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19th Century Sales Held Up in New York But Will Auction Houses Succumb to Temptation and Increase their Size?

June 7, 2012 by Howard L. Rehs

Yes, Sotheby’s is still squashing our beloved 19th century sale at the end of the Impressionist sales week … not something I am very happy about, but what can I do — keep complaining!  We really need our OWN week!

Anyway here is my take on this sale.  Grabbing the top slot was a small, but beautiful, Bouguereau from 1875 titled Girl with a Pomegranate which carried what appeared to be a rather optimistic estimate of $500-$700K, but when the bidding was done those numbers were left in the dust — the painting made $2.3M WOW!, Coming is second was what they believed was going to be the ‘star’ lot of their sale, Tissot’s The Morning Ride, at $1.87M (falling short of its $2-$3M est.).  Now I must add that while the quality of the painting was pretty good, the subject was not the best – at least when one thinks of Tissot – and judging from the result, the general market felt the same way.  In third was Boldini’s Portrait of Mrs. Howard-Johnson at $1.76M (est. $1.5-$2M) … a nice standard Boldini portrait, but it lacked the sex appeal of those that make the Big Bucks – like it or not, sexy sells!  Rounding out the top five were a very impressive work by Godward titled A Fair Reflection which garnered $1.45M (an auction record – est. $400-$600K) and a nice Corot Les etangs de Ville d’Avray at $1.1M (est. $700-$1M).

It was nice to see that they have continued to keep the number of offerings in check, but the real question is: was it their choice, or the markets?  In other words, are they not being offered the works they need to create larger sales?  My feeling is the latter is probably more of the case and I base that conclusion on the fact that while the sale was small, it really should have been smaller … some of the works offered should not have been in this main sale — whether that had to do with the quality, condition or  estimate range.

Look, the nicer works (in my opinion) commanded very good prices: La Thangue’s Winter in Liguria – $843K (est. $500-$700K – sadly the seller paid $851K for it in 2003 so they took a loss); a nice Kaufmann – Portrait of a Rabbi – at $435K (est. $250-$350K); Knight’s Coffee in the Garden $315K (est. $150-$200K) and Courbet’s Le Moulin at $435K (est. $160-$200K).  And then there were those which, in my opinion, should have never been included in this sale; these included paintings by Bouguereau, Perrault, Morgan, Munier, Kaemmerer, Barye and a few others.

When their session was done, of the 110 works offered 71 found buyers (64.6% – a rather low number and pointing out the market’s desire for the really good works) for a total take of $20.6M — pretty good considering 35% of the works did not sell.  Now let’s compare this sale to last year when they had 100 works offered, sold 66 (66%) and grossed $44.6M.  Ok, so you are wondering: why was last year’s sale so strong?  Well, remember that they had a fairly pricy Tadema – it made $29M – and this year there were no works in that league. Now, when you strip out that one work we find that the 2011 sale brought in about $15.5M from 65 sold works and this year they brought in $20.6M from 71 sold works … in my book, this year’s sale was just as strong as last year’s.  My only concern is that they are beginning to increase the size of their sales – little by little … this is not a good thing!  Please keep them lean … for the time being.

Christie’s NY 19th C Paintings = $6.3m

April 23, 2012 by Marion Maneker

Lost Bouguereau Leads Christie’s 19th C European Sale in New York

March 29, 2012 by Marion Maneker

 

Christie’s announces the highlight of its April 23rd 19th Century sale with this “lost” Bouguereau:

During his lifetime, William Adolphe Bouguereau (French, 1825-1905) was one of the best known artists in the world and among the most commercially successful. Awarded the Grand Prix de Rome as a young man in 1850, he went to Italy to study the Renaissance masters, particularly Raphael. His early success in the

Paris Salon led to important commissions from the French state, as well as wealthy private clients. This gave the prolific painter the freedom to paint for his own pleasure, including this early work, Idylle: famille antique, which has been in a private collection since the 1950s (estimate: $400,000-$600,000). A reduction of the work belongs to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum in Hartford, CT. A later Bouguereau painting in the sale, Pifferaro (estimate: $250,000-350,000), is an idealized portrait of a young country musician. Bouguereau was born in the countryside and his heart remained there, leading him to spend long stretches outside of Paris painting the monde paysan, the subject for which he is most remembered today.

