly worthy of your consideration. I'll be reposting this as a reminder til the big night. CHEER'S Homer.

That Rotten Shark Is Starting To Really Smell. A Perfect Halloween Art Story

2009-10-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

It couldn't get worse for Damien Hirst
After a career built on conceptual art, Damien Hirst turned to paint and canvas - and the boos from the critics were unanimous. Mark Hudson fears he had it coming.

Mark Hudson of the Telegraph.UK: "This week we may have witnessed one of the pivotal moments in the history of art. Not only has Damien Hirst, arguably the richest and most powerful artist in history, received the critical pasting of his life, but there's a sense that our whole perception of what art is, or should be, may have subtly – or not so subtly – shifted.

In case you've been miles from the media over the past week, Hirst, the man who became famous by putting sharks and sheep in formaldehyde, who summed up the 21st century confluence of art and shameless materialism with a £50 million diamond-encrusted skull – none of which he actually made himself – decided to exhibit paintings executed with his own hand in one of Britain's most august art institutions, the Wallace Collection." Full link here.

A Halloween Chair. Perfect For The Front Porch Saturday Night

2009-10-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

ACNews:Written by Terry Kovel
Monday, 26 October 2009 07:11
A rocking chair shaped like a skeleton is bound to be noticed, especially around Halloween. This 20th-century example brought $3,198 at Jackson's Auctioneers in Cedar Falls, Iowa, this past June.
Skeletons are invited guests at our celebration of Halloween, the Mexican holiday called "Day of the Dead" and a few other ghoulish events. A chair shaped like a skeleton, with boney arms, ribs, feet and skull, is one of the largest skeleton pieces a collector can find, and it's a mystifying piece of antique furniture. The late Vincent Price, a well-known actor in horror films, owned a whole set of skeleton chairs. At least four variations of the large, scary chairs have been sold in recent years. A few were painted white, one was dark mahogany and one was a rocking chair. The most famous is a Russian chair that has an inscription that solved part of the mystery of why these chairs were made. The inscription indicated the chair was a gift from "Masonic Lodge, 1838," so at least one of the chairs related to a Masonic ritual. That chair sold in London in 1980 for $36,300, sold again in 1992 for about half that, then sold in 2009 for $3,198 at Jackson's Auctions in Cedar Falls, Iowa. A popular modern "skeleton chair" is an aluminum chair by Michael Aram. It has a ribcage back, no arms or skull, a pelvis seat and three legs that look like bones. Price: $450. If you want your own skeleton chair to frighten guests on Halloween, you can buy an inexpensive chair slipcover that's printed with a skeleton to cover the back, arms, seat and legs with appropriate bones

It Wasn't Just Dinosaurs That Created This Collection

2009-10-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

Southebys:"The collection formed by Lord and Lady Attenborough focuses primarily on British art from the outbreak of the First World War to the 1960s, and features superb works by many of the best known artists of the period, including Henry Moore, Graham Sutherland, Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, C.R.W.Nevinson and L.S.Lowry. Collected over six decades, there is a continuous sense of a narrative quality running through all the works, and the remarkable paintings and prints in the collection give us a clear indication of the unerring eye of a master storyteller at work." The auction takes place November 11th, 2009 at Southebys in London.

To read Lord Attenborough's thoughts on his collection in The Times, click here.

Video from Southeby's of the collection here.

The Results For A Modern Auction

2009-10-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

Rago's Auction House in New Jersey is having a very nice auction of moderne pieces on the weekend of October 24/25. This collection of 20th century pieces are not usually the finds I seek out, but then unfortunately I can remember when this was the height of chic and then for many, lost favor.

A very astute friend reminded me recently that for much of the population today, this is all new to their eyes. For those of us born just a bit before 1980...,we can now look back and see that good design did exist in those days, when a few smokey clouds might have blurred our vision. Its a huge catalogue which you can view here.

Some of my picks are kitschy and fun and bring back memories of "what were you thinking," but others really are fine and yes finally classic. Lets take a look.

GILBERT ROHDE / HERMAN MILLER Paldao four-door cabinet with large etched brass pulls, single shelf and interior shallow drawers. Stenciled 4104 on back. 33" x 66" x 16"
Estimate: $1,500 - $3,500
Sale Price: $1,830. A very nice buy.

LOUIS W. RICE / BERNARD RICE"S SONS Silver-plated Skyscraper candlestick with copper handle, ca. 1928. Stamped Skyscraper Des. Pat. Pending Apollo EPNS Made by Bernard Rice"s Sons Inc. 5270. 8 1/2" x 3 3/4" x 2 3/4"
Estimate: $1,500 - $3,500
Sale Price: $6,100. I liked it but that is one expensive candlestick.

ANDY WARHOL The Souper Dress, screenprint in colors on cotton, ca. 1965. (Literature: Mark Francis, "The Warhol Look: Glamour, Style, Fashion," New York, 1997, for illustration of another example.) Titled on original label at collar, with care instructions. 38" long"
Estimate: $1,500 - $2,500
Sale Price: $3,172. Iconic.

STARK CARPET COMPANY (New York) Room-size rug with green fretwork pattern on cream ground. Fabric label. 12" 2" x 14" 6
Estimate: $1,500 - $3,500
Sale Price: $1,098. A great buy. We all loved it at the store.

GEORGE NAKASHIMA Walnut Turned-Leg dining table with two free edges, three butterfly keys to top, and two leaves. (Provenance available.) Table: 29" x 60 1/2" x 37 3/4", leaves: 17" x 36 1/2"
Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000
Sale Price: $9,760. A fair price.

GEORGE NAKASHIMA Early pair of walnut slat-back lounge chairs. (Provenance available.) 30" x 23 1/2" x 31"
Estimate: $2,500 - $4,500
Sale Price: $4,880. If only I had the place for them.

UDY KENSLEY McKIE Exceptional mahogany dining table, the base carved with birds and fish, 1979. Signed JKM 1979. 30" x 65" x 34 1/2"
Estimate: $60,000 - $90,000
DID NOT SELL.

PEDRO FRIEDEBERG Hand chair with three-footed base and gilded finish. Branded Pedro Friedeberg. 35" x 20" x 21"
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000
Sale Price: $19,520. WOW!

RON KENT Large flaring turned wood bowl. (Provenance: Collection of Kenzo Takada.) Faint script signature. 7 1/2" x 16 1/4
Estimate: $2,000 - $4,000
Sale Price: $2,196. Such a pretty piece. I think someone got a good deal.

MILO BAUGHMAN / THAYER COGGIN Burlwood four-door credenza with white laminate interior on polished chrome base. 34 1/2" x 72" x 18"
Estimate: $2,000 - $4,000
Sale Price: $2,806. Very Rat Pack.

EDWARD WORMLEY / DUNBAR Single-door burlwood bar cabinet with faceted body. Dunbar factory tag. 20 1/2" x 16 1/4"
Estimate: $2,000 - $4,000
Sale Price: $1,952. A Bachelor's buy.

GROSFELD HOUSE Pair of enameled wood bookcases in dark green with silver trim, each with three shelves over single cabinet door. 71" x 30" x 11"
Auction Date: Sat, October 24, 11AM
Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000
DID NOT SELL

DONALD DESKEY Side table with black glass top on banded and chromed steel base. 20 1/4" x 22 1/4" x 15 3/4"
Auction Date: Sat, October 24, 11AM
Estimate: $2,000 - $4,000
Sale Price: $4,575. Loved that table

WENDELL CASTLE Cherry bench with two chip-carved and polychromed supports, 1997. Signed Castle 97. 31" x 77" x 18"
Auction Date: Sat, October 24, 11AM
Estimate: $15,000 - $25,000
DID NOT SELL. Not surprised.

The National Portrait Gallery US Competition

2009-10-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

Its not quite up to the UK competition..and why??? Okay, I'll join up..I volunteer and what fun it would be, but lets get serious here we need a full blown competition with major funding. There's no reason that we can't find ( present winners aside) great portrait art, and we have to get to work on that.However, Kudos to the top three.

"Blog portrait competition winners Dave Woody of Fort Collins, Colorado has received first prize in the National Portrait Gallery’s 2009 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. His photograph titled “Laura” was chosen as the winner from a field of over three thousand entries. First prize was a cash award of $25,000 and a commission from the museum to portray a remarkable living American for the NPG permanent collection. The portrait by Dave Woody, as well as works from forty-eight other artists, are on display at the National Portrait Gallery, in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition exhibition on the second floor.

Of his work, Woody comments, “I am never really attracted to photographing subjects who are totally self-aware or self-confident, as I’m more interested in those people who move through this world with a quiet grace. Spending time with friends allows me to see them in a certain light where their mask drops and something soft and inviting is seen, and I’ll think of making a photograph of them.”

Second prize was awarded to Stanley Rayfield of Richmond, Virginia who submitted a painting titled “Dad.”

Third place went to Adam Vinson of Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. His oil-on-panel painting is titled “Dressy Bessy Takes a Nap.”

Commended artists are: Margaret Bowland, for a painting titled, “Portrait of Kenyetta and Brianna”; Yolanda del Amo, for her C-print photograph, “Sarah, David”; Gaela Erwin, for her pastel-on-paper, “Baptismal Self-Portrait”; and Emil Robinson for an oil-on- panel portrait titled “Showered.” Each was awarded a cash prize.

These works were finalists in the museum’s second national portrait competition. Of the entries submitted from across the country, forty-nine artists’ works were chosen for display in the exhibition; seven of these works were chosen for the short list. The competition received entries in every visual-arts medium.

NPG Director Martin Sullivan states, “The variety and depth of the entries was encouraging to me since it proved that portraiture is an ever-evolving genre. And best of all, this competition allows the National Portrait Gallery and its visitors to see how today’s artists interpret portraiture in all of its forms.”

