An etching from the artist’s ‘Sleeper Series’
An etching from William Kentridge’s Sleeper Series comes to our Modern & Contemporary Art auction on May 11.

William Kentridge, Sleeper Red from Sleeper Series, 1997

William Kentridge & Ubu Roi

Born in 1955 in Johannesburg, William Kentridge was raised by parents who were both lawyers supporting black South African defendants, persecuted and marginalized by the apartheid regime. Still steeped in this socio–political reality, Kentridge uses his drawing, printmaking, theater production, and filmmaking as a means of exploring the complexity of emotion, morality, and consequences around the struggles during and after apartheid. The artist often employs his own physical form to embody the complicity and denial of white South Africans in the face of the atrocities and injustice around them.

For the 100^th anniversary of Alfred Jarry’s play Ubu Roi, Kentridge was invited to participate in an exhibition to reflect on the impact of the avant–garde and, by all accounts, revolutionary satire. Picking up on the themes of corruption, greed, and authoritarianism in Ubu Roi, the artist created a series of drawings, a portfolio of etchings Ubu Tells the Truth, a film Ubu and the Truth Commission, and finally a series of prints Sleeper Series of which Sleeper Red is one. 

Kentridge animated his drawings in the film by his typical process of drawing, erasing, and redrawing to create the effect of movement and narrative, but here for the first time, included documentary footage, original testimony from witnesses to the post–apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as moving puppets and still photographs. The multi–media nature of the film allowed for its deep exploration of the theme of white South Africans’ desire to ignore, forget, or shield themselves from the reality of the abuses of black people and the surrounding landscape, in an explicit way. Kentridge uses sleep as a metaphor for the privileged behavior of looking inward, focusing on the intimate details of one’s own private life, rather than on national issues, as a “blissful ignorance.”

In Sleeper Red, Kentridge uses his own body to stand for the spiral–bellied king in Ubu Roi, as well as for the white male South African who benefits from the anti–democratic system, and is complicit in the suffering of black citizens in his failure to take a moral stand or effect any change. The powerful image of the stark white body floating against a blood red background, with its curvy, undulating lines, fosters a dream–like realm of the artist’s making, all the while foretelling the consequences of being awoken to harsh truths hitherto denied. 

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Turner Auctions + Appraisals is very pleased to present The Cliff House Collection of Celebrity Photos at its online auction on Saturday, March 13, 2021, featuring movie stars, sports figures and other noted personalities. The framed photographs, most with autographs and inscriptions, graced the walls of the iconic San Francisco restaurant through many decades, from the 1930s to present day. Among the 210+ lots on offer are photos of the famous, including Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Bob Hope, John Wayne, Hedy Lamarr, Humphrey Bogart, Judy Garland, Shirley Temple, the Marx Brothers, Jerry Rice, Barry Bonds, Michael Douglas, Grace Slick, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, Sharon Stone, Carlos Santana (photographed by Jim Marshall), and many more.

Turner Auctions + Appraisals begins its online auction on Saturday, March 13, 2021, at 10:30 am PST; sale items are available for preview and bidding now. The auction will be featured live on multiple platforms: LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable, Bidsquare, iCollector, and Turner Auctions + Appraisals’ free mobile app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Apps (“Turner Auctions”). All are easily accessed through ‘Upcoming Auctions’ at the company’s website. In addition, a wide range of other Cliff House property will be liquidated by Rabin Worldwide, including restaurant and kitchen equipment on March 11; and memorabilia, historic decorations, and gift shop merchandise on March 12.

Unfortunately, these auctions are due to the closing of the Cliff House, the famed San Francisco landmark perched at Land’s End, renowned for stunning panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean where the city meets the sea. Most recently, its long-time proprietors, Dan and Mary Hountalas, had a 20-year concession agreement with the National Park Service (NPS). This expired in July 2018 and was extended in short increments of six or 12 months until December 31, 2020. While the Hountalases were very eager to extend their long-term concession agreement, the NPS chose to make no decisions regarding the site’s future, despite more than two years of negotiations. This situation, coupled with COVID-19, forced Don and Mary Hountalas to close the restaurant they have run for over 47 years and liquidate their personal property from the venue. There are still no decisions regarding the site, despite outcries from dismayed San Franciscans, tourists, and the media alike.

