Tag: auction results

Edward Hopper sold For 6 million at Sotheby’s from Whitney Museum. Klimt Hammer price 46m. Auction Results.

Posted on by Catherine

Four more Hoppers still to come this week.

May 16, 2023

Masterworks were auctioned by Sotheby’s in two evening sales in New York on May 16, 2023. The priciest presale estimates and expectations were set on works by Edward Hopper, Rene Magritte*, Gustav Klimt, Vincent van Gogh, Peter Paul Rubens and Giacometti. Sotheby’s catalogued 69 lots between the two sales. As the first sale opened no lots were pulled and three women featured: Joan Mitchell (first to announce “Reserve” on the sale, sold for 6.8 million hammer price), Georgia O’Keefe, and Berthe Morisot.

Edward Hopper. Cobb’s Barns, South Truro (1930-33) was slated in the later sale, one of seven works the Whitney Museum of American Art will sell at Sotheby’s this week and the only one tonight (May 16).

Oliver Barker, Chairman Sotheby’s Europe, welcomed and opened the sale at 6:10pm. Lots from Mo Ostin’s estate, a music industry legend and “visionary collector”, were offered first. Both Magrittes from the Ostin sale sold on the lower end of their presale estimate window despite dragging out bids for the first, Lot 3.

images above: selections from the Sotheby’s Mo Ostin Collection 6pm Evening sale 5/16/2023. Stunning trio he had acquired! [Magritte. L’Empire des lumières, 1951, (pre sale est. 35-55 million | hammer price, before fees 36,500,000 ); Magritte. Le Domaine d’Arnheim, 1949 (presale est. 15 mil-25 mil. First time at auction. hammer price 16.2 mil); Mark Tansey. Study for Action painting. 1985. (presale est. 1.5-2 mil | hammer price 2.1)]

images below: selections from the Sotheby’s 7pm Evening Sale 5/16/2023

[Klimt. sold hammer price 46 million; Hammershoi. sold hammer price 7,650,000; Matisse hammer price 3.2; Magritte. passed; O’Keefe passed; Bonnard 3,488,000 with fees; van Gogh sold with fees 23,314,500; Rubens hammer price 22.5 million ; and Hopper sold hammer price 6 million. ]

Oliver Barker opened part 2 of the major evening auction at 7:25 pm.

The intermission pre-hype video before the auction that focused on the Whitney Museum Hoppers, one oil and 3 watercolors from Jo Nivison Hopper’s bequest, where they remained for more than 50 years and are now to be deaccessioned, was narrated by Lisa Dennison, Chairperson Sotheby’s Americas. “This is an extraordinary opportunity to acquire works of this great American artists with such distinguished provenance.” Gloucester was mentioned and also described “Cape Ann”. Dennison built her career as a museum Curator and Director prior to Sotheby’s. (Inside ball art aside: Adam Weinberg, the Dir. of the Whitney, announced he’s stepping down after some 20 years. Dennison had vied for that position and was courted by several national museums. She helmed the Guggenheim prior to Sotheby’s. Hopper’s New York and the Hopper deaccession were among Weinberg’s last involvements at the Whitney.) The sale is controversial for several reasons despite the good intentions of proceeds promised for new acquisitions at the Whitney. Although this deaccession pales in comparison to the Berkshire Museum’s gutting–especially Norman Rockwell’s Shuffleton’s Barbershop–it’s still charged. Additionally, the accurate description of the full Hopper bequest falls short at the Whitney on several issues. I’ll write more about that in another post.

Magritte Souvenir de voyage was withdrawn from the sale. The Klimt “celebrating the idyllic shores of Austria” which sold for 46 million was described as “an exquisite painting. Not going to be another one like this coming up for a while.” The two lots following the Klimt, the Georgia O’Keefe and Renoir, failed to sell, or “passed”; the Renoir was removed from the Musee d’Orsay and would have been restitution for the Ambroise Vollard heirs. The Vilhelm Hammershoi interior, Lot 106, rustled up the most active bidding and prompted the only big clap from the audience until Isamu Noguchi Lot 128 The Family reached a 10.4 million hammer price. The Giacometti Lot 129 sold for 24.5 million slightly beneath the presale estimate (25-35 million). “For the very first time ever included in a modern auction. From 1620. In all its glory…” the drumroll opening bid for the Peter Paul Rubens started at 16 million and climbed to 22.5 million (presale estimate 20-30 million), a smattering of applause from the audience. Not an exuberant night for the Magrittes on the block this night or the sale overall. Several lots were announced “pulled” during the later sale.

