October 2013 - Page 5 of 24 - Auction Central News

Landmark images abound in Heritage photography sale Nov. 2

Helmut Newton (German/Australian, 1920-2004) ‘Woman into Man,’ Yves St. Laurent for French Vogue, Paris, 1979, gelatin silver, printed later, 14-1/4 x 9-1/4 inches (36.2 x 23.5 cm). Estimate: $15,000-$25,000. Heritage Auctions image.

DALLAS – A hand-curated selection of historical images, from Roger Fenton’s 1858 Orientalist Suite, to modern fashion, including Helmut Newton’s Woman into Man, shot in 1979 for French Vogue, highlight Heritage Auctions’ Photography Signature Auction on Saturday, Nov. 2, beginning at 3 p.m. Central. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

“This auction presents a strong range from early important work from 1858 to the impactful photos of major Modern photographers such as Minor White and Contemporary artists like Cindy Sherman.” said Rachel Peart, director for photographs at Heritage Auctions. “Many of the works come from private collections from coast to coast.”

Likely to emerge as the top lot of the action is Irving Penn’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which was shot for Vogue magazine in 1946 and signed and inscribed to Ray Bolger, the actor who played Scarecrow in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. It appears at auction from a private collection with a $25,000-plus estimate.

Additional fashion highlights include Newton’s Woman into Man, which is expected to bring $15,000-plus, and the artist’s Vivanne F., Hotel Volney, New York, shot for American Vogue, could sell for $8,000-plus. Patrick Demarchelier’s Shalom, Monaco, and Helena, New York, are both expected to bring $9,000-plus.

An important image by Cindy Sherman will again make an auction appearance at Heritage, another print from the same edition, following its record-setting sale earlier this year. Sherman’s Untitled, (Lucille Ball), 1975, Fujicolor Crystal Archive, 2001, from a private collection, is estimated to bring $7,000-plus.

Jim Marshall’s iconic Rock and Roll Portfolio spanning 1963-1988 with images of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and the Beatles is expected to hammer for $15,000-plus. An equally important portfolio by artist Minor White is also expected to realize $15,000-plus. White’s Jupiter Portfolio includes Sun Over the Pacific, Nude Foot and Birdlime and Surf and is expected to sell for $15,000-plus.

An important group of historical images is led by Before the Storm, a soulful image of Apache Indians taken by Edward S. Curtis in 1906—one of three orotones in the auction—which could sell for $15,000-plus, in addition to an albumen from photographer Roger Fenton’s Orientalist Suite, circa 1858-59, which could sell for $6,000-plus.

Additional highlights include:

Premiere at La Scala, Milan, 1933, by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Estimate: $10,000-plus.

Nadja Auermann, Paramount Studios, Los Angeles, 1996, by Peter Lindbergh. Estimate: $10,000-plus.

New York at Night, 1932, by Berenice Abbott. Estimate: $8,000-plus.

Walkway, Manhattan Bridge, New York, 1936, by Berenice Abbott. Estimate: $4,000-plus.

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Edward S. Curtis (American, 1868-1952) ‘Before the Storm,’ circa 1906, orotone, 11 x 14 inches (27.9 x 35.6 cm). Estimate: $15,000-$25,000. Heritage Auctions image.

Jim Marshall (American, 1936-2010) ‘Rock and Roll Portfolio’ (10 photographs), 1963-1988, gelatin silver, 8 x 12 inches (20.3 x 30.5 cm) or the reverse, colophon page signed and editioned '3/100.' Estimate: $15,000-$25,000. Heritage Auctions image. — Jim Marshall (American, 1936-2010) ‘Rock and Roll Portfolio’ (10 photographs), 1963-1988, gelatin silver, 8 x 12 inches (20.3 x 30.5 cm) or the reverse, colophon page signed and editioned ‘3/100.’ Estimate: $15,000-$25,000. Heritage Auctions image.

Roger Fenton (British, 1819-1869) ‘Untitled (from the Orientalist Suite),’ 1858-59, vintage albumen, 12-3/4 x 10-5/8 inches (32.4 x 27.1 cm). Estimate: $6,000-$12,000. Heritage Auctions image.

Irving Penn (American, 1917-2009) ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, for Vogue,’ 1946, vintage gelatin silver, 13-1/4 x 10-1/4 inches (33.7 x 26.0 cm). Estimate: $25,000-$40,000. Heritage Auctions image.

