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Posts Tagged ‘sotheby’s’

A BUST OF GEORGE WASHINGTON MADE IN HIS LIFETIME

Monday, December 7th, 2015

The gilt bronze lifetime bust of George Washington. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

A lifetime portrait bust of George Washington comes up at Sotheby’s in London on December 10. The gilt-bronze sculpture is from the celebrated Royal Laboratory established by King Charles III of Spain in Madrid in 1759. Dating to the 1790s, the bust was commissioned to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of San Lorenzo with the United States, which declared a state of mutual friendship between the two nations. It is thought to be based on a painting by Guiseppe Perovani commissioned by the Spanish charge d’affaires in Philadephia and gifted to Prime Minister Manuel Godoy in 1796.

Christopher Mason, Sotheby’s Old Master Sculpture Specialist, said: “The modelling and execution is of the highest quality and the identity of the sitter is unmistakable. Washington is Presidential in his demeanor, the sharpness of the bronze casting seemingly reflecting the Enlightenment values of this victorious democratic leader.”

Estimated at £200,000-300,000 it will come up at Sotheby’s sale of Old Master Sculpture and works of art.

Tags: George Washington, sotheby's
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MAO’S LETTER TO CLEMENT ATTLEE AT SOTHEBY’S

Tuesday, December 1st, 2015

A 1937 letter written by Mao Zedong, the Communist Party leader and brilliant guerrilla commander, to British politician Clement Attlee, then head of the Labour Party and future British Prime Minister, comes up at Sotheby’s in London on December 15. It is only the second time that a letter signed by Mao has come to the international market in latter years and it is estimated at £100,000-150,000. It is believe to be one of the first communications between the Communist leader and any Western politician.

Dated November 1, 1937, the letter was written from Yan’an, a remote part of north-western China where the Communists had set-up their headquarters following the full-scale Japanese invasion of the country. After stating Mao’s solidarity and goodwill to the British people, the letter calls for the Labour Party’s urgent practical assistance in the fight against Japanese Imperialism.

UPDATE: It sold to a Chinese private collector for £605,000

Tags: Mao Zedong, sotheby's
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A RECORD PRICE FOR A PORTRAIT BY L.S. LOWRY

Wednesday, November 18th, 2015

L.DS. Lowry – Father and Two Sons.

A 1950 work by one of Britain’s best loved artists – L.S. Lowry’s Father and Two Sons – sold for a record £1.6 million at Sotheby’s in London last evening. The work is considered to be his most important portrait and offers a timeless glimpse into street life. It sold for £1,625,000, a record price for a portrait by the artist. From the collection of Frank Cohen and was owned by Monty Bloom, a key Lowry patron in the later part of his career.

Frank Cohen commented: “I’ve always championed Modern British art and I passionately believe that Lowry ranks alongside other great painters like Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. I’m not alone in that opinion – I recall being in the Wolseley, London, when I spotted Lucian sitting at his usual corner table. We’d known each other over the years and got talking. One of the questions I posed was ‘who are your favourite artists?’ to which he replied, without hesitation, ‘Auerbach and Lowry’. And Freud knew a thing or two about painting as we all know…

I bought Father and Two Sons back in the late 90s as a present to myself after selling my DIY business. It was a lot of money at that time but I couldn’t resist as it had always reminded me of the very first job I had after leaving school at 15. I worked for Perring’s Furniture stores, which was run by Abi Stolberg and Louis Rosenblatt, as the ‘tea–boy’ in the offices, earning £2, 14 shillings and seven-pence a week. When the boss used to arrive at work – he was the clerk of the company – he’d walk in every morning with his bowler hat on, flanked on either side by two minders with winged collars. That image stayed with me forever until I found this Lowry”.

Sotheby’s sale of Modern and Post War British Art brought a record of £389,000 for Peter Lanyon for Dry Wind, an oil on canvas. There was also a record for a work on paper by Dame Barbara Hepworth, whose Forms in Movements (Circle) sold for £257,000.