The Whitney is hoping to sell 3 more works by Hopper along with a Prendergast and a Marin via Sotheby’s sales this week. There is a 4th Hopper drawing to be auctioned from 1899 that isn’t mentioned with the news about the four to be deaccessioned by the Whitney though it should be. Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Auction continues Thursday.

RESULTS HERE

Images below: Sotheby’s set design and Oliver Barker’s auctioneer style is quite different than Christies, though both use deep leans to emphasize the bidding from opposite sides of the room or seats on the floor. Most of the action was by phone tonight. Barker calls the phone pens that look like a telethon the “telephone aisles” and “there it is” is a favorite catch phrase. Christies did without the “turnstile” and art handlers showcasing the lot front and center as the sale progresses and which I thought I’d miss from the virtual feed. Maybe not: the vibe here was a bit Price is Right meets the spinning dressing table from the 1960s Batgirl tv show. It does help with scale.

Stuart Davis 192 East Main and 51 Mt. Pleasant Ave. Marsden Hartley Dogtown Common. Gloucester art at Sotheby’s. One a Whitney Museum Deaccession.

Posted on by Catherine
Illustration: C. Ryan. Stuart Davis in Gloucester. Stuart Davis paintings hint of memories and impressions of Gloucester, Paris, and New York | 192 East Main St., 51 Mt. Pleasant Ave., and Romany Marie. And Marsden Hartley’s Dogtown Common.

At Sotheby’s Modern art auction November 15, 2022, approximately 460 lots were primed to go, minus several pulled ahead of (and announced before) the sessions. Gloucester inspired several works including one that was a deaccession from the Whitney Museum of American Art. Did Stuart Davis and Marsden Hartley sell?

STUART DAVIS

photo captions for above grid: (1)Stuart Davis 1912 w/c. (2)black and white photo, Smithsonian collection, documents a Romany o/c portrait by Robert Winthrop Chanler, circa 1916-1925. (3)Stuart Davis Flags, 1931, Lot 331 had a presale estimate of $300,000-$500,000. Bidding opened at $160,000 and then passed, failing to climb past $190,000. Unsold.

About Stuart Davis Flags, 1931

The letters in the band of green on the black flag spell “Romany Marie”, the name of restaurants owned by Marie Marchand, an immigrant from Romania. Her modest bistros and support were safe harbor for creatives whether serving just one customer or impromptu salons. Many of her habitual customers, like Davis, ascended to the top of their field. Davis painted a watercolor portrait of her in 1912 when he was 20 years old. He painted Flags 19 years later, a full generation spent building into his voice and career, much of it split oscillating between New York City and Gloucester. In 1928-29 he spent a momentous year+ studying abroad in Paris and married his first wife. The trip was made possible thanks to Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. The painting hints of memories and impressions of all three cities: Gloucester, Paris, and New York.

Liquor, coffee and conversation can make some taverns and cafes legendary. Romany Marie served strong coffee, no booze. Florent Morellet’s all night diner, Florent, on Gansevoort in the meatpacking district 1985-2008 was a place that I imagine was like Romany Marie’s was a century before. Gloucester has had its fair share; Duckworth’s Bistro is one now and an apt one to mention for its ardent support of the community, French nod, and address at 192 East Main. (Its customer base is more akin to Chanterelle than Florent.)

Helen Davis, artist and Stuart Davis’s mother, operated “Davis Sculpture Studio” from that same building, and resided at the back in later years. She was 96 when she died in Gloucester in 1965, one year after her son. Marie Marchand died in 1961 (obit: La Reine Est Morte, Village Voice March 2, 1961, Vol. VI, No. 19).

Davis’s parents bought a home on 51 Mt. Pleasant in Gloucester in 1930. They were summer renters prior, famously at the Red Cottage on East Main. Davis said John Sloan raved about Gloucester so much that he finally took him up on visiting in 1915.

