Renovation of the Arts and Industries Building in 2012. Image by G. Edward Johnson. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Financial pressures have forced the Smithsonian Institution to rethink plans to reopen one of the oldest buildings on the National Mall this year as an innovation pavilion, leaving the site’s future in question.
The 133-year-old Arts and Industries Building, one of the original exhibition spaces in the nation’s capital, has undergone a $55 million federally funded renovation to replace its roof and rehabilitate the structure. It was shuttered in 2004 because of structural problems and leaks. While scaffolding is now being dismantled around the building, it will remain closed until further notice, officials said late Monday.
Last year, the Smithsonian announced a partnership with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reopen the structure as an innovation center this fall to showcase American ingenuity. But funding has not materialized for the project as planned, said Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough.
“We can’t really access any federal funds for the building,” Clough said. “At this point, we don’t see opening in 2014. I think it’s a question that comes later when we might be able to reintroduce the idea of some federal funding for staffing of the building.”
In its most recent requests to Congress, the Smithsonian has prioritized other building projects, primarily the construction of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Another factor complicating the future of the Arts and Industries building is its possible conversion into a proposed Latino cultural museum. A bill pending in Congress names the building as the preferred site for a Smithsonian American Latino Museum, though it would likely require a large underground addition to function as a museum.
“We have to be mindful of the fact that this building could in fact become a Latino museum with the addition of some underground space,” Clough said. “There just aren’t many sites anymore for museums on the mall.”
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-01-28-14 1726GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Renovation of the Arts and Industries Building in 2012. Image by G. Edward Johnson. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
‘Lawrence before Valerianus,’ a fresco depicting Saint Lawrence by Fra Angelico (c.1395-1455), Vatican Pinacoteca museum. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons. TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – A 15th century Italian manuscript illustrated with gold leaf that was stolen from Italy 25 years ago will be returned to that country after it was found in Florida.
The manuscript is a framed, single page taken from a prayer book in Turin, Italy. The calligraphic script is in Latin, and there’s a small, colorful portrait of Saint Lawrence, offset with gold highlights. Officials said the text and portrait were done by hand by what was likely a monk in the Middle Ages.
“It is with great joy that I receive this on behalf of my government,” Adolfo Barattolo, the Italian consul general, said at a news conference Monday in Tampa with officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Palermo, who worked on the case, said the Catholic text describes the plight of Saint Lawrence, who was slowly roasted to death on a grill by the Romans after he didn’t bring them riches.
Officials said the page’s journey from Italy to Florida began in 1990, when a husband-and-wife team of professors stole several items from the Archdiocese in Turin and sold them to a bookseller.
Italian cultural authorities recovered some of the stolen items in London, but for decades, other items disappeared.
In 2011, an Italian officer saw a 2006 newspaper article about a Bible exhibit at the Florida International Museum in St. Petersburg; the article mentioned an illuminated manuscript – the term for a text that is embellished with a drawing or decoration, usually with gold leaf – from Italy.
The officer contacted experts, who flew to Florida to confirm it was part of the stolen cache.
Shane Folden, the deputy special agent in charge of the Tampa office of the Department of Homeland Security, said a St. Petersburg couple had bought the manuscript from a bookseller in Islamorada, Fla.; the bookseller had bought it at an auction in England.
Neither the couple nor the bookseller was charged; the couple voluntarily handed the manuscript over to authorities in 2011.
The manuscript will now be sent back to Turin, Barattolo said.
Folden said that a repatriation of this kind of cultural artifact is uncommon in the Tampa area but more common in larger cities.
According to Homeland Security statistics, more than 7,150 artifacts have been returned to 27 countries since 2007.
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-01-27-14 1937GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
‘Lawrence before Valerianus,’ a fresco depicting Saint Lawrence by Fra Angelico (c.1395-1455), Vatican Pinacoteca museum. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.
The Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park, Washington Heights, New York City, as seen from the Hudson River. A branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it is used to exhibit art and architecture from Medieval Europe. Photo taken in December, 2004 by Moncrief.
NEW YORK – A superb array of six near-life-size enthroned figures in stained glass from England’s historic Canterbury Cathedral will be shown in the exhibition Radiant Light: Stained Glass from Canterbury Cathedral, opening February 25 at The Cloisters—a branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of the Middle Ages. The brilliantly colored panels come from one of the great surviving series of medieval stained glass, and the exhibition represents the first time they have left the cathedral precincts since their creation in 1178–80.
The exhibition completes the celebration of the 75th-anniversary year of the founding of The Cloisters.
The exhibition is made possible by the Ruddock Foundation for the Arts.
Founded in 597, the cathedral is one of the oldest Christian structures in England. Thomas Becket—who is venerated as a saint and martyr both by the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion—was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his martyrdom in 1170. He was canonized in 1173. After a severe fire in 1174, the cathedral was extensively rebuilt, and the ambitious series of stained glass windows—in which 86 ancestors of Christ are depicted—was created at this time. No expense was spared in executing this extensive cycle.
The cathedral was an important pilgrimage site in the Middle Ages—as evidenced in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a literary masterpiece from the 14th century—and its popularity increased after the construction of a shrine to Becket. Today, Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the leader of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion worldwide. Recent repairs to the stonework of the south transept window of this magnificent historic structure necessitated the removal of many of these stained-glass windows, all of unparalleled beauty. While the restoration of the windows has been undertaken, the stained glass has also been conserved.
The windows that will be shown at The Cloisters were originally from the clerestory of the cathedral’s choir, east transepts, and Trinity Chapel. The six figures—Jared, Lamech, Thara, Abraham, Noah, and Phalec—were part of an original cycle of 86 ancestors of Christ, the most comprehensive ancestor cycle known in art history. One complete window (Thara and Abraham), nearly 12 feet in height, will be shown with its associated rich foliate border.
These imposing figures are masterpieces of Romanesque art, and exude an aura of dignified power. The angular limbs, form-defining drapery, and encompassing folds of the mantles all add a sculptural quality to the majestic figures, which are remarkably legible, even at a distance. (At Canterbury Cathedral, the clerestory windows are some 60 feet above the floor. The display at The Cloisters will be arranged in a towerlike structure.) The glass painting of Methuselah Master—to whom the figures of Jared and Lamech are attributed—is distinguished by a remarkable delineation of form by means of a fluid graduated line and bold shading.
The exhibition is accompanied by a publication, The Ancestors of Christ Windows at Canterbury Cathedral, by Jeffrey Weaver (J. Paul Getty Museum) and Madeline H. Caviness (Tufts University). Written for general audiences, the book provides information about the context, iconography, and style of the windows, and how they were perceived by various communities during the Middle Ages. Published by The J. Paul Getty Museum, the book will be available in the Museum’s book shops ($25).
An interactive panorama of the Canterbury Cathedral on a large touch-screen monitor will provide visitors with a 360-degree view of the building’s interior and will show the windows in their original location. A short video, Recreating a Medieval Window, will be shown in gallery.
Exhibition Credits and Related Programs:
The installation is organized at The Cloisters by Timothy B. Husband, Curator, Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters. Exhibition design is by Michael Langley, Exhibition Design Manager; graphics are by Mortimer Lebigre, Graphic Designer; and lighting is by Clint Ross Coller and Richard Lichte, Lighting Design Managers, all of the Museum’s Design Department.
An audio tour including interviews with Metropolitan Museum curator Timothy Husband and The Very Rev. Robert Willis is available for rental ($7, $6 for Members, $5 for children under 12).
The Audio Guide is sponsored by Bloomberg.
