NEW YORK (AP) – Relatives of one of the world’s most famous portrait photographers have sued a Manhattan gallery, saying it lost valuable photographs created with Spanish surrealist master Salvador Dalí.
A daughter and two grandchildren of the late Philippe Halsman say in a lawsuitthat 41 of the works created by Halsman and Dalí were reported stolen in April 2007.
The works were among dozens delivered to the Howard Greenberg Gallery in 2003 and 2004.
On Sept. 16, controversial British artist Damien Hirst drove a chainsaw through established conventions governing the art trade by selling £70.5 million ($127 million, inclusive of buyer’s premium) worth of new art at Sotheby’s in London. Sidestepping his dealer agents – White Cube in London and Gagosian Gallery in New York – Hirst consigned directly to Sotheby’s, which also broke the rules by agreeing to auction literally new artworks.
MIAMI (AP) – Three years ago, an elderly Italian man pulled his van into a South Florida park to sell some rare, 2,500-year-old emeralds plundered from a South American tomb. But Ugo Bagnato, an archaeologist, didn’t know his potential customer was a federal agent.
Bagnato flashed the green gems, which were as large as dominoes, and explained to the immigration and customs agent that he had bribed South American authorities and used fake paperwork to smuggle the highly illegal goods into the United States.
Authorities discovered Bagnato had a cache of more than 400 artifacts from Peru and Colombia, all predating Columbus’ arrival in the Americas: burial shrouds, jewelry, terra cotta pots and other treasures were wedged in boxes in his van and kept in a storage unit.
Bagnato was arrested, charged with the sale and receipt of stolen goods, and in 2006, pleaded guilty. He was later deported.
NEW YORK – Bloomsbury Auctions New York will open the 2008 fall season with its largest sale to date Sept. 17-18. The two-day Bibliophile sale will consist of Americana, maps, literature , fine bindings, original art and art books, and the remarkable Fred M. Meyer collection of L. Frank Baum and related Oziana.
The sale commences with the Meyer material, which is especially well regarded among Oz collectors since Meyer is executive secretary of the International Wizard of Oz Club Inc. Over a period of more than 40 years, Fred Meyer amassed a wealth of first editions, manuscripts, printer’s proofs, rare toys and games, and drawings by W. W. Denslow, John R. Neill and others.
Day one continues with a fine group of original artworks and art-related books. Highlights from this section include a rare, full series of La Gazette du Bon Ton in original wrappers estimated at $50,000 – $70,000. This groundbreaking Parisian fashion periodical contains hundreds of pochoir plates by George Barbier, Raoul Dufy, George Lepape, Umberto Brunelleschi, A. E. Marty, Paul Iribe and many other masters of the Art Deco age of elegance. The day concludes with the sale of literature and fine bindings.
LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. – On Saturday, Sept. 27 and Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008 at 12 noon (EST), the Rago Arts and Auction Center will host an auction dedicated to the furnishings and design of the early 1900s. The sale will be of particular interest to collectors of American art pottery, Gustav Stickley, lamps and Continental pottery, porcelain and glass should be particularly attentive.
The 1,000-lot sale reflects Rago customers’ ongoing interest in the decorative arts of Europe, in lighting from Tiffany and other great makers, as well as fine American Arts & Crafts.
American Art pottery is, as ever, a strong suit at Rago’s. Headline lots include a collection of ceramics from the Strong Museum in Rochester, N.Y., a private collection of decorated Marblehead, and third collection comprised of works by George Ohr. The latter includes a large crumpled bowl covered in gun-metal and green mottled glaze (presale estimate $7,000-10,000) and a twisted bulbous vase covered in two distinctive glazes (presale estimate $4,500-6,500).
Buyers will find a large selection of Dedham and Chelsea Keramic Art Works pottery, with many experimental vases by Hugh Robertson, including one covered in red, green, and blue mottled oxblood glaze (presale estimate $2,500-3,500) and much crackleware, including three very rare Crab plates (presale estimate $1,000-1,500). Also exceptional: a tall Grand Feu (California) vase covered in mahogany flambé glaze (presale estimate $6,000-9,000). At 13 inches by 6 inches, it is the largest example Rago’s has seen from this superior pottery (and is joined by other spectacular pieces by the same maker).
Other potteries/potters whose work will be sold: Grueby, Rookwood, Newcomb College, Rhead, California Faience, Fulper, Weller, Merrimac, Teco, Van Briggle, Pisgah Forest, Arequipa, North Dakota School of Mines, Roseville, Volkmar and Clewell.
Arts and Crafts furniture of import includes a circa-1901 Gustav Stickley trapezoidal china cabinet (presale $15,000-25,000), a Gustav Stickley Director’s table (presale $12,000-18,000) and a Gustav Stickley inlaid drop-front desk in its original ebonized finish (presale $20,000-30,000). In all, more than 100 fine examples of Stickley furniture will be offered, as well as more from L. and J.G. Stickley, Limbert, Roycroft, Lifetime and Old Hickory.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.-A major Tennessee pottery discovery, a rare complete Audubon octavo set, fine art and numerous Southern antiques are among the highlights of Case Antiques’ Sept. 27 Fall Auction. Among more than 300 cataloged lots is an extensive offering of Southern and European furniture, silver, samplers, paintings, and exceptional engravings.