Finalists for the 2009 competition were chosen in early May, and the winners were announced at the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition Awards Celebration Thursday, October 22. In addition, one exhibiting artist will win the People’s Choice Award, in which visitors to the exhibition, both online and in the gallery, may cast a vote for their favorite of the forty-nine finalists. Voting for the People’s Choice Award will close January 18, 2010.

The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition is named for Virginia Outwin Boochever, a docent for and ardent supporter of the National Portrait Gallery. The exhibition’s catalog describes Mrs. Boochever’s endowment for the portrait competition “as a way to benefit artists directly… as a unique opportunity to fill a void in the American art world.” The works in the Outwin Boochever competition will be on display until August 22, 2010." To view images of the works, see the exhibition website.

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The Streisand Auction In LALA Land

2009-10-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

I didn't cover this auction because, well..because. The LA Times did and you might find it interesting. The results from the Streisand auction.Here is the story.

But Where Do You Wear It?

2009-10-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

"National Jewleler -New York--In an event Christie's is terming "an auction to remember," an anonymous buyer paid $7.7 million for the 32.01-carat D-flawless Annenberg Diamond on Wednesday, well surpassing the stone's estimated sale price of $3 million to $5 million.

The diamond, owned by philanthropist Leonore "Lee" Annenberg, who died in March at the age of 91, was mounted in a ring by Manhattan jeweler David Webb.

Its sale set a new, world-record auction price of $240,000 per carat for a colorless diamond, according to Christie's."

Two New Installations That Make Me Feel Small But Think Big

2009-10-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

"Anish Kapoor's Memory Headed to New York's Guggenheim
Made of Cor-Ten steel, a new material for the artist, Memory measures a staggering 48 feet by 29 by 15.
Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 10/15/2009

Anish Kapoor Memory Guggenheim
“Memory” by Anish Kapoor, Cor-Ten steel, commissioned by Deutsche Bank in consultation with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation for the Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin Installation; Photo: Mathias Schormann © The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation

Having already conquered Chicago's Millennium Park and New York's Rockefeller Center, Anish Kapoor is turning his unique gaze toward the latter city's Guggenheim Museum, where his massive Memory sculpture debuts October 21.

On view through March 28 as part of the 50th anniversary of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed museum, Memory is the first collaboration between the Guggenheim Foundation and the India-born, London-based artist. It comes to the city following a previous outing at Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin.

Anish Kapoor Memory Guggenheim
“Memory” by Anish Kapoor, Cor-Ten steel, commissioned by Deutsche Bank in consultation with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation for the Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin Installation; Photo: Mathias Schormann © The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation

Working with Cor-Ten steel for the first time in his career, Kapoor formed a 24-ton, gallery-filling sculpture that measures 48 feet by 29 by 15, the scale and proportion complementing -- and perhaps challenging -- Lloyd's architectural masterpiece.

The work, so named for the processional manner in which it's viewed, can never be seen in its entirety. It divides the gallery space into several distinct viewing areas, including the museum's ramps, elevator banks, and an adjacent gallery.

Anish Kapoor Memory Guggenheim
Computer-generated image of “Memory” installed at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Image courtesy of Aerotrope Limited

Yet each vantage point offers only a glimpse of either the sculpture's exterior form or its interior shell, consisting of seamless 1/3-inch-thick steel tiles, only viewable through a 6 ½ wide aperture, which ensure absolute darkness inside. By viewing it in fragments, visitors are asked to connect and construct the images of Memory retained in their minds. Kapoor calls this process of increased exertion and effort in viewing art "mental sculpture."

AND AT THE TATE MODERN

Miroslaw Balka’s box of darkness is disturbing in its historical echoes but beautiful as well. The Times, "Miroslaw Balka's black hole at Tate Modern is terrifying, awe-inspiring and throught-provoking. It embraces you with a velvet chill."

The Guardian: "The latest commission in The Unilever Series, How It Is by Polish artist Miroslaw Balka, is a giant grey steel structure holding a vast dark chamber, which in its construction reflects the surrounding architecture of Tate Modern – almost as if the interior space of the Turbine Hall has been turned inside out. Hovering somewhere between sculpture and architecture, it sits on two-metre stilts and stands thirteen metres high and thirty metres long. Visitors can walk underneath it, listening to the echoing sound of footsteps on steel above, or enter via a ramp into its pitch-black interior."

Video of the installation here.

How It Is alludes to recent Polish history – for example, the ramp at the entrance to the Ghetto in Warsaw, or the trucks which took Jews away to the camps of Treblinka or Auschwitz. By entering the dark space, visitors place considerable trust in the organisation, something akin to the risks often taken by immigrants travelling. Balka intends to provide an experience for visitors which is both personal and collective, creating a range of sensory and emotional experiences through sound, contrasting light and shade, individual experience and awareness of others, perhaps provoking feelings of apprehension, excitement or intrigue."

Weschlers Results From Last Saturday

2009-10-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

If the weather forecast holds we may see continued chilly wet days this weekend. Perfect for an auction in downtown DC. Adam A. Weschler & Son, Inc.
909 E Street, NW,Washington, D.C. is having a Fine Furniture and Decorations Sale this Saturday, the 17th starting at 10:00 a.m.

I normally give folks more time to peruse the pieces that caught my eye and have a look at the whole catalog but busy days have kept me from my duty. I did take a quick look and found a couple of pieces that appear to be nice buys. This will be a brown auction for Homer as almost everything I picked is old mahogany. However, take a look at the whole catalog. There are some fine rugs and silver and lots of things to entice the eye. This is also a great auction for those with Christmas in mind and that special gift you won't find in the department stores. Lets take a look.

I'm working Saturday at the Kellogg Collection, which is having a great upholstery sale, hint, hint, and won't be able to make the auction so everyone else have fun.

Federal Satinwood Inlaid Walnut Chest of Drawers
Mid-Atlantic States, Probably Maryland, Circa 1800
Having line inlaid drawers enclosed within a case with line inlaid canted corners and diamond-form, bone-inlaid escutcheons. Brasses replaced; some losses to inlay and drawer surrounds.
Height: 42-3/4 in (108.6 cm); Width: 41 in (104.1 cm); Depth: 19-1/4 in (48.9 cm)
Estimate $1,500-2,500. Every man should have one for his Stuff!
SOLD FOR $2,600.00

Chippendale Satinwood Inlaid Walnut Chest of Drawers
Mid-Atlantic States, Probably Winchester, VA, Circa 1780
Brasses replaced; lacking three locks.
Height: 41 in (104.1 cm); Width: 37-1/2 in (95.3 cm); Depth: 19-3/4 in (50.2 cm)
Estimate $1,200-1,800. I'm going to take a guess that this goes for much less. But still will look nice at home.
DID NOT SELL. NOT SURPRISED.

Set of Six Federal Mahogany Side Chairs
Probably New York, Circa 1815
Each with green upholstered slip seats. Each with veneer losses, particularly to the crest rail and seat rails; three with repairs to scrolled ears at crest rail.

Estimate $400-600. I'm sure a bit bruised, but for that price!
SOLD FOR $400.00. GUESS THEY WERE PRETTY BATTERED.

Neoclassical Style Carved Waxed Pine Hearth Surround
Probably English, Late 19th Century
Height: 58 in (147.3 cm); Width: 74 in (188 cm); Depth: 9-1/2 in (24.1 cm)
Estimate $1,000-1,500. I'd leave it just the way it is.
SOLD FOR $1,000.00. A STEAL..A STEAL! CAN YOU IMAGINE THE PRICE IN A RETAIL SETTING?

George III Style Satinwood Inlaid and Crossbanded Mahogany Linen Press
Circa 1900
In two parts with a removable cornice; the upper section with two panel doors opening to view three pull-out linen shelves. Brasses replaced; cornice possibly replaced; lacking one interior shelf.
Height: 79 in (200.7 cm); Width: 50 in (127 cm); Depth: 23 in (58.4 cm)
Estimate $2,000-4,000. Put a smallish flat screen in it for the bedroom.
SOLD FOR $1,500.00. A GREAT DEAL FOR FANCYING UP A ROOM.

George III Oak Refectory Table
Composed of 18th Century Elements
One end fitted with a frieze drawer.
Height: 32 in (81.3 cm); Length: 95 in (241.3 cm); Depth: 30 in (76.2 cm)
Estimate $1,500-2,500 . For the country style kitchen..hmmm.
$1,100.00. ANOTHER GREAT BUY. THIS WAS THE PIECE THAT REALLY INTERESTED THE EXPERTS AT WORK.

Louis Philippe Mahogany Trestle-Base Tric-Trac Table
Third Quarter 19th Century
The top having two slide-out panels opening to view a calamander and bois satiné game board which slides out to reveal a green felt backgammon board over a frieze drawer with green baize divided wells with turned light and dark wood game pieces.
Height: 30-1/2 in (77.5 cm); Width: 34-1/2 in (87.6 cm); Depth: 22-1/2 in (57.2 cm)
Estimate $2,000-3,000. I love classic games tables. A perfect way to while away a chilly fall night next to the fireplace, by candlelight of course.
DID NOT SELL. YET.

R.I.P. Donald Kaufman, Toyland Loses A Great

2009-10-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

Stephen Rose for the NYTimes

New York Times Obit:
October 18, 2009
Donald Kaufman, Collector of Toy Cars, Dies at 79
By DENNIS HEVESI

It started in 1950 with a $4 purchase from a friend: an International Harvester Red Baby truck. It grew into one of the largest and most valuable collections of antique toy cars and trucks in the world.

Donald Kaufman, whose trove included a highly prized 1912 Märklin live-steam fire engine before he began auctioning off his treasures in March, died on Monday at his home in Pittsfield, Mass. He was 79.

