Here Be Old Things

Robert Langmuir is appearing at the Strand Bookstore the day before auction of Diane Arbus photos

Two weeks ago I wrote about the controversy surrounding Diane Arbus photos being auctioned at Phillip's next week. Bayo Ogunsanya has asked Brooklyn Federal Court to block the auction, saying that Robert Langmuir, the dealer who bought the photos from him, cheated him of their true value. Most dealers who commented on that post said, in effect, "tough luck." One lone voice suggested Langmuir should end the court wrangling by slipping Ogunsanya a bonus.

Phillips auctions the Arbus photos on April 8th, and each is estimated in the hundreds of thousands. Ask Langmuir which island he intends to buy when he appears at the Strand Bookstore next Monday, April 7, at 7:00 pm. He will be appearing with Gregory Gibson, author of "Hubert's Freaks: The Rare-Book Dealer, the Times Square Talker, and the Lost Photos of Diane Arbus," which is the story of Langmuir's life and his "discovery of a lifetime," the Arbus trove.

Langmuir, a Philidelphia dealer of African-Americana, books and ephermera, has led a colorful, sometimes sad and chaotic life. The New York Times tells his story best: Genuine Wonders from the Flea Circus: Photos by Arbus. If he really does sell on eBay under the name that one commenter divulged, he's still at it . . . give it up man! Go enjoy your new island!

New York City auctions: April 7–13, 2008

Lot 16 at Phillip's: Hubert's Museum Work 1958-1963 by Diane Arbus

 

I.M. Chait's Natural History Auction: waaaaay more fun than New York City's Natural History Museum

No long lines of tourists, no mobs of kids on field trips–just you, nose-to-nose with the skull of a unicorn dinosaur, a cousin of the Triceratops. That's one pleasure of a natural history auction.

I.M. Chait, a family-owned business from Beverly Hills, was in Manhattan this month to present their second annual Natural History Auction. Greg Barton of Manhattan was there on lower 5th Avenue to pick up two pairs of positive/negative fossil fish for his six-year-old son, "who of course wants to be a paleontologist." Father and son had attended last year's preview, because "it's more intimate than the Natural History Museum."

high/low auction prices: Asian Art Week 2008

There were fifteen auctions in town for Asian Art Week in New York City. Here are results from four.

Bonhams Fine Japanese Works of Art

• hi: $35,000 lot 5241 a fine patinated bronze jardiniere with gold accents By Miyao (the workshop of Miyao Eisuke of Yokohama), Meiji Period
• lo: $300 lot 5235 two pairs of menuki Edo Period, 17th/18th Century

Christie's Japanese And Korean Art

• hi: $825,000 lot 451 Kim Whanki Untitled oil on canvas, white porcelain jar and plum tree
• lo: $313 lot 99 Tsunetomi Kitano "Meido no hikyaku no Umekawa"
• details from lots pictured above

I.M. Chait Important Chinese Ceramics & Asian Works of Art

• hi: $225,000 lot 216 Xuande porcelain water sprinkler
• lo: $400 lots 7 & 13, antique wood netsuke

Sotheby's Indian Art

• hi: $409,000 lot 13 Maqbul Fida Husain, Untitled oil on canvas
• lo: $5,000 lot 44 Sakti Burman, Untitled ink and watercolor

Bonhams', Christie's, and Sotheby's prices include buyer's premium; I.M. Chait's do not.

Foreign auction lust: Hallands Auktionsverk in Sweden

If I am ever able to decorate my apartment exactly as I would like to, I plan to shop for all the furniture at Hallands Auktionsverk. Not sure how I'm going to ship it back to New York. (This whole fantasy includes winning the lottery.) Hallands is in the town of Halmstad on the west coast of Sweden, about two hours outside of Copenhagen in Denmark. Click "auktioner" on the left, and their list of auctions come up. Hit the "katalog" icon, pull down "alla" and let the thumbnails load. There's tons of pretty estate furniture–hello, Carl Larsson–art, lighting, and smalls. (Container share, anyone?) No English language options here, but if you want it, you'll figure it out.

