Quality Prevails
Rare John Singer Sargent still life sketch triumphs at Grogan & Company’s 30th Anniversary Auction
Rare John Singer Sargent still life sketch triumphs at Grogan & Company’s 30th Anniversary Auction
On November 5, Grogan & Company celebrated 30 years in the auction industry with an anniversary sale that brought standing-roomonly crowds to its Boston sales floor.the sale, which had activity from bidders on all platforms and saw the top three paintings go to private collectors, had a strong performance as it brought in more than $2.5 million in sales. Leading the day was a John Singer Sargent sketch, Candelabra with Roses, which sold for more than four times its high estimate of $100,000 when it sold for $457,500. “What I was really excited to see was most of the very serious bidders really liked the provenance and story of the piece,” says Georgina Winthrop, fine art director at Grogan & Company. “it was in the family of artist Francis Davis Millet, and Sargent had spent time with [him and his family].”
The next highest achieving American art lot was Milton Avery’s Horse and Rider (est. $50/100,000), which had been gifted to its original owner—marion Dunham, a New York City lady known for her cultural soirees—by Avery and
passed down through her family.the work was an early and atypical piece for the artist, which achieved just over its low estimate at $57,950.“We did see a lot of interest from private bidders,” says Winthrop. “It ended up selling to a couple in the room.”
Portrait of Ruth Gaston, Age 3, by William Mcgregor Paxton, which was commissioned by the sitter’s father,william A. Gaston of Boston, was another standout lot.the work, which had a presale estimate of $20,000 to $40,000, descended through Ruth Gaston’s family.“people were struck by how sweet the girl was, and the subject matter as much as his early impressionistic style drew people to it,”winthrop adds. Rounding out the top paintings in the sale, there was also strong results for Aldro T. Hibbard’s Winter Loggers, Mount Mansfield (est. $10/20,000) at $27,450; Santo Spirito by George
L.K. Morris, which sold for $27,450; and Ben Ali Haggin’s Juliette Day as Moy Fah Loy in “Yellow Jacket” (est. $3/5,000) at $18,300. A newly discovered collection of 20 works by American photographer Carleton Watkins also generated excitement with buyers. Four works were among the top 10 American art lots including First View of Yosemite Valley from Mariposa Trail (est. $4/6,000), which sold for $27,450, and Lower Yosemite Fall (est. $2/4,000) at $21,960.