Stories for May '18
(Feature)Pennsylvania German Chest Decorated by the Black Unicorn Artist sells for $300,000
It was 12:45 a.m., early in the morning of May 11, when dealer James Kilvington of Dover, Delaware, bought a Berks County, Pennsylvania, Black Unicorn Artist chest for $300,000 (est. $40,000/80,000) at Christie’s sale of the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller. “I did not sit in the salesroom until ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Online Crime: Computer Column #352
Computer Column #352
It has been more than a year (see February 2017, p. 24-E, column #338) since we discussed online crime in its many forms. The fraudsters continue to find ways to cheat us.
Getting statistics on online crime is not easy. IC3, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Complaint ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Monhegan Museum of Art & History Receives $1 Million Challenge Grant
The Monhegan Museum of Art & History on Monhegan Island, Maine, has received a $1 million challenge grant from the Wyeth Foundation. The museum has up to three years to match this gift, the largest in the museum’s history. This grant will assist the museum in its campaign to raise ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Nathan Lumbard and His Circle of Craftsmen
A Book Review
Like a giant jigsaw puzzle, the picture of Nathan Lumbard’s place in American furniture history is not complete until the last page of this book is read. Then it all fits together, and Lumbard’s work stands out from that of his circle of craftsmen and is easily recognizable.
The ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Francis Wahlgren Joins Leslie Hindman Auctioneers
Francis Wahlgren has joined Leslie Hindman Auctioneers as an exclusive consultant for its fine books and manuscripts department. He will be based in New York but will assist the auction house’s eight locations nationwide, including its Chicago headquarters. He joins Gretchen Hause, director of fine books and manuscripts, who joined ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Court Rules Insurance Company Doesn’t Have to Pay for Fake Wine
A ruling in a California appeals court should send collectors scurrying to inspect their insurance policies.
In 2007 David Doyle, a collector of rare wine, began insuring his collection against loss or damage. He purchased a “Valuable Possessions” policy from Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, with a blanket policy limit of $19 ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Why Collect?
Unitarian pastor George Washington Burnap once wrote that three things were necessary for happiness in life: “something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” Collecting embodies all three—curiosity, passion, and anticipation.
Charles Spencer Curb made bold to write in 2010 (“Why We Collect: A Historical and Psychological Perspective,” ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Carol B. Cadou Named Director and CEO of Winterthur
Carol B. Cadou Named Director and CEO of Winterthur
Carol B. Cadou has been appointed the first Charles F. Montgomery Director and CEO of Winterthur. Currently senior vice president of historic preservation and collections at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Cadou will succeed David P. Roselle in late spring when Dr. Roselle ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Heirloom without an Heir
The Young Collector
We hate to be the bearers of bad news. No one wants to hear this, but we have all been dancing around the problem for way too long. It is time to simply put it out there, so here goes. We hate to break it to you, but ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)John Lockwood Kipling Bas-Relief Found at Estate Auction
I first began visiting Lambertville, New Jersey’s antiques shops, the Golden Nugget Antique Flea Market, and Rago Auctions in the 1990s while a graduate student in the art history department at the University of Delaware. Moving on in 2001 to a post as director of collections and exhibitions at the ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter from London, May 2018
The big money lots in this month’s selection are to be found among the Impressionist and modern pictures sold in London at the end of February, but an old master “find” that made some 100 times its estimated price and a sunny example of the work of Dame Laura Knight ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Jim Morneau, Classic Home Hardware, Canton, Connecticut
In the Trade
People get into the antiques business in all sorts of ways and for all sorts of reasons. Take Jim Morneau for example. When he was 23 years old, a house fire incinerated his furniture, and he discovered it was a lot cheaper to buy replacements at the local ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Lost Portrait of Forgotten Hero of American Revolution Rediscovered
Research on both sides of the Atlantic has unlocked the identity of a portrait of a French general wearing a Spanish uniform with medals including a Society of the Cincinnati eagle insignia. He’s a forgotten hero of the Revolutionary War.