Education programs include a Sunday at the Met on March 2, 2014 at 3:00 p.m. in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium. The early-music ensemble Blue Heron will perform “Music for Canterbury Cathedral” on Sunday, April 13, at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. in the Fuentidueña Chapel at The Cloisters ($40). More information is available on the Museum’s website (http://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/concerts-and-performances/blue-heron-a?eid=4252).
The Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park, Washington Heights, New York City, as seen from the Hudson River. A branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it is used to exhibit art and architecture from Medieval Europe. Photo taken in December, 2004 by Moncrief.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – A bill introduced in the New Mexico Legislature would impose government oversight of art auction houses and change the way some do business.
Sen. Tim Keller’s bill would authorize the Attorney General’s Office to regulate art auctions and act on consumer complaints. It also mandates certain disclosures, such as minimum prices and whether an auction house has a financial interest in artwork being sold.
“Because there’s no statute, there’s no basis for a complaint. Unless these transactions constitute egregious fraud that would be covered under federal contract law, there’s nowhere for people to complain to,” Keller said.
The Albuquerque Democrat said his bill is a response to reports of questionable auction practices that distort prices for expensive pieces of art, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
“Usually $10,000 and over – fine art – those are the concerns I’m hearing about,” Keller said.
David Clemmer, a former auction house director and now a curator at a Santa Fe gallery, said Keller’s bill could be considered onerous by the businesses involved.
Auction houses probably won’t want to disclose pricing details or any financial interests in artwork they are selling, Clemmer said.
“There’s a certain amount of theatricality involved in auctions, no doubt about it. But that’s part of why people go to auctions,” Clemmer said.
Keller said the bill’s disclosure elements get to the heart of the specific complaints that have come to his attention.
He would not identify the people whose complaints prompted him to introduce the legislation, except to say that they were gallery owners and art investors.
“The fact that they feel they need to stay anonymous to me is another reason that we need the regulation,” Keller said. “Things are clearly bad enough and tense enough that they’re not even comfortable going public with it. Some of them are worried about retribution for the works that they need auction-house services to sell.”
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Lithograph after Jasper John’s painting ‘Flag.’ It is believed that the use of this work to illustrate the subject in question qualifies as fair use under U.S. copyright law. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and T&R Art Inc.
NEW YORK (AP) – A former New York foundry owner once popular with artists pleaded guilty Monday to charges that he tried to sell phony knockoffs of a sculpture of Jasper Johns’ classic 1960 Flag painting and the sculptures of two other artists, ending a weeklong trial that featured testimony by Johns.
Brian Ramnarine, 59, pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud in Manhattan federal court. He acknowledged that he had falsely claimed that the artists had authenticated the sculptures that prosecutors said he created from molds he kept after being paid by the artists to do work.
U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl asked him if he knew what he was doing was wrong and illegal when he committed the crimes.
“Yes, your honor,” Ramnarine answered.
Ramnarine’s skills with liquid metal made him a favorite of artists in the 1980s and early 1990s, and Johns conceded that he had used him several times because of his excellent work.
Ramnarine agreed not to challenge any sentence of 10 years or less in prison as part of a plea deal. The wire fraud charges otherwise carry a potential of 60 years in prison, and Ramnarine could face another 20 years in prison because he admitted carrying out additional sculpture frauds after his arrest.
Sentencing was set for May 30.
Ramnarine admitted falsely telling prospective buyers that the works he was offering from Johns and two other artists were legitimate.
Johns testified last week that the sculptures of Flag offered by Ramnarine were fakes.
Johns, 83, was the star witness for prosecutors trying to prove Ramnarine tried to sell an unauthorized bronze sculpture of the painting in 2010. Four bronze copies of Flag were made in 1960, and the jury was shown a picture of President John F. Kennedy posing with one that was given to him.
The Sharon, Conn., artist said he went to Ramnarine in 1990 and asked him to create a wax mold because he was considering making a gold sculpture of Flag from a wax mold. He said he didn’t believe he had spoken with Ramnarine since 1990 and wasn’t friends with him.