Tags: L.S. Lowry, sotheby's
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NOVEMBER ART SALES AT SOTHEBY’S TOTAL $1.153 BILLION

Friday, November 13th, 2015

This rare large scale Mao by Andy Warhol sold for $47.5 million.

The November auctions of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art and the collection of Alfred Taubman totaled $1.153 billion at Sotheby’s in New York. The company announced today that it will achieve its highest annual sales in these categories in 2015. The Taubman sale achieved $419.7 million; Impressionist and Modern sales on November 5 and 6 achieved $360.1 million and contemporary art on November 12 brought in $373.2 million.

The series included Cy Twombly’s Blackboard painting which, at $70.5 million, was the most highly priced lot sold at Sotheby’s during 2015.

Tags: Art Records, sotheby's, Warhol
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AN ORIGINAL PROCLAMATION AT SOTHEBY’S

Friday, November 13th, 2015

An image of part of the Proclamation.

An original copy of the Proclamation comes up at Sotheby’s in London on December 15 estimated at £80,000-120,000. The Proclamation of the Independence of the Irish Republic is at a sale of English Literature and History. It is one of a small number, probably less than 50, printed at Liberty Hall during Easter Sunday, 1916. Around 2,500 were intended to be produced, but only about 1,000 were printed and most were destroyed during the storming of Liberty Hall and the ensuing street fighting.

This copy was acquired at the time of the Rising by a Dublin resident and has remained with the family ever since.

Tags: Ireland, Proclamation, sotheby's
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THE MOST EXPENSIVE WORK SOLD AT SOTHEBY’S WORLDWIDE IN 2015

Thursday, November 12th, 2015

An exceptional Cy Twombly blackboard painting made $70.5 million at Sotheby’s contemporary art sale in New York last night. Untitled, New York City instantly became the most expensive work sold at Sotheby’s worldwide in 2015. A rare large-scale Mao by Andy Warhol made $47.5 million and works by Jackson Pollock, Lucio Fontana and Francis Bacon performed well. Combined with last week’s auctions of the Collection of A. Alfred Taubman, Sotheby’s contemporary art sales this season have so far totalled $434 million.

Pollock’s No. 17, 1949 made $22.9 million; Fontana Concetto Spaziale, Attese, 1965 made $16.1 million; a portrait by Francis Bacon made $15.6 million; an untitled Basquiat work from 198 made $8.3 million and Le Tissu Social, 1977 by Jean Dubuffet made $7.1 million.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for September 16, 2015)

Cy Twomby’s Untitled, New York City, 1968

Jackson Pollock – No. 17, 1949

Tags: Cy Twombly, Jackson Pollock, sotheby's
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LA GOMMEUSE SELLS FOR $67.45 MILLION AT SOTHEBY’S

Friday, November 6th, 2015

La Gommeuse – Pablo Picasso

Picasso’s La Gommeuse, a Blue Period work, sold for $67.45 million at Sotheby’s in New York last night. It was the top lot at the Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale which brought in a total of $306,712,000 and a new auction record for a Blue Period Picasso. The American billionaire Bill Koch bought it for just $3 million in 1984.

Van Gogh’s Paysage sous un ciel mouvements sold for $54 million and Mystic Suprematism by Kazimir Malevich made $37.8 million. The sales total across three sales of art at Sotheby’s in New York this week is $725,000,000. The evening and day sales of the Taubman collection came to $420 million. A total of seventeen paintings sold for more than $10 million.

Simon Shaw, Co-Head of Sotheby’s Worldwide Impressionist & Modern Art Department, commented: “Tonight’s sale spoke to the desires of the market today – our top lots alone tell the story of how diverse that market is, with strong results spanning classic Impressionism, Post Impressionism, Suprematism and Expressionism”.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for October 9, 2015).