Vermont Tasha Tudor Museum seeks host for small exhibition

Pumpkin Moonshine, 1938, Oxford University Press, 42-page book illustrated in color by author and artist Tasha Tudor. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and PBA Galleries.

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) – A Vermont museum featuring the work of the late children’s book illustrator and artist Tasha Tudor is looking for a business or nonprofit organization to host a small exhibit next summer.

Earlier this month, the Tasha Tudor Museum closed its “bricks and mortar” display at the Jeremiah Beale House in Brattleboro.

The Brattleboro Reformer reports the museum is changing its focus, but will continue to coordinate Tasha Tudor Museum Society chapters around the world and publish its newsletter. The change will not affect the family-run online store, tashatudorandfamily.com, or special tours of Tudor’s home.

Tudor, who died in 2008 at age 92, wrote or collaborated on nearly 100 children’s books, and illustrated such classics as “Little Women” and “The Secret Garden.” Her Marlboro home was a replica of a 19th-century New England homestead, replete with antique utensils, tiny windows and doorways of varying sizes.

Director Amy Tudor, who is married to Tasha Tudor’s grandson, said she would like to be able to continue to offer people a special experience of Tudor’s work and continue bringing tourists to the Brattleboro area. The museum is applying for grants this winter with the aim of purchasing a permanent home, she said.

“We’re so excited to explore the development of children’s programs,” Tudor said. “We think it is vitally important to reduce the overuse of technology and engage children in old-fashioned but still relevant games, practical skills, stories and songs.”

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Information from: Brattleboro Reformer, http://www.reformer.com/

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Kaminski to auction Oprah Winfrey collection Nov. 2

BEVERLY, Mass – On Saturday, Nov. 2, Kaminski Auctions will bring to the podium items from the collection of Oprah Winfrey in an auction to benefit the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation College Fund. The auction will offer items from her homes in Chicago, Maui, Indiana and Santa Barbara. Internet live bidding will be facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com.

In March 2013, O, The Oprah Magazine revealed Winfrey ‘s plans for a top-to-bottom remodel of her Santa Barbara home. For years, pieces previously selected by the late decorator Anthony P. Browne, including Continental and English antiques, light fixtures, upholstered furniture and fine art, had filled the spaces within the estate. These items, along with personal memorabilia, now will be placed in this auction.

Winfrey has chosen to part with items that have helped define her home. All proceeds will benefit a college fund for the graduates of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. In 2007, she opened the academy, and it will see the graduation of its third class of students this year. The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation created its College Fund to grant scholarships to its graduates to continue their education.

Bidders will recognize many items at the auction from articles in O, The Oprah Magazine covering Oprah’s decoration and redecoration of her Montecito home. Among these items are hand-wrought iron panels that graced the main staircase of her Santa Barbara residence, estimated at $4,000 to $7,000, and a collection of fine English George Smith upholstered furniture, including the singular green and white plaid couch, with down-stuffed cushions and coordinating pillows, valued at $3,000 to $4,000.

In addition to these custom-made contemporary items, Oprah also has selected a number of exceptional European antiques from her collection to add to the sale. One exquisite Louis XVI chest stamped by the maker “Boudin” is expected to bring $30,000 to $50,000. The signed piece with detailed inlay and marble top makes this item highly desirable to any collector of fine decorative arts. Of similar quality is a set of Louis XV armchairs in hand embroidered yellow silk upholstery, valued at $20,000 to $40,000.

An impressive collection of fine artworks will complement these stunning antiques. The auction will include works by artists Allen Stringfellow, John Kramer, Clementine Hunter and many others.

People will also have the opportunity to purchase a number of memorabilia items autographed by Winfrey, including vintage magazine covers, original promotional material for The Color Purple.

All are invited to preview these and many other items to be auctioned at the grounds of the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club in Carpinteria, Calif., where the auction will take place Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific.

Free general admission seating will be available for this auction by pre-registering for tickets at www.kaminskiauctions.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Smithsonian exhibit to showcase Hispanic artists

Frank Romero (American, b. 1941-), 'Death of Ruben Salazar,' oil on canvas, 72 1/4 x 120 3/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum purchase made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, © 1986, Frank Romero, 1993.19. Smithsonian American Art Museum, 3rd Floor, North Wing.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Smithsonian American Art Museum is showing works by 72 U.S. Hispanic artists, hoping to showcase talent that has long been considered isolated and alien.

“Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art” will include 92 works by modern Latino artists from the second half of the 20th century.

E. Carmen Ramos, curator of the exhibit, said many U.S. Hispanic artists have not gained the recognition they deserve because of discrimination by mainstream museums, who considered them too foreign.

“We are at a point in history where Latino art as a field is getting a lot more of attention, and we are now able to look at that broad contribution. So we are part of a wave of a revisionist activity that is looking at situation the Latino within the context of the United States,” Ramos said Thursday.

Ramos said the exhibit would show that U.S. Hispanic artists are part of the American artistic landscape, because the Smithsonian is “viewed as the repository of our cultural patrimony, and to be able to include Latino artists within that concept is a very powerful thing”.

The exhibit, which will be open for six months, will include works such as “Radiante” (”Radiant”) by Puerto Rico-born Olga Albizu, and “Man on Fire,” a fiberglass sculpture by Luis Jimenez, who died in 2006 and whose steel-and-fiberglass sculpture “Vaquero” (1980) adorns the museum’s entrance.

The exhibit includes works of abstract expressionism, activism, conceptual art and performances, but also more traditional American styles such as landscapes, portraits and scenes from daily lives.

The artists are all of varied backgrounds, such as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban and Dominican.

Ramos pointed out the canvas by Frank Romero, “Death of Ruben Salazar,” which portrays the death of Mexican-American journalist Ruben Salazar being hit by a tear gas canister during a demonstration in support of the Chicano movement in 1970.

The exhibit will travel to Miami; Sacramento, Calif.; Salt Lake City; Little Rock, Ark. and Wilmington, Del.

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Follow Luis Alonso Lugo on Twitter at https://twitter.com/luisalonsolugo

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Action star Stallone shows off artistic side in Russia

Sylvester Stallone (American, b. 1946), 'Death of a Friend,' 1977, mixed media. From a private collection. Photo credit: The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Art lovers lined up Sunday at the world’s biggest museum of Russian art in St. Petersburg, where US film star Sylvester Stallone unveiled a retrospective of his abstract paintings.

Work by the Hollywood action man won praise from the curators at the State Russian Museum although some critics denounced Stallone for his anti-Russia character “Rambo” and said such art had no place in the venerable institution.

Stallone was all smiles as he unveiled the exhibition, simply titled “Sylvester Stallone. Art. 1975-2013,” and said it was an honor to show his works in Russia’s historic capital.

“I hope you will like my pictures,” he said at a press conference. “I love all of you.”

The 67-year-old star of blockbusters such as “Rambo” and “Rocky” said that if he had a choice, he would spend his life drawing and sculpting instead of starring in action hits.

“If my visit is a challenge for somebody, let it be so,” he said when asked what he thought of some furious comments, notably by some in the Communist party, who thought that exhibiting Stallone at the Russian Museum was a travesty.

Museum director Vladimir Gusev said Stallone’s paintings “show the character of a passionate man” and were not simply “the work of an amateur…This is a real artist,” he told journalists. “The Russian museum does not show weak artists.”

The exhibit attracted a crowd of about 1,000 intrigued people who stood in line on opening day to enter the museum in the centre of Russia’s second city.

“I watched Stallone’s movies, I’m not surprised that such a macho man can make paintings. I want to look at them,” said Natalia Akimova, 49.

Others were curious but dismissive. “I’m sure these paintings wouldn’t be up if someone else produced them,” said Igor Savenko. “It’s a commercial trick, not art.”

Stallone, an Academy-award nominated actor as well as a director and screenwriter, had studied art before his film career took off, and has also had shows in Switzerland and Miami.

The museum website describes Stallone’s works as “comments on the events in his creative and personal life” that focus on the use of bright colors.

“Fierce forms and colours contribute to the energetic interpretation by the artist of people around him or famous movie actors.”

Stallone arrived in Russia on Saturday evening and was shown on television posing in a leather jacket for photographs with border control employees, who gave the camera exuberant smiles and thumbs-ups.

“Absolutely nothing,” he told journalists when asked what he knows about Russia’s tsarist capital.

He said he had not expected his works to be shown at the Russian Museum, a revered institution established by Russia’s last tsar Nicolas II in 1895.

The museum is heavily focused on Russian art so the decision to exhibit contemporary works by a Hollywood star has raised some eyebrows.

The curators have argued that Stallone’s 30-piece show is on display not in the museum’s main building, but at one of its branches, which boasts a modern art collection including works by Western artists like Andy Warhol.

