Paul Cadmus (1904-1999), Male Nude NM67, ca. 1968. Crayon on hand-toned paper, 17 x 23¼ in. Courtesy Lark Mason Associates. Estimate: $4/6,000 SOLD: $42,500

New York, NY
Lark Mason Associates
April 28-May 21
Paul Cadmus and His Circle: Property from the Estate of Jon F. Anderson
$1.16 million

Lark Mason Associates’ recent sale, Paul Cadmus and His Circle: Property from the Estate of Jon F. Anderson, through iGavel Auctions, was a standout success with a 98 percent sell-through rate for the 402 lots and a total of $1,163,055. The single-owner auction came from cabaret singer and actor Jon F. Anderson, who was the muse and lover of Paul Cadmus for 36 years and the subject of many of his paintings. Included in the collection were three artists’ estates—Cadmus, Jared French and Margaret French—as well as works by their friends and fellow artists.

Highlights included Cadmus’ Male Nude #NM5, which sold for $41,250, and Male Nude NM67, which achieved $42,500. Jared French’s Male Figures in Garden brought $37,500, while Margaret French’s Workers at Habor achieved $19,500.

+++

Daniel Ridgway Knight (1839-1924), Summer Afternoon, Seine Valley. Oil on canvas, 32¾ x 25¾ in., signed. Courtesy Shannon’s Fine Art Auctions. Estimate: $35/45,000 SOLD: $52,000

Milford, CT
Shannon’s Fine Art Auctions
April 30
Online Fine Art Auction
$575,000

On April 30, Shannon’s Fine Art Auctions hosted an Online Fine Art Auction, with 185 lots available to bidders virtually due to COVID-19. Sandra Germain, managing partner at the auction house, made the decision to hold the sale with fewer lots than the full catalog auction, which has been postponed to a later date. The auction house shares, “We were pleased with the overall results of the online auction. Our presale estimates were $370,000 to $550,000 and the total was over $575,000 with 80 percent of the lots sold.”

The sale was led by abstract expressionist Milton Resnick’s 1956 painting Ulysses, which achieved $137,500, while his 1958 work Apparatus sold for $30,000. Late 19th- and early 20th-century paintings were also notable with collectors, with Daniel Ridgway Knight’s Summer Afternoon, Seine Valley coming in at $52,000; Eric Sloane’s Berkshire Barn (est. $12/18,000) at $27,500; and Arthur Wesley Dow’s Marshes and Dunes at Ipswich bringing $8,750.

+++

Sun Ra in “Space is the Place”. Color poster, 20¾ x 17 in. Np: North American Star System Productions, ca. 1974. Courtesy Swann Auction Galleries. Estimate: $1/1,500 SOLD: $6,500

New York, NY
Swann Auction Galleries
May 7
Printed & Manuscript African Americana
$744,112

Thirteen new auction records were set during Swann Auction Galleries’ online Printed & Manuscript African Americana sale. The auction, which was anticipated to have a high total of $672,900, bested that estimate when 90 percent of the lots found new homes yielding $744,112 in sales. Rick Stattler, the auction house’s Americana specialist says, “Institutions generally make a good showing in these African Americana auctions, but they did exceptionally well in this sale, picking up four top lots, and a total of 11 of the top 20.”

Posters were of particular interest including the civil rights era March for Freedom Now!, 1960, which brought $17,500; the circa 1963 Come Let Us Build a New World Together poster at $7,250; and Sun Ra in “Space is the Place,” a circa 1974 movie poster for the Afrofuturist science fiction film, brought $6,500.

