Stories for February '20
(Fragment)Benton Family Accuses Trustee of Mismanagement
Missing paintings and mismanagement to the tune of millions of dollars are what the heirs of iconic American artist Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) are alleging in a legal action filed in Circuit Court in Jackson County, Missouri.
Jessie Benton, Benton’s daughter, and her three children—Anthony Gude, Daria Lyman, and Cybele Benton ... (Read More)
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(Young Collectors)The Roadshow Effect
The Young Collector
Recently we took the kids to see the final (let’s be honest—latest) installment of Star Wars, and they were talking about how excited they were, and how they could not wait. Andrew pointed out that he had been waiting for this moment for more than 40 years. It ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Letter from London, February 2020
Into the New Year with a selection that has changed somewhat since I first drew up a list of options and is now heavily weighted towards Far Eastern works of art, both Chinese and Japanese, and to the world of antiquities.
Those Chinese lots are principally drawn from London sales, as ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)New Show for Charlotte
Puchstein Promotions has announced a new addition to its roster of shows. The Charlotte Vintage and Antiques Market will debut May 22-24 in the new Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, located on the northeast side of Charlotte in Concord, North Carolina. The promoters note that there will be more than ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)New Location for Naples Show
The Naples Art, Antique & Jewelry Show will be held February 21-25 at a new location, 5305 Airport-Pulling Road North in Naples, Florida. The location is on the northwest corner of two of the most-traveled roads in Naples, Airport-Pulling and Pine Ridge Roads, and two miles west of exit 107 ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Shining Light on Sundials
A Book Review
Photos courtesy Adler Planetarium
Many years ago I was given a 1902 book, Sun-Dials and Roses of Yesterday by Alice Morse Earle. I later gave the book away but then was gifted another copy. How glad I am now to pull it from my shelf as I review a ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Morphy Files Suit against Julia
It was a surprise merger that now, less than two years later, has led to a court fight.
On December 20, 2017, Morphy Auctions announced that it had merged with Fairfield, Maine, auction house James D. Julia, Inc., which became a division of Morphy Auctions. On November 18, 2019, Morphy Auctions, ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Dealers Are Financial Institutions—In the Eyes of Congress
The fight against money laundering and terrorism might result in art and antiques deals being much more transparent.
The “Coordinating Oversight, Upgrading and Innovating Technology, and Examiner Reform Act of 2019” or “COUNTER Act of 2019” was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in October 2019 by a unanimous voice ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Saved Walls Head West
Helaine Fendelman, a board member of Wall Preservation (CPWP), recently shared a story of saving several paint-decorated plaster walls.
“In July 2018, just prior to the annual board meeting of the organization,” Fendelman wrote, “a contractor working on Nantucket Island contacted Linda Lefko, president of the Center for Painted Wall Preservation, ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Exhibitions, February 2020
Christina Nicodema (b. 1987), The Tower of Babel, Placenta, 2019, oil and archival ink on canvas, 45" x 45". Courtesy the artist and Hollis Taggart, New York City.
—Through February 22 —New York City
Hollis Taggart Contemporary presents Of Folly, Fortune, Glory, Ruin, a two-person exhibition featuring the work of contemporary artists ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Three Plead Guilty in Fake Native American Jewelry Case
In federal court in Arizona on January 6, three members of an international conspiracy to import knock-off jewelry from the Philippines and misrepresent it as Native American pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme.
Laura Marye Wesley, a.k.a. Laura Lott, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit ... (Read More)
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(Fragment)Arader Buys The Birds of America for $6.6 Million
Graham Arader bought The Birds of America; from Original Drawings by John James Audubon at Sotheby’s in New York City on December 18, 2019, for $6,642,400 (including buyer’s premium) and said he got a bargain. The estimate was $6/8 million.
The total was about half the $11,542,683 (the auction record price ... (Read More)
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(Issue Story)Georgian to Contemporary Jewelry and a New Jewelry Director at Rago
Antique Jewelry & Gemology
Photos courtesy Rago Arts & Auction Center
Rago Arts & Auction Center’s December 8, 2019, fine jewelry auction included many interesting antique items that performed well, making it difficult to choose a group to best illustrate this column. Dianne Batista, the new director of jewelry at Rago, an ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Eldred’s Marine Sale
Eldred’s, East Dennis, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Eldred’s
Scrimshaw was the main attraction at Eldred’s marine sale held November 21, 2019, in the East Dennis, Massachusetts, gallery. In preparation, the auction gallery hosted the meeting and cocktail reception of the Antique Scrimshaw Collectors Association (ASCA) the evening before the sale. There were presentations ... (Read More)
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(Auction)American Art Sale
Christie’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Christie’s
Christie’s offered an “edited and selective” sale on November 20, 2019, selling $21,895,250 in American art in its live sale and $2,237,625 in the online auction, which ran November 14-20. The overall total was $24,132,875.
