Here Be Old Things

Diane Arbus suit settled: dealers across the nation shudder

Bayo Ogunsanya's lawsuit against Robert Langmuir has been settled out of court. The story broke yesterday in the Maine Antique Digest. While he is not allowed to give any particulars, Ogunsanya states that he will be allowed a percentage of Langmuir's gross sales when the Arbus photos are sold.

This affair drew a lot of controversy last spring. Langmuir bought an initial set of photos from Ogunsanya, followed his hunch, did some research, discovered that they were early Diane Arbus photos of Hubert's Dime Museum and Flea Market freak show in Times Square, then went back to Ogunsanya to buy the rest of the collection. In a sort of dealer's fantasy trifecta, he put the photos up for auction at Phillips, where estimates ranged up to 120k each, a book was published about the adventure, AND a producer was trying to get a movie made with Phillip Seymour Hoffman playing Langmuir.

Ogunsanya raised a ruckus, protesting that he had been robbed. The Phillips auction was pulled the night before the sale, (either because because of the lawsuit, or because Phillips hesitated over the price of the guarantee based on other Arubs results that week), and, sadly, Hoffman snubbed the movie proposal.

Ogunsanya said "It was a case that [Langmuir] couldn't win, and he probably hurt himself by delaying the settling of it, because of the market. Hopefully, he will be selling them for as much as he can get and soon too. But the economy is what it is."

Yes, the economy is what it is. Most readers who weighed in felt that Ogunsanya had had the same chances as Langmuir to do his research, and that it would send a big chill through the antiques and collectibles world if every lucky dealer who stumbled on a big find had to share gains. Well, feel the chill. Or, if you're on the other side of the deal, feel like a lottery winner. Opinions?

Arbus Suit is Settled [Maine Antique Digest]
Man who sold Arubs photos to another dealer says he was cheated of their true value [Here Be Old Things]

The death of my career marked by Modern Posters auction at Posters Please

I remember when my grandmother used to point out some tchotchke in a store and snort, "that's an antique?" And I'd think, well, of course it is, Grandma.

Last Thursday, a young crowd went crazy over relics of my own recent past. While I and my advertising art-director and copywriter friends scramble for jobs in a dying-industry-meets-dead-economy-end-of-the-world-as-we-know it-Mad-Max (I could go on) scenario, the ads and posters we used to admire in awards annuals brought in prices that pleasantly surprised Posters Please.

The auction was described as offering low-cost but still valuable items. One lot was this Milton Glaser poster . . . that's an antique? Well of course it is, Grandma.

Here Be Old Things inaugurates a page on New York City area auction houses

Check it out: a new button the left that links to a list of auction houses in the New York City metro area. I compiled it from a list the New York Times published in 2007 (wow, time flies). I tried to make sure the businesses were still viable, but if I'm wrong, or if you see any that I've left out, please let me know in the comments section below. Happy auctioning!

Update on dispute over Diane Arbus photos

Many people come to this blog looking for information on Bayo Ogunsanya's case against Robert Langmuir over the Diane Arbus "Hubert's Freaks" photos. As you might remember, Ogunsanya sold the photos to Langmuir, and then claims he was hoodwinked, because Langmuir realized their true value but didn't clue him in. The photos, worth millions, were scheduled for sale at Philip's, but at the last minute, Brooklyn Federal Court blocked the auction.

In October, a motion to dismiss the case was denied. Whille most people who commented felt, basically, "Seller Beware"–that Ogunsanya had no case–the law appears to disagree. If Ogunsanya wins, will it change the way that dealers do business? Read this update from The Art Law Blog.

Toulouse-Lautrec sale and exhibition at the International Poster Center

Who doesn't love Toulouse-Lautrec? Now is your chance to view his rarest work at the International Poster Center in New York City through January 11, 2009. "Toulouse-Lautrec: 100 Prints and Posters" is the largest exhibition and sale of the artist ever assembled.

If you're one of those lucky people with change still rattling around in your pockets, ask them to gift wrap one of Lautrec's famous posters (seemingly ubiquitous, he created only thirty) and bring it home to hang above the tree. Or snag a rare piece of ephemera like this 1896 Christmas card, made for the performer Mary Belfort and one of only five known examples, two of which are in museums. Also on display are working proofs (including one torn in half by the artist and taped back together by his assistants), original drawings, oils, and a ceramic rendering of the star Yvette Guilbert.

