This month’s sales:
With the recent sale at Christie’s Auction House of their prints seemed to go as they predicted. However, there is one sale that I am shocked by. That is the sale of Richard Hamilton’s piece titled Swingeing London III. It went for slightly over the est. price at $74K. However, Hamilton is a fantastic artist. He is not only credited around the world as one of the founders of Pop Art (or according to the Guardian Newspaper when Mr. Hamilton passed away, the Father of Pop art) but also went through and, at least in my mind, gave birth to modern art in Europe after World War II. He brought art back to a part of the world that was devastated by a war that was actually fueled by art and “purifying” the art world. As I watched this work sale, I was surprised that it didn’t come closer to the $100K mark if not exceed it. Whoever was the lucky buyer of this 1972 screen print got one hell of a deal. I feel that even though Pop Art came to the world only a short 65 or so years ago, that work by Mr. Hamilton will for certain increase in price as time moves on. My suggestion, hold on to this work for 20 years at least. By that time, I promise you will see all of your money returned back to you if you choose to sale it plus a possible $20-$30K added on to the final selling price. His work will be seen as a high collector’s item in years to come, if it is continued to be kept in excellent condition.
Next Month’s Sales.
In May, Christie’s is going to have a massive sale. They’re titling it Impressionist and Modern Art, however, from their online catalogue it appears to be mostly impressionistic to surrealism, and it is artwork done by some of the biggest names in those movements, from Dali to Manet, Pissarro to Matisse and Picasso. The each piece in the lot itself is priced on average over a three million in est. sales price with one huge exception. The work by Camille Pissarro titled Vaches s’abreuvant dans un ruisseau, Osny is undervalued. This piece is signed and dated in 1886 by Pissarro himself in the lower left hand corner.
The reason why I see this as undervalued is because Pissarro if a fantastic painter, just as good as Monet, Manet, Degas and other of the Impressionistic movement. With those, what you are buying is the name. With Pissarro, you are buying the work since his name is often overshadowed by before named artist. His work can stem between the Impressionistic to Post Impressionistic movements. His work is simply beautiful. The example of loose brushwork is second to none and the color choice in the painting is gorgeous with bright, almost pastel colors. The subject matter of this painting is a little off from what the norm is for the Impressionists of leaguer instead being a lady with four cows, two of which are drinking from a stream. It is an example of a Realism subject matter painted in Impressionism form.
My personal thoughts are that if the buyer of this piece can get this work under or at the low end of the est. sales price of $500,000 to $700,000 that is a great buy. This work will see its day at the seven figure mark and is a great example of an Impression Masterpiece for anyone’s collection. The only question I have is that Christies has the provenance for this piece dating back to the 1950s when it was bought by the current owner. That can be over looked however since it is signed and dated by the artist, but the history of the piece would be something to look into and to verify the signature on the piece itself. Other than that, the piece is a fantastic one.
This lot is scheduled for auction on May 1st of 2012, auction to start at 7pm, with a sale number of 2554 and lot number 26.
Art and Auction 