The American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati in ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Farrin’s Launches Parking Lot Show
Farrin’s Country Auctions of Randolph, Maine, is launching an outside antiques show in the parking area of the auction house. Farrin’s Country Antique Show and Vintage Market will be held on Saturday, June 23, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (rain date, June 24) at 36 Water Street. The new ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)American Folk Art Museum Establishes the Anne Radice Education Fund
To honor Dr. Anne-Imelda Radice, who stepped down after five and a half years as executive director of the American Folk Art Museum, a fund for educational programming has been created.
“During Dr. Radice’s tenure, more than 15,000 New York City public school students visited the museum, where folk and self-taught ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Books Received, May 2018
Artist, Soldier, Lover, Muse by Arthur D. Hittner (Apple Ridge Press, 2017, 348 pp., softbound, $19.95).
Arthur Hittner worked for eight years on a catalogue raisonné and biography of Harold J. Rabinowitz, a talented young Social Realist who died in 1944 at age 29 after being held by the Japanese for ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Exhibitions: May 2018
Sally Mann (b. 1951), untitled (Scarred Tree), from the “Deep South” series, 1998, gelatin silver print. National Gallery of Art, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund.
—Through May 28 —Washington, D.C.
The National Gallery of Art (NGA) presents Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings. The exhibition of over 100 photographs reflects ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Agnes Martin Catalogue Raisonné Scores Court Win
On April 5 Judge Andrea Masley dismissed a lawsuit filed in a New York court by the Mayor Gallery, Ltd. against the Agnes Martin Catalogue Raisonné LLC and several individual defendants. The judge also ordered Mayor Gallery to pay the legal fees of the Agnes Martin Catalogue Raisonné LLC and ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)A.E. “Beanie” Backus Painting Breaks Record
On March 18 in Vero Beach, Florida, Ron Rennick Auctions, Inc., sold a landscape by Albert Ernest “Beanie” Backus (1906-1990) for $50,600 (includes buyer’s premium), establishing a new auction record for the Florida artist. Old Boats on the Shoreline, a 24" x 30" oil on canvas depicting boats built by ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Session Six of the Portzline Costume Jewelry Collection
Antique Jewelry & Gemology
Photos courtesy Ripley Auctions
Ripley Auctions in Indianapolis, Indiana, held its sixth session of the Portzline collection of costume jewelry on March 12. Andrea Hastings, vice president, head of inventory, has been working at Ripley Auctions for 15 years. She has seen a lot of jewelry hit the ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Chester County Antiques & Arts Show
Exton, Pennsylvania
The 36th annual Chester County Antiques & Arts Show took place March 9-11 and was held in a new place—the gymnasium of the Church Farm School in Exton, Pennsylvania. It was held earlier in March than in the past and was six weeks before the Philadelphia Antiques & Art ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Art Dealers Association of America Art Show
The Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) Art Show is a fair for lovers of art.
The dealers who are invited each year to exhibit bring their finest offerings, and many of them dedicate their booths to one artist or a group of artists from the same period and/or genre. “The ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Americana
Skinner, Boston, Massachusetts
Arriving at Skinner in Boston for the March 3 Americana sale, one couldn’t help noticing three men in Colonial dress among the crowd waiting to be admitted upstairs to the auction gallery. Had we stepped into the past? One thought was “How nice. Skinner is presenting men in ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Part Two of the Frent Collection Surpasses $1.3 Million Mark
Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas
Photos courtesy Heritage Auctions
The second installment of Heritage Auctions’ sale of the collection of David and Janice Frent is in the books, and with it came a sale total of more than $1.3 million along with some jaw-dropping moments. There is no better way to lead off ... (Read More)
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(Auction)African Americana Sells at Quinn’s
Quinn’s Auction Galleries and Waverly Rare Books, Falls Church, Virginia
Photos courtesy Quinn’s Auction GalleriesAll prices include buyer’s premium
On February 22 Quinn’s Auction Galleries through its Waverly Rare Books division held a single-consignor sale at its Falls Church, Virginia, location. The Johnson collection of black Americana and ephemera consisted of 256 ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Americana Sale in New Hampshire
William A. Smith, Inc., Plainfield, New Hampshire
Photos courtesy William A. Smith, Inc.
