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Rare Florida scene by W.A. Walker tops Neal auction at $152,362

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
Leading Neal Auction’s Summer Estates Auction was the William Aiken Walker (American/South Carolina, 1838-1921) oil painting titled ‘The Cove at Ponce Park,’ 1895, which sold for $152,362. Neal Auction Co. image
Leading Neal Auction’s Summer Estates Auction was the William Aiken Walker (American/South Carolina, 1838-1921) oil painting titled ‘The Cove at Ponce Park,’ 1895, which sold for $152,362. Neal Auction Co. image

NEW ORLEANS – The highlight of Neal Auction Co.’s Important Summer Estates Auction June 27-28 was a small – 6 1/2 by 12 1/2 inches – oil painting of The Cove at Ponce Park by William Aiken Walker (American/South Carolina, 1838-1921).  Estimated at $15,000-$25,000, the work sold for a near-record $152,362.

Online bidding was at an all-time high at Neal Auction Co. with bidders utilizing LiveAuctioneers.com acquiring 30 percent of the lots on Saturday and 20 percent on Sunday.

The sale totaled $2.45 million.

From the Baton Rouge collection of D. Benjamin Kleinpeter, the William Aiken Walker painting was a rare Florida scene, which beautifully incorporated figures into a class of Florida pictures that usually has none. Bidding was aggressive, with eight telephone bidders vying for the painting against activity from the salesroom floor. The painting sold to a Florida bidder on the phone.

Three works by Louisiana artist George Rodrigue (1944-2013) attracted considerable interest, continuing the trend of vigorous bidding by collectors that set a world record price of $173,000 for the artist in Neal Auction Co.’s April 17, 2015 sale. The three paintings, lots 279, 440 and 935, represent a comprehensive survey of George Rodrigue’s career, from his early Cajun series to the height of his Blue Dog series in the mid-1990s.

Against a presale estimate of $40,000-$60,000, lot 440, a circa 1990 oil on canvas, Untitled: (Yellow Moon) (below), took the vanguard by climbing to $134,437, making it the third highest auction price for the artist.

George Rodrigue (American/Louisiana, 1944-2013), ‘Untitled (Yellow Moon),’ 1990, oil on canvas, 40in x 30 in, original frame. Price realized: $134,437. Neal Auction Co. image
George Rodrigue (American/Louisiana, 1944-2013), ‘Untitled (Yellow Moon),’ 1990, oil on canvas, 40in x 30 in, original frame. Price realized: $134,437. Neal Auction Co. image

A Knute Heldner (Swedish/New Orleans, 1875 1952) oil depicting a Horse and Buggy Ride, Bay Street, St. Augustine, Florida soared above its $6,000-$8,000 estimate to achieve $46,650. A Florida collector bidding on the telephone triumphed over four competing telephone bidders and the salesroom floor.

Knute Heldner (Swedish/New Orleans, 1875-1952), ‘Horse and Buggy Ride, Bay Street, St. Augustine, Florida,’ oil on canvas board. Price realized: $46,650. Neal Auction Co. image
Knute Heldner (Swedish/New Orleans, 1875-1952), ‘Horse and Buggy Ride, Bay Street, St. Augustine, Florida,’ oil on canvas board. Price realized: $46,650. Neal Auction Co. image

The $46,650 achieved for Horse and Buggy Ride represents the second highest price achieved at auction for the Heldner. Neal Auction Co. continues to maintain the record auction price for a work by Heldner with The Pig Woman – A Southern Idyll, which sold in November 2004 for $76,750.

Against an estimate of $20,000-$40,000, lot 262, a 1981 oil on canvas by Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American/Louisiana, 1912-1997) titled Blocked in Siena #1, saw intense competition, selling to a Baton Rouge collector bidding in the front row for $44,215.

Neal Auction continues to maintain the record auction price for a work by the artist with Striae #2, which sold in April 2014 for $101,580.

Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American/New Orleans, 1912-1997), ‘Blocked in Siena #1,’ 1981, oil on canvas. Price realized: $44,215. Neal Auction Co. image
Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (American/New Orleans, 1912-1997), ‘Blocked in Siena #1,’ 1981, oil on canvas. Price realized: $44,215. Neal Auction Co. image

Lot 52, a dazzling composition by Gen Paul (French/American, 1895-1975) titled Vermouth O’ Clock, saw widespread interest with bidders competing from as far away as Belgium and France. After fierce competition, the painting sold to a Belgian telephone bidder for $37,045.

Gen Paul (French/American, 1895-1975), ‘Vermouth O' Clock.’ oil on canvas. Price realized: $37,045. Neal Auction Co. image
Gen Paul (French/American, 1895-1975), ‘Vermouth O’ Clock.’ oil on canvas. Price realized: $37,045. Neal Auction Co. image

A rare and monumental Newcomb College art pottery vase decorated by Henrietta Bailey in the “Tall Pine and Moon” design achieved an impressive $22,705, selling to a New Orleans collector.

Rare and monumental Newcomb College art pottery scenic landscape vase, 1925, decorated by Henrietta Bailey in the Tall Pine and Moon design, 16in high. Price realized: $22,705. Neal Auction Co. image
Rare and monumental Newcomb College art pottery scenic landscape vase, 1925, decorated by Henrietta Bailey in the Tall Pine and Moon design, 16in high. Price realized: $22,705. Neal Auction Co. image

Neal Auction Co. continues to maintain the world record auction price for a work of Newcomb Pottery with a high glaze vase by Marie de Hoa LeBlanc, which sold in June 2009 for $169,000.

For details contact Neal Auction Co. at 504-899-5329

Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.