Swann Auction Galleries – PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF FILMMAKER GARY WINICK / 19TH & 20TH CENTURY PHOTOGRAPHS & PHOTOBOOKS
March 19th, 2012 by adminFilm producer and director Gary Winick died last year at the age of 49 and left behind collections of photographs, fine art prints, move posters, books, and personal memorabilia.
Highlights from the collection include:
Photographs by William Eggleston, Harry Callahan, Walker Evans and others, including Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Swan lake, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, silver print, 1954, printed 1980s, shown top left.
Prints and drawings, including Shoe Design for Redbook Magazine by Andy Warhol, gouache, circa 1955.
Movie posters, over 20 posters for Hitchcock films like Vertigo and other classics.
The afternoon session of 19th & 20th Century Photographs & Photobooks features vintage photographs by Edward S. Curtis (Chief of the Desert, Navajo Orotone, 1904, shown left,) Stieglitz, Wilson A. Bentley and others.
Among the photobooks, Robert Frank’s The Americans, first American edition, New York, 1959.
Sotheby’s London – Old Master, Modern & Contemporary Prints
March 19th, 2012 by adminSotheby’s is delighted to present the Old Master, Modern & Contemporary Prints on 29th March 2012. This sale will draw together some of the finest exponents of printmaking spanning across five centuries, embodying a variety of styles and techniques.
In the Old Master section, Rembrandt is represented by a particularly strong group, notably with a fine, fourth-state impression of Christ Crucified Between the Two Thieves: ‘The Three Crosses’. Often singled out as the masterpiece of his printed oeuvre, this impression demonstrates Rembrandt’s technical virtuosity and ability to create a dramatic atmosphere and narrative. Also included are Woman at the Bath with a Hat Beside Her, The Descent from the Cross by Torchlight and a ‘black sleeve’ impression of La Petite Tombe. Additionally, a ‘Basan receuil’ published by H. L. Basan amasses over 80 etchings by Rembrandt. Works by Albrecht Dürer, William Blake and After Bosch are also included, among others artists.
The Modern section comprises a vibrant group of British prints by C. R. W. Nevinson, Cyril Power and Sybil Andrews. These eye-catching prints capture an important moment in time: the inter-war period in Britain. This group includes Divertissement and The Runners by Cyril Power, Sledgehammers by Sybil Andrews, The Road from Arras to Bapaume and Building Aircraft: Banking at 4000 Feet by C. R. W. Nevinson. These dynamic images embody the movement, noise and atmosphere of this era in British history and mark a significant chapter in the history of British printmaking.
Morphy’s April 20-21 Antique Advertising auction features 400 premier Coca-Cola lots from the late Michael Narvaez collection
March 16th, 2012 by admin1,260-lot sale includes brewery, automotive, tobacco, Mr. Peanut, many other categories
DENVER, Pa. – A wealth of rare antique signs, figures and other promotional items from the golden era of advertising is currently on display at Morphy’s central Pennsylvania gallery, all to be auctioned on Friday and Saturday, April 20-21. The 1,260-lot sale incorporates a fantastic array of signage, with the centerpiece being the revered Coca-Cola advertising collection of the late Michael Narvaez. Also featured are Moxie items from the Dick Shay collection, as well as other soda pop lots.
The Friday session begins with a collection of 120 occupational shaving mugs. Top lots include mugs with depictions of a steam pump, horse-drawn delivery wagon and an open-air truck. Additionally, a rare mug with a photographic image of a steam accessory will be offered.
More than 80 figural cast-iron doorstops, doorknockers, bookends and other novelties will follow. Among the most coveted doorstops are a standing frog, standing honey bear and rabbit. Other standouts in the group include a cast-iron Nichols doorknocker, est. $700-$1,000; and two carnival targets – a paratrooper, $2,000-$3,000; and a mechanical owl, $3,000-$5,000.
Highlights among the 170 lots of general store and mixed advertising include a near-pristine Skinner’s Satin (Holyoke, Mass.) oval sign with the image of an Indian in a full headdress. It is the only example Morphy’s experts have ever seen and is estimated at $8,000-$12,000.
An embossed tin Sweet Orr Overalls sign is in near-mint condition and expected to make $6,000-$9,000; while an extremely rare 1905 Beeman’s Pepsin Gum wood-framed tin sign that came directly from the Beeman’s factory could make $8,000-$12,000. The ever-popular Mr. Peanut weighs in at the auction with a $7,000-$12,000 estimate for a beautiful 3½-ft. figural Hamilton scale in original, untouched condition. It is one of 30 Planters Mr. Peanut items to be offered by Morphy’s. Many other popular characters are depicted within the lineup of 50+ advertising figures to be auctioned.
Collectors of tobacco-related advertising will find plenty of tempting items in this sale, like the circa-1880s Pride of Durham Smoking Tobacco tin [Wells & Hope Co.] with a lion motif, $3,000-$6,000. Another beauty in the tobacciana grouping is the circa-1910 Stein Club Havana Cigars sign in excellent condition with strong colors.
“We’ve estimated the Stein Club sign at $4,000-$8,000, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it went higher,” said Morphy’s CEO Dan Morphy. “A few years ago a different example of this very scarce sign sold for over $20,000.”
The effervescent Saturday session will focus predominantly on the 400 lots of Coca-Cola advertisements, ephemera and other rare and desirable Coke items from the collection of the late Michael Narvaez.
