First Dodo Skeleton On the Open Market In 100 Years Heads to Auction, Bonnie & Clyde Letter Could Sell For $40K, and More Fresh News

One of the most famous and often-copied paintings of a Dodo specimen, as painted by Roelant Savery in the late 1620s
One of the most famous and often-copied paintings of a dodo specimen, as painted by Roelant Savery in the late 1620s

 

News and updates from around the arts and auction community:

  • Hen’s teeth, pink elephants or the dodo bird — which is more rare? We can’t be sure, but we do know which will be making an appearance at auction in November, and it’s expected to earn a six-figure price. [Read more from The Independent]
  • “I should have killed you…” writes Clyde Barrow in a 4-page letter he and Bonnie Parker sent to one of their gang members incarcerated at the Dallas County Jail. What was behind the vicious comment? Money, of course. The handwritten letter will be auctioned next month.  [Read more in an Associated Press report via CBS News]
  • A Belgian couple scouring online classified ads had a hunch they had stumbled upon a long-lost Willem de Kooning and bought it for $500. It’s real, and it’s worth much, much more. [Read more from artnet]
  • Star Wars fans, take note. A cheeky parrot who sounds like R2-D2 is on the lam. The talented avian named Paco can also do wolf whistles and mimic microwave ovens, smoke detectors and trucks. If you’ve seen him — or heard him — his owner is anxious to get him back, and he’s offering a reward. [Read more at CentralMaine.com]

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Eclectic art selection a crowd-pleaser at John Moran’s July 30 Studio Auction

MONROVIA, Calif. – John Moran’s new Studio Auction format has proven a success with buyers. The second Studio Auction of 2016, held on Saturday, July 30, fared well for works estimated across all price points. No single genre was the clear favorite among buyers, with bidders paying equal attention to early California, Western, Modern and Contemporary abstract and figural works. Overall, buyers responded to quality, with wonderful examples by higher tier as well as lesser-known artists performing quite well throughout the evening. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.com.

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1909 Joe Jackson baseball card knocks it out of the park, selling for $667K

1909 Joe Jackson rookie card. Image courtesy of SCP Auctions
1909 Joe Jackson E90-1 rookie baseball card. Image courtesy of SCP Auctions

 

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. – A pair of iconic pre-war baseball cards led the bidding in SCP Auctions’ 2016 Mid-Summer Classic online auction that closed for bidding on August 21. The top card, which sold for an astounding $667,189, is one of only two examples of the legendary 1909 E90-1 Joe Jackson American Caramel card graded NM-MT 8 by third-party authenticator PSA Cards with none graded higher.

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