The cause was a heart attack, his wife, Sally, said.

More than 7,000 cars and trucks were parked bumper to bumper on the plain white shelves that Mr. Kaufman had bought at Home Depot and assembled himself, wall to wall and floor to ceiling, in the four-level annex to his modest country home in western Massachusetts. There were also airplanes and a smattering of other vintage toys.

His “toys” were only distantly related to the products, mostly made of plastic, that Mr. Kaufman had helped to sell over the years as vice president of the KB Toys store chain, from which he retired in 1981. Some of the pieces he owned, like the Märklin steam engine, were detailed works of art that actually worked.

Mr. Kaufman owned vehicles of all kinds: taxicabs (small, medium and large), old trucks bearing signs for brands from long ago (Richfield Gasoline, Filene’s Sons, Sheffield Farms Sealect), ice trucks, water trucks, dump trucks and fire engines. Mostly, they were made of cast iron, tin and pressed steel. A white, windup “Gordon Bennett” race car, made around 1910 by Guntherman in Germany, had a small bellows connected to the rear axle on the underside, so that it could still emit a rumble nearly a century after it was made.

“He owned almost every known variation of every known automotive toy,” said Richard Bertoia of Bertoia Auctions in Vineland, N.J., which is handling the sale of the Kaufman fleet. “Among collectors, he has been clearly declared the most important force this hobby has ever seen.”

In June, three months after the first in what is to be a series of auctions, Mr. Kaufman guided a reporter for The New York Times through what he and his wife called “the museum,” pointing out, however, that only about two dozen other people had ever been inside.

Asked why he was letting go of his beloved toys, he simply said, “It’s time for me to sell.”

And sell they have. At the first session, in March, about 1,400 of the 7,000 toys brought in $4.2 million, well above the $3 million that had been estimated. A three-foot-long train of hand-painted clown cars drew the highest price, $103,500.

At the second session, in September, about 1,100 toys were auctioned, bringing in approximately $3 million. The 1912 Märklin fire engine — 18 inches long, with an exposed boiler and intricate gear work in an open frame — drew the highest price, $149,500. Three more sessions are planned, the first next April.

Starting with that International Harvester Red Baby truck (it has not been sold yet, but is likely to go for a few hundred dollars), Mr. Kaufman spent much of his time over the last 59 years combing through antique stores, bidding in countless auctions and cultivating relationships with toy dealers. He and his wife spent vacations searching the market in Europe and attending nearly every toy show in the Northeast.

“These aren’t my toys,” Mr. Kaufman said in June. “I am just taking care of them.”

Donald Lewis Kaufman was born in Pittsfield on Oct. 8, 1930, one of three children of Harry and Ruth Klein Kaufman. In 1922, his father and uncle started a wholesale company, Kaufman Brothers, that distributed a variety of goods, including candy, soda, stuffed animals, watches and razors.

After attending North Adams State College in Massachusetts and serving in the Army in the early 1950s, Donald Kaufman joined the family business. In 1958, Kaufman Brothers expanded into retail. It became KB Toys in the 1960s and became entirely a retailing operation in 1972. As vice president, Mr. Kaufman played a role in expanding the chain to malls in almost every state. KB was sold to the Melville Corporation in 1981 and went out of business in 2008.

Mr. Kaufman’s first marriage, to the former Faith Dichter, ended in divorce. Besides his second wife, the former Sally Golden, he is survived by his sister, Joan Poultridge; three daughters from his first marriage, Suzanne Ascioti, Deborah Mager and Judith Wortzel; and four grandchildren from his first marriage. He is also survived by a stepson, Jack Roche; a stepdaughter, Mary Ellen Simon; and five step-grandchildren.

A deep fascination impelled Mr. Kaufman’s collecting.

“He didn’t just see a toy,” his wife said. “He would look at that toy and think about the history. He thought about what it was made of, the design, the people who sat there and made it. He would hold it and say, ‘If only it could talk.’ ”

Earlier this Year on Homer.

From the New York Times, yesterday, comes news of more toys!!

After a Life Selling Toys, It’s Time to Sell His Own
By RICHARD S. CHANG

Pittsfield, Mass.

WHEN Donald Kaufman decided that he wanted to sell his personal toy collection, an unparalleled trove of some 7,000 antiques from around the world, the news spread quickly among collectors. And it provoked the sort of market upheaval one might expect if the Getty Trust announced it was getting out of the art business.

“Nobody knew just how many toys he had,” said Jeanne Bertoia, the owner of Bertoia Auctions of Vineland, N.J., which is handling the sale. “People saw what he was buying, but no one had seen his collection.”

Part of the allure comes from Mr. Kaufman’s role as a co-founder of the defunct KB Toys store chain, from which he retired in 1981. He has given no reason for selling the collection he spent 59 years amassing, except for a nod toward destiny. “It’s time for me to sell,” he said.

In mid-March, Bertoia Auctions sold a portion of the collection, more than 1,400 toys, bringing in $4.2 million, well above the $3 million that Bertoia had estimated. (Mr. Kaufman’s estimate was $2 million.) Another auction is scheduled for September, after which Mr. Kaufman will still own more toys than he’ll have sold. Four to five more auctions are planned.

At 78, Mr. Kaufman is a tall man with a gentle grandfatherly manner that does little to reveal his ruthlessness in pursuit of pre-World War II toys. His approach to collecting combines erudition and gamesmanship. He enjoys telling the story of a particularly important sale. He rented a U-Haul trailer, hitched it to his capacious Ford Econoline van and parked the rig in front of the auction house as an act of intimidation against other potential buyers.

Transportation toys are Mr. Kaufman’s primary interest, and most pieces in the collection are cars and trucks. Airplanes are a distant third. The toys’ domain is a four-level windowless annex to the average-size country house here in western Massachusetts where Mr. Kaufman and his wife, Sally, live.

The Kaufmans call it “the museum,” though that makes it sound extravagant or grandiose, which undresses some of its charm. Mr. Kaufman assembled the displays himself. He bought plain white shelves at Home Depot and installed them himself. Entering the Kaufman museum, a visitor found antique toy cars parked bumper to bumper on shelves that ran wall to wall and floor to ceiling. There were taxicabs in small, medium and large. Old trucks bore signs for brands long gone: Richfield Gasoline, Filene’s Sons and Sheffield Farms Sealect. There were ice trucks, water trucks, dump trucks and fire engines. The floor — covered with carpet the color of blue topaz — was occupied by a small fleet of pedal cars.

“There are no duplicates,” Mr. Kaufman said proudly in a voice graveled by age. “Only variations.”

Some of the variations were so slight that it was difficult to see the differences. Along one stretch of wall, two red tow trucks were berthed nose-to-tail, one with round windows and the other with square ones. A line of four cast-iron taxicabs from the early 1920s provided an excellent exercise in observation — the only variations were in the color of the tires (silver and white) and hoods (orange and black). The March auction did little to decrease the jam in the museum, so there was not much room to move around.

Ms. Bertoia said the collection was divided into five categories: pedal cars; American cast-iron toys; tin toys, which are more delicate and mostly from Europe; pressed-steel toys; and light pressed-steel toys, including those from an American toymaker, Kingsbury.

“Usually you’d see between 25 and 30 toys in a good collection,” said Mike Bertoia, Ms. Bertoia’s son, of the Kingsburys. Mr. Kaufman, he said, has more than 150.

It takes a moment to see anything other than the sheer magnitude of the collection. Tighten the focus and intricate details emerge: the mechanical meter in a taxi, a hand-painted mustache on a driver, the brass fixtures of a fire engine’s water pump. The auction catalog showed that most were in very good, excellent, near-mint or pristine condition.

Sitting on a shelf along the staircase between the first and second floors, a white wind-up “Gordon Bennett” racecar made around 1910 by Guntherman of Germany hardly looked a century old. On the underside of the car was a small bellows connected to the rear axle, which Mr. Bertoia said still provided the car with engine noise. Another German toy, the Märklin Fidelitas, a whimsical three-foot-long train of delicate hand-painted clown cars, brought $103,500, the highest sale price at the first auction.

Mr. Kaufman likes to say that he wonders what the toys would say if they could talk. He explained that when he looked at an Arcade Mack high dump truck, he saw more than a toy vehicle. “I see the rubber factory that made the tires,” he said. “I see the metal factory, the press — the original cars.”

Born and raised in Pittsfield, Mr. Kaufman was always interested in antique cars and trucks. The first toy in his collection was an International Harvester Red Baby truck that he bought for $4 in 1950, the year he began working for the family business.

KB stands for Kaufman Brothers. Mr. Kaufman’s father and uncle founded the company in 1922 as a wholesaler. They carried goods as diverse as confections and sundries, sodas, razors, stuffed animals and watches, Mr. Kaufman said. Toys did not come along until after World War II.

In 1958, Kaufman Brothers expanded into retail, became KB Toys in the 1960s, and stopped wholesaling altogether in 1972. Mr. Kaufman does not boast about his role in the business, but he was the first vice president and had a hand in turning KB Toys into one of the biggest toy chains in the world, with hundreds of stores across the country.

Mr. Kaufman attended his first major auction shortly after he retired and found a community that welcomed his growing curiosity about antique toys. “I started talking to other collectors,” he said. “You learn everything from them.”

Mrs. Kaufman was not with her husband for that first auction — they met in 1988 — but she has been involved in his hobby since they have been together. A smartly dressed woman with short red hair who could draw comparisons to the actress Leslie Caron, she drove the van to many of the auctions and set up the vendor displays at toy shows for pieces that Mr. Kaufman wanted to sell.