19thCentArt_Apr23

19th Century – No Magic Hats Here

November 29, 2011 by Howard L. Rehs

Howard L. Rehs is a dealer in 19th Century art at Rehs Gallery in New York. He pays close attention to the auction market and offers his commentary to clients and subscribers to his company newsletter. He shares his point of view on recent auctions with us from time to time:

Once again, Sotheby’s placed its 19th century sale at the end of their Impressionist and Modern sales … hoping to capitalize on all the activity.  It is still hard for me to believe that someone who buys Picasso, Klimt, Magritte, Matisse, etc. would really be interested in the standard 19th century works.  I can see that there might be some crossover from the Impressionist buyers, but after 3 days of over $400 million being sold in those periods, are the same people ready to look at what can only be classified as the ‘more affordable works”?  I have my doubts.  In order for the 19th century works to gain momentum, we need a 19th century sales week … like they had in the past; and if they really believe that their big players in other markets are interested in our market, just send them a catalog.  Anyway, on with the show:

When the catalog arrived, it appeared that Sotheby’s had a much better sale than the competition … covered in last month’s newsletter.  And after viewing the works, I was pretty sure their results would be far better than Christie’s … which, in the end, they were.

Now I must admit that I was more than surprised at the top lot: a masterful Herring Sr. titled Preparing to Start for the Doncaster Gold Cup which carried an estimate of $400-$600K and sold for $2.1M … and we all thought the British Sporting market was dead! Go figure.  Taking second place was our old friend Bouguereau whose 1897 At the Fountain made $1.98M (est. $1-$1.5M) – this work last sold in 1999 for $900K; and in third was Charles Herman’s Bal Masque at $1M (est. $1-$1.5M) … an extremely large work (126 x 158 inches) that was bought in 1992 for $650K.  Rounding out the top five were Corot’s Ronde d’Amours at $963K (est. $900-$1.2M) and a wonderful Munnings – Crossing the Ford – that made $915K (crushing its $250-$350K estimate)… yes, another Sporting painting … could this be a trend?  Probably not, but who knows.Continue Reading

Christie’s Takes Heavy Weather in 19th C Sale

October 31, 2011 by Howard L. Rehs

Howard L. Rehs operates a gallery on 57th St. in Manhattan specializing in 19th Century art:

Well, Christie’s finally put both feet back into the 19th century arena; they had a standalone sale in early October.  Now I know James and Deb did the best they could, but the fact that Christie’s decimated this department a few years ago made their job very difficult and sadly they discovered that the road ahead was still unpaved.  When the dust settled, the market said that this time their best was just not good enough.

When the catalog first arrived I had a feeling that the sale was in for a bit of trouble; and after viewing it I knew this was going to be a hard group of paintings to find buyers for.  I did attend the actual sale and quickly, I am sure, it became painfully obvious to them that most buyers were really not interested in works that had condition/quality issue … at least that was the case on this day.  Of the first 20 works offered, only 6 sold … had that continued it really would have been a BAD DAY and heads may have rolled! Luckily there was a little improvement.

The sale consisted of 107 works that were broken down into small sections … these included genre paintings, Barbizon, Orientalist, Sporting (an almost dead market) and Marine.  Taking top honors was Boldini‘s portrait of Marthe Regnier that brought $1.87M (est. $2-$3M).  In second was a rather brownish Corot titled Nymphes et faunes that made $423K (est. $400-$600K); this painting last sold in 2004 (a much stronger period) for $680K — it also did not help that the painting was offered in an April 2010 sale where it went unsold with a $600-$800K estimate.  In third place was a rather lackluster Bouguereau – The Muse – at $291K (est. $150-$250K – it last appeared on the market, back in 2005, with a $250-$350K estimate and did not sell).  I will add that given the subject of this painting, the price achieved was a rather good one.

As with every sale, there were some interesting paintings (at least few that I liked); among them were: a small piece by de Nittis, Portrait of a Gentleman…, that made $123K (est. $100-$150K) – not a very commercial painting, but for some reason I liked it; a rather freaky looking Gustave Dore titled La famille du saltimbanque… which brought $170,500 (est. $50-$70K and last on the market in 2007 when it sold for $48K); a nice Grimshaw featuring a Yorkshire lane in tones of green that made $255K (est. $200-$300K); a nice John Emms – Three Hounds and a Terrier… –  that made $195K (est. $200-$300K); a small Lhermitte pastel which made $86,500 (est. $70-$90K and last sold in 2007 for  $57,600) and Dawson‘s Taking a Northwester… at $267K (est. $180-$220K).Continue Reading

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