The International Poster Center is at 601 W. 26th Street on the 13th Floor. Hours are Monday–Friday 9–5:00; Saturday and Sunday 11–6:00. Closed Christmas and New Year’s Day. 

The auction houses are taking a break from next week to early January. I've got some leads on some new flea market and auction stories, which I'll break after the holidays. Until then, I'm lapsing into a sugar coma, and I hope you are, too. In the words of Toulouse-Lautrec: "Joyeux Noel!"

Tepper Galleries gets all gussied up

Holy shit, they wear suits over at Tepper Galleries?! NO WAY! I've never seen those guys in more than a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, puffing on cigars (maybe I'm exaggerating the cigars, but you get the idea). But it looks like this auction house is trying to go up against the big boys, now. First, there was the new awning. I started getting really nervous when they stapled a color cover on the xeroxed lot list. Now they've taken the Tepper Galleries website upscale, too. Just look at these mugs on the "about us" page.  It pains me to see these steadfast auctioneers in ties, and worse, studio-lighting.

The ten most expensive photographs, ever

Bloomsbury Auctions is launching a photography department. That's a smart move–there's money in photos. Last year, one by Andreas Gursky, 99 Cent II Diptychon (below) sold for $3,346,456 at Sotheby's in London. Here's an interesting, illustrated list of the ten most expensive photographs to date. Mr. Gursky made the list twice.

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.

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]

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]

Collection Liquidators auctions black Americana on the internet

I usually only post stories about New York City auctions one can attend in the real, vs. the virtual, world. But this house came across my attention lately: Collection Liquidators, "the world's premier source of black Americana." Located on Lafayette Street, they hold only absentee auctions. In 2006, Antique Trader spotlighted company owner Allen Liffman, (see the "about us" page) who said that his bidders come from all over the U.S., Europe and even the Far East. The next sale is this Saturday, April 19, 2008.

Many collectors are African American themselves, and regard these items, good or bad, as part of their history and emergence. The recent spat over the Diane Arbus photos started in this world. Before Arbus was identified as the artist, Langmuir and Ogunsanya were interested in the photos of Hubert's Dime Museum and Flea Circus primarily as black Americana collectors.

Collection Liquidators include vintage "Klan Kollectibles" in their sales. The thought of cute-sifying the word "collection" with a "k" to match "Klan" seems really "krazy" to me.

Photo of Carla Bruni-Sarkosy sells for $88,000 over estimate

The estimate was $3–4,000. The hammer price, $91,000. Even Christie's was stumped as to why a photo of Carla Bruni, now Madame Sarkozy, soared so high. In the video below, one German bidder explains that he was trying to buy the photo to give as a present to the French president and his wife, but the price just got out of hand.

The next highest-priced portrait above Bruni's was one of Kate Moss by Richard Avedon. Estimated at $30-40,000, it sold for $97,000.

The consignor, Gert Elfering, offered proceeds from the sale of the Bruni print to a doctor who runs hospitals in Cambodia, but Dr. Beat Richner refused the money. "My decision was taken out of respect for our patients and their mothers," he said. "Accepting money obtained from exploitation of the female body would be perceived as an insult".

OK, but did he really have to tell anyone where the money came from? That's what I'd be asking if I were on his board, but hey. Now, a Swiss research institute working on turning used water into fresh drinking water in poor countries will receive the money.

p.s. In the video below, note how many times they pan the camera up Bruni's body. Hmm.

Carla Bruni nude proceeds snubbed by hospital [Telegraph.co.uk]

Christie's to auction nude photo of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (yawn)

If you work in the marketing department at Christie's and there are some photography sales on the calendar, how do you beat the publicity surrounding Phillip's upcoming Diane Arbus auction?

Piss off the first lady of France, perhaps?

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!

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."

“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]

Clarke Auction Gallery: deals on estate furniture and mid-century modern

Clarke (C&C) Auction Gallery
20 North Avenue in Larchmont
(914) 833-8336

Bidders rest on one of the lots at Clarke.

New York City is almost cursed with a number of big name auction houses. Christie's, Sotheby's, Doyle . . . where's the fun of going to an auction if you have to worry about wearing the right designer shoes?

Luckily, there are still some "real world" auction houses in the area. Clarke Auction Gallery is one of these. Comfortable and unassuming, patronized by dealers looking for inventory, interior designers shopping for clients, and apartment self-decorators fleeing Pottery Barn, Clarke has some great finds.

