PBA Galleries to auction signed first edition of ‘Mockingbird’ Oct. 6

Signed first edition of Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' PBA Galleries image
Signed first edition of Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ PBA Galleries image

 

SAN FRANCISCO – On Oct. 6, PBA Galleries will offer a first printing of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. The 1961 Pulitzer Prize Award-winning book is inscribed and signed by the author and is in an unrestored dust jacket. The lot is accompanied by a letter from the author to the person who requested the signing of the book for his son. It is expected to sell for $20,000 to $30,000.

Continue reading

Vermont Flies Its Freak Flag, MIT’s Rare Electronics Flea Market, and More Fresh News

Kerry Abram picking basil in 1973 at Frog Run Farm in East Charleston, Vermont. Photo by Lucy Horton from the personal collection of Mary Mathias. Provided by Vermont Historical Society
Kerry Abram picking basil in 1973 at Frog Run Farm in East Charleston, Vermont. Photo by Lucy Horton from the personal collection of Mary Mathias. Provided by Vermont Historical Society

 

News and updates from around the arts and auction community:

  • The origins of Vermont’s offbeat culture and progressive politics can be traced back to the 1970s, when the Green Mountain State was home to “Freaks, Radicals & Hippies,” the name of the Vermont Historical Society’s new exhibition. [Read more from the Associated Press via the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram]
  • At MIT’s flea market, don’t expect to find kitchenwares or Junior’s old snow boots. The brainiacs from Boston’s renowned sci/tech university sell only rare, obscure electronics. [Read more from the Associated Press]
  • Cheers! Whisky pulled from a 120-year-old shipwreck is headed to auction. But would you dare drink it? [Read more from the UK’s Express newspaper]
  • An 1899 painting that had been missing for years has been found on a wall of an Indiana home and will be auctioned next month. The portrait of a young girl standing in a garden could make as much as $500,000, the auctioneer said. [Read more from the Elkhart Truth]

For more news and updates, follow LiveAuctioneers on Twitter and Facebook.

Picasso left lasting mark on Madoura art pottery

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) had a restless artistic temperament and continually sought out new forms to which his inspiration could be applied. A chance meeting on the French Riviera after World War II revealed the possibilities of clay as a receptive surface for Picasso’s art. His decorative ceramic designs were executed in numerous limited editions, increasingly in demand for collections of 20th century art, where they hold their own alongside multimillion-dollar paintings.

Continue reading

Tribal masks embody African art auction Oct. 2

Pende mask, carved wood, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 15 x 8 1/2 inches. Estimate: $200-$300. Jasper52 image
Pende mask, carved wood, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 15 x 8 1/2 inches. Estimate: $200-$300. Jasper52 image

 

NEW YORK – The many faces of tribal Africa are mirrored in a Jasper52 auction to be held Sunday, Oct. 2. The African art auction is composed of more than 40 tribal masks and complemented by related items.

Continue reading

Gold bracelets given by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis bring $162,500

Gold cuff bracelets by Van Cleef & Arpels, gifted by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to her step-sister. Price realized: Heritage Auctions image
These gold bracelets by Van Cleef & Arpels, gifted by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to her step-sister, sold for $162,500. Heritage Auctions image

 

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – A pair of gold cuff bracelets by Van Cleef & Arpels, given by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to Nina Straight, her step-sister and maid of honor when she married John F. Kennedy in 1953, sold for $162,500 at a public auction Monday. Kennedy Onassis surprised Straight with the bracelets when she served as Straight’s maid of honor 21 years later.

Continue reading