“Luncheon of the Boating Party” by Hudson Valley native Arthur Magge, oil on canvas, 32½ by 38 inches, was done after Pierre August Renoir’s original and earned $1,250, the highest price of the sale ($2/3,000).
Review by Kiersten Busch
NEW WINDSOR, N.Y. — On November 16, Mid-Hudson Galleries conducted its Antiques, Art, Toys, Bronzes, Oriental, Taino auction, featuring 381 lots of fine art, works on paper, bronzes, photographs, estate glassware, costume jewelry, sterling silver and a collection of New York Yankees ephemera from a 1960-1980s collection, among others.
According to president Joanne C. Grant, the sale attracted “210 bidders, with 184 in the US. Twenty-six bidders were from eight countries in Europe and Far East Asia. All participated on LiveAuctioneers, were in the room or on the telephone. They were both collectors and dealers.”
Noted as “an absolutely stunning representation of one of the foremost French impressionists” in the auction catalog was “Luncheon of the Boating Party” by local Hudson Valley artist Arthur Magge, after Pierre August Renoir’s painting of the same title. This example was housed in a gilt and ornately carved gallery frame. Also according to the auction catalog, “this work was painted for a well-respected local physician, Dr Sam Stein. Stein was a longtime collector and frequent auction-goer in the Hudson Valley for decades, amassing a sizeable and important collection throughout the many years.” Magge’s rendition of “Luncheon of the Boating Party” floated to $1,250, the highest price of the sale.
This lithograph by Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1928-1987), which was signed in pencil lower right and measured 18¼ by 24¼, depicted a rising sun and shone for $938, surpassing its $200/300 estimate by more than three times.
Lithographs were also well-represented, with a work by Roy Lichtenstein surpassing its $200/300 estimate to earn $938. The print, signed in pencil to the lower right, depicted a yellow and white rising sun peeking from behind red hills.
Two works by Andy Warhol, each earning $625, were among the top-selling lots of the day. One, a portrait of Marilyn Monroe in black and white on heavy-weight paper, known as “one of Warhol’s iconic images,” according to the auction catalog, was numbered “27/250” verso, and included a stamp from Warhol’s studio, Factory Prints. A “Blue Cow” poster from a Warhol exhibition at the Seattle Center’s modern art pavilion was marked “Nov. 18, 1976 to Jan. 9, 1977 copyright A.W.E.,” on its left margin.
From a past Warhol exhibition at the Seattle Center, this “Blue Cow” poster lumbered to $625 against a $300/500 estimate. The 59-by-29¾-inch poster was marked with the dates of the exhibition and “Andy Warhol” on the left margin and “Modern Art Pavilion, Seattle Center” on the left margin.
Eight amulets and figures by the Taino people of the Arawak — an indigenous group from northern South America and the Caribbean — found new homes during the sale, with prices ranging from $469 to $531. “The Taino lots in this sale were from a major collection we have been selling over the past seven months, and they continued to do well,” said Grant.
An amulet in the shape of a skull earned the highest price of the bunch, $531. This amulet was from the Caribbean islands and dated to 1000-1500 CE.
Mid-Hudson Galleries’ next sale will take place on December 14, starting at 2 pm. It will be the first auction of many liquidating the 40-year-old Wurtsboro Wholesale Antique Center of Wurtsboro, N.Y., and will include an assortment of redware and American country furniture and primitives.
Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 914-882-7356 or www.midhudsongalleries.com.
