~ On June 11, Cowan’s American History Auction was highlighted by a vignette portrait of Abraham Lincoln from a negative originally taken by Mathew Brady, Friday Jan. 8, 1864 (O-87). It was signed “A Lincoln” and had remnants of Brady’s imprint on verso It sold for $38,775. Lincoln said of this particular... [Read more]

On July 11, Sotheby’s will auction J.M.W. Turner’s great masterpiece “Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino,” in its Old Master & British Paintings Evening and Day Sales. The work is estimated at £12 million to £18 million. __________________________ On September 22, Bonhams will hold their first Picasso Editions... [Read more]

~ A 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, one of only four ever made, was sold by Gooding & Company of Santa Monica, California for $30 million to $40 million. Of the two or three of these models that still exist, one is owned by Ralph Lauren. The one sold was owned by the late Dr. Peter Williamson. The buyer and exact amount of the... [Read more]

~ On March 23 at Swann Galleries’ auctioned The Stephen L. White Photograph Collection; the collection had been on exhibit at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum in 2001. From the collection, a half-plate daguerreotype of American statesman Henry Clay attributed to Montgomery P. Simons, circa 1848, sold for $24,000 (including buyer’s... [Read more]

~ An American silver punch bowl by Cornelius Kierstede (ca. 1700-1710) sold for $5.9 million at a sale of Important Americana held Jan. 22 by Sotheby’s in New York. Also, a Chippendale-figured mahogany Bombe slant-front desk made in Marblehead, Mass. (ca. 1770) hammered for $698,500; “The Maxwell Vase,” an American silver... [Read more]

~ Bonhams & Butterfields’ Native American Art Department’s Winter Sale on December 14 yielded $2.3 million from property offered from estates, museums and private collections from across the U.S. and Europe. Grease bowls in use circa 1800 by the Tinglit or Haida from the Berthusen Collection were the top items. A 12-inch... [Read more]

~ Boris Karloff’s costume from 1934’s “The Black Cat” sold for $89,625 at Heritage Auctions’ 20th Century Icons auction November 6-7 in Dallas. Jack Ruby’s hat, which he was wearing when he shot Lee Harvey Oswald, hit $53,775. Also, a John F. Kennedy-signed “Dallas Morning News” hammered at $38,837. At... [Read more]

~ Christie’s First Open-Post-War and Contemporary Art sale in New York on September 23 was highlighted by Andy Warhol’s (1928-1987) “Flowers” which hammered for $1,082,500, including buyer’s premium. The work is synthetic polymer and silkscreen inks on canvas, 22 x 22 inches, and is signed and dated “Andy Warhol 64”... [Read more]

~ The crypt above Marilyn Monroe’s in the Westwood Cemetery in Los Angeles sold on eBay on August 24th for $4,602,100. A total of 21 bids were made on this piece of real estate that comes with a deed. (Fifty-five bids were withdrawn by bidders making mistakes or by eBay for administrative reasons.)  __________________________ ~... [Read more]