Displaying items by tag: Heritage Auctions

Locked behind glass, illuminated like a jewel, lies an Hermès Birkin — totem of wealth, bestower of status, and one seriously expensive handbag.

This particular specimen is a coveted Hermès White Himalayan Birkin, dyed in brown and beige crocodile. Gently, if ever, used, it is offered at $115,000.

Wait — used?

That word is never spoken, not here inside the hushed Midtown Manhattan showroom of Heritage Auctions. The preferred term is “rare” or “vintage” — in this case, applied to a handbag made all the way back in 2013.

No one, it is said, knows more about the buying and selling of pre-owned Hermès bags than Matthew Rubinger, Heritage’s Birkin whisperer. But now Mr. Rubinger, 26, has left for another more famous auction house — Christie’s International — and the battle of the Birkins has begun.

Heritage Auctions, which is based in Dallas, TX, has announced that they will be expanding their New York City office. The company has leased over 5,000-square-feet of additional space next to their current Park Avenue location. The expansion, which has tripled the auction house’s space in New York, will include an area for private sales, a showroom for exhibiting auction highlights, and a saleroom for small, on-site auctions. Heritage will continue to hold their larger sales at the Fletcher Sinclair mansion across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Heritage, which was established in 1976, is currently the largest auction house specializing in collectibles such as rare coins, civil war memorabilia, fine and rare wine, and rare books and manuscripts. The auction house brought in around $900 million in sales last year.

The work of Irving Penn proved irresistible to a passionate collector on May 2 at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion as the famed photographer’s Harlequin Dress, Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn, 1950, brought $131,450 to lead Heritage Auctions’ $697,000+ Signature® Vintage & Contemporary Photography Auction. All prices quoted include 19.5% Buyer’s Premium.

“This image dates directly from the very peak period of Penn’s powers as a fashion photographer,” said Ed Jaster, Senior Vice President at Heritage Auctions. “It features his wife, Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn, herself one of the top models of the day, in a photograph that is particularly revered among Penn’s 150 cover photos for Vogue.”

Another Penn fashion photo of his wife, Woman in Dior Hat with Martini (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn), 1952, also took the second spot in the auction’s top lots with a $56,763 finish on the day, while a vintage gelatin silver print of Edward Weston’s Pepper (No. 14), 1929, signed, dated and numbered, showed the continuing allure of the artist’s work to the tune of $50,788.

A 1980 dye destruction print of Annie Leibovitz’s John and Yoko, New York, December 8, 1980, one of the most famous rock and roll photographs ever taken, showed its enduring power amidst spirited bidding to rise to $26,290.

“Leibovitz captured this intimate moment in John and Yoko's apartment just hours before John was shot,” said Rachel Peart, Consignment Director at Heritage Auctions, “and, when another example of this photograph was used on the cover of January 1981 Rolling Stone magazine commemorating the former Beatle, it became an instant classic.”

Massimo Vitali’s sweeping Chromogenic Calafuria #1774, 2002 was one of the top contemporary highlights of the day, realizing $17,925 while one of the most unexpected bright spots was O. Winston Link’s Birmingham Special, Rural Retreat, Virginia, 1957, one of the photographer’s most stirring images, which more than tripled its pre-auction estimate of $4,000+ to finish the auction at $13,145. A later print of Yousuf Karsh’s famous Winston Churchill, 1941, which realized $11,353 and Weston’s Nude, 1936 brought $10,158 to round out the auction’s top offerings.

The original art from Page 10, issue #3 of Frank Miller and Klaus Janson’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (DC, 1986) became the single most valuable piece of American comic art to ever sell when it brought $448,125 as part of Heritage Auctions’ May 5 Vintage Comics and Comic Art Auction. Final price includes 19.5% Buyer’s Premium.

“Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns defined the best of 1980s comics, and has since been universally acknowledged as one of the most important and influential stories ever published ,” said Ed Jaster, Senior Vice President of Heritage Auctions, “and no image from that important comic series is more iconic than this Splash Page. It’s a little surprising, yes, but fitting that this piece is now the most expensive piece of American comic art ever sold at auction.”

The piece was bought by an anonymous collector.

The image is the single most memorable image from the entire comic book series and the greatest image from the decade of the 1980s ever to come to market, as well as now standing as one of, if not the most desirable pieces of original comic art from any era to come to market. It is a perfect stand-alone image of Batman and Robin (Carrie Kelley, the first female, full-time Robin) soaring high above Gotham City, emblematic of the entire storyline.

"I've always loved that drawing,” commented Miller, when asked before the auction what his thoughts on its imminent sale were. “Danced around my studio like a fool when I drew it. I hope it finds a good home."

The previous record price for a piece of original American comic book art was set last year when the cover of EC comics Weird Fantasy #29, by legendary artist Frank Frazetta sold via a private treaty sale for $380,000.

The public record for an American comic book cover was set last year with the $380,000 sale of the cover of EC title Weird Science-Fantasy #29 by Frank Frazetta.

“Frank Miller’s original art work for the cover of Daredevil #188 sold for $101,575 last year,” said Jaster, “so we knew there were serious buyer’s out there, especially for Miller’s top work. Now we know for sure what collectors are willing to pay. This piece is far away the current king. Nothing else has even come close.”