Lindsay Pollock reports on the surprise bidding battle for a work of American Folk Art at Keno Auctions in its inaugural Stamford sale. The Gansevoort Limner painting was estimated at $80,000 but the bidding drove the price to $1.1m, according to Pollock:
Portrait of Anna Brodhead Oliver, attributed to the Gansevoort Limner. (Photo: Keno Auctions)
Connecticut dealer David Schorsch bought the painting on behalf of a private American folk art collector he declined to name. He dates the work to 1739.
“I’m sorry we had to pay quite so much money, but it’s a masterpiece,” said Schorsch in a phone interview. Schorsch said there were four other bidders up to $500,000, and then he and another collector battled to the finish. “I was almost getting to my breaking point, so I’m glad he stopped.”
