SARASOTA, FLA. — After a short postponement due to Hurricane Milton, Helmuth Stone’s Fine Art, Fine Rugs & Antiques auction was conducted on October 15, offering 351 lots. A lifetime collection of fine rugs from an Atlanta, Ga., estate was featured, alongside fine art pieces by Hunt Slonem, Max Weyl, Jose Velasco, James Whistler and the Old Masters, as well as porcelain, Moorcroft pottery, sterling silver and more. Leading the sale at three times its $10/15,000 estimate was an oil on canvas painting by Georges Michel, which went to a private collector in Switzerland for $46,800, a new world auction record for the artist. The painting depicted figures and animals in the foreground of a cloudy landscape. Measuring 20¼ by 27¼ inches unframed, the work recently underwent cleaning. According to the auction catalog, it had also “been authenticated by Michel Schulman and will be added to the catalog raisonné.” Additional highlights from this sale will be featured in an upcoming issue.