Stories for November '24

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Bonhams in New York City to Move
by M.A.D. Staff

Bonhams will relocate its New York City headquarters from 580 Madison Avenue to Steinway Hall at 111 West 57th Street by late 2025. Steinway Hall was designed in 1925 by New York City architects Warren & Wetmore. The new U.S. flagship will feature an 80' glass atrium, four levels of ... (Read More)

(Book Review)

A Gift of Friendship
by M.A.D. Staff

A Book Review This children’s book is based on the true story of a little girl’s friendship with an injured Confederate soldier recuperating in her family’s house during the Civil War. Set in Culpeper, Virginia, in 1862, Sophia’s Gift tells the story of how the Strauss family struggles to survive as ... (Read More)

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Guilty Plea Expected in Art Theft
by

An Ohio man has agreed to plead guilty to a federal criminal charge for trafficking a stolen Andy Warhol print worth at least $175,000. Brian Alec Light, 58, of Hudson, Ohio, formerly a resident of downtown Los Angeles, is expected to plead guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Beware the Undead
by Hollie Davis and Andrew Richmond

Did you know that not a small number of people consider antiques to be “creepy?” They do! “Dead people’s stuff.” Old houses with creaky floors, beds people probably died in, blanket chests that held trousseaus for ghostly brides, samplers and quilts made by the “dead” hands of women who died ... (Read More)

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Art Dealer Sentenced to Over Five Years for Defrauding Clients
by M.A.D. Staff

Wendy Halstead Beard, 59, of Birmingham, Michigan, was sentenced on September 11 to five years and three months in prison for wire fraud. Beard was sentenced before United States District Judge Judith E. Levy in Ann Arbor. Beard’s sentencing follows her guilty plea to one count of wire fraud arising from ... (Read More)

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Cahoon Museum Names Leeann Ream as Curator
by M.A.D. Staff

Leeann Ream is the new curator at the Cahoon Museum of American Art in Cotuit, Massachusetts. “We are so happy to have Leeann join us in this important position,” said Cahoon Museum executive director and CEO Sarah Johnson. “Her deep knowledge and love of American art, as well as her experience ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Auction Prices Realized, November 2024
by M.A.D. Staff

Here are a few notable prices of antiques sold recently at auction, as provided by press releases. All prices include the buyer’s premium when charged. We’re always looking for news of prices realized at auctions, particularly unusual or top lots. Send pictures, complete descriptions, and information to A.P.R., Maine Antique ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Hanging with Karen DiSaia
by Julie Schlenger Adell

“Stuff talks to me,” said Karen DiSaia. The former rug dealer and longtime show manager has worn a couple of hats in the art and antiques arena. She and her husband, Ralph, who died in 2019, had a “ham and egg” partnership, melding their fortes into seamless productions and selling ... (Read More)

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IFAR Winding Down
by M.A.D. Staff

On September 27 the International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) announced it was “winding down operations” after 55 years of championing the principles of authenticity and ethical ownership in the art world. According to a press release, “The change in leadership at the beginning of the year presented a vital opportunity ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

Exhibitions, November 2024
by M.A.D. Staff

Helen Lonetree, sewing basket, circa 1975. —Through November 10 —West Bend, Wisconsin Weaving a Legacy: Ho-Chunk Black Ash Basketry at the Museum of Wisconsin Art features 200 baskets by more than 40 Ho-Chunk basket makers from the mid-1800s to the present. Taking inspiration from the indigenous tradition of hand-woven twill and ... (Read More)

(Auction)

A Big Sale with Some Big Prices
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Nye & Company Auctioneers, Bloomfield, New Jersey Photos courtesy Nye & Company Auctioneers There seemed to be more three-day Americana sales in the fall of 2024 than ever before. Some auctioneers have been offering small focused sales, while others have posted as many as 1500 lots and taken three days to sell ... (Read More)

(Issue Story)

What Price History?
by Lita Solis-Cohen

The ink and wash sketch The Destruction of the Bastille on a sheet of laid paper, 13 1/8" x 20¾", inscribed at the top “From the M. de Lafayette to General Washington” and signed at the bottom by the artist, Étienne-Louis-Denis Cathala, “Cathala Architecte Inspecteur de la Bastille fait le ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Americana Sold at Horst
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Horst Auctioneers, Ephrata, Pennsylvania Photos courtesy Horst Auctioneers More than 100 collectors and dealers previewed Horst Auctioneers’ sale in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, on Friday, September 6, and stayed to bid when the sale began at 2 p.m. Most of them returned at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, September 7, for the rest of ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Summer Antiques and Americana Sale
by Lita Solis-Cohen

Hess Auction Group, Manheim, Pennsylvania Photos courtesy Hess Auction Group Hess Auction Group in Manheim, Pennsylvania, known for its sales of real estate and farm and commercial equipment, continued the long tradition of sales of antiques at 768 Graystone Road in Manheim when it acquired Conestoga Auction Company in 2014. Conestoga’s former ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Oh, Yes, the Rembrandt...and Was There Anything Else at the Auction?
by Mark Sisco

Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Thomaston, Maine This was one of those kinds of auctions that could be neatly divided neatly into two halves: first, the Rembrandt painting, and second, everything else. On the second day of Thomaston Place Auction Galleries’ summer sale held August 23-25 in Thomaston, Maine, lot number 2363 ... (Read More)

(Auction)

More Historical Political Americana from the J. Doyle DeWitt Collection
by Marice Richter

Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas Photos courtesy Heritage Auctions Items from the earliest periods in American presidential history through the 20th century were auctioned off at Heritage Auctions’ most recent Americana and political “Showcase” auction. The Dallas-based auction house sold 491 lots of the 502 offered at the August 24 auction, which included ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Downeast Art & Antiques Show
by Mark Sisco