One of the star lots of the sale is expected to be a rare 19th century Greene County, Tenn., redware jar stamped “J.A. Lowe” (John Alexander Lowe, 1833-1902). A pottery site attributed to Lowe was located and excavated near the Harmon Cemetery near Blue Springs in the 1990s, with thousands of shards recovered. “What makes this piece so exciting is it’s the first and only known intact piece of his pottery ever to surface,” said company president John Case.
“There’s also the interesting story of Lowe himself, who joined the Confederate army two days after his fellow potter, Christopher A. Haun, was hung for his role in the burning of the Lick Creek railroad bridge,” Case continued. “In a letter to his wife written hours before his death, Haun urged his wife to have ‘Bohanan, Hinshaw or Low’ finish off some of his wares. It’s a fascinating connection.”
Case specializes in Great Road Pottery, which includes most of the early pottery of Tennessee, and holds the current auction record for a piece of Great Tennessee pottery. In 2008 the company sold a redware pitcher attributed to the Cain Pottery of Sullivan County, Tenn., for $22,550.
LA PLATA, Md. (AP) – It was spirits — the alcoholic kind, not ghosts — that led archaeologists to a 17th-century courthouse.
Around the 1670s, it seems, councilmen and judges spent a fair amount of their time guzzling liquor. Remnants of their wine bottles and beer tankards are, therefore, easy to find.
It was pieces of those stone and glass vessels that led a team of archaeologists to find the original Charles County courthouse, the oldest government building in Maryland whose remnants could never be located – until now.
“Oh, they drank at night when they were sitting around talking about the day, they drank on breaks and they might even have been doing it when they were in court,” said Julia King. She’s an anthropology professor at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and she led a group of students in searching for the courthouse. “You can see pieces of their glasses everywhere you turn.”
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – More than 300 lots of outstanding, fresh-to- market merchandise in a broad array of categories will be offered on Saturday, Sept. 27 at Fontaine’s Auction Gallery in Pittsfield.
“This auction will feature hundreds of wonderful items from prominent area estates,” said John Fontaine of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery, “and it’s just one of four great sales planned for the rest of the year.” The other sales are the Henry Brownell Estate Auction (Saturday, Oct. 18); an Important Antique Clock Auction (Saturday, Nov. 8); and a Discovery Auction (Saturday, Dec.8).
Four lots in the Sept. 27 sale are capable of hammering at $50,000 or more. They are:
A rare and beautiful Louis Comfort Tiffany carved walnut corner armchair in very good and clean condition, with original finish. The top-crest rail is heavily carved, with a panel showing acorns and oak leaves. The chair has a nice tapestry seat, with padded arms and back (est. $50,000-$75,000).
A high-quality Petit & Boh Company 20-piece carved oak dining set, with carvings that are intricate, proportional and deep. The suite comprises a two-piece cabinet, sideboard, 60-inch table, server and 16 matching chairs, in very good condition, with original finish (est. $50,000-$75,000).
A gorgeous J. & J.W. Meeks pierce-carved, marble-top rosewood etagere in very good condition, with clean original finish. The piece features a nice carved flowing center crest over a bonnet top with filigree and scrolled carvings centered with a double rose (est. $45,000-$65,000).
A Tiffany Studios 22-inch banded Dogwood floral table lamp on an American Indian bronze base signed on the bottom plate “Tiffany Studios New York 529.” The leaded-glass shade shows a geometric shade throughout, created by green and white striated glass (est. $45,000-$55,000).
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Speed Art Museum turns its focus to American art in two newly launched affinity exhibits: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, which features American art from the Yale University Art Gallery Collection; and American Art at the Speed.
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, which opened on Sept. 7, includes more than 200 paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, furniture, silver, and ceramics from Yale University’s renowned collection of 18th- and 19th-century American fine and decorative arts. Considered to be one of the finest American collections in the world, Yale’s treasures include paintings by such artistic masters as John Singleton Copley, history painter John Trumbull, portraitist Charles Willson Peale, genre painter William Sidney Mount, landscapists Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Church, Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, and many others. Decorative arts highlights include silver crafted by Paul Revere, a gold sword owned by 19th-century naval hero Stephen Decatur, beautiful classically inspired settees and other furniture, and much more. This is the first time Yale’s key American works have traveled outside of New Haven for an exhibition. The collection will be displayed through Jan. 4 at the Speed Art Museum.
In conjunction with Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness: American Art from the Yale University Art Gallery, the Speed presents American Art at the Speed, featuring paintings, works on paper, photographs, sculpture, and decorative arts from the museum’s American and Kentucky collections. The exhibition will run through May 2009.