Joseph Christian Leyendecker (1874-1951), Christ with Sainted Knights. Courtesy Leland Little Auctions. Estimate: $10/20,000 SOLD: $88,000
Hillsborough, NC
Leland Little Auctions
March 13
Signature Spring Auction
$1.21 million
Joseph Christian Leyendecker’s Christ with Sainted Knights was the top-selling lot in Leland Little Auctions’ Signature Spring Auction, which took place in mid-March. It shattered its high estimate of $20,000 when it hammered at $88,000. The illustration is a combination of religious and Arthurian iconography, featuring a radiant Christ with a monk holding the Holy Grail and Parzival on each side.
The painting was consigned with Leland by a North Carolina collector who was unaware of the artist. Leland Little Auctions’ fine art director Claire Fraser identified it as an early Leyendecker painting.
The sales total for the Signature Spring Auction was $1.21 million.
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Hale Woodruff (1900-1980), Primordial Landscape, 1967. Oil on canvas, 40 x 50 in. Courtesy Swann Auction Galleries. Estimate: $120/180,000 SOLD: $245,000
New York, NY
Swann Auction Galleries
April 22
African American Art
$3.98 million
At a sales total of $3.98 million, New York-based Swann Auction Galleries’ spring African American Art auction was the second highest grossing sale in the department’s 13-year history, with its highest number of participants to date.
The 1967 oil Primordial Landscape by Hale Woodruff was one of the top lots in the sale, and a prime example of Woodruff’s post-war painting within the realm of abstract expressionism. The painting sold for $245,000 against an estimate of $120,000 to $180,000. Another highlight was Charles Alston’s abstract nocturne City at Night, painted between 1956 and 1960, which sold at the April 22 sale for $185,000. Beauford Delaney’s 1968 oil Untitled (African Figure) achieved $125,000, and his pastel Untitled (Tent Interior) sold for $137,000.
“I am thrilled to see the continued growth in our African American art auctions with a tremendous sale,” says Nigel Freeman, director of Swann’s African American art department. “Three hundred ninety-eight registered bidders (not counting those on other platforms) competed for eight hours to bid on 220 lots. We set 13 artist records and saw high prices all around for many artists.”
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Armin Hansen (1886-1957), Storm at Sea. 25 x 30 in., 29½ x 34½ (framed). Courtesy Bonhams. Estimate: $150/25,000 SOLD: $375,313
Los Angeles, CA
Bonhams
April 20
California Art
$3.7 million
The California Art sale at Bonhams this April achieved $3,708,395, with 83 percent sold by lot and 87 percent sold by value. The 150-lot sale was led by Armin Hansen’s maritime painting Storm at Sea, which sold beyond its high estimate of $250,000 at $375,313.
“Armin Hansen once declared his two intentions in life were ‘to paint’ and ‘to battle the sea.’ In Storm at Sea, top lot of [our] California Art sale, he triumphs at both,” says Bonhams director of fine art Scot Levitt. “The work is a wonderfully vivid painting, clearly demonstrating his artistic talent as well as his passion for unpacking the complicated relationship of man and water...Overall, we saw spirited engagement from buyers throughout the entirety of the sale, a testament to the market’s unwavering strength.”
Other highlights in the sale include two landscapes by William Wendt: Along the River Bed (est. $250/350,000) sold for $312,813 and In the Shadow of the Grove (Sunlight and Shadow) (est. $200/300,000) achieved $262,813. California artists Benjamin C. Brown, Lillie May Nicholson, David Chapple and Grace McLean achieved four world auction records.
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Charles Morgan McIlhenney (1858-1904), Summer Afternoon by the Shore. Oil on canvas, 14 x 26¾ in., signed. Courtesy Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers. Estimate: $15/25,000 SOLD: $100,000
Milford, CT
Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers
April 29
Fine Art Auction
$2.4 million
Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers started the spring season with strong results during its Fine Art Auction on April 29, selling nearly 90 percent of the 201 lots. Leading the sale was Summer Afternoon by the Shore by Charles Morgan McIlhenney, which saw aggressive bidding over the phone, ultimately selling for four times its high estimate at $100,000.
In addition, four oil paintings by Fidelia Bridges achieved great results—Red Breasted Grosbeak in a Thicket more than quadrupled its high estimate of $18,000 when it sold for $80,000 and Gold Finches and Thistle soared past its high estimate of $15,000 when it achieved $55,000.
Further emphasizing the success of 19th-century American works in the sale, Alfred T. Bricher’s Low Tide, Grand Manan Island sold for $60,000, J.F. Weir’s Niagara Falls sold for $35,000 and Edward Moran’s The Journey’s End achieved $23,750.
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Chesley Bonestell (1888-1986), The Exploration of Mars book cover, Winged Rocket Ferry Orbits Mars Prior to Landing after 250-Day Flight, 1956. Oil on board, 16⅞ x 16¾ in. Courtesy Heritage Auctions. Estimate: $20/30,000 SOLD: $87,500
Dallas, TX
Heritage Auctions
April 30
Illustration Art
$2.3 million
An iconic pinup by Peruvian artist Alberto Vargas, the 1952 Mara Corday, True Girl, led Heritage Auctions’ Illustration Art sale, selling for $100,000. The auction reached $2,297,692 in total sales.
