JOHN MORAN AUCTIONEERS
MARCH 27
California & American Fine Art In March 2014, John Moran Auctioneers sold Guy Rose’s Windswept Trees, Laguna for a robust $480,000. During this year’s California & American Fine Art sale on March 27, the study for the painting arrived at market with a presale estimate of $80,000 to $120,000.There was strong interest from buyers in-house and on the phone, with it eventually selling to a telephone bidder for more than double its low estimate at $168,000.The work became the top lot of the sale.
Coming in second was a quintessential Granville Redmond scene of the California landscape with poppies, selling within its presale estimate at $156,000. Another California landscape landing in the top 10 was William Wendt’s Shadows (est. $20/25,000), which had multiple floor bidders competing for the work before settling at $30,000. “The sale overall
I think did pretty well,” says Morgana Blackwelder, head of the auction house’s fine art department. She adds that California Impressionism has seen a resurgence of buyers, noting, “there are younger, new collectors who are drawn to particular time periods based on where they are buying homes and locations. Our more-experienced collectors made top lots possible.”
Other highlights included Thomas Hill’s Lake Scene, New Hampshire, which achieved $54,000; Frederick Mulhaupt’s nearly 5-foot-tall painting Morning, Gloucester Harbor, selling for its high estimate of $90,000; and Edgar Payne’s Loche, France (est. $30/40,000) at $21,250 and his Laguna Cottage (est. $3/5,000) at $7,800.
APRIL 6-7
Americana + Paintings Auction During the April 6 and 7 sale of Americana and paintings at Eldred’s in East Dennis, Massachusetts, the collection of Lewis “Julian” Kotekas, an art dealer and collector from Manchester, New Hampshire, was one of the biggest draws. The bulk of the collection was offered over several auctions, but the best of his American pieces were featured in this sale. Many of the items, all offered without reserve, had never been offered publicly or had not been on the market in a number of years.
Among the highlights were two unsigned 19th-century works that sold for $25,200 each, which was well above their presale estimates of $1,000 to $1,500 and $1,500 to $2,500.Two oils by John Ross Key brought a combined $75,600, with the top seller being Mt. washington meadows (est. $8/12,000) at $48,000. A Cyrus Edwin Dallin bronze titled On the War Path achieved $25,200.