Mrs. Kaufman told a story about one of her first experiences, when the collection of the closed Perelman Toy Museum in Philadelphia was being sold. The sale was held in the museum, and the buyers — each guaranteeing to spend at least $50,000 — had to race for the pieces they wanted.

She smiled and her eyes shone brightly as she told the story. And in many ways, the Kaufman collection is a diary of their lives together. The annex is a very private place. Mr. Kaufman said fewer than 25 people had been inside.

But if he is sad to see the collection go, he is not showing it.

He said he was not keeping a single toy, not even that first International Harvester Red Baby truck. “These aren’t my toys,” he said a couple of times during the day. “I am just taking care of them for now.”

But there are clues everywhere that the toys are more than just a passing interest. On the staircase between the first and second floors, Mrs. Kaufman pointed out a step ladder and two wooden planks.

“Don put those planks on top of the ladder and stood on them when he arranged the shelves above the stairs,” she said. She considered that thought for a moment, shook her head, smiling, and disappeared upstairs.

Christie’s Sells $18.3 Million, Lures Buyers With Low Estimates

2009-10-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

By Scott Reyburn

Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Christie’s International last night attracted buyers with reduced estimates, selling all but one of just 25 contemporary artworks it selected for its London auction.

Christie’s total for the event, timed to coincide with the Frieze Art Fair, was 11.2 million pounds ($18.3 million), which included fees. This was almost double the presale low estimate of 6.8 million pounds, based on hammer prices. Three works sold for more than 1 million pounds, led by 2.3 million pounds for a Martin Kippenberger work. Half of the lots were bought by North American-based bidders, said the London-based auction house.

“There were some good things in the auction and estimates were reasonable,” said New York-based dealer Christophe van de Weghe. “It will give buyers confidence. People are able to see things are selling and there’s no panic in the market.”

The volume of sales at contemporary-art auctions dropped between 70 percent and 80 percent and the prices of works by 50 percent or more since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. last September, said the London-based research company ArtTactic.

Christie’s equivalent auction last October, containing 47 lots, took 32 million pounds, against a lower valuation of 57.8 million pounds. Forty-five percent of the material failed to sell at that time. Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips de Pury stopped guaranteeing minimum prices to sellers at the end of 2008. Collectors have been reluctant to offer high-priced works in public without guarantees; auction companies are selling more pieces through discreet private transactions, often for higher prices than they would have achieved under the hammer.

Big Frieze

“Frieze is a big week in London,” said Francis Outred, Christie’s European head of contemporary art. “We wanted to get the right property at the right price. There were a few come-on estimates that attracted a good mixture of bargain hunters and big-game hunters,” he said.

A 2004 Rudolf Stingel silver wallpaper painting that failed to sell at Christie’s London in February 2008 against a low estimate of 500,000 pounds was re-offered last night at 150,000 pounds to 200,000 pounds. A flurry of bidding pushed the price up to 289,250 pounds.

“Prices are back to the level of 2006 and 2007,” said Van de Weghe.

Kippenberger’s 1991 painting, “Paris Bar,” sold to a telephone buyer, with New York dealer Tony Shafrazi the underbidder. The 13-foot-wide depiction of the Berlin bar that was once frequented by himself, David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Andy Warhol was entered by a European collector and had never been offered at auction before. The artist died in 1997, aged 44.

Pop Life

Another version of the same subject by the artist’s contemporary, Daniel Richter, is currently on show in the “Pop Life” exhibition at Tate Modern. At least six bidders contested the painting, which was estimated at 800,000 pounds to 1.2 million pounds. New York dealer Jeffrey Deitch paid a further 1.1 million pounds, double the low estimate, for Kippenberger’s 1991 panel painting of a street mounted with wall lights, “Kellner Des... (Waiter Of...)”

Peter Doig’s 1994 canvas “Pine House (Rooms for Rent)” was another re-offer, having failed to achieve its low estimate of $4.5 million at Christie’s New York in November, when it was guaranteed. Now owned in whole or part by the auction house, it sold to a lone telephone bid of 1.4 million pounds against a revised estimate of 1.5 million pounds to 2 million pounds.

Signal Box

The sale’s other main success was the double-estimate -- and record -- 892,450 pounds paid for “Stellwerk” (Signal Box), a 1999 painting by Leipzig School artist Neo Rauch.

Christies will be offering 145 lots of “Part II” quality material today with a low estimate of 2.9 million pounds.

Earlier yesterday, Sotheby’s held a 217-lot auction of contemporary art that combined its “Part I” and “Part II” quality material, bolstered by a section of Arab and Iranian works. The event achieved a total of a mid-estimate 12.8 million pounds, with 73 percent of the pieces finding buyers.

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1983 acrylic and oilstick painting “Fuego Flores” was the most expensive lot, selling to a telephone bidder for 959,650 pounds against a high estimate of 1.2 million pounds. The 5-foot-6-inch-high painting, featuring a half-length figure with one of Basquiat’s trademark skull faces, had recently been authenticated by the artist’s estate. Two slightly larger paintings by Basquiat from 1982 fetched 6.5 million pounds and $13.5 million at auctions in London and New York last year.

Damien Hirst’s pale-blue-and-white 2006 circular butterfly painting “Retribution” sold to the New York collector Jose Mugrabi for 541,250 pounds against an estimate of 450,000 pounds to 650,000 pounds.

Hirst Incarnate

The 6-foot-8-inch-diameter household-gloss-on-canvas was a similar size as, and a similar color to, the 2008 butterfly work “Reincarnated,” which had a low valuation of 500,000 pounds at the company’s “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever” sale last September. That work went on to fetch 1.6 million pounds with fees. The ArtTactic Average Price Index for Hirst butterfly paintings has dropped 41 percent since September 2008, said the research company’s founder Anders Petterson.

“It’s very difficult to value things at the moment,” said the New York-based art adviser David Nisinson, who bought a 1990 Gerhard Richter abstract for 529,250 pounds at Sotheby’s against a low estimate of 500,000 pounds. “So little has been traded recently that it’s hard to know what things are worth. It’s a market in flux. There’s more confidence than there was, but it’s fragile and depends on the financial markets. At least a lot of people have a lot more money than they did six months ago,” he said.

Kapoor Mirror

An 8-foot-diameter Anish Kapoor stainless-steel-mirror sculpture, dating from 1997, sold to a telephone bidder for 825,250 pounds against an estimate of 600,000 pounds to 800,000 pounds. The sculpture had been acquired from London’s Lisson Gallery, which has just sold a new 4-foot-diameter Kapoor mirror piece, this time in gold, priced at 475,000 pounds at the Frieze Art Fair.

For the first time, Christie’s and Sotheby’s also held their October auctions of 20th-century Italian works on the same day as their contemporary-art sales. Christie’s took 5.8 million pounds from 37 lots, while Sotheby’s achieved 7.4 million pounds from 33 lots of Italian material.

Sotheby’s sales included nine works donated by artists to benefit Harefield Hospital, a unit on the outskirts of London specializing in cardiac surgery. The auction was the idea of surgeon Jullien Gaer, who invited artists to visit the hospital.

Grayson Perry’s glazed ceramic “Urn for the Living,” depicting surgeons around a gaping hole in the body of the pot, was inspired by observation of an open-heart operation. It sold for a hammer price of 48,000 pounds, near to the top estimate of 50,000 pounds. The section generated a total of 485,000 pounds for the hospital.

(Scott Reyburn writes about the art market for Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer on the story: Scott Reyburn in London at sreyburn@hotmail.com

Auction Results From The Estate of William F. Reilly

2009-10-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

The auction total came to a Sale Total: $6,523,312 (U.S. dollars). Quality retains its value. Take a look.

I was stunned by the beauty of this collection and picked but a few things that really caught my eye. Most are very expensive but there are a couple of pieces that while truly great looking are within the reach of this shanty Irishman, or you should you be so tempted. The full catalogue is here and will have you salivating at his good taste.

A FRENCH CUIR BOUILLE PORTRAIT OF LOUIS XIV
AFTER FRANCOIS GIRARDON, EARLY 18TH CENTURY, THE FRAME SECOND QUARTER 18TH CENTURY
Depicted in profile, wearing armor, within a Louis XV giltwood frame with partial printed paper label for CH. POTTIER EMBALLAMEUR-PACKER/PARIS, and with a further paper label with painted '2919', the leather rebacked
28 in. (71 cm.) high, 22½ in. (57 cm.) wide (the portrait), 36 in. (91.5 cm.) high, 30½ in. (77.5 cm.) wide, overall
$20,000.00 - $30,000.00
SOLD FOR $37,500.00

A DIRECTOIRE ORMOLU BOUILLOTTE LAMP
LATE 18TH CENTURY
With a green tôle shade and pierced circular base, shade redecorated, electrified
26 in. (66 cm.) high, overall
$7,000.00- $10,000.00
SOLD FOR $5,250.00. STILL, ONE EXPENSIVE LAMP.

A PAIR OF TOLE PEINTE LEMON TREES
20TH CENTURY
23½in. (59.5cm.) high (2)
$600.00 - $800.00
SOLD FOR $4,375.00. OH MY GOSH!

A PAIR OF GEORGE II GILTWOOD DOLPHIN-FORM WALL CARVINGS
MID-18TH CENTURY
Each grimacing dolphin with upright scrolling tail
33 in. (83.8 cm.) high (2)
$20,000.00 - $40,000.00
SOLD FOR $50,000.00. THOSE DOLPHINS AREN'T GRIMACING TONIGHT.

A PAIR OF GILT-METAL TABLE LAMPS
20TH CENTURY
Each stem in the form of an armilliary sphere
12 in. (31 cm.) high (2)
$700.00 - $900.00
SOLD FOR $30,000.00. I CHECKED! AND DOUBLE CHECKED, THAT'S WHAT IT SAYS!!!