The Cliff House has had a long and storied history, with various architectural iterations along the way. In 1863, realestate mogul Charles Butler built the original Cliff House. It was enjoyed by Mark Twain in 1864, who said “If one tires of the drudgeries and scenes of the city, and would breathe the fresh air of the sea, let him… glide out to the Cliff House….” In 1883, silver baron Adolph Sutro bought the Cliff House, which had been visited by numerous famous guests and three Presidents (including Presidents Ulysses S. Grant in 1879, who used the telephone there for the first time, and Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880). This building was damaged first by a nearby explosion of a dynamite-laden schooner in 1887, then completely destroyed by fire in 1894. In 1896, Sutro, by then mayor of San Francisco, rebuilt the Cliff House as a seven-story Victorian chateau, one often featured in old photos. Sadly, this too burned to the ground in 1907. After the fire, Dr. Emma Merritt, Sutro’s daughter, had the restaurant rebuilt, opening in 1909 in neoclassical style.

In 1937, George and Leo Whitney purchased the Cliff House and extensively remodeled it into an American roadhouse. In 1973, Dan and Mary Hountalas leased the Cliff House from George Whitney, Jr. In 1977, Whitney sold the property to the National Park Service; it became one of the gems of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, one of the world’s largest urban parks, and the Hountalases became the Cliff House’s tenants until a concession contract was signed in 1998. In 2003, the NPS and the Hountalases collaborated to restore the property at a cost of $18 million, renovating it to its original look of 1909. Until its closure, the popular and successful Cliff House featured acclaimed California-American food and drink in four diverse settings, receiving a “Travelers’ Choice” award from TripAdvisor as recently as 2020.

Many of the photographs that adorned the walls of the Cliff House date back to the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s, when upscale dining establishments frequented by celebrities started to showcase such decor. The Hountalases acquired their initial photo collection from George Whitney, Jr., when they leased the restaurant from him in 1973. They continued and expanded this engaging visual tradition, either requesting a signed photograph from the restaurant’s many celebrity guests or happily accepting one that was offered.

Mary Hountalas has a wealth of engrossing stories to accompany the images. Both Michael Douglas, star of “Streets of San Francisco” TV series from 1972-1977; and Tomas Arana, who appeared in “The Bodyguard,” “Gladiator” and other movies, each included a personal handwritten note with their photos; the Arana auction lot includes this note and several photos. Nicolas Cage would come to eat oysters and drink wine. Grace Slick was a frequent guest. Bandleader Phil Harris came for lunch, turned around and saw a photo of Alice Faye, his actress wife, looking at him from the wall. When a terrible windstorm hit the waterside restaurant in 1995, causing $750,000 worth of water damage, the Legion of Honor, one of the two Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, volunteered to help save some of the photographs.

Today, as Mary and her husband are forced to walk away from their passion and livelihood of 47 years, they are frustrated and sad over events they did not expect and did not want. Likewise, many San Franciscans, regulars and tourists, celebrities and not, are too. As of now, the Cliff House, an institution that spanned 158 years over three centuries, is no more. Nonetheless, this unhappy situation has a small silver lining: those who desire mementos of this legendary place in San Francisco history may acquire them in March at auction.

Thanks for the memories, Cliff House.

Here are some highlights of the upcoming sale:

Lot 45: Marx Brothers. Original autographed, inscribed photograph: Size: 8″ x 10″. Condition: Showing fading throughout. In good vintage condition. Estimate $200 – $300.

Lot 2: Shirley Temple. Original autographed, inscribed photograph: Size: 8″ x 10″. Condition: Showing fading throughout. In good vintage condition. Estimate $200 – $300.

Lot 5: Cary Grant. Original autographed , inscribed photograph: Size: 8″ x 10″. Condition: Showing fading throughout. In good vintage condition. Estimate $100 – $150.

