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You'll find a reproduction of the above poster on the living room wall of every wannabe hipster in New York City. One-up your friends with the real deal.
Wednesday August 6
Thursday August 7
lot 29: Photos & Clips of "30 Inch" Firefighter Vance Swift, at Clarke
In summer the auction biz lightens up a bit. The big guys offer their "house" sales where they sell less important stock. It's Christie's, Sotheby's and Doyle's version of a stoop sale, if you can get your head around that. The city is empty and there's less competition, so if you drop in a place like Tepper Galleries, the bidding will be less intense and there will be some nice deals.
Collections that don't fit into the traditional categories are popping up. In August, Doyle is offering the contents of safe deposit boxes. And this weekend Clarke (C&C) is auctioning a firehouse collection. It's the massive contents of three 19th century firehouses which had been consolidated into the leaky storage room of a 1970's firehouse. Clarke has moved their usual Monday night auction to Sunday night to accommodate firefighting buffs. The firehouse auctions starts at 4 pm; the regular lots at 6 pm. There's a lot of cool history there – check it out.
The New York Times called this auction "more tag sale than tribute." Heirs tried to block the auction, complaining that although they were given a chance to sort through Brown's possessions, Christie's did not honor their list. Perhaps the auction house was motivated by the commissions they foresaw on his medical bracelet, which went for $32,500, or the $4,800 hair rollers.
Christie's sale 2116 The James Brown Collection
Photo by Michelle V. Agins for The New York Times
Stoop sales are the urban version of garage sales, and Brooklyn is the perfect venue – all those stoops. But finding one is usually a matter of serendipity. There you are, strolling along in your flip flops, and there's a neighbor with a card table loaded with household detritus. Score!
Now, scope out the weekend action using StoopSales.com. It sorts sales by neighborhood, lists times, gives you a preview of what each sales offers, and even locates each sale on a Google map. (Expect to see sales listed approximately mid-week.) If you're on the other side of the card table, submit your sale and alert the world.
lot 43 at Christie's, Jacob Lawrence "Play"
Thursday July 31
Christie's 10 am and 2 pm: Prints and Multiples
Pastel of dog at Richmond Galleries on Staten Island
Tuesday July 22
Saturday July 26
Sunday July 27
Continue reading "New York City Auctions July 21-27, 2008" »
