Tag: Christie’s

Seated Woman With Dog by Milton Avery at Christie’s

Seated Woman with Dog by Milton Avery, c. 1936. Photo credit: Christie's Images Ltd. 2013

The American Art sale at Christie's New York this Thursday, May 23, 2013 will include Seated Woman with Dog by Milton Avery (1885-1965). The 18 x 24 inch oil on board is estimated at $150,000 – $250,000. It is Lot 105.

Last week Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art sales set a record $638,615,900 in one week, including the evening sale on May 15th, which the raised $495,021,500, the highest sale total in auction history, including 16 new auction records for the foremost artists of the last 60 years.

It will be interesting to see if Avery's dog breaks any records.

Two Dog Art Today favorites, Nancy Schutt and Judy Henn, cite Milton Avery as an influence.

For more information and to preview the American Art Sale visit Christie's.

May 20, 2013
Three Andy Warhol Dog Drawings Sell for over $50,000

Dog (Cocker Spaniel) by Andy Warhol, circa 1980s sold for $18,750

Last night, Christie’s held a live and online auction to benefit the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York. The evening featured 354 works by Warhol and raised over $17 million. Interesting to me were the three dog drawings.

Dog by Andy Warhol, circa 1980s sold for $18,750

Dog by Andy Warhol, circa 1980s sold for $16,250

You may remember the Cocker Spaniel. I believe it is Ginger, the dog of Warhol’s friend and Interview partner Peter Brant who encouraged Warhol to focus on pet portraits after he saw it. I wrote about Ginger here and included her in my “Dogs in Art” short film.

Ginger by Andy Warhol, 1976

Also last night, an Andy Warhol butterfly silkscreen sold for $1,258,500.

Endangered Species: San Francisco Silverspot by Andy Warhol, circa 1983 sold for $1,258,500.

Via CBS News.

November 13, 2012
Want To Be Your Dog Sells for $1.53 Million

Want to Be Your Dog by Christopher Wool, 1992

As the Occupy Wall Street movement marks its two-month anniversary today by taking to the streets and clashing with police at Zucotti Park, you might be wondering what the super-rich have been up to. It turns out they have been shopping for contemporary art, desperately, as a matter of fact, in search of "tangible" assets in which to store their wealth. Remember, Europe is financially imploding while the 99% revolt, so art, especially art with museum-backed credentials has become very attractive. Massive, graphic, and highly recognizable works, like those on sale at Christie's last Tuesday are hard to misplace like the $600 million that still has not turned up at MF Global.

Two dog- themed pieces were among the lots last week at Christie's. Christopher Wool's 1992 43 x 30" enamel on aluminum panel, Want to Be Your Dog, sold for $1.53 million. Seriously.

That made the final price realized for Yoshitomo Nara's Dogs from Your Childhood at $422, 500 look like a bargain.

Dogs from Your Childhood by Yoshitomo Nara, 1999

If you read this blog regularly you know I am passionate about contemporary art, especially dog art. And million dollar price tags for dog art is thrilling to me. But, reading Souren Melikian's NY Times article on Christie's sale entitled "The Fever Bubbling on Contemporary Art Sales" left me a little queasy. Like 18th-century-July-in-Paris-let-them-buy-dog-art queasy. Thoughts?

November 17, 2011
Gainsborough Estimate: Almost $8 Million

Portrait of Colonel John Bullock by Thomas Gainsborough, 1780s

This Portrait of Colonel John Bullock by Thomas Gainsborough will be auctioned at Christie's Old Masters and British Paintings Sale in London on July 5. It is estimated to sell for $5,596,500 – $7,995,000.

I thought it only fair to include some Redcoat dog-love before I feature early American dog art tomorrow in honor of our Revolution.

Via Christie's.