A COLOSSAL ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT HEAD OF THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
REIGN 98-117 A.D.
His long wavy locks combed forward over the crown of the head, their pointed tips curving left across the forehead, the locks defined by deep drill-work and incision, the large almond-shaped eyes framed by thick lids, the inner canthi deeply drilled, the modelled brows overhanging the inner corners of the eyes, with vertical furrows above the nose, the thin lips pursed, the outer corners slightly downturned and framed by pronounced nasolabial folds, the muscular neck rippled from the slight turn to his left
19½ in. (49.5 cm.) high
$100,000.00 - $150,000.00
SOLD FOR $146,500.00. RIGHT ON THE MONEY. OF COURSE ST. LAURENT IS DEAD.

A PAIR OF BLACK-PATINATED BRONZE MODELS OF THE WARWICK VASE
19TH CENTURY
With masks and loop handles, on a square red marble plinth
18½ in. (47 cm.) high, 16 in. (40.6 cm.) wide (2)
$7,000.00 - $10,000.00
SOLD FOR $6,000.00. NOW THERE WAS A DEAL.

AN ATTIC BLACK-FIGURED AMPHORA
CIRCA 540-530 B.C.
The obverse with a nude youth on horseback in profile to the right, riding one horse and leading a second horse beside, both horses with their heads lowered, flanked by two large draped youths, a fillet in the field; the reverse with a nude youth on horseback; alternating red and black tongues above, a lotus and palmette quatrefoil on the neck, details in added red
14¾ in. (37.5 cm.) high
$20,000.00 - $30,000.00
SOLD FOR $32,500.00

AN IRISH GEORGE III MAHOGANY HUNT TABLE
LATE 18TH CENTURY
The hinged oval top above double gatelegs
29 in. (73.5 cm) high, 101½ in. (258 cm.) wide, 57 in. (145 cm.) deep
$30,000.00 - $50,000.00. Dont'ya love Irish furniture.
DID NOT SELL

A PAIR OF IRISH GEORGE III BRASS-BOUND MAHOGANY BUCKETS
LATE 18TH CENTURY
Each with engraved brass banding, bail handle and removable brass liner
17 in. (43 cm.) high, 15½ in. (39.5 cm.) diameter (2)
$15,000.00 - $25,000.00. Wow what a way to serve Guinness.
SOLD FOR $17, 500.00

A VICTORIAN BLACK, GOLD AND RED JAPANNED PAPIER MACHE GLOVE BOX
LATE 19TH CENTURY
Decorated with figural cartouches
8¾ in. (22 cm.) wide
$400.00 - $600.00
SOLD FOR $1,250.00

A FRENCH PATINATED WROUGHT-IRON AND GLASS LOW TABLE
MODERN
Rectangular, on curule frame
$1,000.00 - $1,500.00. That's the piece I want!!! So we'll see how much it goes for with great interest.
SOLD FOR $625.00. DAGNABBIT!!!**** THERE WAS A DEAL!!!

A GEORGE II BLACK-AND-GILT JAPANNED LINEN PRESS
ATTRIBUTED TO GILES GRENDEY, CIRCA 1740
The dentil-carved cornice above cartouche-paneled doors and two short over a long drawer on ogee bracket feet, decorated throughout with Chinoiserie vignettes and animals, pulls and locks later, refreshments to decoration
$80,000.00 - $120,000.00
SOLD FOR $134,500.00. SUCH A PRETTY PIECE

A LATE GEORGE III MAHOGANY THREE-TIER WHATNOT
LATE 18TH CENTURY
Square, with a mahogany-lined medial drawer
$4,000.00 - $6,000.00
SOLD FOR $3,750.00. VERY FAIR

AN IRISH GEORGE II MAHOGANY SERVING-TABLE
CIRCA 1760
The shaped top pierced with quartrefoils over a fluted and paterae-carved frieze on molded legs with guttae feet
$20,000 - $30,000.00
SOLD FOR $27,500.00

I Want One

2009-10-13T22:35:00.000-07:00

A Continous Lean says they're good and that's enough of an endorsement for me. I love a great shirt. A bit pricey, though made in America.Hamilton 1883.

The World's 13 Ugliest Buildings

2009-10-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Fun look at some atrocious buildings from Travel and Leisure, if you have a few minutes. The link is here.

My Next Day Off

2009-10-12T14:26:00.001-07:00

Past readers know I love portraits so here's an event I look forward to seeing in DC.
Now at the National Gallery of Art
Robert Bergman: Portraits, 1986–1995
October 11, 2009–January 10, 2010
NGA:"For more than 40 years, Robert Bergman (b. 1944) has traveled the streets and back alleys of the United States, photographing the people and scenes he encounters. Beginning in the 1960s, he, like so many other so-called street photographers of that generation, used a 35mm camera to make black-and-white photographs. In the 1980s Bergman began to work in color. Using no special lighting or equipment, he made a series of monumental portraits of the people he met. The exhibition will present 33 of these compelling portraits from a recent gift to the Gallery of more than 90 photographs by Bergman, most of which have never before been exhibited."

More News On The William F. Reilly Auction

2009-10-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

Flemish artist active in Northern Italy, 16th Century - identified as the Monogrammist 'MO', A view of a villa with acrobats and gentlefolk, signed with monogram and dated 'M D/LXVI' on pedestal (lower left) oil on canvas, 67¼ x 93 in. (170.8 x 236.2 cm.) Estimate: $600,000 - 800,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2009.

NEW YORK, NY.- This October, Christie's presents a special collection of fine art and furnishings from the Manhattan residence of the late Mr. William F. Reilly, a prominent philanthropist, collector, and former chief executive officer and chairman of the publishing firm Primedia.Full catalogue here. This superb collection of important 18th and 19th century furniture, rare antiquities, Old Master paintings, and decorative items was primarily housed in Mr. Reilly's Sutton Square townhouse, located in one of Manhattan's most fashionable neighborhoods. The three-story house with its dramatic river views and impeccably-designed interiors has been profiled in House & Garden and Architectural Digest, among other publications. The complete collection of over 230 items is expected to realize in excess of $5 million.

To build the collection, the late Mr. Reilly worked with top New York antiques consultant and interior designer Timothy Whealon. Over the course of 12 years, Whealon scoured auction houses, dealers, antiques fairs, and art galleries to create a refined collection of rare works of art and antiques. For the sale preview, Christie's will re-assemble the bulk of the collection just as it appeared in the main rooms of Mr. Reilly's home, even using a similar color palette as the one that Whealon chose for the walls.

"The overall design aesthetic was conceived as a modern take on the great English country houses," said Whealon. "Mr. Reilly was an educated connoisseur with a deep interest in European history and the classics. To reflect that, we grounded the collection with excellent examples of English, Irish, and Continental furniture and complimented them with Greek and Roman antiquities, and paintings by the early 18th century Italian masters. Modernist touches in the form of lamps, occasional tables, and small decorative items kept the whole looking fresh and relevant, and remarkably easy for someone to live with."

Exceptional Provenance
The Reilly collection is highlighted by several extraordinary furnishings from prominent British houses, including a Regency Ormolu and Black Slate Mantel Clock, no. 538 (estimate: $40,000-60,000) by Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy, London’s pre-eminent luxury goods producer in the early 19th century. The clock was ordered by the Prince of Wales for his Royal residence at Carlton House, St. James’s, London and delivered in 1815. A George III Mahogany Cabinet-On- Chest (estimate: $200,000-400,000) features an arched cornice, paneled doors and four graduated drawers accented with carved ionic columns and a Greek key design on the façade. This extraordinary 18th century cabinet bears the penciled signature of William Hallett, one of the most well-regarded cabinetmakers to England’s royal families. It is believed this magnificent cabinet was commissioned by Sir Charles Kerneys Tynte, 5th Baronet, for Halswell Park, Bridgwater, Somerset.

From Hamilton Palace, the largest and most majestic of Scotland’s country houses, comes a pair of English Ormolu-Mounted Satinwood-Inlaid Walnut Stools (estimate: $60,000-100,000) that were once part an extensive marquetry suite. Based on inventories of palace furnishings, it is believed that one stool dates from the original suite that was likely commissioned by James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton, or by his son James, circa 1710-1720. The second stool was likely commissioned in the early 19th century by the 10th Duke to extend the suite. In later years, the pair was purchased by Sunlight Soap magnate William Lever, the 1st Viscount Leverhulme, and became part of his storied collection at The Hill, his residence in Hampstead.

A pair of George II Walnut and Figured Walnut Open-Armchairs from circa 1730 (estimate: $250,000-400,000) bears the ducal coronet of the Astley family, and are part of a set believed to have been ordered by Sir Phillip Astley, 2nd Baronet (d.1739) or his son Sir Jacob Astley, 3rd Baronet (d. 1760). A Regency Brass-Mounted Ebonized and Specimen Marble Side Table (estimate: $70,000-100,000) features a top veneered with a grid of multi-colored Italian marble specimens. This unique table from circa 1800 is believed to have been acquired on the Grand Tour by the notable art patron and connoisseur Edward, Viscount Lascelles (d. 1814).

Among the excellent examples of Continental furniture in the collection is a Pair of Italian Giltwood Side Tables (estimate: $150,000-250,000) made in Rome circa 1775 in the manner of the influential architect and designer Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778). These exquisite tables with their unique curved legs and medallion friezes are similar to those formerly housed in the Palazzo Rezzonico and Palazzo Borghese.

