Auction News Network

Postwar Art Shrugs Off Economy At Christie’s

Is the art market impervious to the current economic turmoil? Yesterday’s Postwar & Modern art sale at Christie’s in London would seem to indicate the answer is yes—at least in the case of blue chip works from the postwar period. Witness the two world records established at the auction by Yves Klein’s “Le Rose du bleu,” which sold for $36.7m, more than $10m above its high estimate, and an untitled work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, which realized $20.16m. All told, $207.33m changed at the sale, nearly double Sotheby’s results from its parallel event the night before.

“Casablanca” Oscar May Fetch $3m

The last time that the Academy Award Michael Curtiz won in 1943 for directing “Casablanca” came up for auction, it sold for $231,000. That was in 2003, and in the years since the market for Academy Awards has soared. This time around, it may take a record $2.5m-$3.5m to win the Oscar, which Los Angeles based Nate D. Sanders is offering in an online sale ending June 28.

Chicago Mobster’s Swag Up For Auction

The swag of a mobster who collected gobs of jewels, rare coins and watches goes to an online auction next month while the one-time owner, Frank Calabrese, Sr., lives out his days in an Illinois prison, convicted of multiple murders. Included in the 250 lots of seized bling are an 8.64 carat loose diamond, and a 1927 St. Gaudens $20 gold piece.

Five Remarkable Car Collections At Goodwood

Led by the ultra-rare George Daniels-owned 1929-31 ‘Tim’ Birkin Bentley that may set a new auction record for the marque, and an Ex-Works Le Mans 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 Lungo (est. $3.9m-$6.2m), Bonhams will offer no fewer than five distinguished collections at its auction later this week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.  A Bentley 3-Liter Speed Model Sports Two-Seater with coachwork by Park Ward (est. $200,000-$230,000) highlights the Peter Gwynn Collection, and a 1938 Bugatti Type 57C (offered without estimate) leads the pack from the noted collector John O’Quinn, who at one point owned 869 vintage automobiles.

Jesse James Wanted Poster Sells For $42,000

America is fascinated with its outlaws, especially dead ones from the old West. A creased, yellowed wanted poster for Jesse James sold over the weekend for $42,000 in Denver. To stop them from robbing banks and trains, the Governor of Missouri offered a $5,000 reward—a huge sum in the 1800′s–for either Jesse or his brother, Frank. At the time, no one collected.

High-End Real Estate Roundup

Luxury mountain properties lead our real estate report this week, including an estate in Telluride, Colorado once priced at $20.5m, and another in Aspen, on the banks of the Roaring Fork River. Each will be sold without reserve, meaning they will go to the highest bidders, regardless of price. Read more in our high-end real estate roundup.

Disappointing Price For Rolevinck’s 1461 History Of The World

In the 1460’s, a German Monk, Werner Rolevinck, set out to write and illustrate the history of world from the time of creation down to his day. The manuscript ran to 30 vellum pages. Later printed in Latin, it was a huge best seller. One of the 13 remaining manuscript copies of “Fasciculus Temporum” sold yesterday at PBA Galleries in San Francisco for a disappointing $102,000. High estimate was $150,000.

Picasso Leads Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Art Sale

Led by the $13.4m achieved by Picasso’s “Femme assise,” Christie’s realized $145.5m at yesterday’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in London. Fully 36 works sold for over $1m, 3 of those for over $10m, while new artist auction records were set for Giorgio Morandi and Kurt Schwitters.

Washington’s Copy Of Constitution To Sell

Even after 223 years, George Washington’s personal copy of the “Acts of Congress,” including the Constitution and draft Bill of Rights, is in “near pristine” condition. Washington’s notes concerning his presidential responsibilities are clearly visible in the margins of the volume, whose cover is embossed in gold with “President of the United States.” When it comes up for auction tomorrow at Sotheby’s in New York, the book is expected to sell for a presidential $2m-$3m.

Update: Propelled by telephone bidders and several in the auction room, the price of Washington’s copy of the Constitution rose to $9.8m, more than three times its high estimate. The buyer was the Mt Vernon Ladies Association, who will return it to the library at Mt. Vernon, where it resided until 1876.

Duke Of Windsor’s Watch Gifted To Mistress Sold

They met while sheltering in a London doorway during a bombing raid in World War I. He was Edward, the young future Kind of England, she was an older, wealthy married woman, Freda Dudley-Ward. In the course of their affair he gave her a tiny pocket watch secreted in a gold coin. It sold this week for $24,000 at a Reeman Dansie auction in London.

Jimi Hendrix’s Only Watercolor To Sell

Rock legend Jimi Hendrix is believed to have painted just one watercolor, aptly titled “Flower Demon.” Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Donovan remembers Hendrix telling him “he used to paint like this as a kid.” Whatever its antecedents, the painting has a gilded past, having been exhibited at the Tate Museum, Liverpool, the Kunsthalle museum in Frankfort, and the Whitney Museum in New York. When it comes up for sale at Bonhams’ Entertainment Memorabilia auction on June 26^th in Los Angeles, it’s expected to realize $60,000-$80,000.

Negative From Lincoln’s Last Studio Sitting Offered

Certainly not a handsome politician, but Abraham Lincoln’s worn, friendly face is burned into the American psyche. He sat often for Alexander Gardner and the collodion negative from the President’s last studio sitting 8-weeks before he was murdered comes to Cowan’s American History auction tomorrow. High estimate is $60,000.

Works By Bacon, Basquiat & Klein At Christie’s London Sale

Christie’s hasn’t released estimates for the top three featured lots at its Postwar and Contemporary art sale later this month. This is generally a sign of high expectations for the works, which include Yves Klein’s “Le Rose du bleu,” Francis Bacon’s “Study for Self-Portrait,” and an untitled canvas by Jean-Michel Basquiat. The auction house is explicit, however, about the expected value of Gerhard Richter’s “Struktur(2)”, which is estimated at $14.m-$18.8m.

Miro Leads Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Sale

In the mid 1920’s, Juan Miro began a series of works known as his “dream paintings,” which are generally considered to be his most pioneering and important. Of these, “Peinture (Etoile Blue)” or Blue Star, is a key example. Painted in 1927, at the height of surrealism, it’s been exhibited at Paris’ Musee de l’Art Moderne and Zurich’s Kunsthaus. When it comes up for auction at Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art sale in London later this week, it’s expected to sell for $23.5m-$31.3m.

Update: The Miro sold for $36.9m, a new auction record for the artist.

Diatribe On Nuns’ Virginity For Sale

In the 7^th Century, Aldheim, a leading English scholar and bishop, admonished the young nuns of Barking Abbey for showing too much flesh and nourishing “the fires of sexual anticipation.” Four pages of the famous diatribe, “In Praise of Virginity,” will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in London next month.