Tag Archive for: Norman Rockwell
Rockwell exhibition embodies The Business of Illustrating the American Dream
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), ‘Beanie,’ 1954. Advertising illustrations for the Kellogg Company. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Norman Rockwell Museum, gift of the Kellogg Company, NRM.1993.01. Image courtesy of the Norman Rockwell Museum
STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — The Norman Rockwell Museum is now displaying an exhibition exploring the business and cultural context of Rockwell’s art. Norman Rockwell: The Business of Illustrating the American Dream examines how Rockwell navigated relationships with publishers, advertising clients and other business entities to create work that shaped and reflected American culture and influenced notions of the American Dream. Based on extensive research in the Norman Rockwell Museum archives by guest curator Deborah Hoover, the exhibition shines new light on the interplay of artistry, advertising, consumerism, business relationships and ambitious cultural, consumer and capitalist agendas that informed Rockwell’s work. The show will close at the end of October on an as-yet unspecified date.
Norman Rockwell Museum explores illustrations of race
Emory Douglas. (b. 1943-), ‘Martin Luther King, Jr.,’ 1993. Cover illustration for the Sun-Reporter, 1993. © 2022 Emory Douglas / Licensed by AFNYLAW.com
STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. – Imprinted: Illustrating Race, on view at the Norman Rockwell Museum through October 30, examines the role of published images in shaping attitudes toward race and culture. More than 300 artworks and objects of widely-circulated illustrated imagery are on display, produced from the late 18th century to today, which have an impact on public perception about race in the United States. The exhibition explores stereotypical racial representations that have been imprinted upon us through the mass publication of images. It culminates with the creative accomplishments of contemporary artists and publishers who have shifted the cultural narrative through the creation of positive, inclusive imagery emphasizing full agency and equity for all.
Ice topped Coca-Cola exec’s estate sale at Ahlers & Ogletree
Platinum anniversary ring with 4.61-carat diamond, $118,750
ATLANTA – A platinum and diamond anniversary ring given by the late Coca-Cola president Robert W. Woodruff (1889-1985) to his wife Nell, and Nell Woodruff’s custom Art Deco platinum and diamond bracelet combined to bring $231,750 in a sale of items from the Woodruff estate held February 26 by Ahlers & Ogletree.
Rockwell portrait of Coca-Cola exec in spotlight at Ahlers & Ogletree, Feb. 26
Portrait of Robert Woodruff by Norman Rockwell, est. $20,000-$40,000
ATLANTA – Items from the estate of Robert W. Woodruff (1889-1985), the American businessman and philanthropist who served as president of the Coca-Cola Company from 1923 to 1955, will be offered on Saturday, February 26 by Ahlers & Ogletree, starting at 10 am Eastern time. Items from Woodruff’s wife Nell, who was a Red Cross nurse, will also be sold. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
Heritage sales exceed $1B in 2021 – a first for the Dallas-based auction house
J.C. Leyendecker, ‘Beat-up Boy, Football Hero,’ $4.12 million. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions
DALLAS – Heritage Auctions recorded $1.4 billion in sales in 2021, marking the first time in its 45-year history the Dallas-based auction house has surpassed the billion-dollar mark. Heritage also set numerous auction world records during the past year, including ones for the world’s most valuable comic book, J.C. Leyendecker painting, video game, Michael Jordan jersey, Peanuts artwork, hockey trading card and Harry Potter book. And it did not take a magic wand to reach this extraordinary benchmark.
Gallery Report: 1867 Winslow Homer painting tops $900K
ATLANTA – At the beginning of every month, ACN columnist Ken Hall delivers top auction highlights from around the United States and the world at large. Here’s his December 2021 edition of Gallery Report. All prices include the buyer’s premium, except where noted.
Winslow Homer painting, $936,000, Thomaston Place Auction Galleries
An oil on canvas painting by Winslow Homer, titled Coming through the Rye, painted in France and inscribed “Homer/Paris 1867,” sold for $936,000 at a sale held November 12-14 by Thomaston Place Auction Galleries in Thomaston, Maine. Also, an 18th-century Chinese flambe glazed moon flask with Qianlong seal mark made $180,000, and a Tiffany Dragonfly table lamp brought $99,450.