“We’re very selective in what we include,” said Eric Widing, deputy ... (Read More)
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(Show)The 12th American Art Fair
The American Art Fair, New York City
The 12th edition of the American Art Fair, held November 16-19, 2019, opened to a larger-than-usual crowd on Friday, November 15, an evening where collectors, clients, art dealers, curators, and auction house specialists mingled on the three floors of the Bohemian National Hall on ... (Read More)
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(Auction)American Art at Bonhams
Bonhams, New York City
Photos courtesy Bonhams
A 100-lot auction of American art, including nine lots from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), was held at Bonhams in the late afternoon of November 19, 2019. The second-floor salesroom was filled with approximately 35 people at the 4 p.m. start of the auction. ... (Read More)
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(Auction)American Art Auction
Sotheby’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Sotheby’s
The first American art sale since Sotheby’s was taken private resulted in $20,867,000 (with buyers’ premiums) worth of art being sold. Seventy lots were offered on November 19, 2019, and 43 sold, for a sell-through rate of 61.4%. The presale estimate was $24,795,000/38,215,000.
The results were ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Maine Art Takes Center Stage at Grogan
Grogan & Company, Boston, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Grogan & Company
It’s always a full house when an auction begins at Grogan & Company. The November 17, 2019, sale in the Boston gallery was no exception. The sale could be called seaworthy, as the artwork sold had a decidedly maritime flavor, albeit with ... (Read More)
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(Auction)A Solid Showing for Americana
Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates, Mt. Crawford, Virginia
Photos courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates
Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates held its 37th semiannual auction of Americana, a two-day affair on November 15 and 16, 2019. The first day featured 18th- and 19th-century glassware, lighting, and ceramics. M.A.D. visited on day two ... (Read More)
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(Auction)A Lot to Be Thankful for at Farrin’s
Farrin’s Country Auctions, Randolph, Maine
Each year Farrin’s Country Auctions holds a pre-Thanksgiving sale in Randolph, Maine. On November 13, 2019, it consisted of over 800 lots, out the door in an evening of fast selling, with a small handful of items left behind. The biggest money winners were a couple ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Pinckney Portrait Sells for $187,500
Freeman’s, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Freeman’s
Freeman’s November 12, 2019, sale, held on the Tuesday after the Delaware Antiques Show, was strategically planned so that dealers and collectors could stop in Philadelphia to preview on their way to or from Delaware. There were fewer than a dozen people in the salesroom. More ... (Read More)
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(Auction)“A Small Leak Will Sink a Great Ship”
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Thomaston, Maine
Photos courtesy Thomaston Place Auction Galleries
Benjamin Franklin once wrote, “Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.” Old Ben’s namesake steamship, the S.S. Franklin, sank in 1854. But Thomaston Place Auction Galleries brought forth the salvaged figurehead as a prime component ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Established Artists and New Discoveries Showcased
Slotin Folk Art Auction, Buford, Georgia
Photos courtesy Slotin Folk Art Auction
Slotin Folk Art Auction continues to impress, not only with the art presented but also with the diversity of artists represented. “We are coming into our twenty-fifth year,” auctioneer/owner Steve Slotin explained, referencing the fall sale held November 9 and ... (Read More)
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(Show)Antiques + Modernism Winnetka Show
Winnetka, Illinois
We’ve said it flat-out in these pages: the perennially successful Antiques + Modernism Winnetka Show could not happen anywhere else but in the North Shore Chicago suburb where it has been a fixture for decades. First, because the show benefits and is housed in an institution central to the ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Welcome to Richmond, Mr. Brunk
Brunk Auctions, Richmond, Virginia
Photos courtesy Brunk Auctions
Brunk Auctions held its inaugural auction in Richmond, Virginia, on November 9, 2019. The sale marked the beginning of a new chapter for the Asheville, North Carolina-based firm. Brunk Auctions is not relocating; it has established a second location.
The decision to add a presence ... (Read More)
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(Show)The AADLA Fine Art & Antiques Show
New York City
The Art and Antique Dealers League of America (AADLA) put on a five-day show, October 31 to November 4, 2019, at Wallace Hall, within walking distance of or a short cab ride to the fall edition of TEFAF (The European Fine Art Foundation), held simultaneously at the Park ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Native American Vase Leads Holiday Auction
Humler & Nolan, Cincinnati, Ohio
Photos courtesy Humler & Nolan
A Rookwood Pottery 9" high double-handled Standard glaze vase depicting an Indian woman holding a baby wrapped in a checkered blanket was the highlight of the holiday sale at Humler & Nolan, Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 2 and 3, 2019. The vase, ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Paddock Collection of Tole Sold
Butterscotch Auctioneers & Appraisers, Bedford Village, New York
Photos courtesy Butterscotch Auctioneers & Appraisers
Butterscotch Auctioneers & Appraisers’ sale in Bedford Village, New York, on November 3, 2019, included historically important American tinware decorated by the Butler family from the collection of Charlotte Guild Paddock of East Greenbush, New York. Paddock was ... (Read More)
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(Auction)American Art
Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas
Photos courtesy Heritage Auctions
Distinctively American art that evokes the spirit of the rugged American West and works that nostalgically capture America of the early to mid-20th century achieved sales records for Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas. The November 1, 2019, auction recorded sales of $5,418,288 (with buyers’ ... (Read More)
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(Show)Collaboration Resonates with Showgoers at TEFAF
The European Fine Art Fair, New York City
It was all about the mix for the fourth iteration of The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) held at the Park Avenue Armory on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Ninety dealers, including 17 new to the fair, offered antiquities and works of art and ... (Read More)
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(Show)New Angles and Emerging Art at BIFAS
Boston International Fine Art Show, Boston, Massachusetts
For the Boston International Fine Art Show (BIFAS) held October 24-27, 2019, Tony Fusco and Robert “Bob” Four of Fusco & Four changed the mix, brightening the show, which resulted in an event that overflowed with fine art and enthusiastic visitors at the Boston ... (Read More)
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(Auction)On-Site Sale in Newbury
John McInnis Auctions, Newbury, Massachusetts
All prices include the buyer’s premium.