About Stuart Davis Anchors,

Davis felt Gloucester was the best locale on the Atlantic seaboard, and you can feel his devotion in the second Davis work for sale at this auction, Anchors, illustrated below, on the left, paired with an earlier Davis, Rue Lipp, 1928 on the right, for comparison.

It’s a beauty. Gloucester and Paris are past and present in Anchors, flipping back and forth, shaken and stirring. Anchors’ prominent black and red double anchors look like the siphon on the blue soda bottle in Rue Lipp, 1928, while the delicate fizzy line contained in the carafe branded “La Cressonee” is bold, unbound, and skybound in Anchors.

Anchors is jazzed up with witty pairs. The circle inventions are solid and light–wheels on a cart, parasols, poppies, proto pop inspiration for Thiebaud’s suckers decades later?–no matter. Analogues for Davis and viewers may not be the same, yet land a connection.

Meanwhile at the auction in 2022, Stuart Davis Anchors, Lot 341 failed to find a buyer for less than 1 million despite having reached 1.8 million when it last sold at Christie’s in 2014. Sotheby’s presale estimate was 1.2-1.8 million.

Other highlights from the sale failed to sell including a Cassatt and Avery.

photos above: Private Way, 1915 (Gloucester=blue skies); The Morning Walk, ca.1919 collection Earl Davis; Boats, 1917, Philadelphia Mus. of Art; La Cressonnee ad circa 1914-1920s–which Davis spins in Rue Lipp ,1928; Anchors, 1930; anchor E. Glou. 2022; 51 Mt. Pleasant Ave; Reed’s Wharf; 192 E. Main – Duckworth’s

MARSDEN HARTLEY

Unsold- The bidding for Lot 338 Marsden Hartley Autumn Hillside, circa 1909 (double sided) opened at $110,000, then $120,000, then ‘passed’ at $130,000, failing to meet its reserve. The presale estimate was $150,000-$200,000.

Sold- Lot 340 Marsden Hartley Autumn Dogtown Commons, 1934, was deaccessioned by the Whitney Museum of Art. The bidding started at $130,000 on to $140,000 and $150,000 then stopped at $160,000. Sold. Phone bidder ($201,600 with fees). The presale estimate was $200,000-$300,000. Sounded like the reserve was $150,000. A third Hartley, a still life, fetched $40,000.

The Whitney Museum deaccessioned other works including a vivid Maurice Prendergast. Picnic Grove exceeded its pre sale estimate ($60,000-$80,000). Bidding started below $60,000 and eventually reached $120,000.

Not Gloucester. lovely, too

Charles Burchfield watercolor Lot 339 The Butterfly Tree, 1960 opened at $250,000 and soared to $480,000. Burchfield Lot 510 Hemlock in November No. 2 sold for $800,000. Lot 572, Maxfield Parrish New Moon 1943 (presale estimate $500,000-$700,000) sold for $700,000.

There weren’t strictly American sales this season so this one covered a lot of ground. Consignors assigned the morning sale face a B-side slot. Session 1 began at 9:30 AM, first lot #202 | session 2 began at 11:20AM | session 3 began at 2:30pm with lot 501.

Session 2 offered Stuart Davis and Marsden Hartley works inspired by Gloucester. While helping clients bid at auctions with 20th C material, it’s inevitable that I come across inventory with Gloucester ties.

photo caption: With hours of lots to move through, Sotheby’s split up the gavel duties. The auctioneer opening session 3 was lively and engaging!

Sotheby’s marquee modern 2022 fall sale was the day before.

Sotheby’s November 14 Modern sale

Aggregate sales from Sotheby’s Modern evening sale (Nov.14, 2022) Part 1 were $116.3m ($137.9m with fees) for the first half comprised of the Solinger collection. Lots sold from Part 2 of the evening sale sold for 220 million (with fees bringing the total press release report north of 250 million, and aggregate to 360 mil). Potential collectors are identified or queued on wait lists ahead of sales. The Piet Mondrian Composition No. II, 1930 sold for 51 million plus fees (a new ‘personal best’ for Mondrian at auction). Last it came up at auction was 1983. 1930 was the same year of the Davis painting. It’s fascinating how parallel ideas evolve.

The Nolde poppies circa 1930 sold –with fees– for 151,200 in the morning sale.