Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890), Poppy Flowers, also known as Vase with Flowers, stolen from Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo.
CAIRO (AP) – The theft of a $50 million Vincent van Gogh painting from an Egyptian museum last month was an inside job, Egypt’s top cop said in an interview published Monday.
Interior Minister Habib el-Adly said the circumstances surrounding the theft of Poppy Flower from Cairo’s Mahmoud Khalil Museum showed that the staff of the museum must have stolen it themselves or was involved in the theft.
“The lesson learned from the robbery is a severe one that forces the review of all security measures in the places that hold the treasures of Egyptian civilization,” el-Adly told the state-run Al-Akhbar newspaper.
The minister said the search for the painting continued with the aid of the international police organization, Interpol, and security specialists from other Arab countries.
The painting was stolen in the middle of the day from the museum, where investigators found that no alarms and only seven of 43 security cameras were working. The thieves had used a box cutter to slice the painting from its frame.
Eleven Culture Ministry officials were formally charged in last month’s theft and they have been referred to trial on charges of negligence and harming state property.
Among them is a deputy minister who maintains he had appealed to the minister for funds to make security upgrades before the Aug. 21 theft but received little assistance.
If convicted the suspects could face three years in prison.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Khubilai Khan as the First Yuan Emperor, Shizu Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), album leaf, ink and color on silk, 23¼ x 18¾ in. (59.1 x 47.6 cm), National Palace Museum, Taipei. Image courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
NEW YORK (AP) – A new exhibition in New York City makes it easy to see why Marco Polo and other early European traders were dazzled by the treasures they saw in China.
Porcelain, lacquer, scroll painting, silk tapestries and other art forms flourished during the Yuan dynasty. It was founded in 1271 by Khubilai Khan, China’s first Mongol ruler and grandson of Ghenghis Khan.
“The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty” opened today, Sept. 28, 2010, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There are 200 artifacts, most on loan from China. Included are archaeological objects never before exhibited outside the country.
Among the highlights is a “cloth of gold.” That’s the name European traders gave the gold-thread silk woven by craftsmen brought to China from Central Asia and eastern Iran.
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Online: http://www.metmuseum.org
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-ES-09-27-10 0548EDT
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Khubilai Khan’s Consort, Chabi, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), album leaf, ink and color on silk, 24 × 18¾ in. (61 × 47.6 cm), National Palace Museum, Taipei. Image courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Mandala of Yamantaka-Vajrabhairava, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), circa 1330-32, silk tapestry (kesi), warp, 96⅝ (245.4 cm); weft, 82¼ in. (208.9 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1992, 1992.54. Image courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Bottle, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), porcelain with splashed copper decoration (Jun ware), H. 14 5/8 in (37.1 cm), Hebei Cultural Relics Conservation Center. Image courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Diamond and gold bangle bracelet depicting two elephants, features 12 rose-cut diamonds, weighing a total of approximately 1.75 carats, accented by numerous smaller rose-cut diamonds weighing approximately 10.00 carats, pave set in silver topped 14-karat yellow gold, estimate: $3,500-$4,500. Image courtesy of Michaan’s Auctions. ALAMEDA, Calif. – More than 800 lots from estates, private collectors and galleries will comprise Michaan’s sale Sunday, Oct. 3. Featured will be fine jewelry including women’s and men’s wristwatches and pocket watches, natural jades and a collection of jewelry suites from Mings of Honolulu. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
Also in the lineup are Chinese and Japanese art including porcelains, ivory, jade, bronzes and paintings; Renaissance Revival and Baroque furniture; Mettlach steins, porcelain and bronze figures and fine sterling.
Tiffany, Daum, Lalique, Loetz and Steuben glass will be offered, as will fine American and European paintings and works on paper. Southwest Pueblo pottery items, Acoma pots and Cochiti storyteller figures will round out the sale.
Fine jewelry will include a diamond and silver topped 14-karat gold elephant bangle bracelet (est. $3,500-$4,500); a micro mosaic yellow gold pendant locket (est. $800-$1,200); diamond and emerald 18-karat white gold ring (est. $400-$600); and a diamond, platinum ring (est. $800-$1,200).
