MONROVIA, Calif. – John Moran’s Winter Modern and Contemporary Sale on Feb. 23 consisted of 66 lots that were a carefully curated selection of prints, paintings and sculptures from a variety of artists including household names such as Warhol, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg and Picasso. A Madoura Pottery vase by Picasso led the way, selling for a record $100,000. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
YORK, Pa. – Hake’s Auctions, specialists in Americana and collectibles since 1967, set a new house record when their February 24-25 Premier Auction #231 cashed out at $2,888,163. Not only did the auction set a new monetary record for Hake’s, it also achieved new highs for sell-through rate (98%), bidder volume, and the number of bids placed.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Now that everything from toothpaste to sofas is purchased online, the idea of bidding at auction has lost some of its intimidation factor and the auction industry has gained an influx of buyers shopping for their own homes. That observation comes from Palm Beach Modern Auctions (PBMA), a leading specialist in the sale of modern and contemporary art.
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PHILADELPHIA – Freeman’s European Art & Old Masters auction on Feb. 23 surpassed $6.4 million – the best fine art sale total that Freeman’s has ever recorded. With spirited bidding throughout the sale from bidders both online and on the telephone, the 67-lot auction achieved an impressive 90% sell-through rate and nearly quadrupled its presale high estimate. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
NEW YORK – Christie’s Deep Impact: Martian Lunar and Other Rare Meteorites, an online-only sale of rare meteorites, shattered records totaling $4,351,750, with 100% of the lots sold. Seventy-two of the 75 lots offered today sold for more than their high estimate. A record number of bidders participated in the category from 23 countries across five continents. View the fully illustrated catalog on LiveAuctioneers.
BOSTON – John F. Kennedy’s Harvard sweater sold for $85,266 at an online auction conducted by RR Auction that closed on Thursday. View the fully illustrated catalog with prices realized on LiveAuctioneers.
PITTSFIELD, MASS. – Boasting a curated selection of fine leaded glass lamps, vases, silver and sculpture, Fontaine’s Auction Gallery started off the new year on a high note. The two-part auction that ran on Jan. 23 and 30 grossed over $2 million. It saw two Tiffany Studios lamps tie for top-lot status at $87,725 with a total of nearly 40 items performing above the $10,000 mark. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
LOS ANGELES – Julien’s Auctions held its Cold War Relics Auction Featuring the KGB Espionage Museum Collection on Feb. 13. The event offered nearly 500 of the rarest and most important artifacts from the U.S., Soviet Union and Cuba during the Cold War-era ever to be assembled and offered at auction. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – An 1859 Berdan Sharps rifle, Sammy Davis Jr’s .357 Magnum, and a Walther pistol from Hitler’s mountaintop retreat were among the highlights in Milestone’s record-setting January 30 auction, but it was an artful and unusual shooting gallery target that unexpectedly rose to the top of prices realized. The 33-inch-high painted metal and wood target figure of a medieval drummer had attracted a flurry of enquiries in the run-up to the $1.5 million sale. Collectors of firearms, folk art, and carnival arcade memorabilia all stepped up to “take a shot” at the coveted antique, which had been estimated at $4,000-$6,000.
NEW YORK—The Artists of the WPA were on display in Swann Galleries’ auction on Feb. 4. The multi-departmental sale featured paintings, prints, photographs, posters and related ephemera by artists whose careers were sustained by the Works Progress Administration and other agencies of the Depression-era’s New Deal. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.