BEVERLY, MASS. — On Day One of Kaminski’s annual New Year’s auction, January 15-16, an oil on canvas painting by Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958) depicting a countryside scene before a storm, bested its $18,000 high estimate to sell for $25,000, including buyer’s premium. Signed Vlaminck, the recent discovery had been executed circa 1925 and measured 17¼ by 21 inches. It came from a Los Angeles estate. A catalog footnote states: “After the First World War, Vlaminck found his unmistakable, final style. He focuses on his preferred motif: an almost deserted street, a few houses, heavy clouds driven by the wind. Vlaminck mixes its colors with a high proportion of black and at the same time sets pasty accents in white. His expressive, dark landscapes, far from romanticism, represent the accumulated forces of nature. The rich, earthy colors of the vegetation and the red of the tiled roof on the right edge of the picture shine in the light of the pre-thunderstorm mood. The violence of the thunderstorm is intensified by glistening white color accents, set against a dark coloring that determines the upper sky and the vegetation. The climax of the event is still imminent: the thunderstorm has not yet discharged. The viewer is thus involved in a moment of tense expectation.” Kaminski’s two-day event featured the estate of the late Dr Edward Francis Danielski of Cooperstown, N.Y., and the Meyzen family, owners of the French restaurant La Caravelle in New York City.

A full review of the sale will follow.