“Americana seems to be alive and well,” said a pleased Bill Smith during his midwinter auction on February 19 in Plainfield, New Hampshire. Smith was selling to a packed house, with patrons lining up the sides and filling most ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Rock Star Fizzles, but Totaig Wins by Several Lengths
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Thomaston, Maine
As often happens in the auction world, the rock star of the February 16-18 auction at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries in Thomaston, Maine, twinkled out without a sound. A 28" x 52" (sight size) oil on canvas by Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823-1900) was signed and ... (Read More)
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(Show)American Indian Art Show: Marin
San Rafael, California
As at every show, there were winners and not winners. At the 34th annual American Indian Art Show: Marin held February 17 and 18 in San Rafael, California, the balance seemed to tilt toward the nots. Many dealers were not willing to be quoted about their sales at ... (Read More)
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(Show)The Nashville Show by Jenkins: Buy and Sell, Meet and Greet
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville in mid-February has always been a favorite multi-venue destination where exhibitors from all over the country can sell to fresh buyers, exchange merchandise with one another, and get together with fellow marketers and favorite customers. Dealers from New England and mid-Atlantic states interact with merchants from the Southeast ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Southeastern Wildlife Expo Auction Garners $1.8 Million
Copley Fine Art Auctions, Charleston, South Carolina
Photos courtesy Copley Fine Art Auctions
The Southeastern Wildlife Expo is the place to be for those who love the best of the best where decoy and sporting art is concerned. The Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE) first took place in 1983 and included 100 exhibitors ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Photo Sale Offers Iconic Americana, Including Lewis W. Hine’s Child Laborers, Immigrants, and Men
Swann Galleries, New York City
Jeanne SchintoPhotos courtesy Swann Galleries
A collection of photographs by Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940), each with the hand stamp for his studio in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, was the undisputed highlight of Swann Galleries’ “Icons & Images” sale on February 15 in Manhattan. The auction house offered two ... (Read More)
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(Show)Heart of Tennessee Show: An Antiques Valentine
Lebanon, Tennessee
The third annual Heart of Tennessee opened with a Valentine-themed flourish at the festive preview party on the night of February 14. The crowd of collectors, which filled the parking lot, were obviously devoted to the pursuit of Americana, but they also enjoyed a most generous buffet provided to ... (Read More)
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(Auction)“Please Remember”: The African Americana Collection of Avis and Eugene Robinson
Skinner, Inc., Boston, MassachusettsPhotos courtesy Skinner, Inc.
A collection of African Americana assembled by Avis Collins Robinson, an artist, and her husband, Eugene Robinson, a reporter, editor, foreign correspondent, and Pulitzer-Prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post, was sold in the Boston gallery of Skinner Inc. on February 9, 2018.
The approximately 300 ... (Read More)
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(Show)Lebanon Antique Show
Lebanon, Ohio
Shortly before the opening of the Lebanon Antique Show, held January 27 and 28, Deborah Fisher stopped to pet a pig for luck. It was an interesting gesture but also totally unnecessary. An enthusiastic crowd forming outside the doors would soon see to that.
Deborah Fisher bought the cast-iron pig ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Americana and International Auction
Pook & Pook Inc., Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Pook & Pook
When Pook & Pook’s warehouse is overflowing, a sale is necessary. That’s why Pook & Pook scheduled a catalog sale for Saturday, January 27, and an online sale on the following Monday, January 29. It was just two weeks after Pook ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Father of Our Country Wins the Day
Case Antiques Auction, Knoxville, TennesseePhotos courtesy Case Antiques
The Case Antiques winter auction on January 27 was, as always, an intense one-day sale that presented almost 900 lots from a broad spectrum of specialties. The expected regional furniture, fine art, and decorative arts alternated with surprising offerings from a variety of ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Buck Doesn’t Stop Here: He’s Going Strong
Daniel Buck Auctions, Lisbon Falls, Maine
Daniel Buck Soules is a survivor, having survived a possible heart attack, a fearsome bout with Lyme disease, some personal calamities, and a rocky start-up to his auction business. But it looks as though all that is in the rear view mirror. On January 27 ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Rago Design and Unreserved Sales
Rago Arts & Auction Center, Lambertville, New JerseyPhotos courtesy Rago Arts & Auction Center
Rago Arts & Auction Center holds weekend design auctions three times a year, in January, June, and September, offering over 1000 lots in three days. The sales include lots from the entire 20th century, beginning with Arts ... (Read More)
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