LAMBERTVILLE, NJ.- Rago Auctions November Fine Art Auctions realized $3,087,478 in sales on Saturday, November 10. The highest price achieved by a single lot went to lot 121, Winter Night (Artist’s Studio) by Pennsylvania Impressionist George William Sotter, which sold for $200,000 against an estimate of $70,000 – 100,000. The lot was part of the American + European Art sale, which realized $1,183,094 in sales, with an impressive showing from local New Hope School artists as well as Impressionist works from Wilson Henry Irvine, Jean Dufy and more.

Impressionist and Post-Impressionist highlights from the segment include lot 93, Figures by the Lakeside by Maurice Prendergast, which sold for $50,000; lot 243, Divinite by the Vietnamese/French artist Vu Cao Dam which soared past the high estimate of $15,000 to achieve $50,000; lot 92, Morning Walk by American artist Wilson Henry Irvine, which shattered the high estimate of $8,000 to achieve $46,875; lot 132, a colorful landscape entitled April by noted Pennsylvania Impressionist Fern Isabel Coppedge of the Philadelphia Ten, which sold for $40,625 against a high estimate of $35,000; lot 69, an untitled beach scene by Dorothea Sharp, which realized $32,500; and two works by French Impressionist Jean Dufy, lots 61 and 72, which sold for $28,750 and $17,500 respectively.

Other notable results from the session include lot 208, Nature Morte à la Pastèque by Pablo Picasso, which exceeded the estimate and sold for $36,250; lot 4, Edward Hopper’s Night Shadows, considered to be one of the greatest American prints, which sold for $26,250; lot 188, Los Hermanos No. 2 by Mexican artist Rafael Coronel, which sold for $23,750; lot 56, Mary Madeleine et Saint-Jean by Paul Serusier, which nearly doubled the high estimate and achieved $21,250; and lot 203, Mambo by Joan Miró which realized $18,750.

Rago’s Post-War + Contemporary Art sale, an impressive session of 450 lots, including three single-owner collections, performed admirably and achieved $1,904,344 in sales. The top lot of the segment was lot 677, Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe by Elaine Frances (Horan) Sturtevant, which exceeded the high estimate and sold for $125,000. Other top lots include: lot 542, Beast IX, a bronze sculpture by British artist Lynn Chadwick which sold for $87,500; lot 840, Destine (Death of Venus) by Bo Bartlett, from the Allan Stone Collection, which sold for $81,250 against a high estimate of $50,000; lot 768, a battery-driven electric motor wooden sculpture with potatoes by the German artist Sigmar Polke, which realized $75,000; lot 681, Eggs, a collaboration by American Pop Art icons Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, which sold for $75,000; and lot 562, Cruz by the German/Mexican artist Mathias Goertiz, which sold for $50,000.

Additional highlights from the sale include: lot 592, Makusi from Philadelphia, a bold animal portrait by Tom Palmore, which sold for nearly three times the high estimate of $12,000 to achieve $35,000; lot 823, an untitled abstract work by Lebanese artist Nabil Nahas, which sold for $28,750; lot 790, a fresh-to-market untitled acrylic work by Richard Hambleton, from the Collection of Joshua P. Smith, which surpassed all expectations and sold for $28,750 against a high estimate of $3,000; lot 610, a geometric abstraction entitled Yellow Diamond with Red and Blue by Ilya Bolotowsky, which sold for $27,500; lot 696, Moby Dick by Frank Stella, which more than doubled the high estimate and realized $25,000; and lot 732, Time Exposed, a portfolio of 50 triple-tone offset lithographs by Hiroshi Sugimoto, which sold for $22,500.

"Our November sales produced strong results from Impressionism to Pop Art. In our sale of American + European Art, a twilight scene of George William Sotter’s Pennsylvania studio stole the show. Our sale of Post-War + Contemporary Art captured an international audience, driving works by Elaine Sturtevant, Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat to double their estimates." -Meredith Hilferty, Director of Fine Art