John Atkinson arrived in Newbury, Massachusetts, sometime before 1664 when he was granted an acre of land on which to build a house. Over the years it passed from generation to generation until it passed out of the family in the ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Starr and Arnhold Collections
Sotheby’s, New York City
The Starr and Arnhold Collections
by Lita Solis-Cohen
Photos courtesy Sotheby’s
Two stellar collections of ceramics offered at Sotheby’s on successive days were not ignored by an international group of collectors and dealers. “Wedgwood & Beyond: English Ceramics from the Starr Collection” sold on October 23, 2019, for a total ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Shot Heard Round the Auction World
Morphy Auctions, Denver, Pennsylvania
Photos courtesy Morphy Auctions
Morphy Auctions’ October 22 and 23, 2019, blockbuster firearms sale in Denver, Pennsylvania, saw over $10 million worth of historical firepower change hands. The headliner was a Dutch flintlock well known in the world of antique guns that had been owned by a soldier ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Firearms Auction
Poulin Antiques and Auctions, Inc., Fairfield, Maine
Firearms Auction
by Mark Sisco
Before the October 18-21, 2019, firearms auction in Fairfield, Maine, Nick Poulin, chief operating officer of Poulin Antiques and Auctions, Inc., now in the third generation of Julia family management, told me that the company can now lay claim to being ... (Read More)
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(Show)The CSADA 45th Fall Fox Valley Antiques Show
St. Charles, Illinois
Should anyone reading this wonder if the 45th fall Fox Valley Antiques Show, held October 19 and 20, 2019, was successful, consider what was told to us by a show dealer: One longtime customer came both days of the show and bought 17 items, including a lap desk, ... (Read More)
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(Show)Continued Growth and Renaming for Virginia Pickers
Virginia Pickers Antiques & Collectables Show, Glen Allen, Virginia
In October 2018 we were introduced to the Virginia Pickers show. We have followed the birth and early growth of this central Virginia grass-roots twice-yearly event that is now in its second full year. The third Virginia Pickers show was held at ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Inaugural Mars & Neptune Trust Sale
Nadeau’s Auction Gallery, Windsor, Connecticut
Photos courtesy Nadeau’s Auction Gallery
The inaugural sale of the Mars & Neptune Trust on October 19, 2019, at Nadeau’s Auction Gallery in Windsor, Connecticut, brought to market a meticulously curated collection of museum-quality military objects from the 17th century to the first half of the 19th ... (Read More)
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(Auction)James Gale Tyler Oil Tops Moisan Auction
Devin Moisan Auctioneers, Dover, New Hampshire
Devin Moisan ran a lightning-fast sale on October 17, 2019, in Dover, New Hampshire, barely pausing to draw a breath while moving out about 338 lots.
The lodestar of the sale by a wide margin was a dramatic seascape by James Gale Tyler (1855-1931) of a ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Hindman Rolls Out the Barrels
Hindman Auctions, Chicago, Illinois
Photos courtesy Hindman Auctions
Headed into an October 17, 2019, sale of American and European art, Hindman Auctions in Chicago was still basking in the September glow of a postwar and contemporary art sale that set auction records for six Chicago imagists. For that, credit goes in large ... (Read More)
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(Auction)The Collection of Lee Radziwill
Christie’s, New York City
Photos courtesy Christie’s
Some coveted objects belonging to Caroline “Lee” Bouvier Radziwill (1933-2019), sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994), came to auction in a dedicated sale during Christie’s Collector Week in New York City.
The 168-lot sale, heavily marketed by the auction house, totaled $1,266,000 (with buyers’ premiums), with ... (Read More)
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(Auction)Americana Sale Faces Picky Buyers
Hindman Auctions, Chicago, Illinois
Hopes ran high when Hindman Auctions in Chicago announced that an October 15, 2019, sale of furniture, decorative arts, and silver would include more than 150 lots of early American decorative arts, including folk art and other pieces from the collections of Michael and Janice Doniger and ... (Read More)
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(Auction)American Indian and Western Art
Cowan’s Auctions, Cincinnati, Ohio
Photos courtesy Cowan’s Auctions
A two-day auction of American Indian and Western art held by Cowan’s Auctions in Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 10 and 11, 2019, grossed $2 million. “It exceeded our expectations,” said Danica Farnand, Cowan’s director of the department.
The auction began with a session devoted to ... (Read More)
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