June 30, 2011
Albrecht Dürer’s Saint Eustace Sells for $216,132

Saint Eustace by Albrecht Dürer, 1501

Last night in London at Christie’s Old Masters Print Sale this Albrecht Dürer engraving of Saint Eustace was estimated to sell for $122,160 – $183,240 (£80,000 – £120,000). It exceeded expectations and sold for $216,132 (£145,250).

I love the beautifully rendered Greyhounds and the thin veneer of Christianity applied to this pagan scene — Christ appearing as a stag.

Christie’s lot notes provide the the full story of Saint Eustace, the patron saint of hunters, and insight into the 16th century battle of sculpture vs. paintings. As far as Greyhounds goes, I think Dürer wins this round.

This, largest of all Dürer’s engravings, has always been considered one of his finest. According to the legend Placidus, a general under Emperor Trajan, was out hunting one day when Christ appeared to him in the shape of a white stag which had a radiant crucifix between its antlers. This vision prompted his conversion to Christianity, and he was baptised Eustace. As the patron saint of hunters and one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers he was one of the most popular saints of the 15th and 16th Centuries.

As an artist for whom the study of nature was paramount, the subject of the stag hunt in the forest offered Dürer an opportunity to display his consummate skill in the representation of animals, plants and landscape. Since Leonardo’s writings on the subject – the so-called Paragone – the question of the supremacy of the different artistic media was one of the great disputes in the theory of art and was reiterated in various tracts throughout the 16th Century. One argument in favour of sculpture was that it allowed the artist to show a figure three-dimensionally and from different angles at the same time. By demonstrating that this could also be done in two dimensions painters tried to invalidate this argument.

One of the most admired and best-loved elements in Dürer’s printmaking are the greyhounds in the foreground of the present composition, and commentators cited them as proof of the parity of painting and sculpture, such was the effectiveness with which they were described.

Via Christie’s.

December 8, 2010
Sabrina Movie Posters from Around the World

Japan

"Sabrina," the 1954 film by director Billy Wilder based on the play "Sabrina Fair" by Samuel Taylor which is inspired by a poem by John Milton, has always been a McLaughlin family favorite. My Dad loves this movie and shared it enthusiastically with his four daughters. I remember thinking Audrey Hepburn's Givenchy ballgown was the most beautiful dress ever worn. I still do. My sister introduced her husband to the film two years and a few months later they welcomed their daughter to the world and named her Sabrina.

On June 23, 2010 Christie's in London will be having a vintage poster sale that includes this Japanese unfolded one-sheet (above) up for auction for an estimated price of $441 – $736. Searching for an image I could use (Christie's makes it hard to pull images off their site), I found these Sabrina posters at MovieGoods.com, priced for $19.99 – $ 29.99. In the film, Sabrina has a chic little Poodle she returns home from Paris with. I suppose the black and white poster Poodles are metaphors for the two brothers, the playboy and the grumpy workaholic, who try to woo her. It's always fascinating to see how different countries market movies. Which one is your favorite?

Italy

Spain

United States

France (this is her real Poodle in the film, but where is Humphrey Bogart?)

Poland

My favorite is the Japanese version…but I like the US version too…and the Italian one…Actually I have changed my favorite twice. And, what is up with Poland, a country with a history of some of the greatest graphic art posters in the world?! Seriously? See more at MovieGoods.com.

P.S. I never knew about the play "Sabrina Fair" by Samuel Taylor or the John Milton song, which is quoted in the play but only referenced in the film, from his 1634 masque Comus:

Sabrina fair,
Listen where thou art sitting
Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave,
In twisted braids of lilies knitting
The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair;
Listen for dear honour's sake,
Goddess of the silver lake,
Listen and save.

P.P.S. Wendell Jamieson of The New York Times recently recommended having a gin or vodka martini, chilled, straight up, with olives while viewing "Sabrina" I think Champagne would be appropriate too, since the Champagne flutes play a key role in the film. More great ideas for DVD and cocktail pairings here.

