A new record for Maurice Sendak's 'Wild Things' raises a rumpus in Heritage's $6 million American Art Auction
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Monday, December 2, 2024


A new record for Maurice Sendak's 'Wild Things' raises a rumpus in Heritage's $6 million American Art Auction
Maurice Sendak, Let the Wild Rumpus Start! (Happy Birthday Wild Things!), Where the Wild Things Are, 25th Anniversary, 1988. Watercolor on paper, 18-3/4 x 18-5/8 inches. Sold on May 10, 2022 for: $212,500.



DALLAS, TX.- Spanning George Washington to the Wild Things, Heritage Auctions’ latest American Art Signature® Auction set numerous auction records Tuesday on its way to a $6 million finish.

Eight-hundred fifty bidders participated in the near-sellout event, which saw records set for such revered and influential artists as Maurice Sendak, Margaret Keane, Manierre Dawson and James Lesesne Wells. Myriad artists also saw their estimates shattered and profiles elevated, chief among them Joseph Francis Kernan, whose circa-1940 advertisement for DB&M's Royal Bohemian Beer sold for $137,500. It would appear Kernan has finally shed his sobriquet as “the poor man’s Norman Rockwell.”

Heritage Auctions also announced that Wells’ circa-1930 Wanderers, which set an auction record for the artist at $37,500, was acquired by the Delaware Art Museum. Wanderers, which depicts three Black women migrating (likely northward from the South), is among the artist’s major early works, having received the Gold Medal at the Harmon Foundation's 1931 “Exhibition of the Work of Negro Artists.”

“We pared down this auction to highlight all the genres that make up what we call American art,” says Senior Vice President Aviva Lehmann, director of American Art. “We showcased these works in Chicago, New York City and Dallas, always to great acclaim, and knew we had a hit on our hands. But I had no idea it would so wildly exceed my expectations thanks to participation from both beloved institutions and private collectors.”

Topping the list of historic lots was a familiar favorite: Joseph Christian Leyendecker, whose First Long Suit, painted for the Sept. 18, 1937, cover for The Saturday Evening Post, sold for $615,000. That not only bested its high estimate, but became the second-highest price ever paid for a painting by the fashion-ad illustrator behind only 1914’s Beat-up Boy, Football Hero, which sold at Heritage Auctions one year ago for a record-setting $4,121,250 (the first and so far only Leyendecker to reach seven figures).

It’s clear Leyendecker is having his moment in the sun: Another Saturday Evening Post cover – Playing Hooky from June 13, 1914 – sold Tuesday for $300,000. And the lesser-known Tramp Feeding the Birds, painted for The Saturday Evening Post’s Nov. 20, 1915, cover, realized $150,000.

Another Saturday Evening Post cover proved to be one of the auction’s smash hits: Stevan Dohanos’ stunning After Church, which appeared on the magazine’s cover on April 16, 1949. One of myriad works that sparked bidding wars among collectors, this painting of the Wilton Episcopal Church congregation exiting Easter Sunday services sold for $225,000, more than twice its high estimate.

Leyendecker and his Illustration Art compatriots were certainly in excellent company atop the list of top-performing lots: Rembrandt Peale’s circa-1855 “porthole” portrait of George Washington soared to a final price of $591,000 after several bidders tussled over this historic work. From the collection of American treasures assembled by Portland real estate developer and philanthropist Melvin “Pete” Mark, this was the second-highest price ever paid at auction for a Washington “porthole” (The current record of $662,500 was set by Heritage Auctions in 2013.)




When the Peale painting sold, the auction room burst into applause – for the first but not last time throughout the event that spanned the breadth of American art, from Ashcan to Impressionism, Regionalism to Hudson River, illustration to sculpture.

Indeed, there were cheers, too, for one of the oft-exhibited works in this auction: George Tooker’s Un Ballo in Maschera, a tempera on gessoed board from 1982 that sold for $325,000. Most recently displayed at the Columbus Museum of Art for a Tooker retrospective, this is among the artist’s most reproduced works. But the original now has a new home.