Antiquities
Mr. Reilly’s deep knowledge of Roman history fueled the acquisition of several important antiquities for his collection, led by a Roman Marble Portrait Head of the Emperor Antoninus Pius (estimate: $400,000-600,000), who became emperor at the age of 52, and reigned from 138-161 A.D. – a period of relative calm, security, and religious piety in the Roman empire. Other portraits in the collection include a Colossal Roman Marble Portrait Head of the Emperor Trajan (estimate: $100,000-150,000) who reigned from 98-117 A.D., and a Roman Marble Portrait Head of the Youthful Marcus Aurelius, circa 138 A.D. (estimate: $150,000-250,000). The latter was one of the first purchases Mr. Reilly made as a collector; he had such high regard for the celebrated young emperor that he named his company Aurelian Communications upon its founding in 2001.

Perhaps the most dramatic item to feature in the Reilly collection is a Greek Marble torso of the goddess Aphrodite (estimate: $200,000-300,000) from the Hellenistic period, circa 1st century B.C. Nearly two-thirds life sized, the partially-draped torso stands with left knee bent and right hip thrust at an angle, forming a sensuous pose.

Old Master Paintings
Leading the collection’s offering of Old Master paintings is a massive 16th century festival scene by a Flemish artist known only as the Monogrammist ‘MO’. Populated with scores of brightly costumed acrobats, A view of a villa with acrobats and gentlefolk; estimate: $600,000-800,000) is a sweeping, jubilant scene of a court festival on the grounds of an Italianate villa. As elegantly dressed courtiers look on, troupes of acrobats in red jumpsuits and ancient military uniform perform elaborate dances and complicated balancing acts. This vibrant celebratory scene, which measures nearly eight feet wide, was the focal point of the dining room at Reilly’s Sutton Square home.

Two important Italian Old Master landscapes from the living room of the Reilly home will be offered as highlights of the Important Old Masters and 19th Century Art sale on January 27, 2010: View of Piazza del Popolo, Rome (estimate: $600,000-800,000) by Giovanni Paolo Panini (1691/2-1765) and Extensive Landscape with Figures at a Shrine (estimate: $300,000-500,000), a rare collaboration between Alessandro Magnasco, Il Lissandrino (1667-1749) and Antonio Francesco Peruzzini (1643/46-1724).

Decorative Highlights
A devoted collector of Irish as well as English furnishings, Mr. Reilly’s collection is highlighted by an exceedingly rare example of Dublin scagliola inlay work attributed to Pietro Bossi, the most accomplished artisan working in Dublin towards the end of the 18th century. This Irish George III White Marble and Scagliola Chimneypiece; estimate: $100,000-150,000) is accented with beautifully-drawn leaf work and ribbon-hung Etruscan medallions in vivid hues of red, blue and green that remain remarkably unfaded. Less than 50 chimney pieces of this type are believed to have been created, and only two or three pieces of comparable quality have appeared on the market in recent years.

Among the more whimsical items within the Reilly collection is a Pair of George II Giltwood Dolphin-Form Wall Carvings from the mid-18th century (estimate: $20,000-40,000). These grimacing fish-like figures with scrolling tails once adorned the Sutton Place apartment of Marietta Tree, the New York society doyenne. They are believed to have been purchased initially by Nancy Lancaster, the legendary designer (and the first Mrs. Ronald Tree), for Ditchley Park in Oxfordshire, one of England’s greatest country houses.

Rounding out the selection of decorative accents is a large selection of mirrors from a variety of periods and styles, including a Louis XIV Ormulu-Mounted Boulle Marquetry Mirror from circa 1710 (estimate: $60,000-100,000); and a pair of five-foot high English Giltwood Mirrors (estimate: $60,000-90,000), one George II, circa 1740, and the other created to match by Carvers and Gilders of London. Also among the offerings is a selection of English silver, including salvers, salt cellars, utensils, and a complete coffee and tea service (estimates range: $500-35,000); and an array of blue and white Chinese export porcelain items, including vases, plates, and urns from the Kangxi period (estimates range: $3,000-30,000)

As another Irish American who has benefited from coming to these shores, I was astounded by the completely beautiful eye that Mr. William F. Reilly had in acquiring some the of finest pieces I've ever seen.Christies is offering a large number of pieces from his estate on October 13th 2009.

From Quogue News: "William F. Reilly passed away last year at the young age of 70. He lived in Quogue and Manhattan.He was the former chief executive officer and chairman of Primedia,and he was a successful media executive, philanthropist, collector, veteran.

Mr. Reilly began his career as a financial analyst and assistant to Peter Grace, the chairman and CEO of W.R. Grace & Co. and was appointed president and CEO of the company’s textile, sporting goods, and home products divisions. Following his tenure with the company, Mr. Reilly become the president of Macmillan Inc., and was significantly involved in the company’s greatest period of growth in its 50-plus-year history.

After losing a battle to stave off a takeover of Macmillan by Robert Maxwell in 1989, Mr. Reilly co-founded, and became chairman and CEO of, what was to become Primedia, whose media properties included New York and Seventeen magazines and 200 other properties.

After leaving Primedia, he became a successful private equity investor in partnership with Providence Equity Partners, and most recently with Summit Business Media in partnership with Wind Point Partners.

In his commitment to helping the New York City community, his priorities were education and other philanthropic endeavors. He was a member of the board of trustees of Channel 13/WNET and Citymeals-on-Wheels and adopted Cardinal Hayes High School, where he funded the technology lab and raised millions for its benefit while mentoring individual students who showed great promise in potential business careers.

As an alumnus of Notre Dame University, Mr. Reilly was an active member on the board of trustees of the university and a member of its executive committee. He also drew on his publishing expertise as a member of the Harvard Business School Press board of directors.

With his great love and knowledge of history and the decorative arts, he collected Greek and Roman antiquities and English furniture. He had a passion for classical architecture and owned and restored an 1830 historic home in Quogue and a townhouse on Sutton Square in Manhattan. He enjoyed traveling in Europe, studying classical architecture and acquiring items for his homes. He also served as a first lieutenant in the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army.

Mr. Reilly was on the board of directors of Barnes and Noble, FMC, and BizBash Media. He was also the chairman of Summit Business Media and hosted the Swing Into Summer Southampton Hospital benefit for many years."

I found this video on youtube which must have been made by a family member as a tribute to him. It has no sound due to some copyright problems but still shows a man who lived well and was obviously loved by many.Video

I was stunned by the beauty of his collecting and picked but a few things that really caught my eye. Most are very expensive but there are a couple of pieces that while truly great looking are within the reach of this shanty Irishman or you should you be so tempted. The full catalogue is here and will have you salivating at his good taste.

A FRENCH CUIR BOUILLE PORTRAIT OF LOUIS XIV
AFTER FRANCOIS GIRARDON, EARLY 18TH CENTURY, THE FRAME SECOND QUARTER 18TH CENTURY
Depicted in profile, wearing armor, within a Louis XV giltwood frame with partial printed paper label for CH. POTTIER EMBALLAMEUR-PACKER/PARIS, and with a further paper label with painted '2919', the leather rebacked
28 in. (71 cm.) high, 22½ in. (57 cm.) wide (the portrait), 36 in. (91.5 cm.) high, 30½ in. (77.5 cm.) wide, overall
$20,000.00 - $30,000.00

A DIRECTOIRE ORMOLU BOUILLOTTE LAMP
LATE 18TH CENTURY
With a green tôle shade and pierced circular base, shade redecorated, electrified
26 in. (66 cm.) high, overall
$7,000.00- $10,000.00

A PAIR OF TOLE PEINTE LEMON TREES
20TH CENTURY
23½in. (59.5cm.) high (2)
$600.00 - $800.00

A PAIR OF GEORGE II GILTWOOD DOLPHIN-FORM WALL CARVINGS
MID-18TH CENTURY
Each grimacing dolphin with upright scrolling tail
33 in. (83.8 cm.) high (2)
$20,000.00 - $40,000.00

A PAIR OF GILT-METAL TABLE LAMPS
20TH CENTURY
Each stem in the form of an armilliary sphere
12 in. (31 cm.) high (2)
$700.00 - $900.00

A COLOSSAL ROMAN MARBLE PORTRAIT HEAD OF THE EMPEROR TRAJAN
REIGN 98-117 A.D.
His long wavy locks combed forward over the crown of the head, their pointed tips curving left across the forehead, the locks defined by deep drill-work and incision, the large almond-shaped eyes framed by thick lids, the inner canthi deeply drilled, the modelled brows overhanging the inner corners of the eyes, with vertical furrows above the nose, the thin lips pursed, the outer corners slightly downturned and framed by pronounced nasolabial folds, the muscular neck rippled from the slight turn to his left
19½ in. (49.5 cm.) high
$100,000.00 - $150,000.00

A PAIR OF BLACK-PATINATED BRONZE MODELS OF THE WARWICK VASE
19TH CENTURY
With masks and loop handles, on a square red marble plinth
18½ in. (47 cm.) high, 16 in. (40.6 cm.) wide (2)
$7,000.00 - $10,000.00

AN ATTIC BLACK-FIGURED AMPHORA
CIRCA 540-530 B.C.
The obverse with a nude youth on horseback in profile to the right, riding one horse and leading a second horse beside, both horses with their heads lowered, flanked by two large draped youths, a fillet in the field; the reverse with a nude youth on horseback; alternating red and black tongues above, a lotus and palmette quatrefoil on the neck, details in added red
14¾ in. (37.5 cm.) high
$20,000.00 - $30,000.00

AN IRISH GEORGE III MAHOGANY HUNT TABLE
LATE 18TH CENTURY
The hinged oval top above double gatelegs
29 in. (73.5 cm) high, 101½ in. (258 cm.) wide, 57 in. (145 cm.) deep
$30,000.00 - $50,000.00. Dont'ya love Irish furniture.

A PAIR OF IRISH GEORGE III BRASS-BOUND MAHOGANY BUCKETS
LATE 18TH CENTURY
Each with engraved brass banding, bail handle and removable brass liner
17 in. (43 cm.) high, 15½ in. (39.5 cm.) diameter (2)
$15,000.00 - $25,000.00. Wow what a way to serve Guiness.