Johns chuckled when a prosecutor asked him if he ever gave Ramnarine a copy of a painting that was sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for millions of dollars.
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-01-27-14 2348GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Lithograph after Jasper John’s painting ‘Flag.’ It is believed that the use of this work to illustrate the subject in question qualifies as fair use under U.S. copyright law. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and T&R Art Inc.
A single-owner collection of 530 World War I and World War II-era posters will be auctioned. Louis J. Dianni LLC image.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Around 1,600 quality lots in a wide range of collecting categories will be sold at the fifth annual Palm Beach Auction slated for Feb. 15-17 by Louis J. Dianni, LLC. Start times all three days will be noon (EST). Internet bidding will be facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com.
The Saturday, Feb. 15, session will be dedicated mainly to period furniture and decorative accessories; Feb. 16 to militaria and weaponry; and Feb. 17 to artwork and art glass.
“At our last auction we fielded more than 1,500 left bids, so absentee bidding and phone bidding will be more than welcome, too,” said Louis Dianni, owner of Louis J. Dianni, LLC, a firm with locations in Sunrise, Fla., and Hopewell Junction, N.Y. He added, “We feel the quality of merchandise in this, our fifth Palm Beach Auction, matches or exceeds that of any prior sale.”
An expected star of the Feb. 15 session is a circa-1770 English bracket clock in a faux tortoise case, with four gilt pineapple finials (est. $2,000-$4,000). The case has hand-painted decoration to appear as brass inlays, and the brass back plate is engraved with scroll decoration. The face of the 15-pound, 22-inch-tall clock reads, “Strike Silent Robert Swannell – London.”
Period furniture will include a set of four late-19th century oak chairs by Michael Thonet of Poland, each chair having an alligator seat and back pattern (est. $300-$500); an early 20th century Napoleon III-style ebonized wood buffet with ormolu mounts and stone decorations and red velvet interior (est. $400-$800); and an early 20th century Italian carved oak cassone (storage chest for linens) with a center coat of arms and two painted panels on each side (est. $400-$800).
Decorative accessories will feature a circa-1750 Chinese export pitcher, made in Sweden, with the coat of arms of Maj. Count Carl Johan Morner (1698-1782), with winged griffins and a dragon form handle (est. $500-$1,000); a pair of lidded urns from around 1890, armorial with a coat of arms by Samson, hand-painted with enameled decoration (est. $200-$400); and a pair of Chinese export Canton serving dishes, decorated in the Blue Willow pattern (est. $200-$300).
World War I posters will also be sold Feb. 15, to include a 1918 poster by Albert Herter (American, 1871-1950), titled His Home Over There, 27 inches by 41 inches (est. $400-$600); a 1918 poster by Alonzo E. Foringer (American, 1878-1948), made for the Red Cross and titled The Greatest Mother in the World, 28 inches by 42 1/2 inches (est. $300-$500); and a 1919 poster by Howard C. Christy (American, 1872-1952), titled Americans All, 26 1/2 inches by 40 inches (est. $200-$400).
The Feb. 16 session will feature militaria items, to include a .45-caliber Kentucky rifle made around 1835 with lock by Joseph Golcher, boasting a tiger maple full stock profusely inlaid with engraved silver depicting an Indian with tomahawk, hunting dog and eagle on the check plate and a 41-inch octagonal barrel (est. $8,000-$12,000); and an 18th century Dutch East India Company Javanese steel sword with carved and hand-checkered rhinoceros horn, with a blade measuring 24 3/4 inches in length (est. $1,000-$2,000).
Also offered will be an 18th century leather and silver mounted Dutch East India Company notebook, or diary, with blank pages, measuring 5 1/4 inches by 3 inches, with the binding and cover original and the leather dry (est. $1,000-$2,000); and an 18th century, hand-hammered silver and carved coconut chalice, depicting Britannia on her chariot with multiple ships behind the figure and another scene depicting an anchor and a rope (est. $500-$1,000).
