Tiffany’s landmark lawsuit that aims to change eBay’s “takedown notice” model of removing fakes once notified by copyright holders advanced recently as a Federal District Court judge ordered both sides to file post-trial briefs by December 7 following a weeklong bench trial in late November. Celebrating its 40th year of producing popular and highly anticipated antiques shows, the New Castle Historical Society swung the doors open to an enthusiastic crowd on November 3 for the start of the annual Chappaqua Antiques Show.
The address was the same. Ditto several of the nearly 40 antiques dealers. The inaugural JMK Shows New York Antiques Show, November 2–4, at Wallace Hall, Park Avenue at 84th Street, however, was a novel beachhead for Allison Kohler.
Beautiful and boasting some of the most prominent names in the business, what's not to love about the Delaware Antiques Show?
The Rothschild Fabergé egg sold for $18.5 million to a private Russian bidder at Christie’s on November 28, establishing a new world record price for a Faberge work of art and for a Russian object. Heritage Auction Galleries’ auction of Vintage Comic Books and Original Comic Art on November 15–16 saw two new world records set: one for the sale of a Charles Schulz original Peanuts strip and one for original cover art by underground comic artist Robert Crumb.
Normally, the carved folk art that flies at auction has wings, but a decidedly unaerodynamic looking Nineteenth Century Punch cigar store figure soared to $542,400 on day two of Philip Weiss’s October 20 and 21 sale.
The preview buzz at the October 14 Willis Henry Auctions Shaker sale was all about the quality of the Nineteenth Century smalls about to cross the block. The proof was in the pudding, and it was the smalls that ruled the day.
“It was a strong, strong showing,” commented auctioneer Ronan Clarke in the days following the Third Annual Fine Art Sale conducted at Clarke Auction on Monday, November 5..
The exhibition “Navajo Textiles from the Bruce Museum” opens December 8, and will run through March 24. The Bruce Museum exhibition includes approximately ten examples from the transitional to the Rug periods and explores this important time in the history of Navajo artistry.
Zita Marks Templeman, an artist, collector and benefactor, shared her home and extensive art collection with a wide circle of friends. Today, her bequest of 124 pictures to the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) allows more art lovers to appreciate her treasures in her collection.
The Grand Rapids Art Museum has acquired “The Engraved Passion,” a series of engravings by Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), the northern Germany Renaissance painter and engraver. The series, dating from 1507 to 1513, is considered one of the most important and earliest series of engravings on laid paper.
Since its founding in 1931, the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., has assembled an extraordinary collection of some of America’s finest paintings and sculpture. It is surely the premier art collection in any American preparatory school and, indeed, one of the best collections of American art anywhere. All this is abundantly clear in a grand traveling exhibition of more than 70 selections from the Addison collection, “Coming of Age: American Art, 1850s to 1950s,” on view at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows Museum of Art in Dallas, Texas, through February 24. Offering a rare opportunity to trace the evolution of America’s unique aesthetic identity, it starts with Hudson River School landscapes and concludes with the emergence of Abstract Expressionism, which secured America’s preeminent position in the international art world. There are few better ways to trace the development of America’s art from its relatively humble beginnings to today’s world eminence than by studying the Addison Gallery’s holdings.
Boasting a ten percent increase in attendance over last year’s gate and more than $18 million in sales from the 80 dealers participating, the 17th running of the IFPDA Print Fair once again lived up to expectations. Long known as the show that established and maintains the standards for printed works of art, this annual event attracts dealers and clients from around the world. On November 29, at Sotheby’s before a crowded salesroom, Edward Hopper’s “Hotel Window” sold for $26,896,000 and an artist’s record was achieved with Norman Rockwell’s “Breaking Home Ties,” which commanded $15,416,000. The exhibition, “Benjamin Franklin, Writer and Printer,” opening on December 12 at the Grolier Club, takes a fresh, even surprising look at Franklin’s dual relationship to the book as printer and author. On December 5, in a packed salesroom at Sotheby’s, the Guennol Lioness, one of the last known masterworks from the dawn of civilization remaining in private hands, sold for $57,161,000, a record for any sculpture at auction. Ronald Clark Bauman, the proprietor of Ronald C. Bauman 18th and 19th Century American Furniture in Centreville, Del., died November 16. He was formerly president of David H. Stockwell Antiquarians, with which he was associated for more than 25 years. Three new exhibitors and one returning exhibitor will enhance the 45-dealer roster of The American Antiques Show (TAAS), scheduled to open with a benefit preview for the American Folk Art Museum January 16 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan.
