OK, so art auctions at Christie's and Sotheby's are pushing records right now. But if you know what you're looking for (or even if you don't) the smaller area auction houses offer value and opportunity. Case in point: Clarke (C&C) Auction Gallery is holding its Fourth Annual Fine Art Auction tonight at 6:00. Lot 264 was first listed as a pen and ink by Oscar Bluemner, then, on Saturday, staff realized they'd got the signature wrong and with a hand-written card, re-labeled the lot correctly, attributing it to Jacques Villon and raising the estimate. A bit later, they realized the card was missing. They looked on the floor, they looked under the table . . . gone. They figure that some sharp buyer wanted the competition to remain in the dark, and helpfully removed the label himself.
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Monday, May 19, 2008
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Hello, Curious story! I've bought this work on Ebay from the American owner last year. He seemed to be an Art dealer. I have no doubt about it's authenticity as a Villon. It's a typical, strong Villon drawing. It seems to be a study for an etching, menthioned in the Ginestet et Pouillon oeuvre catalogue. Kind regards, Rik Wassenaar, The Netherlands
Posted by: Rik Wassenaar | Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 03:27 AM