Historical photos will feature a circa-1900 hand-colored photo of the Native American Standing Elk, by the photographer Carl Moon, showing the subject dressed in Northern Plains attire, probably props from Moon’s studio (est. $500-$1,000); and a collection of 46 United Press International photographs pertaining to the assassination of President Kennedy, including JFK’s assassination, the funeral, Jack Ruby, Lyndon Johnson and Lee Harvey Oswald (est. $200-$400).
An oil on canvas portrait painting of Gen. Robert E. Lee, done in 1872 by James Kimball Harley (American, 1828-1889), showing Lee in his Confederate uniform, housed in the original frame with grape leaf and vine decorations (est. $2,000-$4,000). Also sold will be a scrimshaw sperm whale’s tooth, circa 1810-1830, depicting a whale hunt in progress, with a harpooner, whale and longboat, about 7 inches long and weighing 1 pound 12 ounces (est. $2,000-$4,000).
World War II posters will also be featured in the Feb. 16 session, to include an example by N.C. Wyeth (American, 1882-1945), showing the American flag, Uncle Sam and a phalanx of advancing infantrymen, 30 inches by 40 inches (est. $500-$1,500); and a 7th War Loan (bond) poster by Cecil Calvert Beall (American, 1892-1967), with a graphic based on the iconic World War II photo of the Marines on Iwo Jima, 26 inches by 37 inches (est. $500-$600).
A few items from the Feb. 17 session include a hand-woven 18K gold necklace by A.A.G. Correa & Son, 16 inches long, from the Turk’s Head Collection, with no noticeable flaws (est. $3,000-$4,000); a bronze sculpture of a winged male holding a female on his shoulder, by Mathurin Moreau (French, 1822-1912), cast circa 1900 and standing 39 inches tall (est. $2,000-$3,000); and a hand-blown glass bud vase, made and signed by Marvin B. Lipofsky, 9 inches in height (est. $500-$1,000).
The fine art category on Feb. 17 will be led by an original oil on canvas by David D. Burliuk (Russian, 1882-1967), titled Travelers Stop, one of two Burliuks in the sale and depicting multiple figures in a townscape with chickens and a horse and carriage, 22 inches by 27 inches (est. $8,000-$10,000); and an oil on canvas landscape rendering with figures by Dutch painter Marinus Koekkoek (1807-1870), mid-19th century, 19 inches by 25 inches (est. $3,000-$4,000).
Other artworks that day will feature an oil on canvas landscape work by Cullen Yates (American, 1866-1945), rendered circa late 19th or early 20th century and measuring 25 inches by 32 inches (est. $2,000-$3,000); and an oil on canvas by Homer Dodge Martin (American, 1836-1897), titled simply Waterfall and showing a waterfall in a forest, probably painted in the third quarter of the 19th century and measuring 36 inches by 22 inches, minus the frame (est. $2,000-$3,000).
World War II-era posters will be sold on the sale’s final day as well. Examples include a 1943 poster by Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978), titled Four Freedoms, 28 inches by 40 inches (est. $500-$1,000); a 1943 work titled Bits of Careless Talk by Stephen Dohanos (American, 1907-1994), 28 inches by 40 inches (est. $200-$400); and a 1942 poster by John Falter (American, 1910-1982), titled The World Cannot Exist Half Slave, 28 inches by 40 inches (est. $200-$400). All 530 of the World War I and II posters are a single-owner collection assembled from shortly after World War I until the owner’s death in 1989 and are to be sold unreserved.
The three-day event will be held at the Hilton Hotel & Conference Center, located at 150 Australian Ave. in West Palm Beach.
To learn more about Louis J. Dianni, LLC and the upcoming 5th annual Feb. 15-17 Palm Beach Auction phone 954-895-8727 or email ljdmarine00@gmail.com.