A number of American artists had big success at the April 30 auction. The 1947 ink and watercolor on board Addams Family Christmas, Addams and Evil interior book cartoon achieved a new world record for artist Charles Addams when it sold for $87,500, more than seven times its high estimate of $12,000.
A fitting sale, several months after the Perseverance Rover landed on Mars, Chesley Bonestell’s 1956 oil The Exploration of Mars book cover, Winged Rocket Ferry Orbits Mars Prior to Landing after 250-Day Flight reached $87,500 against a presale estimate of $20,000 to $30,000.
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Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses (1860-1961), Over the River to Grandma’s House on Thanksgiving Day, 1944. Oil on pressed wood, 17 x 26 in. Courtesy Grogan & Co. Estimate: $70/100,000 SOLD: $150,000
Boston, MA
Grogan & Co.
May 2
The Spring Auction
$4 million
Grogan & Co.’s annual The Spring Auction 450-lot sale totaled just under $4 million, with a 94% sell through rate. With a selection of 200 works of fine art, early-American portraits propelled the auction. Thousands tuned in to the sale, which was live-streamed from the firm’s Beacon Hill gallery.
The top lot was a pair of striking early American School Portraits from Philadelphia, around 1830, soaring past the $50,000 to $100,000 estimate and selling to a private collector for $406,250. Three paintings by Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses saw great success as well. The most significant was Over the River to Grandma’s House on Thanksgiving Day (est. $70/100,000), which sold for $150,000. Additionally, abstract impressionist artist Helen Frankenthaler’s Untitled, 1969, acrylic achieved $106,250 against a $50,000 to $80,000 presale estimate.
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Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), Woman with Flowering Branches, 1920. Oil on canvas, 30¼ x 25¼ in., signed: ‘Mucha’ and dated (lower right). Property from the Estate of Avis Hope Truska, Scottsdale, Arizona. Courtesy Hindman. Estimate: $60/80,000 SOLD: $456,500
Chicago, IL
Hindman
May 3
American and European Art
$3.2 million
Hindman Auctions’ spring fine art sales realized more than $7.4 million across three days during its May 3 American and European Art, May 4 Post War and Contemporary Art and May 5 Prints and Multiples sales.
The May 3 American and European Art auction, which featured an array of phenomenal impressionist landscapes, and modernist and Ashcan works, realized over $3.2 million. Top American lots included Pennsylvania Impressionist works by Edward Willis Redfield and Daniel Garber. The Peaceful Stream in Winter by Redfield and Garber’s Near Solebury both achieved $150,000. The overall top lot in the sale was Czech artist Alphonse Mucha’s Woman with Flowering Branches, 1920. The painting demolished its presale estimate of $60,000 to $80,000 when it sold for $456,500.
“We were pleased to see such incredible results and to have set new records across all three days of sales,” says Joe Stanfield, Hindman’s director and senior specialist of fine art. “Bidders showed significant interest with the amazing collections offered, and we are thrilled with the way buyers engaged with the American and European Art auction in particular.”
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Childe Hassam (1859-1935), Flags on 57th Street, Winter 1918, 1918. Oil on canvas 36¼ by 24 in., signed: ‘Childe Hassam’ and dated: ‘1918’ (lower right); signed with the artist’s monogram and dated on verso. Property from The New-York Historical Society, Sold to Support Museum Collections. Artist World Auction Record. Courtesy Sotheby’s. Estimate $12/18 million SOLD: $12.3 million
New York, NY
Sotheby’s
May 12
Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale
$221.3 million
The top American lot in Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale was a noteworthy piece by Childe Hassam, Flags on 57th Street, Winter 1918, which sold for $12.3 million, against a presale estimate of $12 million to $18 million. This is a world auction record for the artist.
The Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale reached a total of $221.3 million, with 94 percent of lots sold. In addition to the aforementioned sale, the auction house held two other sales the evening of May 12, American Visionary: The Collection of Mrs John L. Marion and Contemporary Art Evening Auction, achieving a stellar $597 million altogether.
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Robert Jenkins Onderdonk (1853-1917), The Afternoon Walk. Hand-painted porcelain tile, 393⁄8 x 55¹/8 in. Courtesy Heritage Auctions. Estimate: $25/35,000 SOLD: $65,625
Dallas, TX
Heritage Auctions
May 22
Texas Art
$774,094
Modern artist David Bates’ Waterfall was the star of Heritage Auctions’ May 22 Texas Art sale, selling for $137,500, and boosting the total to $774,094. Historic American works by Texas artists or inspired by the Lone Star State were prominent in the sale as well.
Robert Jenkins Onderdonk’s The Afternoon Walk (est. $25/35,000), made up of hand-painted porcelain tiles, came close to doubling its high estimate when it achieved $65,625, while Mexican-American sculptor Octavio Medellin’s The Angel, solf for $87,500 against an estimate of $3,000 to $5,000. —
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