Some visitors, particularly fans of Stallone’s muscle-man image, were nevertheless perplexed.

“Maybe he painted this when he was emotional,” a Russian bodybuilder and fan of Stallone’s early movies said as he looked at one painting, television footage showed.

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Man steals $4,900 sculpture from S.C. museum

ANDERSON, S.C. (AP) – The director of a museum in Anderson said a man stole a $4,900 bronze sculpture by stuffing it under his shirt and walking out.

A security camera at the Anderson Arts Center caught the theft on Oct. 7, when the museum was closed to the public, but the staff was around, museum executive director Kimberly Spears said.

The man is seen in the video walking up to the sculpture of a woman holding a mask. He looks at its tag, then unlocks an exit door. The man goes back to the artwork, stuffs it under his shirt and walks out the door, Spears said.

Spears said the theft was heartbreaking.

“We’re a nonprofit and we want the arts to be accessible to everybody and part of having a show is having that accessibility not so you can steal artwork but so you can enjoy and appreciate the talents and the gifts an artist brings to the world,” Spears said.

The sculpture is called “Double Charade” and was made by Greenville artist Zan Wells. Spears said the museum discovered it was missing Tuesday when they took inventory.

Police are looking for the man.

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Kovels Antiques & Collecting: Week of Oct. 28, 2013

This 8-inch-high paper lantern was made in the early 1920s. It was scheduled to sell at a Morphy auction in Denver, Pa., in early October. Presale estimate: $400-$600.

BEACHWOOD, Ohio – Lanterns are among the earliest Halloween collectibles—and not just jack-o’-lanterns. The early 1900s jack-o’-lantern was made of metal. Within a few years, jack-o’-lanterns were being made of pressed paper with thin paper inserts creating translucent eyes, nose and mouth. That way, a candle inside the paper pumpkin could light a path. But it was dangerous to walk and run with a lit candle in a flammable container.

By the 1920s, special Halloween lampshades were made for display in a front window. You also could buy flat-sided lanterns made in a “stained-glass” style with black cardboard strips and translucent orange paper. These lanterns were made in Germany and the United States until the 1940s. But beware—some were reproduced in the 1990s. Old lanterns usually have round, indented candleholders on the bottom; most reproductions have flat bottoms. A famous 12-panel lantern was made in Germany in the 1920s and sold was by Beistle, an important American company that sold—and still sells—holiday decorations. A vintage example sells for more than $500 today. One recently offered at Morphy Auctions had a presale estimate of $400 to $600.

Q: My mother left me a collection of Kewpie dolls, all in good condition. Please tell me something about them. I’m in my 70s now and probably will give them to my granddaughters rather than sell them. But I’d like to know if they’re valuable.

A: Artist Rose O’Neill (1874-1944) drew the first Kewpies, little naked, winged, Cupid-like characters, for a Ladies’ Home Journal story that ran in 1909. Within two years, O’Neill’s drawings were turned into 3-D designs for Kewpie dolls and figurines. They were made with small blue wings and a red heart as a mark. The dolls were an immediate success, and several companies made Kewpies and Kewpie-related products. Kewpie dolls still are being made. They can be found in bisque, celluloid, composition or hard plastic. Collectors love Kewpies and will pay hundreds, or even thousands, for rare old figurines and dolls.

Q: I have a large Wagner Ware fry pan with cover. It reads “Magnalite No. 4569.” The pan is 10 1/2 inches wide and 3 inches deep. I’m wondering what it might be worth.

A: Your fry pan is a chicken fryer. Wagner Manufacturing Co. was founded in Sidney, Ohio, in 1891. After several changes in ownership, the company closed in 1999. Wagner made Magnalite, a cast aluminum cookware, from 1934 to 1999. The value of your fry pan depends on condition. The average price is under $20.

Q: We own an old barber chair with a metal label that reads, “Koken Companies, Manufacturers, St. Louis, U.S.A.” How do you suggest we sell it?

A: Ernest Koken, a German immigrant, was selling shaving mugs in St. Louis by 1874, when he was 19 years old. By the 1880s, he was selling barber chairs, and had started filing for patents on improvements to the chairs. His patents eventually included a reclining chair back and a hydraulic lift. His company, Koken Barbers’ Supply Co., manufactured chairs until it went bankrupt in the 1950s. (A successor, Koken Manufacturing Co., is in business today; it bought the original company’s assets.) Antique Koken barber chairs in excellent shape can sell for thousands.

