Date: Fri 08-May-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: JUDIR

Quick Words:

Jacksons

Full Text:

Records Set At Jacksons

W/2 CUTS

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA -- In 15 electrified and hushed minutes, 11 works of art by

Marvin Cone (1891-1964) and Conger Metcalf (1914-1998) crossed the block at

Jackson's Auctioneers and Appraisers, netting $160,250,000 and setting two new

auction records in the process.

The April 18 auction was at the Brucemore Estate, a Queen Anne mansion used

for local events and also on the National Historic Register. "Because there

were only 11 works offered we wanted to do something unique and different so

we decided to have the auction at Brucemore," said Jackson's president and

CEO, James Jackson. "Additionally we thought the location, Cedar Rapids, was

quite fitting considering both artists were born there," continued Jackson.

There were 40 or so registered bidders on hand and about as many absentee and

phone bidders. The sale began promptly at 6:30 pm with an oil on canvas by

Marvin Cone titled "Blue Stairs." Bidding opened at $30,000 and advanced at

$2,000 increments until the hammer fell at $46,000, thereby setting a new

world auction record for a work by Cone, surpassing the old record by $12,000

which was set the previous year when another of Cone's door paintings was

sold.

Lot #2, a still life by Cone titled "Jug with Melon," quickly passed its

pre-sale estimate of $10/15,000, selling to an in-house bidder for $23,000.

That was followed by another Cone still life which also carried a pre-sale

estimate of $10/15,000 and ended up selling for $23,500. The last Cone to sell

was a simple still life of a Rubber plant, stimulating strong phone activity

and in-house bidding and ending up at $16,000, slightly over the high

estimate.

The seven lots of Metcalfs represented the largest number to be auctioned at

one time and the first offered at auction since his death in February of this

year. In a style more associated with Neo-romanticism than the regionalist

style which surrounded him as a youth, Metcalf developed a strong clientele in

Boston where he taught art at the University, in San Francisco where he

exhibited widely and of course Iowa, his birth state.

The first Metcalf was a 21 by 25 inch oil on paper study of a young girl

reading and done in grisaille. It moved slowly at first but steadily passed

its high estimate finishing at $11,500. Lot #8 was a charming oil on paper

rendering of an Italian street urchin. Titled "Gioradamo" it flew past its

$6/8,000 estimate with the hammer dropping at the record setting price of

$12,000. Two of the last five pieces went to a phone bidder while the others

went in house with prices ranging from $3,250/7,500 a piece.

When asked what he thought accounted for a record-breaking auction, James

Jackson commented, "First, the quality of work offered. Secondly, we have the

clientele. When we first began talks with the consignor, I asked our marketing

department to pull all the names from our database that they thought would be

potential clients. They pulled over 50 names and all but two were registered

for the sale."

The May 23-24 auction will offer what is the most important work by Marvin

Cone ever to be auctioned. For information, 319/277-2256.