A VICTORIAN BLACK, GOLD AND RED JAPANNED PAPIER MACHE GLOVE BOX
LATE 19TH CENTURY
Decorated with figural cartouches
8¾ in. (22 cm.) wide
$400.00 - $600.00

A FRENCH PATINATED WROUGHT-IRON AND GLASS LOW TABLE
MODERN
Rectangular, on curule frame
$1,000.00 - $1,500.00. That's the piece I want!!! So we'll see how much it goes for with great interest.

A GEORGE II BLACK-AND-GILT JAPANNED LINEN PRESS
ATTRIBUTED TO GILES GRENDEY, CIRCA 1740
The dentil-carved cornice above cartouche-paneled doors and two short over a long drawer on ogee bracket feet, decorated throughout with Chinoiserie vignettes and animals, pulls and locks later, refreshments to decoration
$80,000.00 - $120,000.00

A LATE GEORGE III MAHOGANY THREE-TIER WHATNOT
LATE 18TH CENTURY
Square, with a mahogany-lined medial drawer
$4,000.00 - $6,000.00

AN IRISH GEORGE II MAHOGANY SERVING-TABLE
CIRCA 1760
The shaped top pierced with quartrefoils over a fluted and paterae-carved frieze on molded legs with guttae feet
$20,000 - $30,000.00

Auction houses become private dealers as power shifts from seller to buyer

2009-10-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

Tom Flynn: Art Knows:
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Auction houses become private dealers as power shifts from seller to buyer

The steady transformation of the big international fine art auction houses into private dealerships continues apace. The process has been going on for some time with the acquisition by auction houses of leading dealerships in the fields of Old Masters and Contemporary Art. But the fall of Lehman Brothers last year has punched a hole the size of the Grand Canyon into vendor consignments, forcing the auctioneers into conducting more and more private transactions. How this will affect the future of art price databases, which rely on the steady availability of public auction prices?

This morning, Bloomberg calculates that the forthcoming London contemporary art auctions, to be held by Christie's and Phillips de Pury during the week of the Frieze fair, are estimated to realise £20.8 million ($33.1 million). That contrasts with the equivalent sales last year, which carried a low estimate of £107 million, in other words around 80% down.

But interestingly, Bloomberg also reports that private sales transacted by Christie's outstripped its auction sales in the first half of 2009. "Christie’s had £133.1 million in private sales in the first half of 2009," writes Bloomberg's Scott Reyburn.

An artist friend asked me recently why Christie's had bought the London dealership Haunch of Venison. There's the answer. Foreseeing the imminent decline of the public auction market and knowing the extent to which buyers and sellers privilege discretion over transparency, the auction houses have steadily strengthened their foothold in the lucrative private sales arena. The risks of consigning works to public auction have multiplied in just a matter of months. The discreet private alternative starts to look very attractive.

Art market analysts have been predicting the seismic shift of power from seller to buyer for some time. It will be interesting to see how it shakes down during Frieze week and beyond.

The days when one could look to the auction arena for a relatively reliable indication of market activity are drawing to a close. What this says about the future of art price databases — hitherto the main source of data for market analysts — is another matter.

Market transparency recedes even further into the distant horizon. Does that matter?

There Is Something Wrong With This Story

2009-10-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

From the Washington Post today. Local readers know that I don't give Sloan and Kenyon's Auction House alot of free PR. This is why. How could a reputable house not have known what they had??

Look at my post about Weschler's. They had a nice Venetian oil and priced it accordingly and it went way up, but really, this one smells to high heaven. What is worse is that the Post along with all other former reputable papers simply print what is given them without question and they scream about us bloggers.

Art Auction Price May Be Local Record

By Robert Kyle
Special to The Washington Post.
Thursday, October 1, 2009

An 18th-century unsigned oil painting of the Grand Canal in Venice, estimated at a modest $6,000 to $8,000, sold for $687,125 Sunday afternoon at Sloans & Kenyon auction house in Chevy Chase. It is believed to be the most expensive painting ever sold at a Washington area auction.

Thirteen phone bidders competed against live bidders in the gallery for this work from the "school of" the 18th-century artist Giovanni Antonio Canaletto.

The auction company had received the piece from a Bethesda woman who has requested anonymity. The painting had been in the family since 1881, when her grandmother brought it back from Europe. The grandmother had embarked on what was known in the day as a "Grand Tour," an excursion designed to expose the traveler to enlightenment, adventure, art and culture.

Grand tourists, as the travelers were known, would typically return with artwork they acquired on the journey, which was considered an essential ritual for entry into British high society. "They didn't send postcards or bring back T-shirts," said Ellen Garrity, communications director at Sloans & Kenyon. "They brought back paintings."

And so it was that the consignor's grandmother, identified in the catalogue as Mrs. Charles Alexander, made her tour as a young American woman. She probably acquired the painting while in London; a label on the back is from the gallery of Dowdeswell & Dowdeswells Ltd. on New Bond Street.

And now?

"This appears to be the highest price ever obtained for a work of art sold at auction in the metropolitan Washington area," Garrity said.

The fresh-to-market find after nearly 130 years attracted nine phone bidders from Europe representing people in England, Italy, Scotland and Sweden. The first bid was $25,000. After a flurry of escalating offers, it sold to a floor bidder, an agent for a London buyer, for $575,000 plus a 19.5 percent buyer's premium.

"It is highly probable the painting is by Michele Marieschi," said London art dealer Charles Beddington, who was an adviser to the painting's runner-up, who stopped bidding at $550,000. Marieschi, another 18th-century artist, never signed his work and died young, Beddington said.

Sold just minutes before the three-day sale ended, Lot 1505 was described as "School of Giovanni Antonio 'Il Canale' Canaletto (Italian 1697-1768) Grand Canal, Venice, With a View of the Doge's Palace." Its framed size is 22 inches by 33 inches. It is not dated.

The Grand Canal in Venice was a favorite subject of Canaletto's and those who followed him. An original Canaletto is worth millions. Paintings by his associates, meanwhile, can fetch six figures. In 2007, Sotheby's in London sold an original Canaletto oil of the Grand Canal for $9.7 million. In 2008, Christie's in London sold another Grand Canal view for $6.6 million.

Sotheby's in London sold two other views of Venice painted in the style of Canaletto for $235,717 and $248,069 in 2007. Earlier this year, Sotheby's, New York, got $422,500 (hammer price, the price before taxes or commissions are added) for a view of Venice from the piazza from "the studio of" Canaletto.

The low presale estimate for Sunday's painting -- less than $10,000 -- proved irresistible. Sloans & Kenyon President Stephanie Kenyon explained why expectations were so modest: "With an unsigned painting of a high caliber, we estimate the work conservatively but expose it extensively and internationally, and then let the market decide."

Before Sunday's auction, the most expensive painting the company had sold had been "Hampstead Heath, Looking Towards London" by British landscape artist John Constable (1776-1837). It brought $442,500 in April 1999 when the company operated as C.G. Sloan & Co., and was also sold to a London bidder. Like the Canaletto-style work, the Constable had been hanging on a wall of a Maryland home for many years.

"It made pretty much what it should have," said Beddington of the painting sold Sunday. "It was a good result. The auction company should be happy."

Another Aristo Auction From The UK

2009-09-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

From Plymouth.co.uk:Earl of Devon auctions £1m treasures to pay debts.

AN ARISTOCRAT struck by the credit crunch auctioned off £1 million of historic family heirlooms yesterday to clear his debts.

Hugh Courtenay, the 18th Earl of Devon, put 113 treasures from his castle up for sale in order to cover debts accrued in running the 14th-century home.

The sale of family silver, furniture, antiques and paintings from Powderham Castle near Exeter, fetched £1,013,638 at Sotheby’s in London.

The earl, 67, will now use the profits to clear debts on the house before handing the 3,500-acre estate over to his son, Lord Charles Peregrine Courtenay.

He said: “We tried to choose things we wouldn’t miss too much.

“With the various projects we’ve invested in here over the years, we found we were trying to support too much in overheads.

“Something had to give. Pretty much every generation has to do this.

“A bit less in the way of furniture is probably a good thing – not so much to move about.”

Highlights of the sale included a George II carved mahogany library table which sold for a whopping £127,250, topping its estimate of £120,000.

A painting, entitled “Samuel Scott, Sir William Courtenay’s sloop-rigged yacht, The Neptune, Raising Sail” brought in £91,250, smashing its top estimate of £80,000.

Most surprisingly, a George II white painted mirror that was only expected to raise £9,000 at best sold for £30,000.

However, the item with the highest reserve, an 18th-century portrait painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds estimated to fetch up to £200,000, failed to sell.

Lord Devon expressed his relief at the sale result after the final gavel had dropped.

He said: “We are very pleased with the result of today’s sale which, combined with items that have sold in other categories of sales at Sotheby’s, has raised the target sum of £1 million.

“That such a broad range of items – as is characteristic of any home, but particularly so in a home inhabited by many successive generations – has appealed to buyers whom I believe are both from the trade and private individuals, gives me great hope that they will be appreciated and enjoyed in the new homes they have found, hopefully for generations.”

Powderham Castle has been in the Courtenay family since it was built between 1390 and 1420 and has been open to the public for 50 years.

Many of the items in the sale featured in the background to the 1993 film Remains of the Day, starring Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Grant and Christopher Reeve, which was shot at the castle.

The Powderham sale, which was expected to raise almost £1.5 million on their own, went to auction in a combined sale with 100 lots from Seaton Delaval Hall in Northumberland.

The combined sale exceeded its top estimate prediction of £1.8 million to fetch £1,823,693.