Lot 44: Alice Faye. Original autographed, inscribed photograph: Size: 8″ x 10″. Condition: Showing fading throughout. In good vintage condition. Estimate $50 – $70.

Lot 8: Judy Garland. Original autographed , inscribed photograph: Size: 8″ x 10″. Condition: Showing fading throughout. In good vintage condition. Estimate $200 – $300.

Lot 11: Humphrey Bogart. Original autographed, inscribed photograph: Size: 8″ x 10″. Condition: Showing fading throughout. In good vintage condition. Estimate $200 – $300.

Lot 132: John Wayne. Original autographed, inscribed photograph: Size: 8″ x 10″. Condition: Showing fading throughout. In good vintage condition. Estimate $200 – $300.

Lot 78: Rita Hayworth. Original autographed, inscribed photograph: Size: 8″ x 10″. Condition: Showing fading throughout. In good vintage condition. Estimate $200- $300.

Lot 47: Grace Slick. Original autographed, inscribed photograph: Size: 8″ x 10″. Condition: Showing fading throughout. In good vintage condition. Estimate $50 – $70.

Lot 144: Clint Eastwood. Original autographed, inscribed photograph: Size: 8″ x 10″. Condition: Showing fading throughout. In good vintage condition. Estimate $100 – $150.

Lot 123: Jack Benny. Original autographed, inscribed photograph: Size: 8″ x 10″. Condition: Showing fading throughout. In good vintage condition. Estimate $200 – $300.

Lot 16: Sharon Stone. Original autographed, inscribed photograph: Size: 8″ x 10″. Condition: Showing fading throughout. In good vintage condition. Estimate $60 – $80.

Lot 133: Olivia de Havilland. Original autographed, inscribed photograph: Size: 8″ x 10″. Condition: Showing fading throughout. In good vintage condition. Estimate $100 – $150.

Lot 153: James “Jimmy” Stewart. Original autographed, inscribed photograph: Size: 8″ x 10″. Condition: Showing fading throughout. In good vintage condition. Estimate $100 – $150.

Proving that Africa is still the hot continent, Bonhams next Modern and Contemporary African Art sale in London on 17 March will showcase a host of exciting young talent, alongside established big names. One of the highlights is Adam and Steve joined by the knee, a study, produced by the 27-year-old Zimbabwean artist, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami. The work has an estimate of £30,000 – £50,000.

Born in 1993, Hwami has already received more acclaim in her short career than many artists achieve in a lifetime – and her star is still on the rise. Selected to represent Zimbabwe at the Venice Biennale in 2019, aged only 26, Hwami has already enjoyed successful solo exhibitions at the Tyburn Gallery and Gasworks in London and is represented up by Victoria Miro. Later this year, she will showcase her works at a group exhibition at the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

Helene Love-Allotey, specialist in Modern and Contemporary African Art at Bonhams, commented: “Hwami is one of the most exciting young artists around right now. Her work asks the viewer to consider weighty topics – such as identity, sexuality, and desire – but her handling is witty and fresh, as is evidenced by the title of the work, Adam and Steve joined by the knee, a study. When asked what precipitated her interest in art, Hwami has often credited her love of cartoons, and in paricular, Manga. As a child, she would sketch her favourite characters, and the influence of these animations is evident in the dynamism of her compositions. Although monumental in size, the work retains a delicate intimacy.”

Hwami’s work starts with a collage of images and photographs, around which she constructs a painted narrative. She says that this approach was partly influenced by the creative sharing of images on social media sites such as Tumblr: “I spent a lot of time on the internet as a pre-teen and, in that socially awkward stage of my life, I found it more comfortable to escape and exist in cyberspace. I started exploring sexuality and gender identity. I was obsessed with the idea of physically living in a different body. All my frustration and confusion was expressed through studying the queer body.”