Well liked by his fellow collectors, Michael Narvaez had a passion for collecting that blossomed after his retirement from the Coca-Cola Co. in 1979. Michael and his wife, Joyce, became restaurateurs and decorated their Salinas, Calif., establishment The Recipe Box exclusively with beautiful antique and vintage signage and promotional items for the world’s favorite soft drink. Their collection encompassed festoons, lighted signs, clocks, posters and calendars.
Morphy’s specialist in Coca-Cola advertising, Gary Metz, said Narvaez loved sharing his collection and was “a responsible custodian of anything he acquired…handcrafting beautiful walnut frames and using either museum glass or UV-filtering Plexiglas to protect and preserve the calendars and advertising he framed.”
One of the top pieces in the Narvaez collection is a matted and framed 1898 calendar, one of very few known, featuring a beauty of the day and estimated at $20,000-$30,000. An 1899 Coke calendar, est. $10,000-$15,000, is another of the more than 60 Coke calendars in the sale. The calendars span a pop culture timeline that begins in 1898 and runs through the 1940s. Another rarity, a 1910 Coke poster is estimated at $7,000-$10,000.
An incredible 2-piece window display from 1937 stands 4 ft. tall and depicts a revolving door with a trompe-l’oeil view inside a restaurant and soda fountain. Advertising “The Pleasantest Place in Town,” this colorful slice of Main Street American nostalgia carries a presale estimate of $15,000-$20,000.
A Coca-Cola leaded-glass hanging globe made by Metropolitan Glass Company is one of only about a half dozen known examples. “All that are known came out of New York,” said Morphy. “This one was in a soda shop in Queens. When it closed, the owners gave the globe to their Coca-Cola deliveryman as a gift. It has remained in the man’s family ever since, passing down through three generations.” Estimate: $12,000-$18,000.
The remainder of the session is devoted to Moxie items from the collection of Dick Shay, a now-retired Ohio native who spent many years scouring the United States for the rarest and best pieces available. An elusive Moxie tip tray from the early 1900s is estimated at $1,400-$1,800. Leading the selection of general soda pop advertising in Saturday’s session is an embossed tin Modox sign in excellent-plus condition. It features the image of an Indian in full headdress and is expected to reach $7,000-$12,000.
Both the April 20 and 21 auction sessions will commence at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. All forms of bidding will be available, including live via the Internet through Morphy Live or LiveAuctioneers.com. View the fully illustrated catalog online at www.morphyauctions.com or www.liveauctioneers.com. For additional information, call 717-335-3435 or e-mail serena@morphyauctions.com. Visit Morphy Auctions online at www.morphyauctions.com.
Sotheby’s London – An Eye Opulence – Art of the Ottoman Empire
March 15th, 2012 by adminThe sale comprises a broad selection of works across a variety of media, spanning more than four hundred years of Ottoman art from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century. In addition to Iznik ceramics, manuscripts, silverware and decorative arts, the sale also incorporates a number of European paintings and Turqueries, reflecting the artistic exchanges between the Ottoman Empire and Europe, and Western fascination with the ‘exoticism’ of the Ottoman court.
Sotheby’s London – The Gunter Sachs Collection
March 15th, 2012 by adminOn Tuesday, May 22nd and Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012, Sotheby’s is honoured to present for sale close to 300 artworks from The Gunter Sachs Collection. Selected with Gunter Sachs’ legendary eye for exceptional beauty over the course of 50 years, this avant-garde collection of art, objects and furniture will stand as a lasting testament to the extraordinary life and visionary art collection of the late Gunter Sachs.
Spanning numerous collecting categories, from Surrealism and Nouveau Realism, to Pop Art, Art Deco, 20th Century design and Graffiti, this two day auction is set to be one of the most remarkable and diverse single-owner collections to ever appear at Sotheby’s. Highlights include masterpieces by Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, Roy Lichtenstein, Arman and Yves Klein, as well as important pre and post-war furniture by Ruhlmann and Giacometti.
Sotheby’s London – British & Irish Art
March 15th, 2012 by adminOn May 10th, Sotheby’s will hold a new sale of British & Irish Art with dedicated sections for Victorian, Early 20th Century, Marine, Sporting, Scottish and Irish Art. This sale is designed to answer the demand of new buyers who collect across a variety of genres and will bring together the finest drawings, watercolours, oil paintings and sculpture.
There will be exhibitions in Dublin, Belfast and Edinburgh before the auction at our prestigious New Bond Street saleroom. This fresh approach will celebrate the distinct character of British and Irish painting and engage collectors worldwide.
Leslie Hindman Auctioners – Naples Spring Auction
March 15th, 2012 by admin
Friday, March 16 | 12:00 pm EST
Preview
Saturday 10 March | 10am – 2pm
Monday 12 March | 10am – 5pm
Tuesday 13 March | 10am – 5pm
Wednesday 14 March | 10am – 7pm
Thursday 15 March | 10am – 5pm
Sotheby’s New York – African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property from the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections
March 15th, 2012 by adminSotheby’s annual various owners sale of African, Oceanic, and Pre-Columbian Art in New York is led by a magnificent Kota reliquary figure formerly in the collections of Morris J. Pinto and the artist Armand Arman (estimate $1-1.5 million). In addition, this sale features works from several distinguished collections including The Martin and Roberta Lerner Collection of African Miniature Sculpture, the Zafrira and Itzhak Shoher Collection, and the Susan and Jerry Vogel Collection of African Art. The selection of Pre-Columbian art will feature Peruvian gold, Mezcala stone figures, masks, and Maya and West Mexican ceramic figures from collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, William and Betty Hays and the Estate of Jan Mitchell.