Q: My child’s tea set includes a ceramic teapot, sugar bowl, creamer and four cups and saucers. The dishes are green luster and are decorated with pink and white flowers. I have the original box, too. The top of the box says it’s a “Little Hostess Set.” Also printed on the box is the phrase, “Nagoya Toy Tea Set, No. 600/424/2, Made in Japan.” I think the set has been in our family since the late 1920s. Please tell me what it’s worth.

A: Your set may date from the 1920s, or possibly the ’30s. If the pattern were more interesting—of Disney or other cartoon characters, for example—the set would be more valuable. Still, your set, with its original box, could sell for $75 or more if the dishes are in excellent condition. The word “Nagoya” on the box may refer to the company that made the set or to the Japanese city where the set was made.

Q: My husband and I found a very old pen-and-ink calligraphic drawing of a bird. It was stuck inside an old family Bible. The Bible dates back to the early 1800s, and the signed drawing is 7 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches. The bird in the center of the drawing is surrounded by lots of flourishes and doodads. I understand this type of drawing was done by students studying calligraphy back then. Can you give us an idea of value?

A: The art of calligraphy flourished in the United States during the 19th century. Elegant penmanship was a sign of refinement and was taught in private academies and writing classes. Drawings like yours were done with quills or steel pens, and typically have repeated cursive flourishes that also could be used in fancy handwriting. If your drawing is original, it could sell for $50 into the low hundreds.

Tip: Paintings displayed in a dining room often are splattered with food and sometimes even pick up food odors. Have an oil painting professionally cleaned.

Take advantage of a free listing for your group to announce events or to find antiques shows, national meetings and flea markets. Go to Kovels.com/calendar to find, publicize and plan your antiquing trips.

Terry Kovel and Kim Kovel answer as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or email addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The amount of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, Auction Central News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

CURRENT PRICE

Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.

Jugtown Pottery pie plate, orange, scalloped rim, 9 3/4 inches, $20.
Cat lantern, papier-mache, orange, handle, 8 inches, $40.
Mahjong set, bone, bamboo tiles, pamphlet, cased lacquered box, c. 1910, $130.
Witch mask, fangs, painted, rubber, 12 inches, $270.
Charlie McCarthy walker, top hat, tin lithograph, Marx, 8 inches, $325.
Owl effigy pot, Zuni, c. 1940, 6 inches, $375.
Jack-o’-lantern candleholder, hanging, tin, orange paint, electrified, 6 1/2 inches, $450.
Jumeau toddler doll, bisque, socket head, brown complexion, paperweight glass eyes, wood-jointed, c. 1884, 16 inches, $590.
Pumpkin-head boy candy container, holding accordion, wooden arms and legs, 5 1/2 inches, $720.
Pumpkin-head toy, felt, orange, black, 1930s, 20 1/2 inches, $6,000.

“Kovels’ A Diary: How to Settle a Collector’s Estate.” Our new week-by-week record of the settlement of an estate, from your first days gathering legal papers to the last days, when you’re dividing antiques among heirs and selling everything else—even the house. How to identify pottery, jewelry and other popular collectibles. Tips on where and how to sell furniture, jewelry, dishes, figurines, record albums, bikes and even clothes. We include lots of pictures and prices, and explain the advantages of a house sale, auction, selling to a dealer or donating to a charity. Learn about how to handle the special problems of security and theft. Plus a free, current supplement with useful websites, auctions lists and other current information. Available only from Kovels for $19.95 plus $4.95 postage and handling. Order by phone at 800-303-1996; online at Kovels.com; or write to Kovels, P.O. Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Material Culture to auction international folk art Nov. 3

Lot 51: Prince Twins Seven Seven (Nigeria, 1944-2011), ‘Conference of Noisy Birds,’ ink, watercolor and oil on wood, a sculptor's painting on two carved and tiered layers of wood; Osogbo, 1978-1979, 4 x 8 feet. Estimate: $8,000-$12,000. Material Culture image.

PHILA., Pa. – Material Culture brings an astonishing gathering of important folk and self-taught art to auction on Nov. 3 at 11 a.m. Eastern. Comprising over 700 lots, its sale, “Candles in the Light: International Folk and Self-Taught Art,” revels in the spirit and diversity of unique artistic vision around the globe. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding

A leader in self-taught art, Material Culture has once again compiled a stunning array of paintings and drawings in this burgeoning field, led by pieces by Purvis Young, Howard Finster, Justin McCarthy, Ellis Ruley, Prince Twins Seven-Seven, Victor Joseph Gatto, Thornton Dial, Jack Savitsky, Lee Godie, Anna Zemankova, Anne Grgich, and many others.

