California and Western Art
November 21st, 2016
Bonhams, Los Angeles, California
Photos courtesy Bonhams
All prices include the buyer’s premium.
“There still seem to be plenty of buyers,” said California paintings specialist Scot Levitt after his November 21, 2016, auction at Bonhams, Los Angeles. (The sale was also simulcast in San Francisco.) “They bid online, on the telephone, and in the room,” Levitt continued. He mentioned “three or four bidders in particular in San Francisco,” who were actively buying and underbidding. “I’m happy to see that.”
The cover picture and star lot, this 26" x 34" work by E. Charlton Fortune (1885-1969), untitled (Monterey), that Levitt called “super rare,” sold for $787,500 (est. $500,000/700,000) to a Laguna Beach, California, collector, who has “a nice collection of fine things.” Levitt said he “couldn’t say enough good things about this painting” and added that a Fortune book and traveling exhibit are currently in the works, initiated by the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California. “She is becoming a star California artist, eclipsing Guy Rose as a big name.”
At this auction, as at most auctions, “Better things did well, mediocre things did mediocre, and lesser things did not get as much attention.” But there were enough better things to total $3.8 million in sales, including post-auction sales. “Percentage-wise, the higher end sold extremely well. It used to be the other way around.”
Buyers “seem more comfortable with the cream-of-the-crop stuff,” Levitt said, adding. “Bonhams is still leading the way in this particular market, compared to our competitors.” What does the future hold? “Trump is good for business, which should help prices.”
Bonhams next California and Western paintings and sculpture auction will be held April 11 in Los Angeles and San Francisco with previews in both locations. For more information contact (323) 850-7500 or go to (www.bonhams.com).
A Bay Area collector bought The Oaks, a 16" x 22" watercolor and graphite by Percy Gray (1869-1952) for $38,750 (est. $20,000/30,000). Levitt called The Oaks a “classic Percy Gray watercolor, with sharpness and great color.”
A San Francisco collector paid $43,750 (est. $20,000/30,000) for Donna Schuster’s Girl with Mirror (26¼" x 20¼"), which Levitt called a “portrait of a pretty young woman sitting beside a dresser and gazing at the viewer. Interior scenes are somewhat rare amongst the California Impressionists, as most are landscapes, but this scene captures an intimacy shared between the attractive big-eyed woman and the artist.”
Egrets, 30" x 25", by Jessie Arms Botke (1883-1971), a painting with “a very Japanese feel to it,” sold for $81,250 (est. $25,000/35,000) to “regular clients” from Hawaii.
Woods Cove, Laguna, 15" x 18", by Guy Rose (1867-1925) sold for $217,500 (est. $120,000/180,000) to a collector who lives at the location of the painting.
Flowers, Capistrano Mission, 28½" x 24¼", by Arthur Grover Rider (1886-1975) sold for $43,750 (est. $20,000/30,000) to a longtime private client from San Luis Obispo, California. “Nothing but color,” said Levitt. “A quintessential California scene in bright, high-key color.”
Poplars, 26" x 34", by Joseph Raphael (1869-1950) sold to a San Francisco collector for $118,750 (est. $40,000/60,000). Levitt said Poplars is “very plein air, with thick brush strokes.”
The Fleet Retuning at Day’s End by Edgar Payne (1883-1947) is 70" x 94"— “massive—the largest Payne we’ve ever sold,” according to Levitt. It was purchased by a San Diego collector for $168,750 (est. $100,000/150,000). Levitt called it “one of my favorites. Standing in front of it, you’d think you were there. It’s going to a large office space, where it should be spectacular.”
An American Stoic (Portrait of Najinyankte), a 28" high bronze by Alexander Stirling Calder (1870-1945), father of mobile master Alexander Calder, sold for $70,000 (est. $12,000/18,000) to an institution devoted to the artist. Levitt called it “rare” and “a beautiful piece.”
Jack Knife, 60" x 48", by Ed Mell (b. 1942), sold to a private collector, a first-time buyer from Alabama, for $87,500 (est. $25,000/45,000), a new record for Mell, who has made sculptures based on this painting. “Arguably,” said Levitt, “it is his best-known painting, with a Modernist flair.”
Originally published in the February 2017 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2017 Maine Antique Digest