New York City auctions: March 31–April 6, 2008

Lot 3 Aristotle, composite manuscript on vellum, containing:  PORPHYRY at Bloomsbury

The Pier Antiques Show: New York City must-go event gets even better

With cherished memories of past Stella Show Management's two-weekend, Triple Pier Antiques Show, I arrived at Pier 94 Sunday sure that the one weekend, one pier show spelled the end of the antiques trade. I was wrong. The March 15–16 Pier Antiques Show was as good as, if not better than, previous shows.

New York City Auctions March 24–30

Lot 2 Karim Rashid, Prototype "Infinity" Carpet at Sotheby's 20th Century Design Auction

Tonight: documentary about collectors of old photographs features the Chelsea Flea Market

Other People’s Photos by Lorca Sheppard and Cabot Philbrick
7:30pm at The City Reliquary
370 Metropolitan Avenue (at Havemeyer St), Williamsburg
L train to Metropolitan / G Train to Lorimer

Some of us are hustling for overlooked and underpriced Diane Arbus photos we can consign to auction for thousands of dollars. Others, apparently, sift through old photos at the Chelsea Flea for philosophical needs:

Other People’s Pictures is a documentary about collectors who share an unlikely obsession – snapshots that have been abandoned or lost by their original owners and are now for sale. The film is set at New York City’s Chelsea Flea Market where, every weekend, dozens of collectors sift doggedly through piles, boxes and bins of cast-off photos, ready to pay anywhere from a few cents to hundreds of dollars for a single snapshot. Many of the film’s subjects find that collecting ‘other people’s pictures’ helps them confront the darker aspects of human existence – familial trauma, social injustice, historical atrocity. Others simply appreciate the beauty, humor and mystery of these scavenged images.

OK, but what about a Diane Arbus photo of puppies? How cool would finding something like that be?

Coming up this weekend: The Pier Show inaugurates a pink tag sale

Ah, the good old days, when Stella Show Management's Pier Antiques Show was the TRIPLE Pier Antiques Show. Things were so hopping, the show was held on two weekends in a row. Two weekends, three piers–hey, that's six piers, really.

Well, it's smaller now. One weekend, one pier (Pier 94). This year they're trying a pink tag sale, where dealers will hang a pink tag on items cheaper than $300. I'll be curious to see how this plays out. I can imagine that in a booth with very high-priced items, one or two tagged items might lure in the faint-hearted. But what about a booth with a number of collectibles priced under $300. Will it look silly? Desperate? Or merely affordable? 

Also up this weekend, in time for Asian Arts Week, the International Asian Art Fair at the Park Avenue Armory. Check the Shows+Fairs page for details.

Man who sold Arbus photos to another dealer says he was cheated of their true value

Lot 11 Charlie Lucas with sword box, Hubert’s Museum, NYC, 1959 by Diane Arbus

Bayo Ogunsanya has asked Brooklyn Federal Court to block an auction of Diane Arbus photos at Phillips de Pury next month. Ogunsanya sold the photos for $3,500 to  Robert Langmuir but was alerted to their true value by an article about their exhibit in the New York Times. He now complains that he was scammed.

"He was morally bound to give me a fair price especially since he had more knowledge [about the photos] than I did," Ogunsanya said.

Hear that? It's the sound of dealers across the land gasping. Buying low from the unsuspecting and chuckling all the way to the bank–that's the job description!

Ogunsanya, who collects African-Americana, bought a trunk full of the unclaimed photos from a Bronx storage facility in 2002, and now says he feels victimized. He claims Langmuir promised to give him more money if the photos turned out to be "worth more than you and I think they are."

They are a worth a whole lot more than $3,500. Picturing Hubert's Dime Museum and Flea Circus in Times Square in the 50s, the photos can be previewed on the Phillips de Pury website. There are 28 lots ranging in estimated price from 20,000–120,000. The photo above is estimated at 70,000-90,000.