Foremost among the Asian antiques are a pair of Famille Rose enameled porcelain sleeve vases (est. $1,200-$1,800); four hardstone carvings of birds (est. $300-$400); a green hardstone and amber glass bead court necklace (est. $300-$500); a pair of ivory Fu lions (est. $600-$800); and a group of three metal water droppers, Meiji Period (est. $400-$500).
Nell Walker Warner (1891-1970), Still Life of Yellow Flowers, watercolor on paper (est. $700-$900); Richard Kruger (German/American b. 1880) Landscape With Trees (est. $600-$800); and Tom Hughes (American, b. 1965) Summer at the Lake, oil on board, (est. $1,000-$1,500) are examples of paintings that will be available.
The auction will begin at 10 a.m. Pacific.
For details visit www.michaans.com or call 510 740 0220.
Tom Hughes (American, b. 1965) ‘Summer at the Lake,’ oil on board, 20 x 16 inches, signed lower right, framed, estimate: $1,000-$1,500. Image courtesy of Michaan’s Auctions.Pair of elaborately carved Renaissance Revival black marble-top walnut sideboards, 34 1/2 x 44 x 21 inches and 36 x 75 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches, estimate: $800-$1,200. Image courtesy of Michaan’s Auctions.Pallme Konig pinched ruffle rim vase, 6 3/8 inches high, estimate: $700-$900. Image courtesy of Michaan’s Auctions.Demi-hunting case, 18-karat gold, enamel pocket watch, jeweled movement, estimate: $400-$600. Image courtesy of Michaan’s Auctions.Diamond, platinum ring, approximately 0.85 carat, accented by 16 single-cut diamonds, weighing a total of approximately 0.16 carat, eight caliber-cut green stones, estimate: $800-$1,200. Image courtesy of Michaan’s Auctions.
1930s Kenton Morgan cast-iron toy crane, top Internet lot sold through LiveAuctioneers.com, $21,690. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Bertoia Auctions.
VINELAND, N.J. (ACNI) – Constantly active phone lines and heavy Internet bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com pushed the series total to well over $10 million dollars at Bertoia Auctions’ fourth offering of toys from the collection of the late Donald Kaufman.
The Sept. 24-25 auction, which grossed $10.9 million (all prices quoted inclusive of 15% buyer’s premium) featured automotive and comic character toys from a storied collection built over 60 years by the co-founder of KB Toys. The top lot of the sale was was a circa-1925 American National deluxe coupe pedal car with nickel-plated grille, electric headlights and an opening rear trunk. Against an estimate of $30,000-$35,000, it realized $46,000.
“Bidders flew in from everywhere to attend the sale,” said company owner Jeanne Bertoia. “We had such a nice group of people at the gallery. On Thursday evening we hosted a small wine and cheese gathering. Many of the Europeans had come in on afternoon flights the day before the opening session. We wanted to make sure they knew how much we appreciated their presence.”
Bertoia described the online bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com as “very strong – as busy as we have ever seen it.”
Internet bidders claimed an average 26.1% of the lots during the first session and 23% from the second session. Of the 284 items purchased online, the most expensive piece was a 1930s Kenton Morgan cast-iron toy crane. It attracted 39 bids before settling at $21,690. The well-detailed construction toy had been estimated at $2,500-$3,500. A full postsale report will appear soon on AuctionCentralNews.com.
Bertoia’s will auction the last of the Kaufman toys sometime during the second weekend of April 2011. LiveAuctioneers will provide the Internet live bidding during the sale.
View the fully illustrated catalog from Bertoia’s Sept. 24-25, 2010 auction, complete with prices realized, at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Copyright 2010 Auction Central News International. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
Circa-1925 American National deluxe coupe pedal car, top lot in Bertoia’s Sept. 24-25 auction of the Donald Kaufman collection part IV, $46,000. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Bertoia Auctions.
Mary Cassatt, Simone Talking to Her Mother, pastel on paper, 25½ by 30½ inches, $990,000 (estimate $400,000-$700,000). John W. Coker Auctions image.
