BUFORD, Ga. – Two big names in the world of self-taught art, Martin Ramirez and Howard Finster, brought the biggest results in Slotin Folk Art Auction‘s Spring Self-Taught Art Masterpiece Sale on April 24. Overall, the sale was a barn-burner, with total revenues of $1.36 million, marking it as one of the auction house’s most successful sales in its nearly three decades of operation, approaching the $1.48 million record from November 2020’s Fall edition of the Self-Taught Masterpiece series.
DALLAS – One of the most infamous forgeries in United States history heads to auction for the first time in June. The Oath of a Freeman, a pledge of loyalty and duty demanded of all new members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, is said to be the oldest printed document in English North America, produced in Cambridge, Mass., around 1638 or 1639. But the only known copy of this diminutive broadsheet was made in 1985 by a master forger and convicted murderer who has spent the last 34 years in a Utah prison.
That man is Mark Hofmann, subject of the 2021 Netflix true-crime mini-series Murder Among the Mormons.
DAMASCUS, Va. – Sometimes, a whole tranche of treasures unexpectedly appears within the lineup of a larger auction. Such is the case with AOK Auction Gallery‘s May 22 sale featuring the Estate of Kelli Martin. Nesting within it is a head-turning selection of scarce baseball memorabilia–autographs, balls, baseball cards, and ephemera. Some pieces are modern, but many are early or vintage. The auction starts at 10 am Eastern time, with absentee and Internet live bidding available through LiveAuctioneers.
BLOOMFIELD, N.J. – Nye & Company Auctioneers’ two-day online Estate Treasures auction, slated for June 2-June 3 and starting at 10 am Eastern time both days, is sure to delight collectors, designers, dealers and institutions alike. The catalog includes an exceptionally strong selection of blue-chip artists’ names and a large selection of both traditional and modern furniture, rugs, and lighting. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
NEW YORK — Swann Galleries’ sale of Old Master Through Modern Prints on May 6 delivered $1.8 million in sales, and saw seven print records set. “There was robust and consistent interest in Old Master prints, with several new artist records set for prints by Rembrandt, Goya, and Piranesi, and Modern prints were tenaciously contested as usual,” noted Todd Weyman, the house’s director of prints and drawings.
NEW YORK — Traveling to faraway places for pleasure is so commonplace now that it can be hard to imagine a time when it wasn’t the case. In the 17th and 18th centuries, most people could not dream of visiting another country, but, as the West began openly trading with China, Westerners developed a keen fascination with the distant nation. European designers and tastemakers fueled this desire for all things Chinese. They created a style of decoration called chinoiserie, which derives from the French word “chinois,” for Chinese, as it was evocative of Asian art. (“Chinoiserie” is pronounced “shin-WAH-suh-ree.”)