A December 4 fire destroyed a warehouse and its inventoried cache of antique architectural elements salvaged by Olde Good Things, a nationally recognized dealer with offices in New York City and Scranton.
A Pennsylvania Senate bill amended in May the Pennsylvania Auctioneer and Auction Licensing Act by exempting “a sale conducted through a trading platform based on the Internet” from regulation. A House bill introduced in October would create a new entity, an Electronic Auction Broker,that would apply only to those persons who are engaged in the business of conducting Internet auctions and acting as a third party in a transaction between buyer and seller.
Antique decoy auction company Guyette and Schmidt, Inc established another record year in the sales of antique waterfowl decoys. The total auction sales for 2007 registered $3.25 million more in sales than in 2006, topping out at just under $14 million.
The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute has acquired 16 drawings by the great Seventeenth Century French landscape artist Claude Lorrain. The drawings, which will be on view beginning January 19, join two oil paintings and several etchings by Claude already in the Clark’s collection.
Park Avenue Armory has received a $35 million gift from its board chairman Wade F.B. Thompson — one of the largest gifts ever made to a New York cultural institution and the largest private gift given for the renovation of a historic site in the United States. A host of collections and select items deaccessioned from numerous institutions all came together to make for an interesting auction at Skinner’s annual Fall American Furniture and Decorative Arts auction, November 3-4.
Swann Galleries’ auction of important Nineteenth and Twentieth Century photographs on October 15 was an historic sale. A partial set of Edward S. Curtis’s “The North American Indian,” sold for $1,048,000, making it the first million-dollar item sold at Swann.
Antiquorum’s October 13–14 sale of important collectors’ watches, pocket watches and clocks achieved $9,283,000, set a lot of excellent prices and several world records.
The 53rd Hermann Historica auction on October 15–18 was a complete success, according to the auction house, with extremely high final bids obtained in every category offered.
After 38 years at the National Guard Armory with as many as four shows conducted there in past years, Wendy Management scaled back its schedule for the 2007 season with just a single Morristown show taking place. Placing an emphasis on quality and appearance, the November 9–11 show, opened to an appreciative crowd that was quick to take notice of the changes. Universally recognized, the fictional characters of Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Future and Present seemingly became immortal figures overnight with Charles Dickens’s 1843 release of A Christmas Carol. Published as a novel in an extravagant manner with gilt-edged pages, a host of hand colored illustrations and the addition of a sumptuous binding, the book instantly became all the rage among a culture that was, during that period, rapidly distancing itself from the traditions of Christmas. Five days after the book’s release on December 17, the entire edition of 6,000 copies was sold out. When the manuscript was returned to Dickens after printing, the author arranged for it to be finely bound in red morocco leather. Some 50 years later, the original manuscript was purchased by American mogul and collector extraordinaire Pierpont Morgan, the benefactor of the Morgan Library and Museum. In keeping with the generosity of both Dickens and Morgan, a celebration of the holiday season is taking place at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City where the original manuscript for A Christmas Carol is on view until January 6 in the rotunda of the museum’s famed McKim building.
Vitality and market appeal were once again evident among the vibrant and expansive displays of this year’s exalted ART20 show, a cutting-edge venue created by Sanford Smith to properly promote art created during the Twentieth Century, on view November 8-12. Some things mellow with age; however, after 11 years, the Boston International Fine Art Show (BIFAS) continues with a hard cutting edge, evolving with the art market and getting better year after year. On December 11 at Sotheby’s, George Washington’s specially commissioned gold medal, which was presented by his family to his adoptive son, the Marquis de Lafayette, sold for $5,305,000. On October 15 and 16, Sotheby’s fall sales of photographs in New York totaled $12,709,389, led by Edward Weston’s seminal “Nautilus."
A rare George Stapf carved wooden eagle that had been discovered in a local attic and sold during an on-site tag sale was the subject of spirited bidding as it crossed the auction block at Flannery’s on November 26. Asian art led the way at Clars Auction Gallery’s fine antiques and estate auction December 1–2 among offerings of art, furniture, jewelry and key collections.