Jackson Pollock ‘Mural,’ 1943. University of Iowa Museum of Art, courtesy of Wikipaintings.org.IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s most famous painting is about to return home after nearly two years of conservation work by experts in California.
The University of Iowa announced Monday that the Jackson Pollock painting “Mural” will be displayed at the Sioux City Art Center starting June 10.
The university owns the 1943 painting, which was a donation from art collector Peggy Guggenheim. The work is more than 8 feet high and nearly 20 feet long. It’s considered a masterpiece that represented a sea change in Pollock’s career and abstract art.
In 2012, the painting was shipped to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles for research and restoration work.
The goal of the project was to improve the painting’s aesthetics and to stabilize its physical structure, which had begun to sag.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Jackson Pollock ‘Mural,’ 1943. University of Iowa Museum of Art, courtesy of Wikipaintings.org.
BERLIN (AP) – A lawyer for the reclusive collector of a massive trove of art found in Germany said Monday that he is considering claims for the restitution of some of the works as he seeks “fair and just solutions” following the seizure of the collection.
Authorities found more than 1,400 works of art at Cornelius Gurlitt’s Munich apartment in 2012 while investigating a tax case; they kept the find secret until it was publicized by a German magazine in early November. They have been checking whether hundreds of pieces were seized by the Nazis, but plan to return works belonging indisputably to Gurlitt.
Gurlitt inherited the collection – which includes works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Pierre-Auguste Renoir – from his father Hildebrand, an art dealer who traded in works confiscated by the Nazis.
Officials have said they hope to reach an agreement with Gurlitt on what to do with the works, though there was little sign of movement last year. Hannes Hartung, a Munich-based lawyer, said he started representing Gurlitt earlier this month and has been tasked with examining restitution claims.
“There are around five or six restitution demands that have to be looked at closely,” Hartung said in a telephone interview. He said that the process is at an early stage and he cannot yet say for sure whether those cases qualify as “looted art.” He didn’t detail which works were involved though he said discussions are under way over one by Henri Matisse.
Gurlitt is “interested in fair and just solutions” to claims regarding works in the collection, which could include restitution, financial settlements or a joint sale of works, Hartung said. “Of course, that always depends on the moral implications as well – each case is unique.”
The elder Gurlitt, who died in 1956, was one of four art dealers commissioned by the Nazis to sell what is known as “degenerate art” – items seized from museums because they were deemed a corrupting influence on the German people. Authorities said last year they believe some 380 of the works found in his son’s apartment were “degenerate art,” and they were checking whether another 590 were one way or another looted by the Nazis.
Hartung said he received documents last week from a task force of experts put together by German authorities to check the art works.
“Our assessment is that there are only a very, very few critical works, and that there is a huge discrepancy between how authorities have depicted it publicly and reality,” he said.
Gurlitt was quoted in November as telling German weekly Der Spiegel that he was “not giving anything back voluntarily.” Hartung disputed that account.
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The 1959 Jaguar XK150 drophead coupe formerly owned by Dr. Stephen Ward. Silverstone Auctions image. GAYDON, UK – Silverstone Auctions will conduct six classic car sales in 2014. First up is the Race Retro & Classic Car Sale, which will be held over two days at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire on Feb. 22-23. One of the choice rides in the auction will be a Jaguar XK150 once owned by Dr. Stephen Ward, the osteopathic physician who was at the center of the British political scandal of 1963 known as the Profumo Affair.
It was Ward who introduced John Profumo, Conservative Member of Parliament and Secretary of State for War, to longstanding friend, model and showgirl Christine Keeler, who at the time was also allegedly in a relationship with Soviet spy Yevgeny Ivanov.
As well as the amazing history, the gorgeous Jaguar XK 150, registration “WLY 150,” is finished in the lovely color combination of Old English White with dark red leather interior and benefitted from a ground up restoration by Dorset based marque experts Marina Garage in 1990.