Harry Dalmeny, deputy chairman of Sotheby’s UK, said: “It has been a great honour to hold the sale of property from Powderham Castle and Seaton Delaval Hall.

Contemporary Art Sales Off By 80%

2009-09-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

By Scott Reyburn
Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The estimated value of London’s October contemporary-art auctions is down 81 percent from 2008 as prices and lots on offer decline amid the financial crisis.

Sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s International and Phillips de Pury of “Part I” works during the week of the Frieze Art Fair are estimated to fetch at least 20.8 million pounds ($33.1 million), according to a total of auction-house figures calculated by Bloomberg. The equivalent sales last year had a low estimate of 107 million pounds.

The three auction houses stopped guaranteeing minimum prices to sellers at the end of 2008. Collectors remain reluctant to offer high-priced works in public without guarantees; auction companies are selling more pieces through private transactions.

“There’s still a definite reluctance to sell at auction,” London-based dealer Thomas Dane said in an interview. “People got used to unrealistic prices and they still have them in their heads. A lot of people don’t need to sell at the moment. There are quite a few private transactions going on.”

The volume of sales at contemporary-art auctions dropped between 70 percent and 80 percent and the prices of works by 50 percent or more since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. last September, said the London-based research company ArtTactic.

‘Frieze Week’

This year, Sotheby’s and Christie’s will hold their “Frieze Week” contemporary-art sales on the same day. Christie’s 25-lot evening sale on Oct. 16 has a low estimate of 6.8 million pounds. Last year it offered 47 lots, six of which were guaranteed, with a low value of 57.8 million pounds.

“Though volumes have come down significantly, people are more willing to transact in the auction market,” Francis Outred,” Christie’s European head of contemporary art, said in an interview. “Private sales were significant in the first six months of this year. Things have changed slightly: We now know what people are prepared to pay at auction.”

After high unsold rates during the winter, 88 percent of the works sold at Christie’s June contemporary auction in London. Sotheby’s rival event sold 92.5 percent.

Private sales of contemporary art at Christie’s outstripped auction sales in the first half of 2009, said Outred.

“Sellers were attracted because asking prices were much higher than the low auction estimates,” Outred said. “You could sell high quality works for boom-time prices.”

Private Sales

“We’ve currently got between 15 and 20 works that are actively being offered privately at the moment,” said Outred, who was not able to provide a value for the group. Christie’s had 133.1 million pounds in private sales in the first half of 2009, said the London-based auction house.

Matt Carey-Williams, formerly a director at Christie’s dealership Haunch of Venison, was appointed the company’s European director of private sales in August.

Sotheby’s has taken $1.5 billion in private transactions over the last three years, according to an advertisement that the New York-based company placed in the Art Newspaper.

The highlights of Christie’s evening auction are Martin Kippenberger’s 1991 painting “Paris Bar,” estimated at 800,000 pounds to 1.2 million pounds, and Peter Doig’s 1994 canvas “Pine House (Rooms for Rent),” at 1.5 million pounds to 2.5 million pounds.

Kippenberger’s 13-foot-wide depiction of the Berlin bar that was once frequented by himself, David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Andy Warhol has been entered by a European collector and has never been offered at auction before. The artist died in 1997, aged 44.

Doig’s House

Doig’s painting of a house by a river is being re-offered, having failed to achieve its low estimate of $4.5 million at Christie’s New York in November, when it was guaranteed.

Sotheby’s 177-lot sale on the afternoon of Oct. 16 is expected to fetch between 9 million pounds and 13 million pounds. The company’s equivalent event last year, held in the evening, contained 62 works valued at a minimum of 30.6 million pounds.

Sotheby’s sale will include nine works donated by artists to benefit Harefield Hospital, a unit on the outskirts of London specializing in cardiac surgery. The sale was the idea of surgeon Jullien Gaer, who invited artists to visit the hospital.

Grayson Perry’s glazed ceramic “Urn for the Living,” depicting surgeons around a gaping hole in the body of the pot, was inspired by observation of an open-heart operation. It is expected to fetch up to 50,000 pounds in a section that Harefield hopes will raise more than 400,000 pounds.

Basquiat Painting

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1983 acrylic and oilstick painting “Fuego Flores” is the most highly estimated lot at Sotheby’s, at up to 1.2 million pounds. Two slightly larger paintings by Basquiat from 1982 fetched 6.5 million pounds and $13.5 million at auction in London and New York last year.

Sotheby’s and Christie’s will be offering 20th-century Italian art on Oct. 16. Last year, the equivalent auctions were held a week after Frieze. Sotheby’s is expecting to raise at least 5.7 million pounds from 33 Italian lots, Christie’s 6.5 million pounds from 38 lots.

“Persuading collectors to part with high-quality works is difficult,” said Anthony McNerney, Phillips’s London-based head of evening contemporary sales. “They still think it’s a risk.”

Phillips’s evening auction on Oct. 17 contains 44 works with a low estimate of 5 million pounds. Last October, when guarantees were available, it offered 70 lots with a minimum valuation of 18.6 million pounds.

Basquiat’s 1983 painting “Year of the Boar,” carries an estimate of up to 1.2 million pounds, while two large-scale paintings by Kippenberger entered by his former Austrian-based dealer Gabriella Bleich-Rossi are expected to fetch up to 500,000 pounds and 600,000 pounds each.

An archive of material relating to Kippenberger will be offered for private sale by Bleich-Rossi through Phillips for an undisclosed price in October.

“Private sales are the way forward,” McNerney said. “Collectors realize that auction houses have huge client bases. The trick is not to show the works to too many of those clients.”

(Scott Reyburn writes about the art market for Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer on the story: Scott Reyburn in London at sreyburn@hotmail.com

Charles Dickens

2009-09-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

One of my greatest pastimes while on vacation has always been reading Charles Dickens. My mother gave me a complete set many years ago, which look great on the shelf by the way, and while most probably think they are just there for looks, I've read them all. I loved every minute.

This article from the Guardian.UK caught my eye. We should all read Dickens.

Jon Michael Varese:"Why are we still reading Dickens?
The great Victorian is probably even more ubiquitous now than he was in his lifetime. How he remains such vital reading is an intriguing question."

It seems that you cannot turn a corner this year without bumping into Charles Dickens. So far we've seen the release of four major novels based on the Victorian icon's life: Dan Simmons's Drood (February), Matthew Pearl's The Last Dickens (March), Richard Flanagan's Wanting (May), and Gaynor Arnold's Girl in a Blue Dress (July). Earlier this year BBC1's lush new production of Little Dorrit was nominated for five Bafta awards in the UK, and 11 Emmys in the US. Newspapers and magazines have run stories on his relevance to the current global economic crisis. And with the Christmas season now only four months away, it seems that there is no getting away from him any time soon.

As someone who teaches and writes about Dickens, the question of why we still read him is something that's often on my mind. But that question was never more troubling than one day, nearly 10 years ago, when I was standing as a guest speaker in front of a class of about 30 high school students. I had been speaking for about 20 minutes with an 1850 copy of David Copperfield in my hand, telling the students that for Victorian readers, Dickens's writing was very much a "tune-in-next-week" type of thing that generated trends and crazes, much as their own TV shows did for them today.

Then a hand shot up in the middle of the room.

"But why should we still read this stuff?"

I was speechless because in that moment I realised that, though I had begun a PhD dissertation on Dickens, I had never pondered the question myself.

The answer I gave was acceptable: "Because he teaches you how to think," I said. But lots of writers can teach you how to think, and I knew that wasn't really the reason.

The question nagged me for years, and for years I told myself answers, but never with complete satisfaction. We read Dickens not just because he was a man of his own times, but because he was a man for our times as well. We read Dickens because his perception and investigation of the human psyche is deep, precise, and illuminating, and because he tells us things about ourselves by portraying personality traits and habits that might seem all too familiar. His messages about poverty and charity have travelled through decades, and we can learn from the experiences of his characters almost as easily as we can learn from our own experiences.

These are all wonderful reasons to read Dickens. But these are not exactly the reasons why I read Dickens.

My search for an answer continued but never with success, until one year the little flicker came – not surprisingly – from another high school student, whose essay I was reviewing for a writing contest. "We need to read Dickens's novels," she wrote, "because they tell us, in the grandest way possible, why we are what we are."

There it was, like a perfectly formed pearl shucked from the dirty shell of my over-zealous efforts – an explanation so simple and beautiful that only a 15-year-old could have written it. I could add all of the decoration to the argument with my years of education – the pantheon of rich characters mirroring every personality type; the "universal themes" laid out in such meticulous and timeless detail; the dramas and the melodramas by which we recognise our own place in the Dickensian theatre – but the kernel of what I truly wanted to say had come from someone else. As is often the case in Dickens, the moment of realisation for the main character here was induced by the forthrightness of another party.

And who was I, that I needed to be told why I was what I was? Like most people, I think I knew who I was without knowing it. I was Oliver Twist, always wanting and asking for more. I was Nicholas Nickleby, the son of a dead man, incurably convinced that my father was watching me from beyond the grave. I was Esther Summerson, longing for a mother who had abandoned me long ago due to circumstances beyond her control. I was Pip in love with someone far beyond my reach. I was all of these characters, rewritten for another time and place, and I began to understand more about why I was who I was because Dickens had told me so much about human beings and human interaction.

There are still two or three Dickens novels that I haven't actually read; but when the time is right I'll pick them up and read them. I already know who it is I'll meet in those novels – the Mr Micawbers, the Mrs Jellybys, the Ebenezer Scrooges, the Amy Dorrits. They are, like all of us, cut from the same cloth, and at the same time as individual as their unforgettable aptronyms suggest. They are the assurances that Dickens, whether I am reading him or not, is shining a light on who I am during the best and worst of times.