Other highlights of the sale include:

• Portia Zvavahera (Zimbabwean, born 1985) Complete, 2014. Estimate: £60,000 – 90,000. Zvavahera has noted the fluidity and flatness afforded by using oil-based inks, allowing her to build richly layered surfaces. She draws upon her deeply held sense of spirituality and accompanying rituals of belief to embody the predominantly female figures. Moving beyond literal autobiography and self-portraiture, the figures depicted become archetypal expressions of feminine experiences of faith and motherhood.

• Zanele Muholi (South African, born 1972), Isililo XX unframed. Estimate: £4,000 – 6,000. Zanele Muholi is a non-binary artist whose work challenges ideas of both race and sexuality. In 2020 a major exhibition of Muholi’s work opened at the Tate Modern in London. A print by Zanele Muholi “Sasa, Bleecker” sold for £6,800 at Bonhams in March 2020, an unheard-of price for a photograph by a contemporary South African artist.

• William Joseph Kentridge (South African, born 1955), Orange head. Estimate: £25,000-35,000. Beginning in 1992, Kentridge produced a series of monumental drypoint prints of a head, with hand-painting and torn shards created from varying templates, allowing for incarnations in orange (editioned 1993), blue (editioned 1993-8) and green (1992), though the latter were never editioned. Insight, or the lack thereof, is a central theme in Kentridge’s work. The subject’s upwardly tilting chin exposes the carotid artery in his extended neck in what can be read as a gesture of either submission or strength: it is unclear whether his eyes are closed in defiance, dreaming, or death.

• Ndary Lo (Senegalese, born 1961), Taaru à talons, 2013. Estimate: £7,000 – 10,000. The image of a striding figure is a recurring theme of Ndary Lo’s work. The artist created a series of these “hommes qui marche”, figures he referred to affectionately as “nit”, a Wolof word meaning “person” or “character”. The title of this work translates as ‘Beauty in heels’. Lo’s characteristic slender and elongated figures have often provoked comparisons to Alberto Giacometti – who was himself influenced by African sculptural traditions. Lo’s aesthetic has been considered to be a conscious cultural re-appropriation.

Leading the sale will be Irma Stern‘s Arab with Dagger (within original Zanzibar frame), which has an estimate of £700,000-1,000,000.

1. Helene Love-AlloteySpecialistLondon, United KingdomTel: +44 20 7468 8213[email protected]
2. Giles PeppiattSpecialistLondon, United KingdomTel: +44 20 7468 8355[email protected]
3. Helene Love-AlloteySpecialistLondon, United KingdomTel: +44 20 7468 8213[email protected]
4. Giles PeppiattSpecialistLondon, United KingdomTel: +44 20 7468 8355[email protected]
5. Helene Love-AlloteySpecialistLondon, United KingdomTel: +44 20 7468 8213[email protected]

ACHIEVING A TOTAL OF £43,702,515 / $61,139,818 / €50,520,107, SELLING 98% BY LOT AND 100% BY VALUE

– A Family Collection: Works on Paper, Van Gogh to Freud realises £18,070,765 / $25,281,000 / €20,889,804

– Modern British Art Evening Sale achieves £25,631,750 / $35,858,818 / €29,630,303

– Global participation from 12 countries over 5 continents via phone and online bidding in Christie’s London and New York livestream sales

– Depth of bidding demonstrates competitive demand at Christie’s

-Sir Winston Churchill’s record broken twice, with the sale of Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque setting the new world auction record £8,285,000 / $11,590,715 / €9,577,460

– Van Gogh’s La Mousmé realises one of the highest prices for a work on paper by the artist £7,459,614 / $10,436,000 / €8,623,314

– Further records include Augustus John and Sir Michael Craig-Martin

London and New York – Christie’s global spring season of 20^th Century art sales launched in London and New York on 1 March 2021, achieving a total across the evening of £43,702,515 / $61,139,818 / €50,520,107, with collectors convening from 12 countries over 5 continents and combined sell-through rates of 98% by lot and 100% by value. The series of sales was opened in New York with A Family Collection: Works on Paper, Van Gogh to Freud, a grouping of eight exquisite works on paper that saw the market bidding competitively for exceptional quality, with a total of £18,070,765 / $25,281,000 / €20,889,804 realised. The sale was led by Van Gogh’s rare portrait La Mousmé, one of the finest works on paper of the artist’s career which sold for £7,459,614 / $10,436,000 / €8,623,314. A world auction record was set by Augustus John’s Head of a Girl (Edie McNeill) (£348,463 / $487,500 / €402,823) while bidding across the salerooms in London and New York saw strong prices realised for works on paper by René Magritte, Henry Moore and Georges Seurat.

