Displaying items by tag: lot

Christie’s evening sale of Old Master & British Paintings, which took place on July 2, 2013 in London, garnered $36.2 million and attracted buyers from 11 countries. Georgina Wilsenach, Head of Old Master & British Paintings at Christie’s London, said, “This sale saw strong prices for paintings from all schools particularly Italian, Flemish and British. We welcomed, once again, bidders from Asia, the Middle East, South American and Russia as well as the traditional markets of Europe and America.”

Canaletto’s (1697-1768) masterpiece, The Molo, Venice, from the Bacino di San Marco, was the evening’s top lot. The work, which is one of the artist’s most celebrated views of Venice, realized $12.8 million, well over its high estimate of $8.9 million. The painting, one of the largest of this particular subject, once belonged to Edward Howard, the 9^th Duke of Norfolk and a major patron of British art. The work was passed down through the Duke’s family until the 1970s.

Other highlights from the sale included Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) detailed study of a bearded man’s head in profile holding a bronze figure. Created after the artist had returned to Antwerp from Italy, the composition depicts one of the kings featured in Rubens’ monumental Adoration of the Kings (1616-17), which was painted for the Church of Saint John in Mechelen. The study brought $2.6 million, just over its low estimate of $2.2 million.

After a monumental postwar and contemporary auction that totaled $386 million this past spring, Christie’s expects an even bigger sale this November. Taking place November 14–15 in New York, the auction house estimates that the Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale could garner more than $441 million.

The 74-lot evening auction includes Andy Warhol’s Statue of Liberty canvas expected to bring in around $35 million and one of his silkscreens of Marlon Brando estimated at $15-$20 million. Other major draws include Jeff Koons’ balloon tulips for $25 million, a Rothko painting for $15-$20 million, and works by market darlings Alexander Calder, Gerhard Richter, Franz Kline, Ellsworth Kelly, and Jasper Johns. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (1981) is expected to set records for the artist with an estimate of $20 million.

Christie’s has already brought in $928 million in contemporary art sales this year.

On September 24^th, Christie’s presented their American Furniture, Folk Art, and Decorative Arts Sale in New York. Spanning the 18^th and 19^th centuries, works included furniture from the Wunsch Americana Foundation, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and American folk art and maritime paintings. The sale was 85% sold by lot and 93% by value.

The top lot was a Chippendale carved mahogany easy chair that was entrusted to Christie’s by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Estimated at $600,000-$900,000 and attributed to the renowned yet mysterious Garvan carver, the chair brought in $1.16 million, the third highest price ever paid for the form. “We are thrilled to have been the successful bidders on the Garvan Carver easy chair. It is a wonderful chair,” said Todd Prickett of C.L. Prickett who specializes in American antiques. The Museum will use the funds for new acquisitions.

Another lot that brought in more than expected was a Queen Anne Japanned Maple Bureau Table. One of about forty known examples of japanned furniture from colonial America, it is the only bureau table known to exist. Estimated at $60,000-$90,000, the table sold for $98,500.

Two paintings by the maritime artist, Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen (1850–1921), sold for more than their estimates that ranged from $12,000 to $18,000. The Paddlewheel Steamer St. John went for $45,000 while Fred B Dalzell went for $25,000.

Not all lots did as well as anticipated. A pair of Federal eagle-inlaid mahogany side chairs attributed to William Singleton were estimated at $60,000 to $90,000 but only sold for $32,500. The pair of chairs had been lent to the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the Department of State in 1968 and remained in the Monroe Reception Room as part of a larger set of four related chairs until they were returned to the Wunsch Americana Foundation. Until know, the location of this particular pair was unknown.