PHILADELPHIA — Artworks by Woody Gwyn, Roger Mühl and others soared far above their estimates at Freeman’s Art and Design auction on August 23. The sale was carried by LiveAuctioneers.
Field/Pond 1, an incredibly detailed and lush study of a grain field with water in the background by American artist Woody Gwyn (b. 1944-), had an estimate of $6,000-$10,000. Spirited bidding between the floor and internet buyers skyrocketed the piece to a final hammer of $45,000 ($58,950 with buyers premium).
Noted abstract landscape artist Roger Mühl’s Provence, an oil on canvas measuring 31.5 by 33.5in, was estimated at $3,000-$5,000. The artist’s work opened at $1,500, immediately shot to $20,000 and hammered at $28,000 ($36,680 with buyers premium).
Itshak Holtz (1925-2018) was a well-known Israeli and American Orthodox Jewish painter who focused on traditional scenes of Jewish life. His Made to Order oil on canvas depicting a tailor plying his trade hammered at $22,000 ($28,820 with buyers premium), well beyond the estimate of $1,000-$1,500.
A Georg Jensen sterling flatware service for 12 (86 pieces in all, total weight approximately 83.95 oz. t., excluding dinner and luncheon knives) cut through to an amazing $26,000 ($34,060 with buyers premium) after being assigned an estimate of $6,000-$8,000.
Considered one of the “most important voices in postwar art,” Betty Woodman (1930-2018) worked primarily in ceramics. Her circa-1983 terracotta pillow pitcher hammered at $15,000 ($19,650 with buyers premium).
