NEW ORLEANS — A pair of George Rodrigue originals sold above their estimates at Neal Auction Company’s Premier Collections event held September 7 and 8. The sales were available online via LiveAuctioneers (Day 1, Day 2).
As anticipated, Rodrigue’s Big Stop Sign from 2002 featuring his familiar blue dog sold above its estimate of $40,000-$60,000, but instead of spirited bidding, the artwork sold with a single bid of $70,000 ($89,600 with buyer’s premium).
One of Rodrigue’s early works, Doc Moses, Cajun Traiteur from 1974, captures traditional Cajun medicine in a swampy setting. Estimated at $30,000-$50,000, it sold to the floor after rising steadily to $35,000 ($44,800 with buyer’s premium).
Louisianan Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer began her career as a figurative painter but shifted to Abstract Expressionism after taking a workshop with famed Abstract Expressionist Hans Hoffman in 1956. Ships at Sea, painted in that year, is an oil on canvas that captures this transition in the moment. Estimated at $7,000-$10,000, the artwork sold for $35,000 ($44,800 with buyer’s premium) after extensive floor bidding.
The naive art of Henri Hecht Maik continues to do well in the contemporary market. This example, Dans les Nuages from 1974, carries the original label of Wally Findlay Gallery of Beverly Hills, his early American champion and seller of many of Maik’s works. It sold for $22,000 ($28,160 with buyer’s premium) against an estimate of $6,000-$8,000.
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