Blue Hill, Maine The Downeast Art & Antiques Show has returned to its roots. It was held August 15-17, which included the Thursday preview cocktail party, at George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill, Maine, where the show first took place in 1948. Acknowledging a one-year COVID-19 interruption, the show still lays ... (Read More)

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In the Shadow of Jonathan Fisher and E. B. White
by Mark Sisco

Jonathan Fisher House Antiques Show, Blue Hill, Maine The Jonathan Fisher House Antiques Show in Blue Hill, Maine, held this year at the Blue Hill Fairgrounds on August 17, is a pleasant “down home” counterpart to the more elegant and upscale show going on at the same time a couple of ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Adams Photograph Tops Maine Auction
by Clayton Pennington

Barridoff Auctions, South Portland, Maine Photos courtesy Barridoff Auctions For its summer sale Barridoff Auctions pitches a large white tent on the lawn right outside of its South Portland, Maine, facility. The outside venue makes the sale seem festive, even though the crowd would have easily fit into Barridoff’s building. On August ... (Read More)

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The Maine Antiques Dealers Association Show
by Mark Sisco

Coastal Maine Antiques Show, Waldoboro, Maine The Coastal Maine Antiques Show, the annual summer show presented by the Maine Antiques Dealers Association (MADA), is holding its own. This year it was presented at the Medomak Middle School in Waldoboro, Maine, on August 14. John and Elizabeth DeSimone are the nominal show ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Sale of Saturday Evening Girls Pottery
by Kay Manning

Everything But The House Photos courtesy Everything But The House When a small vase by the Saturday Evening Girls (SEG) was purchased for 75 cents around 1910, the buyer likely just wanted something utilitarian and attractive. Now, buyers are likely collectors who are compelled by the pottery’s back story as much as ... (Read More)

(Auction)

The Haradin Family Collection Finishes Just Shy of $4 Million
by Susan Emerson Nutter

RSL Auction Company, Whitehouse Station, New Jersey Photos courtesy RSL Auction Company The term legacy beautifully explains the Haradin family collection, a stunning array of vintage toys and banks sold on August 3 at RSL Auction Company, Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. This richly historical archive of banks and toys was truly a family ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Folk Art Collection of Lisa Whittington
by Frances McQueeney-Jones Mascolo

William Smith Auctions, Plainfield, New Hampshire Photos courtesy William Smith Auctions William Smith Auctions’ single-owner estate auction July 31 held live in the Plainfield, New Hampshire, gallery brought to market the tightly curated folk art collection of Elizabeth “Lisa” Greeley Whittington of Roxboro, North Carolina. The over 400-lot sale attracted a larger ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Eldred’s Summer Sale
by Frances McQueeney-Jones Mascolo

Eldred’s, East Dennis, Massachusetts Photos courtesy Eldred’s It was a busy summer at Eldred’s on Cape Cod, but the trip there is always worthwhile. The three-day sale in the East Dennis, Massachusetts, gallery July 24-26, “American Art & The Summer Sale,” brought notable collections replete with notable antiques to market. A North ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Summer Antiques and Art Auction
by Don Johnson

Meander Auctions, Whipple, Ohio Photos courtesy Meander Auctions Meander Auctions held its summer antiques and art sale at its gallery in Whipple, Ohio, July 20. “Overall, we were quite pleased,” said auctioneer Andrew Richmond. Spurred by bidding on two online platforms, the sale topped its cumulative high estimate and had a sell-through ... (Read More)

(Auction)

The Sporting Sale
by Frances McQueeney-Jones Mascolo

Copley Fine Art Auctions, Pembroke, Massachusetts Photos courtesy Copley Fine Art Auctions Premier collections from across the country drove the action at Copley Fine Art Auctions’ July 11 and 12 sale, which was livestreamed from the Hingham, Massachusetts, offices. Birds by Massachusetts’s dean of decoys, Anthony Elmer Crowell (1862-1952), numbered 44 and ... (Read More)

(Auction)

Outsider, Folk, Contemporary, and Fine Art Sale
by Danielle Arnet

Potter & Potter Auctions, Chicago, Illinois Photos courtesy Potter & Potter Auctions During a summer marked by expansion, consolidation, a move, and new partnerships announced by several auction houses in Chicago, one city-bound house held its ground. While others had collectors gobsmacked with each announcement of sometimes incongruous hookups, Chicago’s Potter & Potter ... (Read More)

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Back to Our Roots Antique Show
by Don Johnson

Dayton, Ohio The summer edition of the Back to Our Roots Antique Show, held June 8 in Dayton, Ohio, was largely the same solid show as always. And yet, it wasn’t. Three-tier bucket/crock bench with a blue, green, and red paint history, 29¾" high x 48" wide, $749; stoneware, $295 to ... (Read More)

(Show)

The Second Annual Fox Valley at the Fairgrounds Antiques Show
by Danielle Arnet

Wheaton, Illinois When shows have been around as long as the twice-yearly Chicago-area Fox Valley Antiques Shows, they tend to develop a personality. For example, the live spring and fall shows sponsored and run by the Chicago Suburban Antiques Dealers Association (CSADA) ran for 48 years and 64 years, respectively, before ... (Read More)

(Auction)

American Historical Ephemera and Photography
by Don Johnson

Freeman’s|Hindman, Cincinnati, Ohio Photos courtesy Freeman’s | Hindman A whole-plate daguerreotype of San Francisco, California, was the top lot during the auction of American historical ephemera and photography held by Freeman’s | Hindman May 31 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The image was also something else: a reminder of the changing nature of the ... (Read More)
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