George Herman (Babe) Ruth from the Goudey Gum Co.’s Big League Chewing Gum series (R319), 1933. Commercial lithograph. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick
NEW YORK – Since the mid-19th century, when the New York Knickerbockers played the first organized baseball games using modern-day rules, New York has been home to some of the sport’s most successful and beloved teams. Opening June 10 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the exhibition “The Old Ball Game: New York Baseball, 1887–1977” will include nearly 400 baseball cards featuring players from numerous teams, from the New York Metropolitans and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms to the Giants, Dodgers, Yankees and Mets.
BEVERLY, Mass. – Kaminski’s next estate auction will take place on Sunday, June 5, and features many lots of antique and vintage books from the personal collection of a Belmont, Massachusetts, book collector.
Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com
The book collection includes numerous large lots of hardbound books with leather covers or leather accents to bindings including a six-volume set of The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser (1810), a five-volume set of The Works of Peter Pindar Esq. (1794); a three-volume set of Oeuvres Complettes de M. Gesner; Memoir of Payson; A Grammar of Botany (1818); Henriade by Voltaire (1820); Imitation of Christ (1802); and Paul et Virginie (1829) to name a few.
Other lots include many books on the local history of the New England sailing industry, specific titles to include: Mr. Whistler’s Ten O’clock (1916). Fine art volumes include Art Rodin; Moving the Obelisks by Bern Dibner; a 10-volume set of the Dictionaire des Peintres, Sculpteures, Dessinateurs et Graveurs; Narrative of Operations … in Egypt by Belzoni (1821) and others. First edition entries include: Mother Hunt and other Rex Stout first editions by David R. Anderson; as well as a nine volume set of Parley’s Magazine and others.
In addition to the books there is a selection of ephemera to include English indentures dated 1869; as well as British Railways travel posters.
Lot 4298 – Chinese Ming Dynasty blue and white charger, 23 1/4 inches in diameter. Estimate: $750-$1,250. Kaminski Auctions image
Other June 5 auction highlights include a Louis Vuitton cube steamer trunk, a Federal eagle crest mirror and important paintings by Hugo Scheiber, Charles Levier and Giuseppe Alberto Cocco. There is also a wide array of Asian art and antiques, fine art, furnishings and ephemera.
Lot 4102 – Jean Negulesco (Spanish-American, 1900-1993), abstract nude. Estimate: $1,400-$1,700. Kaminski Auctions image
The sale will be conducted at the Kaminski Auctions gallery, 117 Elliott St. (Mass. Route 62) in Beverly beginning at 8 a.m.
ALAMEDA, Calif. – Michaan’s major auction on Monday, June 13, encompasses jewelry, fine art, furnishings and decorative items. Highlights include an oil painting by revered Filipino artist Vicente Manansala, a pair of rare Tiffany Studios jeweled candlesticks and a historic pocket watch once owned by the family of Capt. Myles Standish.
This Cartier diamond and gold textured link bracelet was estimated to bring $2,500 to $3,500, and exceeded expectations with an $11,250 online selling price. John Moran Auctioneers image
MONROVIA, Calif. – John Moran Auctioneers’ May 21 fine jewelry auction appealed to collectors across all categories, from those whose tastes run from the Victorian to the Contemporary ends of the spectrum. Approximately a quarter of sales were achieved online. The top lots for the evening were modern designs, while quirky selections and high-quality Art Deco examples also performed quite well.
Arthur Lopez, ‘Sangre de Cristo Cruzin with the Lowered,’ 2015. Wood with water-based pigments, 21½ x 13½ x 10 inches. Courtesy of Donald Shina and Kevin Waidmann with permission from the artist and New Mexico Museum of Art
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – Those classic cars called lowriders are the focus of a summer celebration in Santa Fe. The spotlight on lowrider culture includes exhibitions at the New Mexico History Museum and the New Mexico Museum of Art.
Tramp art, the term applied to a type of chip carving used to decorate wooden utilitarian objects, is recognized as a form of folk art.
The craft, popular in the U.S. from the late 1860s through the 1930s, was practiced by European immigrants and to a much lesser extent hoboes and tramps, despite the name.
‘Past Present: Living with Heirlooms and Antiques’ by Susan Sully. Image courtesy of Monacelli Press
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – In this age of minimalism and decluttering, the common response to an offer of a family heirloom or antique might be, “I don’t have space,” “It’s not my taste,” or simply “No thanks.”
DALLAS – A record-setting season of fresh-to-market modern and contemporary art surpassed $6.86 million and set a house record during Heritage Auctions’ spring offering, including its first auction dedicated to prints and multiples.
“Once again, we proved Heritage’s distinct competitive advantages in the middle market,” said Frank Hettig, director of Modern & Contemporary Art. “Last spring our auction reached $3.8 million and unlike other houses where sales have dramatically reduced in size, we have grown selling more six-figure works than ever before.”
The New York sale held May 2 was 78 percent sold by value and set a record for the highest number of six-figures lots selling at a Heritage art auction. In the afternoon session, bidders focused on international artworks such as Composition by Fernand Léger (above), a classic 1925 watercolor that soared past its $150,000 low estimate selling for $250,000. In addition, Woman in the Kitchen (below), 1981 by Fernando Botero surpassed expectations to sell for $225,000.
Fernando Botero (b. 1932), ‘Woman in the Kitchen,’ 1981, watercolor on paper. Price realized: $225,000. Heritage Auctions image
The much-anticipated evening session saw postwar American contemporary artists take center stage as Helen Frankenthaler’s Tantric (below), 1977, quickly sold for $610,000.
Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011), ‘Tantric,’ 1977, acrylic on canvas. Price realized: $610,000. Heritage Auctions image
The cover lot, Willem de Kooning’s 1968 East Hampton II (below) sold near the high estimate for $802,000.
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), ‘East Hampton II,’ 1968, oil on paper laid on canvas. Price realized: $802,000. Heritage Auctions image
Ice Bucket (below), 1986 by Jeff Koons – direct from the collection of lifelong arts patron Anita Reiner – sold for $370,000.
USA-1, 1984, an iconic, oil on burlap by Keith Haring, saw fierce competition that pushed the auction price to $162,500; and Untitled (four works), 1999 by urban artist KAWS sold for $131,250.
The May 24 sale in Dallas – Heritage Auctions’ first dedicated offering of Modern & Contemporary Prints & Multiples – was 80 percent sold by value. The cover lot, Medusa Head (below), 1986, by Keith Haring finished at $52,500 setting a world record price for the print at auction.
Keith Haring (1958-1990), ‘Medusa Head,’ 1986, aquatint on paper. Price realized: $52,500. Heritage Auctions image
Three unique screenprint variations of Andy Warhol’s famous Dollar Signs from 1982 claimed top lot honors: $ (9) Black sold for $106,250; $ (9) White sold for $96,875, both against $80,000 pre-sale estimates. $ (Quadrant), 1982 exceeded its $80,000 high estimate to sell for $87,500.
The Fountain (1578) by Giacomo Della Porta crowned by the Macuteo obelisk in 1711 and the Pantheon (27 B.C.). Image by Jean-Pol GRANDMONT. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
ROME (AP) – Rome has pleaded for patrons to help pay for the restoration and maintenance of some of the hundreds of fountains, monuments, archaeological sites and historical streets in the Italian capital.
Hupa mother and infant, circa 1924, photo by Edward S. Curtis. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal officials and tribal leaders held what they described as an emergency meeting to protest plans by a French auction house to sell artifacts that the tribes consider sacred.