This truly is classic British open-top motoring at its best and combined with a fascinating history makes a most sensible investment given the current performance of the market, says Silverstone Auctions. The car carries an estimate of £55,000-£65,000 ($91,100-$107,700).
Race Retro is just weeks away and an outstanding selection of classics have now been entered. From iconic championship winning race cars to road cars with connections to some of the most famous British political events of the 20th century, Silverstone Auctions’ sale is shaping up to be one of the most hotly anticipated to date.
Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the year, the world’s biggest classic motor racing festival, the Silverstone Classic, is back in July and once again Silverstone Auctions be hosting a sale there on July 26-27 to conduct an auction.
For details phone Silverstone Auctions at +44 (0) 1926 691 141 or email enquiries@silverstoneauctions.com
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The 1959 Jaguar XK150 drophead coupe formerly owned by Dr. Stephen Ward. Silverstone Auctions image.
Lancaster County, Pa., tall case clock. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Cowan’s Auctions Inc. CINCINNATI – Cowan’s Auctions Inc. live salesroom two-day Winter Fine and Decorative Art Auction will take place on Feb. 14-15. The auction will feature a diverse and eclectic array of American and Continental furniture, fine art, works on paper, glass, silver, sculptures, portraiture and more. The sale will include two sessions, Continental and American Fine Art. Lots 1-518 will be offered on day one, and lots 600-1246 will be up for auction on day two.
LiveAuctioneers.com will facilitate Internet live bidding.
Many fine collections will be featured in the sale, including the Clarence and Mildred Long Collection of Indiana Artists, Property from the Collections of St. Ann Convent in Melbourne, Ky., property of the Convergys Corp. in Cincinnati, and property from an important Cincinnati collector.
Highlights include an important nocturne by Russian artist Ivan Choultse, as well as a number of fine Hudson River pictures, folk art, John Henry Belter furniture, a Lumen Watson tall case clock and server, Dr. Wall period Worcester porcelain tea wares, and an Agra palace-size rug.
Paintings by well-known artists will be featured in the auction. An oil on canvas by Ivan Federovitch Choultse, titled Engadine in Snow, is estimated to sell anywhere between $80,000-$120,000. A portrait of African American jockey Isaac Murphy, a three-time Kentucky Derby winner, is expected to fetch $25,000-$35,000; a Saturday Evening Post illustration by Harvey Dunn, titled The Little Eohippus is estimated to bring anywhere between $15,000 and $25,000; and a painting by Charles Wysocki titled Apple Pickers in Pennsylvania is estimated at $8,000-$12,000.
Fine furniture is expected to garner attention in the sale. A Bembe and Kimbel U.S. House of Representatives chair, circa 1857, is estimated to sell anywhere between $10,000-$15,000, a Georgian-style secretary bookcase is expected to bring $6,000-$8,000, and a Lumen Watson Cincinnati tall case clock and server is estimated at $4,000-$6,000.
A number of fine rugs will be coming to the auction block. An Agra palace-size rug is expected to bring $15,000-$25,000, a Lerstan palace-size rug is estimated to fetch $5,000-$7,000, and an antique Oushak rug is estimated at $4,000-$6,000.
Items from Tiffany Studios will also be offered in the sale. A Tiffany Studios double student lamp is estimated at $4,000-$6,000, a Louis C. Tiffany pastel Favrile set of glass tablewares is expected to bring anywhere between $4,000 and $6,000, and a Tiffany & Co. sterling chased cocktail shaker is estimated to bring $1,000-$2,000.
Additional notable items in the sale include a Lancaster County, Pa., tall case clock estimated at $10,000-$15,000, an Andrew Clemens sand bottle is expected to sell between $8,000 and $12,000, a Gorham silver presentation pitcher is expected to fetch $4,000-$6,000, and a set of John Henry Belter chairs is estimated at $3,000-$5,000.
For more information about Cowan’s Feb. 14-15 auction phone 513-871-1670.
