Here Be Old Things

Antiques sale at Golden Oldies: 50% of wholesale, woo-hoo!

Golden Oldies in Queens calls itself the world's largest antique store. But this weekend they aim to cut their inventory by half. Starting today, everything in one huge warehouse will be on sale at half off the regular wholesale prices. Let me repeat: 50% off wholesale–a deal every New Yorker can love. Golden Oldies has sold antique furniture and accessories to dealers, set designers and decorators for over 30 years. Now it's your turn (cash and checks only). Above is a selection of armoires from their website. I've not seen this place but it sounds great, so if anyone goes, please report back.

New York City Auctions: June 2–8, 2008

lot 35 a resting sheep, Dutch School 18th Century; Christie's Interiors

Things are Shakering at the Bard Graduate Center

The Bard Graduate Center always has something interesting going on. On Saturday the 31st, as part of their exhibition Out of This World: Shaker Design Past, Present, and Future, you can stop by and watch the making of a Shaker oval box.  Other events include a talk on the 29th called The Shaker Legacy: A Personal Prespective; and on June 6th there's a lecture and tour called Visions Made Tangible: Shaker Gift Drawings.

The whole "make a box" thing seems so not New York, so . . . I don't know . . . gentle.

But is it? “This exhibition is designed to shock people visually and intellectually and challenge preconceptions about Shaker design after 1820,” said show-organizer Jean M. Burks, the senior curator at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont. “The Shakers were not as simple as people think.” So now, with my suspicious New Yorker's mind, I have to wonder . . . what was in those boxes, anyways?

‘Tis a Gift to Be Complex [New York Times]

Bluemner? Villon? Someone out there wishes for Clarke Auction Gallery to get it wrong (sorry, pal)

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.

New York City Auctions: May 26–June 1

Wednesday May 28

• Christie's 6:30: Latin American Sale Evening Session

Thursday May 29

• Christie's 10:00: Latin American Sale Day Session
• Sotheby's 7:00: Latin American Art

Friday May 30

• Sotheby's 10:00: Latin American Art

Saturday May 31

• Tepper Galleries 10:00: Fine and Decorative Arts Estates Auction

Time Out New York one-ups Here Be Old Things with idea for flea market walk

Humpf. I thought I was the flea market maven, but I guess I haven't earned my stripes yet. Ashlea Halpern of Time Out created flea markets walk that takes you from The Annex/Hell's Kitchen Flea Market, swings by The Antiques Garage and other smaller markets, including the Goodwill, and ends up at Union Square. Along the way are suggestions for some stores to pop into, where to grab a bite, even where to fill your Starbucks jones. I get exhausted by trolling just ONE market, but if you're got enough energy for sun-up to sun-down thrifting, go for it.

The Brimfield Antiques Show: ready for a road trip?

It started on Wednesday so who knows? Maybe all the good stuff is already gone! But it's just Thursday, so look around, see if you can rent a Zipcar, and hit the road going north. The Brimfield Antiques Show, "ground zero for the entire trade" according to the Antiques Trader, is happening all weekend. Big? Look at this map below. All those little stars are seperate antiques shows with multiple dealers. One of my favorite memories is driving up and staying at a B&B, walking all day through the market, and then swimming that evening in a Massachussets lake. It might be a little early for a swim, and a little late to book a B&B, but luckily for us all, Brimfield is held three times a year.

New York City Auctions: May 19–25, 2008

Lot 2196 Untitled (Gold Shoe), Andy Warhol, at Doyle Modern and Contemporary Art

On Mother's Day, a thanks to those who stoked our interest (and tortured us a bit, too).

Where did you get your love of antiquing? From Mom? I guess I could run this post on Father's Day and ask the same questions, but the staff's ode to mothers on the Antique Trader Blog made me want to thank my own.