NEW MARKET, Tenn. – Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport experienced a mini traffic boom during the weeks leading up to John W. Coker’s Sept. 15, 2010 auction, as potential bidders converged on the region with one goal in mind: to preview and buy artworks from the collection of the late Dr. Albert K. Chapman.
Coker’s $1.82 million sale of the former Eastman Kodak CEO’s Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art collection contained 83 paintings, each offered without reserve. This added enticement attracted bidders from points as far afield as Germany and California. Internet live bidding was provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.
“In the house, there were retail dealers, private collectors and representatives from several institutions, as well as a few curious local art lovers. Bids came from everywhere – New York, Chicago, Palm Beach, New Orleans, Atlanta, Houston – you name it,” said auction company owner John Coker. “There were even two dealers at the Paris Biennale who interrupted their business on the event’s opening day to bid by phone. Everyone knew these paintings were absolutely fresh to the market and from a single-family collection that was started back in the 1930s.”
The auction’s top lot, a Mary Cassatt portrait of a woman and her young daughter, nearly hit the million-dollar-mark. The 25½- by 30½-inch pastel-on-paper titled Simone Seated on the Grass Next to Her Mother had been one of the prized pictures in Dr. Chapman’s collection. It was the only painting in the collection ever to have been displayed publicly – at the Smithsonian in 1970. Entered with a $400,000-$700,000 estimate, it sold to a well-known California art dealer and collector for $990,000. All prices quoted are inclusive of 10% buyer’s premium.
Twelve bidders pursued Pierre Bonnard’s 1925 oil on canvas titled Landscape St.-Tropez. “Some were calling it a ‘sleeper,’ but it didn’t sleep for long,” Coker said, with a laugh. Against an estimate of $60,000-$90,000, the 20½- by 12½-inch artwork left a big “impression” when it ultimately sold to a European bidder for $275,000. “People from England and Germany were bidding aggressively on this artwork, and the underbidder was a New York art dealer,” Coker said.
A verdant 1899 Emile Bernard oil on canvas measuring, 24 by 18 inches and titled La Poulda, was another high flier. A notation attached to the painting identified the scene of geese on a hillside as being “Village de Pont Aven.” It was offered with letter of provenance signed by the artist’s son, as well as extensive additional information regarding prior ownership. Estimated at $40,000-$60,000, it realized $236,500. The buyer was the same individual from California who had lodged the winning bid on the Cassatt.
Another noteworthy lot was Gustave Loiseau’s (French, 1865-1935) panoramic outlook over Paris titled A View from the Artist’s Studio. Signed and dated “1925,” the 21¼- by 25½-inch oil-on-canvas cityscape garnered an above-estimate price of $77,000.
A Dutch-born American artist known for his depictions of Southern life, Anthony Thieme (1888-1954) was represented in the sale’s top 10 with a stunning oil on canvas titled Entrance Magnolia Gardens in Spring Charleston, S.C. The richly colorful painting in multiple shades of fuchsia and pink had been estimated at $50,000-$70,000 but quickly rose to $99,000.
“That was a staggering amount of money for that painting, but it was a wonderful artwork that many people obviously appreciated, just as Dr. Chapman had,” Coker said. “The Thieme was one of his favorites. It had a place of honor in Dr. and Mrs. Chapman’s living room in Rochester, New York and later in the home of their daughter Elizabeth Chapman Hanson’s beautiful colonial residence in Madison, Georgia.”
Coker described the atmosphere in the saleroom as “sizzling with excitement. In fact, there were times when bidders got so excited they even unwittingly raised their hands to bid against themselves. Our auctioneer, David Easter, was on the ball. He would say, ‘No ma’am, you don’t need to raise your own bid.’”
Coker said he made sure his auction house held up the long tradition of gracious Southern hospitality for the approximately 50 people in attendance, including Dr. Chapman’s grandson, Nicholas Gardner Chapman Hanson.
“Everyone was offered a choice of beverages that included mimosas and bloody Marys, and they were treated to a deluxe Southern-style buffet lunch, complete with sugar-cured country ham, homemade biscuits and fresh apple-stack cake – a true Southern delicacy. The Yankees loved it,” Coker remarked.
