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Fine and Rare Wines
21 Nov 2009, San Francisco and Los Angeles |
Antique Arms and Armor and Modern Sporting Guns
23 Nov 2009, 220 San Bruno Avenue, San Francisco |
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23 Nov 2009, Los Angeles and San Francisco |
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24 Nov 2009, Chester |
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24 Nov 2009, Chester |
British and Continental Collectable Ceramics
24 Nov 2009, Chester |
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24 Nov 2009, Chester |
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24 Nov 2009, Knightsbridge |
Clocks & Barometers
24 Nov 2009, Knightsbridge |
British & Continental Pictures
24 Nov 2009, Knightsbridge |
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Rare Frederic Church Work Fetches Over $1Million at
Bonhams New York American Paintings Sale
http://www.bonhams.com/americanpaintings
In anticipation of the offering of a rare Frederic Church painting, collector attention was focused on Bonhams New York’s May 20th American Paintings sale.
Titled Tropical Moonlight, it is amongst the important paintings derived from Church’s travels around South America. Other work from this group include Heart of the Andes which hangs in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and Rainy Season in the Tropics which is on display at Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.
Given directly from Church to his patron and friend, William Henry Osborn, the painting remained in the family for decades and was placed on loan to the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco prior to being presented at Bonhams. The piece’s beauty and impeccable provenance ultimately resulted in a price of $1,274,000.
Touching off no less than a bidding war was an exceptional Richard Edward Miller painting, titled The Plaid Skirt (pictured, right). One of the last of a 13 piece collection belonging to Miller’s family, this work was clearly one of the most highly sought after. After a round of fierce bidding between two private bidders the piece fetched $314,000, the highest take of all the paintings presented from the collection.
A fresh to market piece by William Glackens, piqued bidder attention as well. In addition to being a quintessential Glackens work, the nostalgic winter scene features one of the artist’s favorite settings – New York’s famed Washington Square Park. At the end of bidding the work brought in $206,000.
Bidders were also drawn by a group of works by the renowned Grandma Moses. Of particular interest were the artist’s bucolic winter scenes. Carrying a top estimate of $50,000, a work titled A Fine Gobbler, from the estate of “Rebel Without a Cause” producer David Weisbart, outperformed, bringing in a final price of $64,050. Another work titled Which Way also surpassed expectations, bringing in $48,800 against a top estimate of $35,000.
Also luring collectors were a classic fishing scene by Frank Weston Benson titled Landing the Big One, which nearly doubled its top estimate of $30,000 with a price of $57,950; an Abbott Fuller Graves still life which drew $42,700; and a coastal scene by Alfred Thompson Bricher which also fetched $42,700.
Further tempting bidders were two exceptional sculptures from Paul Howard Manship. Titled Morning (pictured, left) and Night from the artist’s Moods of Time series, the pieces were originally created as large scale sculptures for the New York World's Fair of 1939. Morning and Night were two of the four times of day that were set into a rectangular pool and fountain. Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Manship’s daughter-in-law, Margaret Cassidy Manship, the lot sparked a round of enthusiastic bidding and greatly exceeded its top estimate of $50,000 with a final price of $91,500.
The illustrated auction catalog for the sale will be online for viewing and purchase at www.bonhams.com/us in the weeks following the auction.
Press Contact: PRNY@bonhams.com, Staci Smith, 917-345-5157
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America and in August 2003, Goodmans, a leading Australian fine art and antiques auctioneer with salerooms in Sydney, joined the Bonhams Group of Companies. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further seven throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston in the USA; and Switzerland, France, Monaco, Australia, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com. (01-08) For other press releases, go to www.bonhams.com/press.
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