Self-taught sculpture includes work by S.L. Jones, and Nate Barrow, both also shown in two-dimensional artwork, and folk-art inspired artists R.A. Miller and David Butler. A truly global compendium of folk art at the sale is led by pieces from Haitian metalworker Georges Liautaud, Togolese folk artist Abagli Kossi, and Felippe Archuleta, an American folk artist from New Mexico.

A large assortment of Georgia folk pottery comes to the sale, including the work of Lanier Meaders, Chester Hewell, and others in the same families or tradition. Other substantial categories include a variety of Polish folk sculpture from the 1930s and ’40s, a gathering of Judaica folk art from various countries, African popular art movie posters, Indian Bihar folk painting, and a fine collection of Mexican retablos brought to auction by St. Joseph’s University.

On Friday, Nov. 1, Material Culture will host the “Party of the Year”—an extraordinary free evening of art, exhibitions, music, dance and refreshments, from 6 to 11 p.m.. A special lecture will take place the day before the sale, on Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. Joseph F. Chorpenning, the editorial director at St. Joseph’s University Press, will present an illustrated lecture focusing on the Mexican folk devotional retablos that are being offered for sale at the auction the following day. A reception will follow the lecture. All events—the exhibition, the party, and the lecture—are free and open to the public. Material Culture is located at 4700 Wissahickon Ave., Suite 101, Philadelphia, PA 19144.

For details phone 215-438-4700.

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Lot 4: Georges Liautaud (Haitian, 1889-1991) ‘Christ on Cross,’ circa 1960s, forged iron. Signed. Size: 36 x 22 x 7 inches. Estimate: $2,000-$4,000. Material Culture image.

Lot 5: Agbagli Kossi (1935-1991) Togo, untitled African sculpture, circa 1980s, painted wood. Size: 36 x 12 x 13 inches. Provenance: Purchased from Gert Chesi. Estimate: $3,000-$4,000. Material Culture image.

Lot 21: Felipe Benito Archuleta (1910-1991), ‘Bikini Lady and Child,’ (1974), carved and painted wood, signed and dated, 55 x 26 x 36 inches. An early, rare work by one of the major figures in Navajo folk art. Estimate: $12,000-$20,000. Material Culture image.

Lot 24: Thornton Dial (USA, b. 1928), ‘Listening to the Bird Sing,’ 1994, pastel, 25 x 19 inches. Estimate: $2,000-$4,000. Material Culture image.

Lot 62: Ellis Ruley (USA, 1882-1959), ‘Autum [sic] Leaves,’ oil on board, 28 x 22inches (board), 25 x 31 inches (frame). Estimate: $20,000-$30,000. Material Culture image.

Guccione Collection unveils Marilyn, Madonna, more Nov. 9

Madonna nude photographs: unpublished shots from a modeling photoshoot taken by Herman Kulkens. Guccione Collection image.

NEW YORK—The Guccione Collection will sell over 600 unique items in an online auction on Saturday, Nov. 9, beginning at noon Eastern. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

The auction begins the day after Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story is set to premiere on the Epix cable network. The film is directed by Barry Avrich and produced by financier Jeremy Frommer and producer Rick Schwartz (Machete, Black Swan). It won critical acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival and illustrates the scope of Guccione’s contributions to art, science and the First Amendment. Many of the unique items seen in the film are included in the auction. The staggering array of art and artifacts from the archive of the legendary magazine publishing magnate Bob Guccione features such unique items as original negatives of nude pop icon Madonna. The images are the first nudes ever taken of Madonna, infamously taken by Herman Kulkens in 1977 when she was 18 years old.

The auction includes vintage cheesecake and erotic photography from the 1950s (predating Guccione’s conception of the ground-breaking Penthouse magazine). The images were used in Bob Guccione’s 1950s pinup business known as the Gucci Girls. Two original oil paintings by Guccione will be auctioned. This is the first time original oils by Bob Guccione have been auctioned. Exhibitions alongside such greats as Lichtenstein and Hockney were among the few public viewings of the Guccione oils in the 1990s. The two oil paintings come from the total of 66 owned by the Guccione Collection. The only other verified surviving oil hangs at the Butler Institute, curated by Louis Zona. Included in the collection are oils and acrylics from numerous renowned artist and peers of Guccione, such as Hajime Sorayama, John Berkey and H.R. Giger as well as illustrative material and advertisements from the 1970s and 1980s.