While some may protest that Ogunsanya should have done his homework, I think most of us have experienced the sick feeling of realizing too late the value of a piece we've sold too cheaply. Imagine your worst mistake. Now add a few zeros and a really sweet retirement to the total . . . that hurts.

Dealer 'lost out' on lost Diane Arbus art [Daily News]
NYC man says he was conned into selling Arbus photos cheap [newsday.com]
Art Collector Feels "Victimized" After Selling Arbus Photos [Artinfo]

New York City Auctions March 17–23

Lot 5001 Hiroshi Yoshida "Numazaki Pasture" at Bonhams

Next week is Asian Art Week, with thirteen auctions around the city focusing on Chinese, Japanese, and Indian art. Don't forget IM Chait's Natural History Auction on the 21st.

Art theives: only cool and smart in the movies, part 2

Jason Beltrez: DeCrescenzo/News

A few weeks ago I posted a story about a Warhol Dollar Sign stolen from the Martin Lawrence Gallery in 1998. Christie's remarked that when Jason Beltrez tried to consign it, he didn't seem like a typical Warhol consignor, and I wondered exactly what your typical Warhol consignor looks like.

Then I found the photo above. I guess your typical Warhol consignor does not live in Windsor Terrace and wear Old Navy sweatshirts. Other negatives: Mr. Beltrez has suffered some personal losses that pushed him into drug abuse (he's now in rehab), is unemployed and has a criminal record. But on the plus side he is a homeowner and the father of three. And, apparently, a poodle lover.

Mr. Beltrez says that he bought the painting for $180 at a flea market outside the Holland Tunnel. He has hired a lawyer and is standing his ground, saying he's an honest man who lucked out and, in effect, finders keepers, losers weepers. "If I knew it was stolen, would I go to Christie's?" he asked.

Good point. On the other hand, art thieves are often "simply not the sharpest grappling hooks in the toolbag." Mr. Beltrez used to live on Broome Street, just blocks from the gallery from which the painting was stolen, which he himself admits seems fishy.

But the strangest part of the story is that he says he didn't realize what he had until a friend asked, of the dollar sign hanging on his wall, if it was painted by "that Campbell soup guy." Can you live in SoHo in the '90s and not know a Warhol when you see it?

A Warhol Surfaces and Is Headed for Court [New York Times]
SoHo gallery sues unemployed Brooklyn man, Christie's over Warhol painting [Daily News]

“Look what I'm leaving you in my will!” (Loud shreiks of horror.)

Some kids inherit grandma’s pearl necklace. Last March at the IM Chait Gallery's Natural History Auction in New York, Anders Karlsson, a gallery owner in Santa Monica, California, seemed confident that this Egyptian mummy’s hand would become a family heirloom. For the pleasure of freaking out his heirs, he paid $4,500. (I somehow wonder whether his kids would prefer the cash.)

Beverly Hills-based IM Chait will be holding two auctions in New York this March: Important Chinese Ceramics & Asian Works of Art on the 21st, and the next day, their second annual Natural History Auction. IM Chait's New York location is 267 Fifth Avenue at 29th Street, 11th floor. Previews are March 17–20, 10 am to 6 pm.

There's a giant gold nugget, a dinosaur skull, a mammoth tusk, fossils and meteorites . . . but sadly, this year no mummy hands. Even if you're not in the market for grisly family heirlooms, it should make fun browsing.

What’s been left to you that are you not looking forward to inheriting? Anyone?

And to the Winners Go the Dinosaur Skull and the Mummified Hand [New York Times, 2007 auction]

New York City Auctions: March 10–16, 2008

Hank Ketcham autograph at Swann Galleries.

Estate auctions at Clarke and Tepper, Stamps and autographs at Cherrystone and Swann, and vino, vino, vino at Christie's and Sotheby's.