An exceptionally appealing sketch of a cow was up for auction Friday on Skinner's website. It was unattributed, but the less than completely legible signature and subject matter led us, and perhaps many others, to Anton Mauve. Estimated at $300-$500, the seemingly fluid bovine in a classy gilt frame brought $1,900 before premium. This was … Continue reading Catch of the Day: Cow Coming, Cow Going
Title: Surprised Kitten Artist： Martha Ryther Reverse oil painting on glass, 14 by 12 inches. Auction： Meyers Auction, St Petersburg, FL, Feb 17, 2019 Estimate: $400 - $600 Hammer Price: $4,000 Bio: Martha (Mignonne) Ryther (1896-1981) was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in New York City. She studied at the Boston Museum of Fine … Continue reading Catch of the Day —Martha Ryther’s Reverse Painting on Glass
Upon the 2014 death of Richard Mellon Scaife, a billionaire heir of the Mellon fortune, it was announced that his collection would split into two Pennsylvania museums – Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art and the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. Scaife’s taste in art may be as conservative as many of his political views. … Continue reading The Remains of a Great Collection — Richard Mellon Scaife’s Paintings at Freeman’s
Woman (Study for Marilyn Monroe), an original pastel and mixed media on paper by Willem de Kooning, is the expected top lot at an upcoming auction and could bring $900,000. The auctioneer is Ahlers & Ogletree of Atlanta. The unframed work, done circa 1950s possibly served as a study for another de Kooning classic, Marilyn … Continue reading de Kooning Work Could Fetch up to $900,000
A rediscovered Philadelphia Chippendale tea table is taking a center spot in an upcoming auction of just thirteen items. Leigh Keno says the table from the shop of Philadelphia cabinetmaker Henry Clifton “is truly a tour de force." Keno Auctions’ Winter Sale Of Thirteen Extraordinary Items also includes Thomas Holme’s extremely rare 1687 map of … Continue reading ReDiscovered Philadelphia Tea Table one of Just 13 Items in Upcoming Keno Auction
J. M. W. Turner now ranks as the most expensive of any pre-20th century British artist. That's after one of the last great Turner masterpieces remaining in private hands set a world auction record for the artist, selling for $47.4 million at Sotheby's London recently. Four bidders competed for Rome, from Mount Aventine, driving the … Continue reading Record Set for J.M.W. Turner Painting
A record has been set for a work by Pennsylvania artist Wharton Esherick. The sculpture titled "Essie”/”Rebecca” from 1933 brought more than $123,000 at Freeman's in Philadelphia. Esherick is best known for his sculptural furniture and furnishings. Image: Freemans Auctions
A Georgia O'Keeffe painting sold at Sotheby's has set a record for an artwork by a female artist. The floral painting of a white blossom, Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, brought $44.4 million, far surpassing the $11.9 million spent on a work by Joan Mitchell in May. Sotheby's reported the final price came after an intense bidding … Continue reading O’Keeffe Sets Auction Record
When Antiques Roadshow started, recalled auctioneer Kathleen Guzman during a lecture at Heritage Auctions last night, there might have been 500 people for a show taping. It wasn't until the taping for the first show of the second season, this time in Pittsburgh when things started to catch on. When they opened the door, they … Continue reading Appraisal Stories from Kathleen Guzman, 20th Anniversary of Antiques Roadshow
Albert Sack once said about antiques: If the proportion isn’t right, nothing is. The American decorative art from 18th and 19th century, regardless of regional preferences and regional characters, has been well defined as a set of specific visual vocabulary, beyond which authenticity and originality would be cast in doubt. But often, Americana has its … Continue reading If Proportion Isn’t Right, So What?
Urban Art & Antiques 