Close behind was Severin Roesen’s 1850 Still Life with Fruit and Flowers in a Landscape, a masterwork from one America’s preeminent early still-life painters, which sold for $300,000.

The auction room again erupted with applause when Sendak’s Let the Wild Rumpus Start! (Happy Birthday Wild Things!), painted in 1988 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Where the Wild Things Are, sold for $212,500. Heritage set the previous Sendak auction record last November, when the original art for an Art Institute of Chicago poster sold for $175,000. But as Lehmann notes, “Everyone loves Sendak, and it’s high time for him to climb to the level of Rockwell.”

Collectors are beginning to eat him up, they love Sendak so.

One of Lehmann’s personal favorites in this auction was Gertrude Abercrombie’s self-portrait Lonely House from 1938, when it was painted for the Illinois Arts Project of the Works Progress Administration. It was made when the artist was 30 years old, and is an honest, cheeky work whose intention is far more than a depiction of the rural “American Scene” requested by the WPA.

It more than doubled its estimate when it sold Tuesday for $175,000.

And only a few moments later, Ernie Barnes’ circa-1979 Pool Hall, among the most recognizable pieces by the pro footballer-turned-painter and a lyrical work of art from the master of movement, realized $131,250.

But even the seemingly smallest moments contained their shares of enormous thrills: Manierre Dawson’s 1913 oil-on-canvas Family opened live bidding at $15,000. But a heated bidding war drove the work to its final price of $137,500, an auction record for the artist. Not long after that Margaret Keane’s 1962 painting The Lookout sold for $47,500, also an auction record for the beloved pop-culture phenomenon adored by Andy Warhol and portrayed by Amy Adams.










Today's News

May 12, 2022

Lucy Lacoste Gallery opens 'Three Sculptors: Warashina, Currier and Lyon'

Artists of color and women soar at Christie's Contemporary sale

Phillips' New York Evening Sale poised to become most successful auction in company history

Guggenheim removes Sackler name over ties to opioid crisis

4.8 million euros for a rediscovered Titian at Dorotheum

ARKEN opens the first major Else Alfelt exhibition in more than 20 years

Christie's Magnificent Jewels totals $ 69,668,694 led by two 200 carat diamonds

Can art help save the insect world?

Janet Borden, Inc. opens a new exhibition of vintage color still lifes by Jan Groover

Architecture exhibition explores futuristic housing visions

£660,000 world record for RAF Victoria Cross

Phillips announces highlights from New York Day Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art

Childhood memories persuade collector to donate 1976 Jaguar to aid Ukrainian humanitarian appeal

"Images of Atheism: The Soviet Assault on Religion" opens at Museum of Russian Icons

Photographic visionary Chuck Kelton opens exhibition at The SPACE Art Gallery

Gregory E. Deavens elected to the Barnes Foundation Board of Trustees

Brunnier Art Museum extends exhibition showcasing intricate sculptures made from discarded glass

Exhibition of new paintings by Jane Allen Nodine on view in Charlotte, NC

A new record for Maurice Sendak's 'Wild Things' raises a rumpus in Heritage's $6 million American Art Auction

Nye & Company to hold Two-Day, Three-Session Auction May 25-26

Gloria Parker, maestra of the musical glasses, dies at 100

Route 32 Auctions announces Country Store & More Auction May 20-21

A sci-fi writer returns to Earth: 'The real story is the one facing us.'

'The Vagrant Trilogy' review: Palestinians in exile, yearning for home

Perks of Using a Weather API

The Best Art Museums in New York

Discover the Art of Mural Advertising

Best online casino: how to find slots and slot machines using rating?

Top Ways to Decrease Stress from Studying

Why Is It So Hard to Study? The Dangers

How to Avoid Depression During Exams: Tips and Strategies for Prevention

Painted Essay: What Is It & Why You May Need It

How to Write a TEXAS Format Essay

The Controversial History of the Slot Machines

The Most Popular Casino Games in The World

Tips to Choosing an Online Casino




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful