September 2008 - Auction Central News

Contested Banksy art bombs in U.K. auction – is Britain’s stealth artist taking charge?

Flying Copper, by Banksy (b.1975?), silkscreen printed in colors, 2004, numbered 284/600 in pencil, published by Pictures on Walls, London, on woven paper. Photo courtesy Bloomsbury Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.com.

LONDON (AP and ACNI) – A British auction house says it has failed to find buyers for five contested pieces of street art purportedly created by aerosol impresario Banksy.

The auction at Lyon & Turnbull follows a statement posted to Pest Control, a Web site affiliated with the British artist, warning that some street pieces were being falsely attributed to the artist, whose identity has never been confirmed.

Pest Control says it refuses to authenticate street art because Banksy prefers the work to remain in place. Ben Hanly, Lyon & Turnbull’s contemporary art expert, said Monday that the pieces were genuine and that the sale fell through for economic reasons.

Rare Marilyn Monroe footage sells for $24,624 in Sydney auction

Marylin Monroe, from Some Like It Hot trailer. Image courtesy Wikipedia.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Rare film footage of Marilyn Monroe on the set of her 1959 hit Some Like It Hot sold at auction for US$14,624.

The two-and-a-half minute 8 mm film, which features Monroe goofing around with co-stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, was shot by a U.S. naval officer who was invited to the set after Monroe visited his base in San Diego.

The sailor’s daughter, who moved to Australia’s Victoria state, discovered the film by chance among her late father’s possessions.

Italian police recover stolen Renoir, arrest three suspects

ROME (AP) – A Renoir painting stolen in 1975 was recovered and three people were arrested on a tip from an art critic who had been asked to value it, Italy’s police art squad said Friday.

The work by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir is worth some $735,000, art squad head Gen. Giovanni Nistri said. It was stolen from a restorer’s lab in Milan, where the Milanese owners had sent it for repairs.

“It’s not one of those paintings of great value,” he told reporters at a presentation in Rome. “The value of the artwork is cultural rather than commercial.”

The painting of a seated nude woman was found this summer after the people who had it contacted the critic to have it appraised before selling it, the Carabinieri paramilitary police said.

The critic alerted the Carabinieri’s art squad, and officers were waiting when the painting was removed from a bank vault in northern Italy for the appraisal.

Three people were arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen goods. They are a 68-year-old woman who manages an art gallery, and two men previously known to police for other crimes, Nistri said.

The painting will be returned to its owners. Its date was not given. Renoir died in 1919.

AP-WS-09-26-08 0954EDT

The Fame Bureau Reprises Classic Hits in Oct. 1st Sale

The score for Blue Suede Shoes used in Elvis Presley's 68 Comeback Special. Signed by Elvis Presley Charlie Hodge, Joe Esposito and DJ Fontana, Framed and Glazed.

John Lennon’s lyrics for “Sexy Sadie” are among the rock ’n’ roll relics being sold by the Fame Bureau at an auction Oct. 1 beginning at 5 p.m. London time (noon Eastern).

The auction, titled It’s More Than Rock ’n’ Roll Reprise, is composed of lots that did not sell in the auction company’s two sales in September.

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Choice estate pieces add sparkle to Woody Auction’s Oct. 25 sale

Considered rare, this 10-inch signed L.C. Tiffany Favrile trumpet vase has a green heart vine motif.

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Hundreds of high-end items in an array of categories will be offered at a multi-estate auction slated for Saturday, Oct. 25, at the St. Charles Convention Center. Lots will include more than 2,000 silver spoons, John Rogers statuary groups, vintage clocks and art glass, including five Tiffany vases.

“This will be an exciting sale because there is so much here and the merchandise is so diverse,” said Jason Woody of Woody Auction, based in Douglass, Kan, which will conduct the sale. “These are high-end, highly collectible, fresh-to-the-market items, from several important estates. It isn’t every day we get this much quality merchandise all at once, but this will be such an event. Mark your calendars.”

Telescope believed to have been owned by Geo. Washington in Oct. 5-6 Hindman sale

George Washington telescope, est: $10,000. Image courtesy Leslie Hindman.

CHICAGO – A telescope believed to have belonged to George Washington, and last offered as such in 1920, will be sold at a Fine Furniture & Decorative Arts Auction scheduled for Oct. 5-6 by Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. It is expected to fetch $10,000 or more. The spyglass has been consigned by the renowned Illinois Institute of Technology.

George Washington owned many telescopes during his lifetime, having eleven in his collection at the time of his death in December 1799. Several of these are now housed in the Smithsonian, Mount Vernon and other esteemed institutions.

Archangel Uriel painting lights fire under Leland Little’s bidders

Though the artist is not known, this Spanish Colonial School painting of the Archangel Uriel, done around 1700, flew to $14,375.

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. – An oil-on-canvas rendering of the Archangel Uriel holding a musket and standing before a mountainous landscape, painted around 1700 by an unknown artist in the Spanish Colonial School, sold for $14,375 at an auction conducted Sept. 13 by Leland Little Auction Estate Sales Ltd.

The painting was one of 615 lots that changed hands in a sale that grossed $690,000. Most of the lots were drawn from seven important and prominent estates and lifetime single-owner collections.

The archangel Uriel painting came from the estate of former U.S. Ambassador Findley Burns Jr., of Southern Pines, N.C.

“Mr. Burns and his wife only collected choice, worldwide material,” said Leland Little. “It didn’t surprise me his estate drew so much attention from bidders.”

And there were plenty of bidders vying for the mostly fresh-to-the-market merchandise. About 250 people packed the showroom in Hillsborough, while record numbers of phone and absentee bids – nearly 1,000, versus the usual 750 at most Leland Little sales – were posted. In addition, more than 1,400 online registered bidders participated through LiveAuctioneers.com, which facilitated Internet bidding.

Chicago-based Modern design specialists Wright announce Oct. 7 auction

Charles and Ray Eames DCWs, pair Herman Miller USA, 1946/c. 1950 19 w x 20 d x 29 h inches Estimate: $5,000–7,000

CHICAGO – Wright’s Oct. 7 Modern Design auction will feature select works from such 20th-century legends as Harry Bertoia, Charles and Ray Eames, Gio Ponti, George Nakashima and George Nelson, as well as many others. In keeping with current buying trends, the 517-lot Wright sale will also include designs from fast-rising stars in the Contemporary field, like Marc Newson, Tom Dixon, Martin Szekely and Tjep.

Among the event’s top lots are two important works by Shiro Kuramata. Lot 264, a curiosity cabinet of multicolored acrylic, numbered 13 of 40 and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, is expected to make $70,000-$90,000. Lot 265, a Kuramata Glass Chair, number 15 of 40, may realize $40,000-$60,000.

The Mattress Factory art museum to benefit from Oct. 18 auction

James Turrell, Roden Crater: Complete Site Plan, 2008 30 w x 40 h inches Inkjet on paper Estimate: $6,000 - $8,000

PITTSBURGH – The Mattress Factory – a museum of contemporary installation art known worldwide for presenting exhibitions that push artistic boundaries – will hold a benefit art auction on Saturday, Oct. 18, beginning at 8 p.m. EST. Nearly 100 works will be offered, live and online, by noted artists such as James Turrell, Kiki Smith, John Waters and others.

On the day of sale, the auction will go live worldwide, via a partnership with LiveAuctioneers.com. Contemporary art lovers from around the globe will be able to compete with bidders on the auction room floor for collectible one-of-a-kinds by internationally recognized artists.

Since its founding in 1977, the Mattress Factory has served as a launch pad for over 300 name artists, such as Damien Hirst and Greer Lankton. Every five years, artists who have exhibited work there during the past three decades come together to help support the museum’s mission through a live auction of donated work. All proceeds help fund the Mattress Factory’s exhibitions, programs and operations.

Distinguished Bloomfield Hills estate headlines Midwest’s Oct. 4-5 auction

Image courtesy Midwest Auction Galleries.

OXFORD, Mich. – On Oct. 4 and 5, Midwest Auction Galleries Inc. will conduct a 1,000-lot Fine Arts and Antiques auction featuring the estate of Mr. and Mrs. John McHugh, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

The McHugh collection includes 14 important artworks by Louis Icart, as well as an exceptional 19th-century carved mantel adorned by full-size maidens.

Many oil paintings will be offered, including works by Anton Otto Fischer, Charles Fazzino, Sidney Richard Percy, Louis Van der pol, George Thompson Pritchard, Salvador Dali and Louis Apol. Additionally, a selection of 19th-century etchings is consigned.

Always popular with bidders, paintings on porcelain consigned to the sale include examples by KPM and Limoges.

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