Early Rocket Men, Ai Weiwei Pushes the Envelope, and More Fresh News

The original seven project Mercury astronauts, Langley Air Force Base, July 1960. Image courtesy Skinner Auctioneers and Appraisers.

 

News and updates from around the arts and auction community:

  • Say “cheese,” as in the moon is made of green cheese. More than 400 rare photos taken by American astronauts are being auctioned by Skinner Inc, starting this week.  [Read more from the New York Post]
  • Controversial Chinese artist/activist Ai Weiwei and Public Art Fund in New York City have teamed up in an exclusive charity event. As usual, Ai has used art to make a statement…see for yourself. [Read more from eBay]
  • A rare 16th-century document has been returned to Geneva, where it apparently had been stolen from a government archive. The 1553 pay slip was signed by Protestant reformer John Calvin.  [Read more from SWI swissinfo.ch ]
  • Ever heard the expression, “Go big or go home”? Interior designers say you should do both if you’re decorating a small living space. Here’s a list of common mistakes people make when furnishing a room of modest proportions. [Read more from Architectural Digest]

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Ancient marble head rolls to $188,800 at Cottone Auctions

Outstanding Cycladic marble head, dating from 2,500 B.C. Price realized: $188,800. Cottone Auctions image

 

GENESEO, N.Y. – An outstanding Cycladic marble head dating from 2,500 B.C. with impeccable provenance soared to $188,800 and an elegant sculpture of black-and-red-painted sheet metal by Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976), titled Crayfish, sold for $153,400 at a two-session auction held Sept. 22-23 by Cottone Auctions. Absentee and Internet bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Hunt is on for rare sporting books at PBA Galleries Oct. 19

Leonard West’s ‘The Natural Trout Fly and Its Imitation,’ 1912. PBA Galleries image

 

SAN FRANCISCO – On Thursday, Oct. 19, PBA Galleries will sell Part II of the Richard Beagle Collection of Angling & Sporting Books with Americana, Travel & Exploration, and Cartography. On offer, will be over 400 lots of rare and significant books, manuscripts, maps and related material, including items from the premier angling and sporting library formed by Richard Beagle. Absentee and Internet bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Turner Auctions to offer art dealer’s personal collection Oct. 22

Michael Bergt, ‘Framed in,’ 1989, egg tempera on panel. Estimate: $2,000-4,000. Turner Auctions + Appraisals image

 

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Turner Auctions + Appraisals will sell the John Pence Collection of Academic Realists & Abstract Art on Sunday, Oct. 22, starting at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time / 1:30 p.m. Eastern. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Tiffany lamps: American classics

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Perfectly suited to the shade’s shape, dragonflies were a popular motif that Tiffany adapted to several lamp designs. This example has the desirable dropped heads that extend below the rim of the shade. It brought $245,000 at Christie’s in December 2014. Courtesy Christie’s

Tiffany lamps are magical artifacts in the collecting world. Illuminate one, and all the creative passion that went into its conception electrifies the viewer today.

“Tiffany is something that is so extraordinary in its beauty and its value – it will always be very popular. Whenever there is a downturn in the market, it comes back stronger than ever before,” said Allen Michaan, whose Michaan’s Auctions sold one of the world’s premier collections in 2012. “The glass is tremendous – unrivaled anywhere – amazing stuff.”
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10 things to know about decorative woven coverlets

 

A two-part jacquard coverlet that sold for $2,178 in 2015. See No. 10 for more information. Photo courtesy Conestoga Auction Co.

 

IOLA, Wis. – How does a coverlet differ from a quilt? They may have served the same function, and they can add punch to a bland decor, but the ways in which they were created were actually very different. Here are 10 things to know about woven coverlets.

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Gucci goes fur-free, will auction remaining goods for charity

Gucci operates approximately 278 directly operated stores worldwide, including this one in Toronto. Photo by Raysonho, made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

 

MILAN — Gucci has become the latest fashion house to eliminate animal fur from its collections, starting with the spring-summer 2018 season.

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Meissen: First porcelain in Europe

This Meissen porcelain figural group from the late 19th represents commerce. Topped by Mercury, the group stands 16 inches tall and 14 3/4 inches wide. It sold for $25,410 to a LiveAuctioneers bidder in February 2015. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com archive and Cottone Auctions.
This Meissen porcelain figural group from the late 19th represents commerce. Topped by Mercury, the group stands 16 inches tall and 14 3/4 inches wide. It sold for $25,410 to a LiveAuctioneers bidder in February 2015. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com archive and Cottone Auctions.

 

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The Royal Saxon Porcelain Works in Meissen, Saxony (Germany) opened in 1710. Whether Johann Friedrich Böttger, its first director, deserves credit for being the first European to develop the formula for hard paste porcelain – long known in China – is open to debate. Certainly the Meissen factory was the first to produce porcelain in Europe in large quantities.

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Authenticating Fornasetti a challenge best left to experts

Folding screens presented a perfect surface for Fornasetti’s inspired imagery; patterns range from the historical to the metaphysical. From an edition of 10, this 1954 design depicting ‘Battaglia Navale’ – a naval battle – was sold for $20,000 by Wright in 2014. Courtesy Wright Auctions.
Folding screens presented a perfect surface for Fornasetti’s inspired imagery; patterns range from the historical to the metaphysical. From an edition of 10, this 1954 design depicting ‘Battaglia Navale’ – a naval battle – was sold for $20,000 by Wright in 2014. Courtesy Wright Auctions

 

MILAN, Italy – Italian artist and designer Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988) was born in Milan, a city that has produced many gifted designers. While studying painting and traveling to Africa, Fornasetti absorbed many influences, from classic to surrealism and exhibited a fondness for vivid colors. His early paintings were scenes on silk scarves, which he exhibited at the Milan Triennale in 1933.

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