Figural subjects found their way into new homes after leading auctions this past week. Whether it was the three-dimensional dancing woman by Demétre Chiparus that topped Ahlers & Ogletree at $33,275, or Andy Warhol’s screenprint of Marilyn Monroe that made $425,000 at Heritage, bidders found favor in the human form. However, others were taken by antique furniture, such as the Mission oak stand that brought $87,600 to lead at Kaminski. For these and more, read on.
Chiparus Bronze Dances To Top At A&O
ATLANTA — In Ahlers & Ogletree Auction Gallery’s nearly 630-lot Fall Estates & Collections auction, October 8-9, a circa 1930 sculpture by Demétre Chiparus (Romanian, 1886-1947) achieved the sale-high price of $33,275 ($15/30,000). Titled “Shimmer,” the 23-inch-tall cold painted bronze and bone dancing figure on a green onyx base was recorded in Alberto Shayo’s Master of Art Deco (New York, 1993). The base was signed “Chiparus” and numbered “F15-194.” For information, www.aandoauctions.com or 404-869-2478.
Beach Scene Caps Sworders Fall Modern & Contemporary
STANSTED, MOUNTFITCHET, UK — Nearly 500 lots crossed the block at Sworders in the firm’s October 7 Modern and Contemporary art auction. At the top of the sale, beating its £18/25,000 ($24,120-$33,500) estimate with a £32,500 ($43,550) result was “August Bank Holiday,” a 2004 work by Ken Howard RA (1932-2022) that was noted to be among his “most impressive and ambitious works…to come to auction in recent years.” A private collector from Herefordshire, UK, won the 45⅝-by-81⅛-inch composition. For information, www.sworder.co.uk.
Blanket Box Wraps Up High Price At JMW
KINGSTON, N.Y. — A collector from Massachusetts outlasted other bidders on a Nineteenth Century one-drawer pine blanket box that was the top lot in JMW Auction Service’s Eclectic Autumn Multi Estates Auction on October 10. Carved on the front with the initials “MH,” the piece came from a house in Stone Ridge, N.Y., and sold for $9,063, ahead of its 200/300 estimate. For information, 845-389-1933 or www.jmwauction.com.
Brunk Bidders Not Monkeying Around With Wilson Paintings
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A pair of chimpanzee paintings by Arkansas-born artist Donald Roller Wilson (b 1938) was a top seller in Brunk Auctions’ Modern | Contemporary | Design sale on October 16. With provenance to a Russellville, Ark., estate, as well as publication and exhibition history, the pair of oil on gesso paintings, in Black Forest style frames measuring 15 by 13½- inches, sold to a trade buyer, bidding online, for $29,520. For information, 828-254-6846 or www.brunkauctions.com.
Kaminski Sleeper Is Mission Oak Stand
BEVERLY, MASS. — An oak Arts & Crafts Mission octagonal tabouret table, cataloged as attributed to Liberty & Company, but which Frank Kaminski said was by Gustave Stickley, and featured an inset blue Grueby tile in the top, sold for $87,600 in Kaminski Auctions’ October 19 Estates auction ($500/800). The 21½-inch-tall table came from a Palm Beach, Fla., estate and sold to a prominent collector from Maplewood, N.J. For information, 978-927-2223 or www.kaminskiauctions.com.
Warhol Marilyn Has Iconic Status At Heritage
DALLAS — An Andy Warhol “Marilyn” screenprint took top honors in Heritage Auction’s October 16 Prints & Multiples Signature Auction at $425,000. The 35⅞-by-35⅞-inch wove paper sheet, numbering 123 from an edition of 250, came to auction from the Marina del Ray, Calif., estate of Elaine Hutton. It led the 115-lot sale to $3.3 million. For information, www.ha.com or 214-528-3500.
Etrog Bronze Leads Clarke’s Spooky Sale
LARCHMONT, N.Y. — Clarke Auction Gallery’s Spooky October Sale, conducted on October 12, consisted of just shy of 650 lots. A bronze sculpture with its original brown patina titled “The Couple” by Romanian/Canadian artist Sorel Etrog (1933-2014) earned the highest price of the day, at $27,500. The signed sculpture was numbered “2/7,” stood 48 inches high and was consigned from an Eastchester, N.Y., estate. For information, 914-833-8336 or www.clarkeny.com.
Beneker Portrait Leads Bakker’s Record-Breaking Auction
PROVINCETOWN, MASS. — The October 18 online sale conducted by Bakker Auctions was the firm’s strongest result in 13 years of business, “proving the market for Provincetown and Cape art is still strong.” The 141-lot auction was led by Gerrit Beneker’s (1882-1934) 1921 portrait titled “The Foreman,” alternately labeled “Dave Eichorn – Foreman,” which sold for an unexpected $20,480 to a collector bidding online ($3/5,000). The oil on canvas measured 30½ by 28½ inches framed and depicted Dave Eichorn of the Hydraulic Press Steel Company, Cleveland. For information, www.bakkerproject.com or 508-413-9758.
White Gold Ring Is Diamond Of The Season For Michaan’s
ALAMEDA, CALIF. — Michaan’s offered 475 lots for their October Gallery Auction, which featured numerous high-earning items, such as an 18K white gold ring with one round, brilliant-cut diamond fitted into a four-prong solitaire mounting, which slipped on its new owner’s finger for $12,600. For information, 510-740-0220 or www.michaans.com.