Just seven years old and 44 dealers strong, the Wethersfield Antiques Show has made its mark with collectors and local antiques enthusiasts throughout the region in a relatively short period of time.
The 22nd annual Modernism: A Century of Style and Design opened to a packed house and a night filled with tributes emanating from a variety of sources on November 15 at the Park Avenue Armory. The Wilton Historical Society’s American Craftsmanship show has earned a reputation for showcasing the country’s finest artisans and artists, and that was never more in evidence than at the November 10 and 11 outing for the show. Reprising its popular and comprehensive antiques event — and augmenting it with a new art show called “Others” — Stella Show Mgmt Co. whipped up a pre-Thanksgiving feast at Piers 94 and 92 on November 17 and 18.
The Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) recently renovated photography galleries present an installation from the museum’s permanent collection that brings together groupings of closely related pictures.
“Georgia O’Keeffe and the Women of the Stieglitz Circle,” which will be on view at the High Museum of Art February 9–May 4, reveals how various women artists in the Stieglitz circle paved the way for O’Keeffe’s emergence in 1915.
The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) brings a successful year of acquiring art to a close by adding several key works to its collection, including Edgar Degas’ “Mlle Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs,” Paul Klee’s “Ghost Rider Late in the Evening” and a Seventeenth Century man’s robe from Tibet.
One of the country's most sacred and guarded documents, a printing of the Declaration of Independence is at the heart of a legal battle over ownership, pitting the state of Maine against a Virginia collector who believes he rightfully acquired it for $475,000 in 2001.
A rare horse-drawn ambulance driver’s occupational shaving mug sold for $22,425 and became the biggest surprise of a recent two-day sale at Cowan’s two-day auction October 27–28. The iconic Givenchy gown made for Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s was sold for $887,680 at Christie’s South Kensington on December 5, marking a world record for a dress made for a film.
Booth Western Art Museum surveys talent across the Southwest in the exhibition, “Twenty-First Century Regionalists: Art of the New West,” on view through April 13. The exhibition amasses art interpretive of the Southwest terrain with a contemporary edge.
Robert Rauschenberg’s boundless experimentation and his rich collaborations with talented printers provides the focus for “Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections.”
New York City’s first museum, the New-York Historical Society (N-YHS), unveiled an exhibition that chronicles major breakthroughs in the advertising industry from 1895 through 1925, and is on view through February 10.
In an overflowing salesroom at Sotheby’s on December 18, the Magna Carta was saved for America by David Rubenstein, who intends to place the document back on view at the National Archives in Washington, after purchasing the document for $21,321,000.
The highlight of Sloans & Kenyon’s three-day estate catalog auction, November 9–11, was a rare and historic portrait of George Washington by William Francis Williams (American, 1759–1823), which sold for $398,000.
At Harlowe-Powell Auction Gallery’s November 17 sale, nearly 700 lots found new owners. Situated in the hometown of the University of Virginia and Thomas Jefferson, the gallery draws an educated audience with a keen interest in the area’s history. .
The holidays will be happier for collectors of fine toys after Bertoia Auctions’ sale this past November 9–11, which totaled $2.1 million.
The Greenwich Antiques Show celebrated its 50th anniversary event, which kicked off with a champagne opening gala on November 29 and continued through December 2 at the Greenwich Civic Center.
Sated with turkey and pumpkin pie, buyers descended on Fox Lane High School to peruse the delectable offerings at the Pound Ridge Historical Society Antiques Show November 24–25. Rebranded under the new Westchester Enterprises banner, an upbeat and upscale Antiques and Art at the Armory show opened at the Park Avenue Armory on November 29 for a five-day run.
Retired Virginia Museum of Fine Arts curator Frederick R. Brandt died Wednesday, December 12, at the age of 71. He was instrumental in working with donors Sydney and Frances Lewis of Richmond to build what are now VMFA’s world-class collections of Art Nouveau and Art Deco works. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has announced the acquisition of a major collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings by leading modern artists that will significantly transform the museum’s collection of Twentieth Century art.