“Taken as a whole, the items in the Guccione Collection constitute an erotic and social history of the late 20th century, and in particular the sexual revolution as it evolved in the late ’50s, the counter-culture driven ’60s, and of course the 1970s, which was the era in which the ethos defined by Bob Guccione and Penthouse really held sway over the larger culture,” notes Jeremy Frommer, the cofounder of The Guccione Collection.

In addition to celebrating female beauty and uncovering scandal (among the items here are explicit, unsettling photographs of Deborah Murphree, the Southern streetwalker whose sexual pay-for-play with television preacher Jimmy Swaggart laid bare the hypocrisy of televangelism), that ethos also defined an aesthetic. The seriously artistic side of Guccione gets short shrift when cultural historians delve into the excesses that began to swallow up the publisher’s empire beginning in the 1980s. That aesthetic, however, is on display in full bloom in many of the auction’s items, including a passel of early ’70s erotic photographs staged and shot by Guccione himself. “Guccione’s photography revolutionized the way the female form was presented in popular culture,” Frommer asserts. “And his approach—his use of diffuse light, of shadows, his way of posing his subjects—came directly from much of what he learned as a painter.”

Particularly striking and revelatory are a series of silver gelatin prints of Guccione photographs of Gillian Duxbury, the one-time Page Three girl who appeared as March 1972 Penthouse Pet of the Month under the name Billie Deane. The black-and-white shots are frank, almost documentarian in their not-quite-voyeuristic approach. They give the impression of looking at a beautiful female form in its natural environment as opposed to the overlit sets or not-so-great outdoors that constituted the settings of more conventional work. One gets the sense of a relaxed autumn afternoon spent in the company of exceptional beauty. As with Guccione’s oils, the goal is a kind of privileged, but not artificially elevated, view.

Also here are examples of Guccione’s correspondence: memos, letters to politicians of note (including Dick Cheney); and covers and layouts annotated by the editor/publisher that give an intriguing insight into his work ethic and magazine-making savvy. Never without a pen, pencil, or piece of charcoal in his hand, Guccione was a fierce and deft doodler and sketch artist, and many examples of his off-the-cuff artistic observations are collected here as well.

The publisher himself is hardly the only artist on display in this auction: Also on the block is original artwork by brilliant Penthouse contributors including Michael Arthur Cummings (the wildly popular Balloonheads cartoons) and Bill Lee, among others. The pre-superstardom portraits of Madonna, nude and in her early 20s, were shot by Herman Kulkens, and show her in poses both playfully ornamental (her nude cowgirl shots are particularly insouciant) and disarmingly unguarded.

Next up, the Caligula Auction, including original 35mm reels found in the Guccione archives of the infamous Gore Vidal and notorious Tinto Brass’ Caligula. Coming Christmastime.

For more information, contact info@guccionecollection.com or phone 201-381-1777.

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Marilyn Monroe stag print: These prints, supposedly of a 20-year-old Marilyn Monroe, were taken from a 1948 stag film and published in 'Penthouse' in 1980. Guccione Collection image. — Marilyn Monroe stag print: These prints, supposedly of a 20-year-old Marilyn Monroe, were taken from a 1948 stag film and published in ‘Penthouse’ in 1980. Guccione Collection image.

Bob Guccione M oil painting: one of Bob Guccione’s seminal pieces, which depicts his second wife, Muriel. This painting is dated July 1954. Guccione Collection image.

Bob Guccione ‘Fearsome Couple:’ 1 of 66 original oils from Guccione’s triumphant return to painting in the 1990s. Guccione Collection image.

‘Caligula’ preproduction key art: preproduction key art for Bob Guccione’s Roman epic ‘Caligula.’ Guccione Collection image.

'Muhammad Ali - A Peek into the Boxer’s Life:' vintage 35mm slides from Muhammad Ali’s visit to Dubai. Guccione Collection image. — ‘Muhammad Ali – A Peek into the Boxer’s Life:’ vintage 35mm slides from Muhammad Ali’s visit to Dubai. Guccione Collection image.

John Berkey nude: fascinating, erotic painting from the master of science-fiction art, John Berkey. Guccione Collection image.