After the event, Coker heard from several dealers who expressed amazement over the prices achieved by the Tennessee auction house. “One of them said we were getting prices they couldn’t have gotten even in New York or other big cities, where some art auctions have had a buy-in rate of as high as 80 percent over the last few years,” Coker said. “I told them it was easy to see why the art did so well. It was a fresh to the market collection that had been out of view for many decades, and we advertised it heavily as a collection that was to be auctioned without reserve. Bidders knew there wasn’t going to be any game playing. It was there to be sold.”
John W. Coker will auction furniture and accessories from the Dr. Albert K. Chapman Estate on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. For additional information, call the gallery at 865-475-5163.
View the fully illustrated catalog for John W. Coker’s Sept. 15, 2010 auction, complete with prices realized, on www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Mary Cassatt, Simone Talking to Her Mother, pastel on paper, 25½ by 30½ inches, est. $200,000-$400,000. John W. Coker Auctions image. Emile Bernard, Pont Aven, oil on canvas, 24 by 18 inches, est. $30,000-$50,000, John W. Coker Auctions image. Pierre Bonnard, Landscape St.-Tropez, oil on canvas, 1925, 20½ by 12½ inches, est. $40,000-$70,000. John W. Coker Auctions image. Anthony Thieme, Entrance to Magnolia Gardens in Spring, Charleston, S.C., oil on canvas, 36 by 30 inches, est. $30,000-$40,000. John W. Coker Auctions image. Suzanne Valadon, Paysage Ain, oil on canvas, 1917, 32 by 26 inches, est. $20,000-$30,000. John W. Coker Auctions image. Gustave Loiseau, Roof Top View from Artist’s Studio, oil on canvas, 25 by 21 inches, est. $40,000-$60,000. John W. Coker Auctions image.
Chinese Qing gilt bronze shakyamuni Buddha seated on a throne, hands in Buddhist mudra, 14 1/2 inches high. Estimate: $20,000- $40,000. Image courtesy of Dallas Auction Gallery. DALLAS – Collectors of Asian antiques have the opportunity to bid on 395 lots from an extensive local collection plus other quality consignments from around the world at Dallas Auction Gallery’s Asian Antiques and Fine Art Sale on Wednesday, Oct. 6.
LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding. Bidding will also be available in person and by phone.
Highlights include white jade, ivory, cinnabar, a Wen Zhengming watercolor and Chinese Qing bronzes.
“After the success of our Asian Antiques and Fine Art Sale in March, we look forward to some very competitive bidding throughout the sale. Our auctions pull a large international audience, and at any time we can have bidders from over 35 different countries in addition to our loyal local following,” said Scott Shuford, president of Dallas Auction Gallery.
Previews will begin Monday, Oct. 4, and DAG is open to the public.
Some highlights include:
White jade pendant signed Zigang, carved to depict Li Bai on a boat, having a poem on the verso. Estimate: $18,000-$24,000.
Pair of monumental early Meiji ivory inlaid pagodas. The top pavilion supported by four tiers with ivory and mother of pearl red lacquered plaques depicting Han warriors, generals, geisha and samurai, with painted beauties on the verso. Each tier has glass sides and mirrored backs, phoenix and flame finials, and painted scenes depicting lotus, dragons and boys. Both pagodas raised on legendary bird supports. Estimate: $30,000- $50,000.
Wen Zhenming watercolor on silk depicting figures in a landscape. Signed, ‘Wen Zhengming.’ Wen Zhenming (Chinese, 1470-1559) with six illegible collector’s seals. Estimate: $30,000- $50,000.
Chinese Qing gilt bronze shakyamuni Buddha seated on a throne, hands in Buddhist mudra. Estimate: $20,000- $40,000.
Pair of Chinese jade and ivory inlaid rosewood screens the front with carved white and spinach green jade depicting birds, flowers, Buddha’s hands, guava and bats; the verso with an ivory Qianlong Imperial poem and two seals. The screen raised on an intricately carved rosewood stand. Estimate: $30,000- $50,000.
Chinese Qing cloisonné Tianqin vase depicting peony and butterflies, having collectors marks on the bottom. Estimate: $15,000- $25,000.
For details visit www.dallasauctiongallery.com or call 214-653-3900.