Tags: La Gommeuse, Picasso Blue Period, sotheby's
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TAUBMAN MASTERWORKS BRING IN $377 MILLION AT SOTHEBY’S

Thursday, November 5th, 2015

Modigliani, Portrait de Paulette Jourdain

Masterworks from the Taubman collection brought in $377 million at Sotheby’s in New York last night. In its first appearance at auction Modigliani’s portrait of Paulette Jourdain made $42.8 million after five bidders from around the globe competed. It went to an Asian buyer. A total of twelve works achieved more than $10 million and Frank Stella’s Delaware Crossing more than doubled the previous auction record for the artist when it made $13.7 million.

Willem de Koonings Untitled XXI sold for $24.9 million. A private European collector paid $20.4 million for Mark Rothko’s Untitled (Lavender and Green) and Femme assize sur une chaise by Pablo Picasso (a portrait of Dora Maar) made $20 million. A selection of six works on paper by Egon Schiele sold for $13.5 million and all 14 sculptures were sold, with a combined total of $37.9 million.

More than 400 works from the collection of the late A Alfred Taubman are to be sold across various auctions at Sotheby’s throughout 2016. (All images courtesy Sotheby’s).

(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for October 4 and September 7, 2014).

Schiele, Freundin, Rosa-Blau

Stella, Delaware Crossing

de Kooning, Untitled XXI

Rothko, Untitled (Lavender and Green).

Tags: Alfred Taubman, Amadeo Modigliani, de Kooning, Egon Schiele, Frank Stella, MARK ROTHKO, Picasso, sotheby's
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TWO WORKS BY SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL AT SOTHEBY’S

Wednesday, November 4th, 2015

The art of Sir Winston Churchill is hot. His Goldfish Pool at Chartwell sold for £1.7 million last year. Sotheby’s will offer two works by the wartime leader at the Modern British and Post War art sale in London on November 17. One of is Venice, the other the South of France. His Scuola di San Marco in Venice dates from 1951 when he was 77 and is estimated at £250,000-350,000. An earlier work, St Jean de Vie between Cannes and Grasse is from the 1930’s and is estimated at £120,000-180,000.

Lynn Chadwick’s Stabile with Mobile Element comes to the market for the first time. Off the radar for over 60 years and previously only known through the artist’s original sketch it is being sold by the family of its one and only owner, who acquired it in 1954, just two years after it was made. It is estimated at £400,000-600,000.

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for October 14, 2014).

Sir Winston Churchill, K.G., O.M., F.R.S., HON. R.A.
ST JEAN DE VIE BETWEEN CANNES AND GRASSE

Sir Winston Churchill, K.G., O.M., F.R.S., HON. R.A.
THE SCUOLA DI SAN MARCO IN VENICE

Lynn Chadwick, R.A.
STABILE WITH MOBILE ELEMENT

Tags: Lynn Chadwick, Sir Winston Churchill, sotheby's
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THE MOST LUXURIOUS ATLAS IN THE HISTORY OF PRINTED MAPS

Monday, November 2nd, 2015

The Atlas Major.

The first complete edition of the most luxurious atlas in the history of printed maps – Joannes Blaeu’s Atlas Major – comes up at Sotheby’s in London on November 17. Estimated at £240,000-320,000 it was the largest and most expensive book when published in the 17^thcentury. Published in 1662 the Atlas Major remains the most magnificent work of its kind ever produced. Sotheby’s describe it as one of the true masterpieces of the Dutch Golden Age.

The Atlas Major covers the entirety of known world in the 17^th Century, with particular emphasis on Europe, but with separate volumes dedicated to America and China. At the time of production, the atlas’s cartography, geographical scope and craftsmanship were unprecedented. Comprising 11 large folio volumes, containing 594 engraved maps, plans, and views, all finely coloured by hand in exquisite detail, and nearly 3,000 pages of text, this massive atlas took a team of printers and binders craftsmen many months to produce. Only 300 sets are believed to have been made. Johannes Blaeu succeeded his father Willem as head cartographer at the Dutch East India Company. It will lead an auction of Travel Atlases, Maps and Natural History.

Tags: Atlas Major, Johannes Blaeu, sotheby's
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