Expectations run high at 888 Auctions for Asian art sale Nov. 7

Lot 202A: fine Chinese white jade carved Kwanyin statue. Estimate: $2,500-$4,500. 888 Auctions image.

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario – 888 Auctions will hold its Chinese jade and Asian works of art sale on Thursday, Nov. 7, at 2 p.m. Eastern, featuring fine jade boulders, jadeite bangles pendants, paintings, porcelains, jewelry, precious stones, metalware and natural history. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding for the 533-lot auction.

“Our auction sales in jadeite and jade continue to stand very strong through the year. An extraordinary sales record achieved in Lot 180 from our October auction, an exquisite white jade boulder with identification certificate and sold for $240,000 (Canadian),” said Donnie Kim of 888 Auctions.

In this auction, 888 will continue to present buyers with premium jade items such as lot 202A, a fine Chinese white jade carved Kwanyin statue of even white tone, close to perfect quality, carved in a serene expression Kwanyin in flowing robes with high luster polish on custom wood stand carved as a lotus plinth. It has a high estimate of $4,500. Also in the spotlight is lot 246, a rare spinach green jade carved square dragon seal of spinach green tone. The body is pierced with an aperture, the seal is carved with Chinese scripts in low relief, and the base is deeply and crisply carved with four archaic characters. It has a high estimate of $3,000.

Other quality jade pieces with excellent carvings can be found at:

– Lot 199: Chinese white jade carved recumbent horse, estimate: $600-$1,200;

– Lot 203: fine Chinese white jade boulder carved dragon, estimate at $4,000-$8,000;

– Lot 214: 17th/18th century Chinese white jade carved hair holder, estimated at $1,000-$2,000;

– Lot 234: Chinese Hetian white jade tear drop pendant, estimated at $600-$1,200;

– Lot 252: Chinese green jade dragon vase with lid Qianlong mark, estimated at $2,000-$3,000.

In addition, collectors will find premium bangles comparable to lot 175 from 888 Auctions’ August auction, an important emerald green jadeite bangle that was hammered at $55,000. The finest pieces in the November auction are lot 175, a Chinese emerald green jadeite bangle having great translucency (high estimate $8,000), and lot 193, a Chinese icy clear and deep green jadeite bangle with high translucency and clarity with spots of deep green tone (high estimate of $4,000). Also noteworthy is lot 177, an important Chinese emerald green jadeite bangle of even emerald green tone and a rounded edge with fine polished finish, which carries a high estimate of $8,000.

Additional quality pieces of jadeite can be found at:

– Lot 125: Chinese fine emerald green jadeite lotus leaf, estimated at $2,000-$3,000;

– Lot 128: fine Chinese emerald green jadeite leaf pendant, estimated at $1,000-$2,000;

– Lot 133: fine icy emerald green jadeite dragon pendant, estimate at $600-$1,200;

– Lot 135: Chinese icy emerald green jadeite ruyi pendant, estimated at $1,000-$2,000;

– Lot 137: Chinese icy emerald green bat jadeite pendant, provenance: T. Ng Collection Toronto, estimated at $600-$1,600;

– Lot 142: icy emerald green jadeite pendant with clear stones, estimated at $800-$1,600;

– Lot 144: fine emerald green jadeite pendant with clear stones, estimated at $800-$1,600;

– Lot 150: Chinese icy jadeite double dragon pendant, estimated at $800-$1,600;

– Lot 309: icy emerald green jadeite pendant with clear stones, estimated at $1,000-$2,000.

A standout in the painting section is lot 72, a Chinese long 100 birds silk painting by Shen Quan, painted 100 birds and phoenix, long scroll on silk, signed Shen Quan with red seals, which has a high estimate of $25,000. Lot 390, a Chinese Famille Rose gilt plate Guangxu Period, carries a high estimate of $5,000. From the bronze section, lot 459, a Chinese gold splash bronze censer of squatted hu shape, flanked with pair of foo dog heads and decorated with splashes of gold, bottom marked four characters Ming Xuande mark, has a high estimate of $5,000. Lot 495, a Chinese carved horn libation cup from the T. Ng Collection, Toronto, estimated a $4,000, is expected to do well.

For details please visit www.888auctions.com or call the auctioneers at 905-763-7201.

Quality consignments are still being accepted for 888 Auctions’ Dec 5 sale. To consign an item, an estate or a collection, call the number above or email info@888auctions.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

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