The Modern British Art Evening Sale directly followed, realising a total of £25,631,750 / $35,858,818 / €29,630,303, selling 97% by lot and 99% by value. The evening was led by Sir Winston Churchill’s Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque which set a new world auction record price of £8,285,000 / $11,590,715 / €9,577,460 after a nine-minute battle between 10 bidders. The painting was offered from the Jolie Family Collection. Two further works by Churchill demonstrated heightened demand for his paintings with both far exceeding the pre-sale expectations: Scene at Marrakech (£1,882,500 / $2,633,618 / €2,176,170) and St Paul’s Churchyard (£1,078,500 / $1,508,822 / €1,246,746). Henry Moore’s Maquette for King and Queen sold for £3,022,500 / $4,228,478 / €3,494,010, over three times the low estimate and testament to the rarity of the subject matter in the artist’s oeuvre. Sir John Lavery’s The Viscountess Castlerosse, Palm Springs, from the collection of Charles Delevingne, sold for £862,500 / $1,206,638 / €997,050, a record for a portrait by the artist. Sir Michael Craig-Martin’s With Red Shoes set a new world auction record for the artist (£325,000 / $454,675 / €375,700).

Giovanna Bertazzoni, Vice Chairman, 20th – 21st Century Art, Christie’s: “We are delighted with the very strong result for the exquisite works in the Family Collection: Works on Paper, Van Gogh to Freud. Quality always wins, and the infallible eye of this collector strove only for exceptional quality.”

Nick Orchard, Head of Department, Modern British Art, Christie’s: “The auction of Modern British Art demonstrated the vibrant and dynamic nature of this market with exceptional provenance as witnessed in the Churchills, Lavery, the Collection of Mireille and James Lévy and the Estates of L.S. Lowry and Carol Ann Lowry. These works generated international interest with competitive bidding throughout the evening, resulting in Christie’s second highest total for a Modern British Art evening sale.”

FURTHER HIGHLIGHTS

A FAMILY COLLECTION: WORKS ON PAPER, VAN GOGH TO FREUD

– René Magritte, Journal intime £2,680,486 / $3,750,000 / €3,098,642

– Henry Moore, Two Sleepers in the Underground (recto); Figures and Sketches of Sculpture (verso), £2,251,608 / $3,150,000 / €2,602,859

– Georges Seurat, La voile blanche, £3,280,915 / $4,590,000 / €3,792,738

MODERN BRITISH ART EVENING SALE

– Dame Barbara Hepworth, Square Forms (Two Sequences), £922,500, / $1,290,578 / €1,066,410

– S. Lowry, Head of a Boy, £742,500 / $1,038,758 / €858,330

Over 185,000 viewers tuned into the sales through Facebook, You Tube, Christies.com and Christie’s Live™, highlighting the inclusive nature of the interactive livestream.

The Modern British Art Day Sale takes place on Tuesday 2 March at 2pm. The 20^th Century Sale series then continues on 23 March with We Are All Warriors: the Basquiat Auction which is followed by the 20^th Century Art Evening Sale and The Art of The Surreal Evening Sale.

B-roll footage of Sir Winston Churchill’s Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque selling can be downloaded here (Password: Christies)

The Latest Edition Of Now! An Online Auction Of Contemporary Art, Photography, Design And African & Oceanic Pieces To Open In March With Rock & Roll Photographer Claude Gassian Given Carte Blanche To Curate The Exhibition

For the seventh edition of Sotheby’s eclectic and much-anticipated NOW! online auction, photographer Claude Gassian take on the role of curator for the exhibition in Paris. One of the most talented portraitists working across international music scene, Gassian has devoted nearly five decades to capturing rock legends. Among the great names he has immortalised behind his lens include James Brown, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Neil Young, Jack White, Miles Davis and Daft Punk.

