NEAL AUCTION COMPANY’S ANNUAL LOUISIANA PURCHASE AUCTION™ ACHIEVES $4.3 MILLION

Oct. 29, 2007

NEW ORLEANS—With strong bidding in all categories, Neal Auction Company’s Oct. 6 and 7 highly lauded and greatly anticipated Louisiana Purchase Auction™ was a huge success. With registered bidders from as far away as China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Austria as well as from most European countries, Neal Auction’s October sale witnessed 1,169 registered bidders. Live Internet bidding was provided by www.LiveAuctioneers.com, where those interested may view the fully illustrated archived auction catalog.

Neal Auction Company’s Louisiana Purchase offerings of fine art were outstanding, with results underscoring the current market strength and collector’s enthusiasm for high quality pieces. Records were set for many artists, including Marie Atkinson Hull (lot 310: $42,300.00); Robert Wadsworth Grafton (lot 315: $164,500.00); John Wesley Jarvis (lot 499: $35,250.00); Aimable Desire Lansot (lot 508: $21,737.00); Clementine Hunter (lot 510: $19,975.00); C. R. Parker (lot 517: $18,212.00); William Carroll Saunders (lot 524: $20,562.00); William Woodward (lot 547: $182,125.00); Theodore Sydney Moïse (lot 557: $29,375.00) and Caroline “Carrie” Lillian Hill (lot 880: $6,462.00) and more.

Lot 547, the William Woodward (American/New Orleans, 1859-1939), 16 by 20 inch crayon on board titled “Coffee Five Cents Per Cup: Poydras Market, New Orleans,” was the highlight of Neal Auction Company’s Louisiana Purchase Auction™. With a presale estimate of $40,000 to $60,000, the work sold for a record smashing $182,125.00. Lot 308, another William Woodward (American/Louisiana, 1859-1939) titled “Henderson Point, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi,” also performed commendably, selling well above its $30,000-$50,000 presale estimate and achieving $73,437.00.

Lot 315, the Robert Wadsworth Grafton (American, 1876-1936, active New Orleans, 1916-1920), oil on canvas titled “Wash Day, Vieux Carre Courtyard,” was the auction’s number 2 top-seller. With an estimate of $30,000-$50,000, the Grafton shattered previous sale records and achieved $164,500.00, against fierce competition.

546, the Louis Oscar Griffith (American, 1875-1956, active New Orleans, 1916-1917), oil titled “Old New Orleans,” was another star lot, achieving $86,250.00. (Neal Auction Company holds the record price for a Louis Oscar Griffith sold at auction. “Unloading the Banana Boats, New Orleans Dock,” achieved $113,850.00 on February 3, 2007.)

Sales of works by Louis Oscar Griffith and Robert Wadsworth Grafton came to the forefront on December 2, 2006, when a large collaborative painting by the two artists was offered during Neal Auction Company’s annual Important Holiday Estates Auction. The painting (originally a wall mural for the St. Charles Hotel), which depicted the start of a horse race at New Orleans Fairgrounds Racetrack, achieved an unprecedented $278,750.00. The result of the sale was a seemingly renewed interest and appreciation in the two artists’ works, as well as a highly elevated market. Since the December 2006 sale, Neal Auction Company has been setting and breaking record prices for both artists.
Another artist for which Neal Auction Company holds the record sale price is Helen Maria Turner, which was achieved in December 2002 when “The Sisters” hit the auction block and sold for $93,300.00. This October’s Helen Maria Turner (American/New Orleans, 1858-1958) offering was exceptional as well. In a 1920 review for the New York World, W.G. Bowdoin wrote of the painting, titled “The Dreamer:” “The Dreamer… is an enticing study of femininity. The girl, with long ringlets, becomingly wears sheer white, the value of which is intensified by the cobalt blue of the background that has been skillfully used. The peacock fan is by no means negligible and the cut roses in an oviform container at the right make a jolly composition.” Neal Auction’s “The Dreamer,” lot 550, achieved $82,250.00.

Lot 486, Neal Auction Company’s Bror Anders Wikstrom (Swedish, 1854-1909, active New Orleans 1883-1909), a provocative oil on canvas titled “Sunset on the Florida Coast,” achieved $70,500.00.

Lot 527 was the first of Neal Auction Company’s Louisiana Purchase Auction’s John Mc Crady (American/Mississippi, 1911-1968), works. “Good Evening (Good Morning),” a 13 ½ by 17 ½ inch multi-stage on canvas affixed to board, achieved an impressive $47,000.00; while lot 548, a John McCrady acrylic called “Private Property – Keep Out” reached an equally commendable $16,450.00.

Neal Auction Company continues to dominate the Mississippi market, holding records for the State’s most well known and best loved artists—Walter Inglis Anderson and Marie Atkinson Hull. “The real reward in art is not the opinion of others. It is the ability to express oneself in one’s own way… Through it all, I have seen clearly that creativity and quality are the essential things in art.” -- Marie Hull, The Art of Marie Hull, by Malcolm M. Norwood. “Red Parrots,” (above right), an oil on canvas by Marie Atkinson Hull (American/ Mississippi, 1890-1980), was another record breaker this sale. With an estimate of $15,000-$25,000, the colorful canvas (lot 310) achieved $42,300.00.
The Maria Atkinson Hull watercolor, “Reflections from the Bridge,” also reached a record price for the artist. The $11,700.00 achieved for lot 341 is the highest price ever achieved at auction for a watercolor by Marie Hull.
The forthcoming Dec. 1 and 2 Important Holiday Estates Auction will feature a rare Marie Atkinson Hull three panel screen similar in composition to lot 310 above. The screen is expected to generate an impressive amount of interest.

Neal Auction Company’s greatly anticipated annual Important Holiday Estates Auction will take place Dec. 1-2. To view the fully illustrated catalog, please visit www.LiveAuctioneers.com.