Sotheby's rocks with Bono and (Auction) Red

Rock star Bono is hosting (Auction) Red at Sotheby's this Valentine's Day to benefit the charity.

If you're eager to bid against the likes of Michael Stipe, Moby, Josh Hartnett, Ed Burns, Dennis Hopper and Christy Turlington, don't hurry to register for a paddle. The audience of 700 is invite only.

(Red) benefits AIDS patients in Africa. A percentage of the sale of consumer products bearing the (Red) label goes to buy the two pills a day necessary to keep patients alive. Bono convinced Damien Hirst to petition many of the art world's top contemporary artists–Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Chuck Close and more–to donate pieces to the auction, the entire proceeds of which will benefit the charity. Many of the pieces were created specifically for the auction, and are donated directly by the artists.

It's refreshing to hear about an auction where the proceeds will go to real good. But the original sales estimate of $40 million has dropped recently to $21–29 million based on recession fears. Pump up the music, Bono! Shake those wallets, people!

Shelley's Art History Blog [About.com]
Sotheby's Cuts Estimate for Hirst, Bono-Backed Auction by 28% [Bloomberg.com]

Bloomsbury Auctions: rare book auctions, now in New York

Bloomsbury Auctions
6 West 48th Street
212.719.1000

All my old friends!

That was my first thought when the elevator doors opened and I stepped into Bloomsbury Auctions. Two Shepherd pen and ink originals of Christopher Robin were framed and hanging on the wall, "Now We are Six" illustrations I remember from my childhood. I grabbed a catalogue and briefly considered the estimates (could I? should I?) before moving on to the Sendak art. The name of the auction was appropriate: Memories of Childhood. It all came flooding back.

Magna Carta up for sale in a one lot auction at Sotheby's

Perot Foundation

"Sure, but what is he selling, the Magna Carta?"

That was the reaction of James Zemaitis, director of Sotheby’s 20th-century design department, when asked to give up a room that he had reserved for a pre-auction exhibition of his own.

Well, yes, it IS the Magna Carta.  Out of seventeen surviving copies, it's the only one in private hands–Ross Perot's–and it's the one and only lot up for auction on December 18th, 7:00 pm at Sotheby's. It is estimated at 20 to 30 million dollars.

Sotheby's vice chairman David Redden says of it, ""It is absolutely correct to say the Magna Carta is the birth certificate of freedom. It states the bedrock principle that no person is above the law — that is the essence of it."

Your chances to preview probably the most important document in the world are:

• 11 Tues 10:00–5:00
• 12 Wed 10:00–5:00
• 13 Thurs 10:00–5:00
• 14 Fri 10:00–5:00
• 15 Sat 10:00–5:00
• 16 Sun 1:00–5:00
• 17 Mon 10:00–5:00
• 18 Tues 10:00–5:00

But ... one lot ... won't that be embarrassing if it doesn't sell? Other high-profile and highly-publicized lots have failed to draw bids in the last few weeks. I think I'm going to tune in for the webcast, and bite my nails.

Magna Carta is Going on the Auction Block [NYT]
Magna Carta copy to fetch fortune at auction [MSNBC]
Sotheby's to auction Magna Carta [Daily News]

Clarke Auction Gallery in Larchmont

Susan Farley, New York Times

I've been planing to take the train up to Larchmont and check out the monthly C&C Auction. But The New York Times beat me to it. Here's a link to the story they published last week.

According to The Times:

Clarke’s is a retro kind of auction house, low key and quirky and about as different from Sotheby’s as it is possible to be.

“They’re low on the food chain,” said Leon Castner, who, since selling his own auction house, teaches courses in antique appraisal. “What they sell is going to be turned over three or four times.”

In other words, Mr. Castner says, much of the merchandise at Clarke’s consists of “virgin items” — estate furnishings that haven’t been resold before (or recently) and whose value may be unclear. These goods are at the beginning of the process by which one person’s old chair, for instance, eventually becomes another’s fabulous find.

Junk, some might say. Or, just as easily, undiscovered treasure.

You can preview some of the lots on line. Live previews are Saturday, Sunday, and on Mondays, the day of the sale, from noon until the auction starts. For we New Yorkers who don't own a car, Larchmont is a half hour away by train, and the gallery is a short walk from the station.

The Times also published a list of auction houses in the suburban New York City region. Check it out.

1 million-dollar painting found in trash sells for 1 million. Other heavily-promoted items, not so lucky.