SOTHEBY’S PARIS
Online from 4-11 March 2021

EXHIBITIONS
Thu, 04 Mar 21 • 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM CET
Fri, 05 Mar 21 • 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM CET
Sat, 06 Mar 21 • 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM CET
Mon, 08 Mar 21 • 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM CET

PRESS RELEASE FR

PRESS RELEASE EN

PRESS OFFICE CONTACTS
Sophie Dufresne |[email protected]
Claire Jehl |[email protected]

La féconde journée to be offered in London on 15 April

LONDON – 2 MARCH 2021­­ – Phillips is pleased to announce Jean Dubuffet’s La féconde journée, executed in 1976, as a star lot of London’s 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 15 April. La féconde journée hails from Dubuffet’s seminal Théâtres de mémoire series andhas featured in the major centenary retrospective at the Centre Pompidou, Paris in 2001. La féconde journée will be virtually on view from 7 to 11 April before a public viewing at Phillips Berkeley Square from 12 to 15 April.

Olivia Thornton, Head of 20th Century & Contemporary Art, Europe, said, “La féconde journée is an incredibly radiant and visually immersive work that represents a significant milestone in Dubuffet’s career – his Théâtres de mémoire series. It is a particularly exciting moment for Dubuffet, with the Barbican staging the first major survey of his work in the UK for over 50 years this Spring. The inclusion of La féconde journée in our April Evening Sale marks the first time that the work will be offered at auction.”

Dubuffet’s oeuvre comprises a number of celebrated series, including Portraits, Corps de Dame, Paris Circus, L’Hourloupe, and Théâtres de mémoire, to which the present work belongs. He worked on the Théâtres de mémoire series from September 1975 until August 1978. Containing some of the largest compositions Dubuffet ever made, thisseries would be the last sequence of paintings of this magnitude before the artist, suffering from back ailments, would be forced to focus on smaller-scale projects. Rendered in his immediately recognisable palette of reds and blues and on an exceptionally large scale, Dubuffet has built upon the definition of Art Brut that characterised his work of the late 1940s, layering materials (44 sections precisely) to impart the composition with added impressions of movement and tumult.

Included in Dubuffet’s major centenary retrospective at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, in 2001 – the first substantial monographic exhibition of the artist’s work in France since his show at the Grand Palais in 1973 – La féconde journée is an exquisite, museum-quality example of his revolutionary opus. With his heightened sensitivity to colour, form, and raw human physiology, the work is a testament to Dubuffet’s unique sensibility towards humanity and urban spaces. The artist’s oeuvre will once more be the subject of critical and institutional acclaim in Spring 2021, with a major monographic exhibition taking place at the Barbican, London.

For images: click here

For video: click here

Auction: 15 April 2021, 5pm GMT

Auction viewing: 12-15 April 2021

Location: 30 Berkeley Square, London

Click here for more information: https://www.phillips.com/auctions/auction/UK010121

Lot 198: Frederick Douglass, carte de visite with his signature on verso, albumen photograph by Samuel M. Fassett, 1878. Estimate $15,000 to $25,000.

Catalogue Table of Contents

Slavery & Abolition, Lots 1 to 47

Africa, Lots 48 to 50

Art, Lots 51 to 67

Beauty, Lots 69 to 73

Black Panthers, Lots 74 to 129

Black Power, Lots 130 to 139

Business, Lots 140 to 145

Civil Rights, Lots 146 to 184

Featured above, Lot 68: Benjamin Banneker, Banneker’s Alamanack and Ephemeris for the Year of our Lord 1793, Philadelphia, 1792. Estimate $12,000 to $18,000.