P.P.P.S. I recently watch Sydney Pollock's 1995 remake of "Sabrina" on HBO, and while it's not as bad as I remember it, really what is the point?

June 17, 2010
Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves and Bust Breaks Auction Record

Nude, Green Leaves and Bust by Pablo Picasso, 1932

Talk about the “green shoots” of our economy showing signs of recovery, last night an anonymous bidder purchased Picasso’s 1932 Nude, Green Leaves and Bust for a record $106, 482,500. It is the most paid for a piece of artwork at auction EVER. And there were eight bidders vying for the painting during a nine minute phone frenzy.

Although it is not technically a piece of dog art, I am featuring it here because of the traffic spike to my blog that I noticed this morning. It seems the muse behind this record-shattering painting is Picasso’s mistress and model Marie-Thérèse Walter whom I featured on Dog Art Today back in October, 2008. I think this photo of her is just as lovely as the painting.

Marie-Thérèse Walter by Gérard Blot/Réunion de Musées Nationaux/Art Resource

Read Christie’s press release for more information. They are absolutely giddy.

May 5, 2010
Affection by William Zorach

Affection by William Zorach

William Zorach (1887-1968) conceived this 15" bronze statue with a golden-brown patina in 1933. I love how it appears both ancient and modern. It is lot 33 at Christie's American Paintings Sale on September 29, 2009. Estimated price: $10,000 -$15,000. Bid here.

September 15, 2009
L. S. Lowry’s Dog Art Stars at Christie’s

A Market Place, Berwick-upon-Tweed by Laurence Stephen Lowry, 1935

Laurence Stephen Lowry's 1935 painting, A Market Place, Berwick-upon-Tweed graces the cover of Christie's catalogue of its 20th Century British Art Auction to be held in London this Thursday, May 21. This charming painting of England's northernmost town features the bustling market place and three dogs. It is estimated to sell for $454,200 – $757,000.

Beside the fact dogs are making an appearance in the star of the show, there is also a pay-it-forward aspect to the painting if it sells. The work was originally purchased 64 years ago for less than $75 by Henry Morris, who was chief education officer of Cambridgeshire County Council. The painting has been a part of the Cambridgeshire Schools' Art Collection since them. Now, the proceeds from the sale will fund and safeguard the future of the city's cultural programs. How civilized!

Via Berwick Journal Live. Visit Christie's for more information.

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May 19, 2009
Bonnard’s Dog Art Still Needs a Home

Les Boutiques, boulevard des Batignolles by Pierre Bonnard, 1911

Carol Vogel of the New York Times reports last night was a bleak night at Christie's in both sales and prices. It seems the economic meltdown has hit the auction season. She writes:

"In a hushed salesroom at Christie’s on Wednesday night, works by a wide range of artists, from Manet, Cézanne and Renoir to Rothko and de Kooning, failed to sell, and prices for things that did find buyers often went for far less than what they would have a year ago. " (more)

One of the pieces that failed to find a home was Pierre Bonnard's Les Boutiques, boulevard des Batignolles which was estimated at $1,000,000 – $1,500,000. Given the anticipation for the Metropolitan's January 2009 exhibition, Pierre Bonnard: The Late Interiors, it may be surprising this "Japonized Nabi" vertical painting did not sell.

Christie's calls it "muted," but I think it is just too muddy for a million dollars. In these bargain basement times, I would wait for a Bonnard late interior (1923 – 1947) when he was painting in the dazzling light of southern France, not winter in Paris. And, of course, I would wait for his Dachshund to make an appearance!

The Bathroom by Pierre Bonnard, 1932

Speaking of the dazzling light of southern France, descendants of Bonnard's second cousin, the late Robert Saums of Hoepwell, New Jersey, recently introduced a new line of paint inspired by their famous French family member. It is available through their store Saums Interiors.

They also offer copies of his work and design advice to help you create a Bonnard interior in your home. Brilliant!

Related Links:
Pierre Bonnard's Dachshunds

November 6, 2008