Burchfield watercolor, $375,000, Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers
A watercolor on two joined sheets of paper by Charles Burchfield, created between 1948 and 1957 and titled January Sun, sold for $375,000 in an online Fall Fine Art Auction held October 28 by Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers in Milford, Connecticut. Also, a 1943 oil on board by Thomas Hart Benton, titled Study for Sugar Cane, finished at $275,000; and a 1901 oil painting by Susan Watkins, titled Woman Playing a Guitar, hit $106,250.
Kikuo Saito abstract art, $14,760, Neue Auctions
An abstract oil painting by Japanese-American artist Kikuo Saito, titled Summer Ghost (1997), sold for $14,760 in an online-only Fine Art & Antiques auction held October 30 by Neue Auctions in Beachwood, Ohio. Also, a colorful Parisian street scene by Constantin Kluge, titled Place de la Madeleine, realized $9,840, and a large Milpa stoneware vessel by Claude Conover finished at $8,610.
1871 Union Pacific Railroad pass, $5,125, Holabird Western Americana Collections
A Union Pacific Railroad complimentary pass (#1), issued to General A. W. Marley on Dec. 31, 1871, sold for $5,125 at an Autumn Splendor Western Americana Auction held Oct. 28-Nov. 1 by Holabird Western Americana Collections in Reno, Nevada. Also, a 1947 50-peso Mexican gold coin with 14-carat bezel reached $3,125, and a group of six vintage gaming chips for Harrah’s and other Nevada casinos went for $3,875.
Galle cameo glass vase, $6,600, Woody Auction
A blown mold French cameo glass vase signed Galle and featuring a cameo carved vine and blossom decor sold for $6,600 at the sale of the Jochimsen collection held October 23 by Woody Auction in Douglass, Kansas. Also, a Fenton mosaic art glass pedestal also knocked down for $6,600; a Galle French cameo art glass vase with blown mold cherry branch decor realized $4,750; and an unmarked Royal Flemish by Mt. Washington vase with griffin and dragon enamel decor changed hands for $3,000.
B. Prabha painting, $38,750, Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers
A painting by B. Prabha, titled Indian Women Painting, sold for $38,750 in an online-only Estate Fine Art & Antique Auction held November 15 by Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers in Cranston, Rhode Island. Also, a Cubist figural watercolor by Maqbool Fida Husain, of a couple on horseback, achieved $10,625; and a mixed media mounted to canvas portrait painting by the infamous forger Han Van Meegeren brought $5,938.
Captain America shield, $259,540, Hake’s Auctions
A Captain America hero-prop shield created by Marvel Studios senior prop master Russell Bobbitt and used by Chris Evans for close-up shots in the 2019 film Avengers: Endgame sold for $259,540 in an online Premier Entertainment & Historical Memorabilia Auction held November 2-3 by Hake’s Auctions in York, Pennsylvania. Also, a copy of Fantastic Four #1 comic (Nov. 1961), CGC-graded 6.0 Fine, featuring the debut of Marvel’s first superhero team, knocked down for $37,269.
1980 Nobel Prize, $275,000, Nate D. Sanders
The 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, awarded to George D. Snell, sold for $275,000 at an auction held October 30 by Nate D. Sanders in Los Angeles. Snell won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of MHC, the genetic foundation of a body’s immunological response to tissue and organ transplants, determining whether it accepts an organ or rejects it. The first successful organ transplant occurred in 1954, when one identical twin donated a kidney to his sibling.
Apollo 17 cuff checklist, $744,000, RR Auction
Astronaut Gene Cernan’s Apollo 17 cuff checklist, which provided instructions for man’s last moonwalk and held handwritten notes for the last words spoken from the surface of the Moon, sold for $744,000 in an auction held Sept. 26-Oct. 21 by RR Auction in Boston. Also, Buzz Aldrin’s Apollo 11-flown Lunar Module checklist hit $143,750; Aldrin’s Apollo 11-flown flight form page reached $129,693; and an Apollo 11 First on the Moon book, signed by its crew members, made $41,721.
Amy Winehouse dress, $243,200, Julien’s Auctions
The dress worn by the late British singer Amy Winehouse at her final stage performance in 2011 sold for $243,200 at an auction titled Property from the Life and Career of Amy Winehouse, held November 6-7 by Julien’s Auctions in Los Angeles. Also, the Moschino custom-made red leather heart-shaped purse she brought to the 2007 Brit Awards made $204,800; a floral gold lame D&G stage-worn dress realized $150,000; and a Temperly London tan and black jumpsuit worn by her in 2008 brought $121,600.