+++Harry Humphrey Moore (1844-1926), Tangier. Oil on panel, 16 x 9½ in., signed lower left: “H. Hrey Moore/Tanger”. Courtesy Brunk Auctions. Estimate: $15/20,000 SOLD: $36,900

Asheville, NC
Brunk Auctions
May 15-16
Premier & Emporium Auctions
$2.14 million

Brunk Auctions saw a record number of collectors on the phones and live streaming its spring Premier & Emporium Auctions, May 15 to 16. This interest—with registered bids from 21 countries on three continents—drove sales to just over $2,138,215. The fine art portion of the sale was a rousing success, with a 95 percent sell-through rate in the category. While the highest earner from the group—and the entire auction—was German artist Ernst Barlach’s bronze Der Verschwender II (est. $5/7,000) at $59,040, a number of American paintings proved to be of interest.

Henry Humphrey Moore’s Tangier (est. $15/20,000) more than doubled its low estimate when it sold for $36,900, while Albert Ernest “Beanie” Backus’ Back from Nassau also came in above estimate. The work, coming from a private collector in Greensboro, North Carolina, achieved $19,680 against its estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. 

+++

Granville Redmond (1871-1935), Wildflower landscape with poppies and lupine. Oil on canvas, 26 x 40 in., signed lower left: ‘Granville Redmond’. Courtesy John Moran Auctioneers. Estimate: $150/250,000 SOLD: $225,000Monrovia, CA
John Moran Auctioneers
May 17
California & American Fine Art
$1.7 million

John Moran Auctioneers’ first California & American Fine Art auction of 2020 pivoted to being an online-only affair that not only saw solid results—a sales total of $1,697,025—but also brand-new buyers who competed for works. The standout of the day was a beautiful work by Granville Redmond, Wildflower landscape with poppies and lupine, which achieved $225,000, a price just shy of its high estimate of $250,000. 

There was also success by women artists including Jessie Arms Botke’s White cockatoos in an avocado tree, which shattered its presale estimate of $8,000 to $12,000, when it sold for $87,500. Henrietta Mary Shore was represented by a portrait of a woman in a boat with a parasol that achieved $17,500, while Harriet Frishmuth’s bronze Crest of the Wave (est. $8/12,000) brought in $11,250.

+++

Theodore Clement Steele (1847-1926), Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument of Indianapolis, 1917. Oil on canvas, 29 x 39 in., signed and dated lower right: ‘T.C. Steele’. Courtesy Hindman. Estimate: $6/8,000 SOLD: $131,250Chicago, IL
Hindman
May 20
American and European Art
$1.1 million

More than 90 percent of the lots available in Hindman’s May 20th American and European Art found new homes and helped push the day’s total to $1.1 million. According to the auction house, the favorite of the day was Theodore Clement Steele’s 1917 painting Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument of Indianapolis. The work, considered rare and sought-after, achieved more than 20 times it estimate of $6,000 to $8,000, when it brought in $131,250. 

There were numerous other pieces available in the sale that soared past presale estimates, including Joan Miró’s Untitled work on paper, which sold for $35,840, against an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000, and Georges Kars’ Reconstruction of the Old Town in Prague, 1908 painting that sold for $45,000, besting its estimate of $6,000 to $8,000.

+++

David Thimgan (1955-2003), Long Days Journey, Balclutha, 1889. Oil on canvas, 17½ x 23½ in. signed lower right: ‘D. Thimgan ASMA’; titled on frame plaque. Courtesy Eldred’s. Estimate: $1,2/1,800 SOLD: $10,000

East Dennis, MA
Eldred’s
May 21
American Paintings

On May 21, Eldred’s hosted its American Paintings sale online to more than 100 participants through web, absentee and telephone bids. The sale, which primarily featured contemporary artists who do not have a long list of auction records, did “exceedingly well,” according to Joshua Eldred, president of the firm and head of its fine art department. The day’s top lot was Long Days Journey, Balclutha, 1889, by maritime artist David Thimgan. The work, from the Kelton Collection of Marine Art and Artifacts, achieved $10,000 against an estimate of $1,200 to $1,800.

Also of note was Donald Mosher’s portrait of the schooner Thomas E. Lannon in Gloucester harbor, which sold for $8,750, and two views of Gloucester by Jeff Weaver that both sold for $6,600. —

Powered by Froala Editor