Record Setters

Christie’s Modern American Art sale reached more than $13.2 million in total sales

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Multiple artists achieved world auction records during Christie’s Modern American Art sale held on April 18. Among these were Florine Stettheimer’s oil Tulips Under a Canopy, which skyrocketed past its $300,000 high estimate when it sold for $1.03 million, as well as Ida Ten Eyck O’Keeffe’s Flowers (Gardenias in a Pitcher), which achieved $302,000, shattering its high estimate of $35,000. The top lot in the sale was a landscape piece featuring a white horse by Thomas Hart Benton. Aptly titled White Horse, the oil on canvas achieved an astonishing $2.2 million.

Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), White Horse, 1955. Oil on canvas, 22 x 30 in., signed and dated: ‘Benton ’55’ and inscribed with title (on the reverse). CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2024. Estimate: $1.5/2.5 million SOLD: $2,228,000

In total, the Modern American Art auction achieved a staggering $13.2 million, selling for 98 percent by low estimate and 82 percent by lot.

“It’s wonderful to once again achieve record-breaking results for women artists at Christie’s,” says Paige Kestenman, senior specialist of Christie’s American art department. “The enthusiasm around the stellar examples by Florine Stettheimer and Ida O’Keeffe was a testament not only to their rarity, but also their deserved places among the pantheon of great American Modernist artists.”

Florine Stettheimer (1871-1944), Tulips Under a Canopy, ca. 1925. Oil on canvas, 40 x 32 in., signed lower right with initials in monogram: ‘FS’. CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2024. Estimate: $200/300,000 SOLD: $1,033,200

Ida’s older sister, the ubiquitous and esteemed Georgia O’Keeffe saw excellent results in the April sale as well. Her floral Blue Morning Glory sold for $1.7 million against a presale estimate of $700,000 to $1 million. “It was also a great day for American illustration, which was led by Maxfield Parrish’s masterwork, Ottaquechee River, at $1,502,000, as well as works by Norman Rockwell and N.C. Wyeth,” says Tylee Abbott, head of the American art department. “This genre consistently inspired some of the most fervent, competitive bidding of the sale.”

Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986), Blue Morning Glory, 1934. Oil on canvas, 7 x 7 in., signed with initials ‘OK’; dated ‘34’ and inscribed with title (on original backing). CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2024. Estimate: $700/1,000,000 SOLD: $1,744,000Works by Fairfield Porter and Charles Ephraim Burchfield also had fantastic results in the spring sale. Porter’s White Boats bested its $250,000 low estimate when it sold for $315,000. Burchfield’s watercolor Retreat of Winter, a riparian winter scene, achieved $756,000 against estimates of $400,000 to $600,000.

Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966), Ottaquechee River, 1947. Oil on Masonite, 23 x 185/8 in., signed and dated lower right: ‘Maxfield Parrish/1947’; signed and dated again and inscribed with title on the reverse. CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. Estimate: $1/1.5 million SOLD: $1,502,000Additional world auction records in the Modern American Art sale were The Blue Box by Charles Goeller, selling for $23,940, and Landscape by Henry Fitch Taylor at $17,640.