But first I have to curse her. Why? In the town where I grew up there was a shop called Althea's Antiques that for years I begged to go into. It sat back from the road, shabby and rambling, and I just KNEW it was full of treasures. But Mom wasn't into old stuff. It depressed her. So for years, despite my pleas, she just drove right by.

Coming up this weekend: Spring International Postcard Show

Who knew? Manhattan has a vintage postcard club. I always say that's the great thing about New York City: whatever you're into, there's a like-minded group you can join. Check out the site of the Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City–it's informative and those postcards sure are pretty. The club is hosting the Spring International Postcard Show this weekend at the Hotel New Yorker (34th st. at 8th Ave). It's Friday 12-7:30, Saturday 10-6, and Sunday 11-4:30. Admission is $7-10.

Also up, the The International Fine Art Fair. Check shows and fairs for details.

Christie's Impressionists sale suggests the market is crashing. Or maybe not.

Fears that the weakening U.S. economy would affect the art auction market were either confirmed or denied by the 41.1 million dollar sale of Claude Monet's "Le Pont du chemin de fer a Argenteuil" yesterday.

The New York Times gave the sale an upbeat twist:

Fears that the Christie’s sale of Impressionist and modern art would usher in a market meltdown were assuaged early Tuesday evening when everything from a Monet landscape to a monumental sculpture by Rodin brought record prices.

But the sale also had its bumps, as 14 out of 58 works failed to sell because they were considered either too expensive or second-rate examples by first-rate artists. . . . Yet the weak dollar made prices seem cheap to Europeans, who accounted for 52 percent of the buyers, officials at Christie’s said. Americans lagged behind, making only 32 percent of the purchases, far less than in past sales. “Russian buying was significant,” Edward Dolman, Christie’s chief executive, said after the sale.

But other stories, including Bloomberg, were more pessimistic:

Monet and Rodin failed to prevent Christie's International from missing its low estimate for an evening impressionist and modern art auction for the first time in four years. . . . The result suggests that at least $318 billion of credit losses and writedowns at banks, a slump in the U.S. currency and a dip in global equity markets may have slowed the international art market.

Monet and Rodin Set Price Records at Christie’s [New York Times]
Record Monet Fails to Stem Dip in Christie's Impressionist Sale [Bloomberg]

high/low auction prices: Christie's Impressionist Sale

A Monet sold for over 4 million, but many lots failed to reach their reserve; Europeans, including many Russians, spirited prizes away, continuing to enjoy the cheap candy store New York City has become recently.

Christie's Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale

• hi $41,481,000: lot 21 Claude Monet, Le pont du chemin de fer à Argenteuil
• lo $481,000: lot 57 Edouard Vuillard, Géraniums et boules-de-neige

prices include buyer's premium

New York City Auctions: May 12–18, 2008

Lot 528 Unusual replacement head from Papua New Guinea; Bonhams Fine African and Oceanic Art

Coming up this weekend: British art pottery exhibition

Just ran across this one in the New York Times: Pascoe & Company, who appear to specialize in Moorcraft Pottery, is holding a New York Collectors Weekend at the Omni Berkshire Hotel, 21 East 52nd Street. The advertisement in the Times bills it as a British Art Pottery Exhibition and Sale, including artist demonstrations, master classes, and lectures by a UK historian. It starts today, 5–7 pm, and continues Saturday, 10–5, and Sunday, 10–4. Admission is free.

Rare posters on auction this weekend at the International Poster Center

An Alphonse Mucha poster of Sarah Bernhardt could bring $25–30,000 in a Poster Auctions International event this weekend in New York City. There's also a poster for a 1929 Mickey Mouse film ($15,000 to $20,000); a nine-foot-high 1926 billboard advertising the dancers Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, ($12,000 to $15,000); and a poster for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show.

Many posters will sell for much less: you could walk away with something great for around $5,000. I want this Ludwig Hohlwein poster, estimated at $1,200. Cheap! Any one listening?

Not the Poster to Nail Up Over a Crack in the Plaster [New York Times]