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John W. Cromwell Library, Lots 185 to 197

Frederick Douglass, Lots 198 to 206

Education, Lots 208 to 217

Dance, Film & Theater, Lots 218 to 234

Martin Luther King Jr., Lots 246 to 257

Literature, Lots 258 to 273

Malcolm X, Lots 274 to 277

Military, Lots 279 to 294

Featured, Lot 218: Diary, photographs and correspondence of modern dance legend Katherine Dunham, 1935-2002. Estimate $8,000 to $12,000.

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Music, Lots 295 to 312

Photography, Lots 316 to 323

Politics, Lots 324 to 330

Reconstruction, Lots 331 to 339

Religion, Lots 340 to 342

Sports, Lots 343 to 347

Women’s History, Lots 348 to 355

Featured, Lot 264: Black Opals, four issues, legendary limited-edition literary journal, Philadelphia, 1927-28. Estimate $5,000 to $7,500.

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What You Need to Know on Auction Day

This auction will be held live and conducted remotely.

There will not be bidding in the room, though we accept order bids, and interested buyers will be able to participate live via the Swann Galleries App. The app is available in the App Store and on Google Play, which can also be accessed on a desktop at live.swanngalleries.com.

Please note: phone bidding registrations will close the day before the sale at 4pm. 

At this time, our exhibition and auction location at 104 East 25th Street is closed to the public. Private viewings are available by appointment only, and must be arranged in advance. To make an appointment please contact the specialist.

Freeman’s is delighted to announce the results of its February 23 European Art & Old Masters auction.

Freeman’s is delighted to announce the results of its February 23 European Art & Old Masters auction, which realized over $6.4M—the best Fine Art sale total that Freeman’s has ever recorded. With spirited bidding throughout the sale from bidders both online and on the telephone, the 67-lot auction achieved an impressive 90% sell-through rate and nearly quadrupled its pre-sale high estimate.

Weißes Interieur (White Interior) by Carl Moll Sells For $4.75m, Setting New World Auction Record

The undoubted highlight of the sale was the stellar result achieved for Carl Moll’s White Interior (Lot 56). After extensive, competitive bidding both online and from a dozen telephone bidders located around the world, the work shattered the previous world auction record of $385,653 and ultimately sold to a private American collector for $4,756,000—more than 8 times its pre-sale high estimate. It is believed the buyer has the intention to exhibit the painting at The Neue Galerie in New York in the future. The significant painting is Freeman’s highest selling lot to date, surpassing the house’s 2011 record of $3.1m achieved by an important Imperial white jade seal from the Qianlong period.

Today’s sale set a new house record for Freeman’s with the sale of a stunning painting by the Austrian artist Carl Moll which fetched nearly $4.8m. It was a privilege to have been entrusted with such an exceptional work which had been in the same family for over a hundred years. The consignors are understandably thrilled.

DAVID WEISS, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT | HEAD OF EUROPEAN ART AND OLD MASTERS

I couldn’t be more delighted with the results of today’s European Art sale particularly as it was hot on the heels of our best American Art auction yet held last December totaling $5.2m. In spite of all the challenges of the past year, Freeman’s continues to have an extraordinarily successful year which is truly a testimony to the efforts of our outstanding team.

ALASDAIR NICHOL, CHAIRMAN | HEAD OF FINE ART

There was great interest in fresh-to-market works from private and institutional collections, including The Calm Sea, Nocturne (Lot 40) by Jacob Schikaneder, which more than doubled its pre-sale high estimate to realize $346,500. Similarly, Roses (Lot 58) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, which was deaccessioned by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, realized over triple its pre-sale high estimate, selling for $302,400 after a lengthy battle among nineteen telephone bidders.