Highly regarded and long collected, the American art pottery fashioned by Rookwood and the renderings laid down on canvas by Henry Farny (American, 1847-1916) — both adorned with painterly images of American Indians — played an influential role in shaping the romantic myths of American Indian culture. Fresh from the kiln and easel, these works of art created as much excitement in the late Nineteenth Century as they do in today’s aggressive antiques collecting venues. Uniquely documenting this phenomenon is the exhibition “Vanishing Frontier: Rookwood, Farny and The American Indian” on view at the Cincinnati Art Museum through January 20. Stunning ceramic portraits from the James J. Gardner collection of Rookwood and exquisite Farny opaque watercolors from the museum’s holdings, as well as private collections, offer a compelling view of the American Indian during the final days of the frontier.
A hallowed hall in Salem was the site of the 35th annual Peabody Essex Museum Antiques Show on Thanksgiving with many dealers in the revered show displaying their wares in the 1825 East India Marine Hall, surrounded by Nineteenth Century figureheads, sea captains’ portraits and early American marine artifacts. Two Florida paintings by Alfred E. Backus not seen previously in the market were the hot lots at CRN Auctions November 18 sale, where they drew record prices for the artist.
Christie’s kicked off its autumn sales week in Hong Kong on November 25 with robust participation across all three categories offered — Modern and contemporary Southeast Asian art, Chinese Twentieth Century art and Asian contemporary art.
The November 4 auction at I.M. Chait was the kind of sale that keeps collectors buzzing, with highly anticipated collections of monumental ivory carvings, Japanese bronzes and woodblock prints, white jade carvings, pre-Columbian figures, Russian and American paintings and magnificent jewels on the block.
Selling for a hot $16.6 million, Joan Miro’s iconic “Blue Star” painting was a shining star at Aguttes Auction House, in association with the specialist Dan Coissard, which set new records December 21 with ten key pieces from the illustrious private collection of André Lefèvre that realized more than $30 million. James D. Julia’s November 13 toy and doll auction realized more than $630,000. Of the many fresh-to-the-market rarities, it was the collection of salesman sample furniture from the Beverly Darling estate — 20 lots never before offered at auction — that was among the more fascinating.
From the very beginning, man has always sought ways to improve the wheel. And, like the wheel, nearly every object created has evolved from its initial concept through a continuum of refinement. Most often dictated by use, function and taste, they are presided over by artists, artisans and designers. By the early decades of the Twentieth Century, manufacturers wanting to popularize their products turned to a new group of designers who incorporated market research and the emerging science of human factors in their quest to produce the perfect combination of style and functionality. Providing a platform for the new, sleek, worldly goods, the 1925 Exposition Internationale des arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris and other expositions were widely received, whetting the American appetite for the modern. At the forefront of the stylish Modern movement in America was French-born Raymond Fernand Loewy (1893-1986), who successfully tapped into the nascent American fascination with industrial design. Celebrating the period and Loewy’s achievements is the exhibition “Raymond Loewy: Designs for a Consumer Culture” on view at the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Mass., through March 23.
An ongoing exhibition at the Morgan Library and Museum highlights masterworks from four of the Morgan’s six collecting areas — medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, printed books and bindings, literary and historical manuscripts and museum manuscripts and books.
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) announces the acquisition of the painting “Parts Per Trillion,” 1987, by American artist Ed Ruscha.
The top lot at Swann Galleries’ December 6 auction of maps and atlases, natural history, historical prints and ephemera was Le Neptune François, ou Atlas Nouveau des Cartes Marines, bound with the second part, Cartes Marines à l’Usage des Armées du Roy de la Grande Bretagne, hand colored and with gilt highlights, first edition, Amsterdam, 1693, in contemporary binding. It brought an auction record price of $96,000.
The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum presents “An American Idyll,” on view through next April.
An eye-dazzler of an event, the Wilton show has evolved over the years, presenting its well established offering of prime country wares from some of the top Americana dealers in the country, alongside Orientalia, Arts and Crafts, Modernist art and couture.
In conjunction with the completion of major construction and renovation, the Morris Museum has opened a new wing and several new galleries. The largest of those galleries on the second level promenade of the Museum Court features the exhibition “Sculpture by Sassona Norton and From The Collections of the Morris Museum,” on view through May.
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