"Tres Personajes," the Rufino Tamayo painting found put out with the trash on a New York City sidewalk, sold yesterday for a little over one million dollars. It exceeded by a small margin Sotheby's high estimate.

But in the past few weeks, other highly-touted items have not sold.

Attend a Sotheby's or Christie's webcast

I'm at the Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Day Sale right now.

No, I'm not clacking away on my laptop in the back row. I'm sitting in my apartment watching the auction on my computer monitor.

Sotheby's and Christie's have started to broadcast their auctions live over the internet. I imagine this feature is mostly for the convenience of remote customers. There isn't much to see, since the unmoving camera is trained on the auctioneer. I wish that Sotheby's had hired a camera man to sweep the audience and train in on the actual bidders. I want to witness on each face the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, or the steely lack thereof.

The auctioneer is standing to the left of a large grey revolving wall that swings around to present each piece of art. Last night at the Evening Sale the art was easier to see; this morning a spot light is positioned badly, producing a glare that wipes out any view of the paintings. Nice frames, though.

Willamette Meteorite fails to sell. Blame bad karma.

Don't mess with the Clackamas Indians. They think the Willamette Meteorite was sent to them by the Sky People and, as a sacred object, it shouldn't be bought and sold, and guess what? The rock couldn't find a buyer at Bonham's this Sunday. The hair on my neck is standing on end.

Nobody was tempted by a slice off the top of this famous space rock.

For the return of a $1 mil painting, a 1.5% thanks?

There were some funny comments yesterday on Boing Boing regarding the 15k reward Elizabeth Gibson received after finding a stolen painting on the street and returning it to its owner.

They reflect my feelings on the matter: someone finds your 1 million dollar painting, and you throw them 15k? A 1.5% tip? (Of course the painting hasn't realized its auction estimate yet.) Gibson put a lot of effort into tracking the provenance of something she found left out for the trash, doggedly pursuing the matter even when a former auction house employee told her the painting wasn't worth anything. She even went down to Baltimore to watch a rebroadcast of the Antiques Roadshow segment "Missing Masterpieces" just to make sure she really did have "Tres Personajes" in her possession.

On your way to Christie's, try some dumpster diving

photo: Mike Sheehan

His neighbor's trash! That's where a trailer-park resident discovered a rare Arts & Crafts chair made by Charles Rolhfs. Did he understand what he'd found? Well enough, apparently, to have it appraised. The appraisal was $30,000 but last week at Cottone Auctions in Geneseo, NY, the hotly contested chair sold for $198,000. Someone's singing "Movin' On Up" in the trailer park tonight.

But since this is a blog about finding antiques in New York City, why do we care? Because we're surrounded by the same opportunities.

Chelsea Antiques Garage on Death Watch?

UPDATE: In 2014 The Chelsea Garage did in fact close. Read about it at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York. My story below is from 2009:

Here Be Old Things is about where to find antiques and collectibles in New York City. But as I research this site, I keep coming up against this realization: there USED to be a lot of great places, but they're vanishing, fast.

The Soho Flea Market disappeared under the Soho Grand Hotel. The Chelsea Flea Market was hit by a luxury high-rise, with a large chunk landing in Hell's Kitchen and a smaller piece over on 17th Street and 6th Ave. There are buildings on 25th street that I remember as warrens of little shops and stalls worthy of an entire Saturday afternoon's browsing, but the excitement lives only in my memory, because the vendors were sent packing years ago.

Now, it appears, the same fate awaits the Chelsea Antiques Garage. The building has been Extell Development for $42.7 million. The blogger Jeremiah at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York spoke to a dealer who "got it straight from the owner" that 2008 will be the market's last year.

Oh, say it ain't so ...

Clothing of the rich and famous on auction in NYC

Tomorrow, October 2, outfits belong to the late Nan Kempner will go on auction as part of Christie's House Sale. And in November, in a Sotheby's sale, Calvin and Kelly Klein are divesting themselves of jewelry once in possession of the Duchess of Windsor.

Is the allure the object or the owner? Obviously, in the case of the famous Jackie O auction, the latter. For the Kempner sale, "We've set estimates considering the condition, the collector, as well as the date and the style of the items," says Laura Layfer, couture specialist in the house sales department at Christie's. I'm kind of a Banana Republic girl myself, but a quick look at the catalogue leads me to believe that this Bill Blass and Calvin Klein get up for $3–500 might be a deal.