In its debut as part of Heritage Auction Galleries’ Signature illustration art auction on July 15, and Signature art of the American West and Texas auction on July 16, Part I of the Charles Martignette Collection †some 311 works selected for these two auctions from the collection’s 4,300 pieces †realized a very strong $2.6 million, with a 99 percent sell-through rate.
The results from the Martignette canvases in the July 15 auction led Heritage to its most successful overall illustration art event yet, which topped out at $3.1 million.
Popular illustrators of the American West carried the day in a $1.3 million Western and Texas art auction July 16, when 26 pieces from the estate of Martignette accounted for almost $500,000 of the auction total.
“By any reckoning we blew the top off the pin-up market,” said Ed Jaster, vice president of Heritage. “It’s safe to say that it soundly exceeded not only our expectations, but also those of the collectibles and fine arts communities. There was so much interest, in fact, that the auction took more than seven hours to complete †the average for an illustration art auction is about four hours.”
It was J.C. Leyendecker’s 1917 Kuppenheimer ad diptych, “A Proud WW I Sailor’s New Uniform,” that led the offerings attached to his name with a $155,350 price tag. Martignette’s other high profile Leyendecker, “The Hero’s War Story” †the cover from the May 10, 1919, Saturday Evening Post †showed its enduring appeal at $101,575.
The Martignette offerings at the Western and Texas art auction were led by William Herbert Dunton’s Western masterpiece, “The Badger Hole (The Spill),” which brought $143,400. Leyendecker made another strong showing in the Western art auction when his illustration for the Howard Watch Company, “Two O’Clock,” brought $89,625.
Record prices were set for many diverse artists during both auctions, including Peter Driben, K.O. Munson, Vaughan Alden Bass and Al Buell, H.J. Ward, Emery Clark, Walter Beach Humphrey, Charles Gates Sheldon, Frederic Stanley and Monte Crews, whose Saturday Evening Post cover, “The College Sweethearts,” realized more than ten times the previous record for a work by Crews at $19,120.
It was the pin-ups, however, especially the work of the greatest pin-up artist to ever pick up a brush, Gil Elvgren, that provided the greatest fireworks. The top Elvgren offering from Martignette, “A Near Miss (Right on Target),” was certainly a bull’s-eye with a final price of $143,400. The top two lots of the entire auction, both Elvgrens but not from the Martignette collection, were “It’s a Snap (Pretty Snappy; Snap Judgment)” from 1958, which realized $215,100, and “Cover Up,” 1955, which finished at $191,200.
“Beyond the staggering prices for Elvgren, pin-ups were notably strong across the board with Enoch Bolles leading the way,” said Jaster. His “Ideal for a Hunting Lodge” a Film Fun Magazine cover from December 1936, brought $38,840, setting a record that stood for about two minutes before his February 1935 Film Fun Magazine cover, “Slipping Beauty,” went to $65,725.
From the Martignette offerings, it was Alberto Vargas’s delicate December 1946 Esquire “Calendar Girl” and a “Reclining Nude, Preliminary Drawing for the Very First Vargas Girl,” from October 1940, that realized $53,775 and $50,790, respectively.
Amos Sewell also got some well-deserved recognition for his March 11, 1950, Saturday Evening Post cover, “Kids Playing Cowboy,” which realized $41,825, a record for the artist.
It was Harvey T. Dunn who showed the greatest appeal across a wide variety of work as three of his canvases were among the top ten of the American West auction. The first of this trio was Dunn’s 1907 oil painting “The Plowman,” which realized $65,725. His late period painting, “A Game of Chance,” 1947, followed with a final price of $56,760, while his “Prairie Homesteaders Coming Home,” 1909, settled at $33,460.
The Texas art portion of the auction was topped by Olin Travis’s Modernist “Lakeside,” 1955, which reached $47,800 †a record price for the artist.
All prices given include the buyer’s premium.
For additional information, www.HA.com or 800-872-6468.
