Earning top-lot status at $1,041,900 was Alexander Calder’s (American, 1898-1976) sheet metal, wire and paint stabile titled “Krinkly Klang,” 32½ inches high, which was won by a private collector bidding over the phone.

Review by Kiersten Busch

NEW YORK CITY — “We were very pleased with the results of the sale, which totaled nearly $5 million and achieved 131 percent by value,” shared Kunter Kula, director of fine art at Doyle Auctions, of the firm’s Important Fine Art auction on May 14. “Competitive bidding was evident across the board, highlighted by the Alexander Calder stabile that sold for just over $1 million. While the high end of the market remains selective, the strong results reaffirm the continued momentum and depth of demand in the middle market, where Doyle remains especially well-positioned.”

Kula also noted that 40 percent of buyers in the sale were new to Doyle, which he said, “underscored both the continued growth of [Doyle’s] audience and the strong appeal of the middle market — a space where discerning collectors continue to find opportunity and value.”

The Calder Kula mentioned was the artist’s 1969 stabile “Krinkly Klang” which passed the one-million-dollar mark to earn the top spot in the 103-lot sale. Made from sheet metal, wire and paint, the 32½-inch-high sculpture was consigned from the property of a Florida lady and has previously been exhibited in the Charles F. MacNiber Museum’s (Mason City, Ind.) “American Artists: An Invitational” in 1973.

“Spirited competition over several minutes in the saleroom, on the telephones and online culminated in a winning bid from a private collector participating by telephone,” a post-sale release from Doyle explained. Registered in the archives of the Calder Foundation, New York, and with extensive additional provenance, the stabile floated past its $400/600,000 estimate to achieve $1,041,900.

A new world auction record for March Avery (American, b 1932) was set at $57,600 for “Turkish Silvertrees (Gulluk),” 1981, oil on canvas, 44-1/8 by 53¾ inches framed.

A new world auction record for American painter March Avery was achieved by her oil on canvas “Turkish Silvertrees (Gulluk),” which grew far past its $15/25,000 estimate to the record-earning price of $57,600. Completed in 1981 and inscribed as titled on the stretcher, the work also had provenance to a private collection from New York.

Impressionist artwork made up a vast majority of the highest-selling works of the sale, led by Mary Stevenson Cassatt’s “Sewing in the Conservancy,” which is also known by various other titles, including “Girl Knitting,” “Femme tricotant” and “Jeune femme brodant.” The pastel on paper work made $254,500, selling just under its $300/500,000 estimate. Cassatt’s friend and fellow Impressionist, Camille Pissarro, was also represented in the sale by a portrait, this one titled “Portrait of the Artist Ludovic Piette before his Easel.” Signed “C. Pissarro ’61” and dated indistinctly “186…,” the oil on canvas sat pretty at $102,100.

Another Impressionist work known by multiple titles was Childe Hassam’s oil on canvas “Dunes near the Sea,” also known as “Island of Shoals.” The oil on canvas just passed the high end of its $150/250,000 estimate to earn $254,500. It was exhibited in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art’s 1958 exhibition “Twentieth Century American Paint and Sculpture from Philadelphia Private Collections” and will be featured in the artist’s upcoming catalogue raisonné by Stuart Field and Kathleen M. Burnside.

“Beach Scene, Edgartown” by Jane Peterson (American, 1876-1965), oil on canvas, 24 by 29¾ inches framed, earned a sunny $152,900 against its $50/80,000 estimate.

As summer approaches, the beach is on many bidders’ minds, as shown by the interest in other oil scenes featuring water, which included “Beach Scene, Edgartown” by Jane Peterson, which led a group of three of the American Impressionist’s paintings for $152,900. Both “Beach Scene, Edgartown” and “Old Red House, Venice” ($35,200) came from the collection of Roberta Peters, while “Harbor View,” which estimated $6/8,000 but did not sell, hailed from a private collection in Maryland.

A few abstract expressionist works also piqued bidders’ interest, including “Vista” by Helen Frankenthaler, which earned the second highest price of the day at $445,000. It was “the first time in the market for this particular work in over 30 years, indicating that freshness to the market draws strong interest,” Kula added. Fritz Winter, an abstract painter who practiced in the Art Informel style, was represented by one work, “Ausklingend (Ceasing to Sound),” which changed hands for $178,300.

Kula also emphasized the interest in Orientalist and wildlife works: “We saw solid results for Orientalist and wildlife artworks from the Joanne B. Breyer collection. Orientalist collectors in Europe and wildlife collectors in the Western United States fought over these pieces.”

There was “a lot of competitive bidding from Continental Europe” said Kunter Kula about “Toomai of Elephants” by Roger Godchaux, bronze with black/brown patina, 23 inches high, which was sold in June 1994 at a Sotheby’s, New York sale; in this one it made $89,400 ($15/25,000).

Wildlife artworks were led by Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert’s “Löwe auf der Flücht (Lion in Flight),” an oil on panel with provenance to a December 2008 Christie’s, New York, sale and The Fine Art Society, Ltd (London). Another of Kuhnert’s lion paintings, “King of the Serengeti” also found a new home, selling for $70,350. Two oil on Masonite paintings of tigers by American wildlife artist Bob Frederick Kuhn (1920-2007) also made a splash; “Tigers at Play” and “Evening Hunt” both slashed down a $76,700 finish.

Animals were also popular in bronze, with four sculptures trotting to a new owners. Prices ranged from $14,080 for a elephant by Dan Ostermiller titled “Gone but not Forgotten,” to $89,400 for Roger Godchaux’s “Toomai of Elephants,” which was numbered “2/15” and inscribed “Susse Frers. Edts. Paris” along with the caster’s foundry mark.

Doyle’s next Fine Art auction will take place on June 11 and will be entirely dedicated to sporting art.

Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 212-427-2730 or www.doyle.com.