Additional Highlights

Other notable highlights included the sale of: Yuri (Georgiy) Ivanovich Pimenov’s The Lemonade Stand (Lot 67) which sold for $91,700, more than 6-times its pre-sale high estimate; Gustav Klimt’s, Dame Wittgenstein (Study for Bildnis Margaret Stonborough-Wittgenstein) (Lot 55), which surpassed its pre-sale high estimate, achieving $88,200; Étude pour Le Martyre de Saint Procès et Saint Martinien by Valentin de Boulogne (Lot 16), a recently authenticated bozzetto and the first and only one to ever come on the market, realized $78,750, more than doubling its pre-sale high estimate; Venus at the Forge of Vulcan (Lot 6) a work from the Neapolitan School (17th century), which was once a part of the Getty Museum’s collection, sold for $47,250, more than 6-times its pre-sale high estimate; La Sympathie (Lot 61) by Hippolyte Petitjean which sold for $44,100, surpassing its pre-sale high estimate; and Un Témoin Muet (Lot 51) by Evariste Carpentier which realized $30,240, far exceeding its pre-sale estimate of $6,000-10,000.

CINCINNATI – The February 18th African Americana auction at Cowan’s, a Hindman company, realized over $250,000 with institutional and international bidders showing strong interest in a range of historically significant lots. A number of influential figures including Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr., Marcus Garvey, Madam C.J. Walker, Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver and Angela Davis were represented in the first dedicated various owner auction for the category. The sale included books, manuscript archives, early photography, posters, and more.

Leading the auction and receiving outstanding interest was the archive of Lieutenant Colonel George Henry Hoyt (lot 46) which ultimately realized $43,750, more than ten times its presale estimate. Hoyt is known for serving as one of John Brown’s attorneys when the martyred abolitionist stood trial for the raid at Harper’s Ferry, Va. The archive features a journal with Hoyt’s hand-recorded testimonies from Brown’s relatives, former neighbors and old acquaintances, along with a leather-backed scrapbook containing more than 50 newspaper clippings reporting on Hoyt and the trial. It also includes two letters from John Brown, Jr. (one affirming that Hoyt received no compensation for his role as Brown’s advocate); a fascinating war-date letter written by Hoyt to his wife from Humbolt, Tenn. where he served with Company K of the 7th Kansas Cavalry Regiment (Jennison’s Jayhawkers); and additional letters from various recipients regarding Hoyt’s work on the Brown case.

Another top performer was a sixth plate daguerreotype of Joseph Jenkins Roberts (lot 82), the first and seventh president of Liberia, which beat its presale estimate and realized $13,750. A company sales badge for the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company (lot 120) was another standout item, and sold for over triple its presale estimate, realizing $9,375. Madam C.J. Walker was the first female self-made millionaire in the United States.

Other top lots included a portrait of an elderly African American gentleman painted by Maria Howard Weeden (lot 241), which sold for $8,960, far above its presale estimate, and a Black Panther carved rally stick (lot 230), which realized $8,960.

View the full pre-sale auction results, here, on Bidsquare.

Josiah Wedgwood, the English potter, was an original member of the Lunar Society, a group of prominent figures in the Midlands, including industrialists, natural philosophers, and intellectuals. Matthew Boulton, Erasmus Darwin, Joseph Priestley, and the author and abolitionist Thomas Day were members of the social club formed to discuss issues with other like-minded individuals.

In 1773 Thomas Day wrote the epic poem The Dying Negro, which may have been partly responsible for arousing Josiah’s practical opposition to the slave trade. Wedgwood joined the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade on or around 1787. Later that same year, using an adaptation from the design from the seal of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in England and using the phrase “Am I not a Man and a Brother?” from the poem, Wedgwood enlisted William Hackwood, a modeler at the factory, to design a cameo. 

Additionally, in 1788, Josiah Wedgwood sent 400 of the medallions to Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia; Franklin was to have distributed them among his many friends. At that time, Franklin was president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery. Wedgwood’s interests went much further than the production of the cameo. As a member of the Committee, he was also very involved in “promoting publications, meetings and petitions, and in canvassing the support of anyone whose voice might command respect.”

Principally designed in black and white jasper, Wedgwood distributed the cameo free to all those concerned with the movement of abolition. Some were mounted as jewelry and worn by notables promoting the cause of justice, humanity, and freedom. Worn by both men and women, the abolitionist cameo was very fashionable in the late 18th century.

Skinner’s April sale of European Décor & Design will feature an 18th century slave medallion.