The Light and Heavy Chest, $156,000, Potter & Potter Auctions
The Light and Heavy Chest, a magic trick apparatus made in France in 1844 and owned and used by Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin, achieved $156,000 at Part 1 of The Klosterman Collection, a sale held October 30 by Potter & Potter Auctions in Chicago. The hardwood box became light as a feather or immovable, depending on the magician’s command. Also, Karl Germain’s Blooming Rose Bush illusion made $132,000, and Harry Houdini’s Upside Down in the Water Torture Cell poster brought $108,000.
Hopi Indian pottery bowl, $9,000, Pook & Pook, Inc.
A Hopi Sikyatki revival pottery bowl, likely made by the celebrated potter Nampeyo, sold for a little more than $9,000 at a Native American Indian Sale held October 27 by Pook & Pook, Inc. in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Also, an authentic Navajo coin silver squash blossom necklace earned $8,064; a group of three Hopi kachinas realized $4,221; an Algonquin style miniature birch bark canoe model with moose and deer designs made $3,024; and a child-size Navajo rug achieved $3,906.
Paul Revere engraving, $429,000, Doyle New York
Paul Revere’s iconic 1770 hand-colored engraving of the famous Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770, titled The Bloody Massacre, sold for $429,000 – a new auction record for the print – at an American Paintings & Prints auction held November 2 by Doyle in New York City. Also, a landscape by Fidelia Bridges titled Small Bird with Flowering Ironweed rose to $93,750, setting a record for the artist, and a marine painting by William Bradford also hit $93,750.
Claude Conover vessel, $87,500, Wright
A chalky, engobe-decorated Oltah vessel by Claude Conover sold for $87,500 at an auction titled Shaping Stoneware: The Ceramic Forms of Claude Conover held October 28 by Wright in Chicago. It was the most ever paid for a work by Conover, eclipsing the $53,125 realized by a Uilku vessel at Rago Auctions in 2015. Another piece shattered that record in the October auction: a Uchben vessel that brought $75,000. Overall, the sale grossed $1.229 million.
Early Apple-1 computer, $500,000, John Moran Auctioneers
A vintage Apple-1 computer, known as the Chaffey College Apple-1 as it was originally purchased in 1977 by an electronics professor at the school (who sold it the following year to a student for $650) sold for $500,000 at a Postwar & Contemporary Art + Design sale held Nov. 9 by John Moran Auctioneers in Monrovia, California. Also, a painting by Ariana Papademetropoulos earned $162,500, and a color lithograph by Alexander Calder brought $8,125.
Chippendale chest, $25,200, Nadeau’s Auction Gallery
A circa-1780 diminutive chest from Massachusetts sold for $25,200 at an annual Fall Americana and Chinese Auction held October 30 by Nadeau’s Auction Gallery in Windsor, Connecticut. Also, an elegant blue and white Chinese urn changed hands for $20,480; a portrait of a nobleman done in the manner of Jean de Court finished at $15,600; and a pair of cylindrical polychromed Majolica vessels realized $12,500.
Set of two Lalanne Moutons, $705,600, Freeman’s
A suite of playful Moutons (Sheep) de Pierre by Francois-Xavier Lalanne sold for $705,600 at a Modern and Contemporary Art auction held November 17 by Freeman’s in Philadelphia. Also, a bold canvas by Russian Expressionist Chaim Soutine, titled Le Viaduc Rouge Pres de Vence, achieved $302,400; an Untitled (Study for Fiery Circle) sculpture by Harry Bertoia hit $107,100; and Vietnamese artist Vu Cao Dam’s painting titled Divinite rose to $40,950.
View top auction results on LiveAuctioneers here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/
Thanksgiving-themed Rockwell topped Heritage sale at $4.3M
Norman Rockwell, ‘Home for Thanksgiving,’ $4.3 million
DALLAS – Norman Rockwell’s Home for Thanksgiving has a new home, just in time for Thanksgiving, as the beloved painting of a doting mother and her soldier son peeling potatoes sold Friday at Heritage Auctions for more than $4.3 million.
Thanksgiving-themed Rockwell likely to reach $6M at Heritage
Norman Rockwell, ‘Home for Thanksgiving,’ est. $4 million-$6 million
DALLAS – Thanksgiving-themed original cover art created by Norman Rockwell for a 1945 issue of The Saturday Evening Post will make its auction debut at Heritage Auctions‘ Nov. 5 American Art Signature® Auction. It is estimated to sell for upwards of $4 million, befitting its status as one of Rockwell’s most enduring series of works featuring soldiers returned home from World War II. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
