Jerry Garcia’s Iconic ‘Wolf’ Guitar, Alan Turing’s Cryptic Postcard, and More Fresh News

Jerry Garcia and his iconic ‘Wolf’ guitar. Image courtesy of Guernsey’s

News and updates from around the arts and auction community:

  • Guernsey’s will auction off Jerry Garcia’s beloved “Wolf” guitar, arguably one of the most important pieces of rock ‘n’ roll history, on March 14th. The auction house advises that 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Southern Poverty Law Center. Bids will be accepted from all over the world online through LiveAuctioneers.com. [Read more from JamBase]
  • A postcard sent by legendary cryptologist Alan Turing to his psychologist has sold at auction for $35,000. It is believed that Turing included a coded reference to one of history’s most enduring mathematical puzzles within his message on the card. [Read more from The Telegraph]
  • Nineteen letters written by Jacqueline Kennedy to David Ormsby Gore in the years following President Kennedy’s assassination will be auctioned next month at Bonhams. Ormsby Gore, a close friend of JFK’s and a former British ambassador to the United States, proposed marriage to Jacqueline, who declined and instead wed shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. [Read more from Fox News]
  • The stars were out last night at Morrison Hotel Gallery in West Hollywood for “Winners,” a photographic exhibition dedicated to Grammy and Oscar winners. The event was co-hosted by Julian Lennon, a talented photographer in his own right. [View collections at Morrison Hotel Gallery]

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

Quinn’s to auction Merton D. Simpson African-American art collection Feb. 18

John Biggers (1924-2001), ‘Ending web of the Dawn saying good bye,’ est. $20,000-$40,000. Quinn’s Auction Galleries image

 

FALLS CHURCH, Va. – Quinn’s Auction Galleries will offer fine art from the inventory and personal collection of Merton D. Simpson (1928-2013) as the highlight of their Feb. 18 African-American Artists Auction. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Picasso pottery vase top pick in Weiss Auctions at $37,200

Earthenware vase by Pablo Picasso, 15 inches tall, with knife engraving and partial brushed glaze. Price realized: $37,200. Weiss Auctions image

 

LYNBROOK, N.Y. – A white earthenware vase designed by Pablo Picasso and made in 1952 as one in an edition of 400 sold for $37,200 at an auction held Jan. 29 by Weiss Auctions. The vase was the top lot in a sale that grossed over $350,000, with more than 1,000 people combining to bid live and via the Internet. Absentee and Internet bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Heritage Auctions staging diverse decorative & fine art auction Feb. 25-27

Royal Copenhagen Flora Danica porcelain dessert service (est. $2,000-$3,000). Heritage Auctions image

 

DALLAS – A wide variety of objects for young and seasoned collectors alike highlight the Fine & Decorative Art Auction presented by Heritage Auctions on Feb. 25-27. Fresh-to-market pieces from renowned collectors as well as work from artists around the world, will be available without reserve. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Woodshed Gallery mounts drawings and prints auction Feb. 22

Drawing on white Arches paper by Marc Chagall (Russian/French, 1887-1985), titled ‘Village Berger Descending,’ or ‘Dream of the Dance,’ in excellent condition (est. $30,000-$40,000). The Woodshed Gallery image

 

FRANKLIN, Mass. – A pair of sanguine drawings on white paper by Marc Chagall (1887-1985), two signed lithographs by Salvador Dali (1904-1989) and other original drawings by notables like Keith Haring, Man Ray, Andy Warhol, Jean Cocteau and Fernand Leger, will be sold in an online-only auction by The Woodshed Gallery on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at noon Eastern. Absentee and internet bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.

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10 facts about pulp fiction’s illustrious Margaret Brundage

Original art by Margaret Brundage of ‘Weird Tales,’ ‘The Six Sleepers,’ circa 1935, realized $19,375 at auction in 2013, through Heritage Auctions.

 

1. Margaret Brundage was the primary designer of covers for the pulp fiction magazine Weird Tales throughout much of the 1930s, and into the 1940s. She was a pioneer of the pulp era, becoming its first female cover artist. Her covers drew attention and sparked controversy. They often depicted scantily clad female characters—many times in treacherous situations—associated with one of the magazine’s “tales.”

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Baltimore marks 200th anniversary of first gas street lamp

America’s first gas street lamp still brightens a corner in Baltimore. Image by Larry Grim. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

 

BALTIMORE (AP) – It would be easy to miss the street lamp at the corner of Baltimore and Holliday streets, an innocuous green pole topped by three small bulbs.

But the soft yellow light that glows from the glass day and night betrays the site as an anachronistic oddity – home of the first, and one of the last, gas street lights in America.

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