Date: Fri 17-Jul-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

Wm-Doyle-Galleries

Full Text:

William Doyle Galleries' Inaugural 20th Century Art And Design Auction

(W/3 Cuts)

NEW YORK CITY -- William Doyle Galleries' June 24 auction was the firm's first

dedicated to modern art and design created over the last 60 years.

Overall strong prices for contemporary art, coupled with the current trend

toward collecting mid-century modern furniture, resulted in a sale total of

$586,462 and a selling rate of 92 percent, with the majority of lots yielding

prices within or above the high estimates.

"I am thrilled with the results of our inaugural Twentieth Century art and

design sale," sid Trudy Rosato, the gallery's contemporary art specialist. "We

have attracted an entirely new group of collectors -- both novice and

seasoned." Private collections that were first assembled during the 1950s and

1960s are now re-entering the marketplace and inspiring such specialized

auctions.

Contemporary paintings were the first offerings. Paddles were raised quickly

and several people were on the telephones for the first of three sought-after

Romare Beardon paintings depicting musicians. Solid demand translated into

premium prices for "Jazz Musicians," which generated $90,500; "Down Home Back

Porch Trio," which outdistanced expectations at $74,000; and "Trumpet Players"

which commanded $39,100. Sold in three consecutive lots, all three Beardon

works were acquired by the same determined private collector on the telephone

from the West Coast.

"Excitement and bidding at all levels continued to prevail for the remainder

of the sale with strong private buyer activity," commented Rosato, who also

acted as auctioneer for the contemporary paintings section of the sale.

Representing some of the major movements in fine art during the Twentieth

Century were the abstract innovations of Albert Gleizes' "Composition with Two

Nudes," which generated $21,850, and Sonia Delauney's dynamic gouache "Projet

Poule grand tableau expose aux realities nouvelles," of 1946, which sold for

$14,950 to a private collector in New York.

Other modern European works attracted the attention of local members of the

trade. Ossip Zadkine's gouache, "The Music Hall," achieved $18,400.

Leading the Pop Art category was Tom Wesselman's "Smoke Banner," which brought

$13,800, and an Op Art work by the Israeli artist Yaacov Agam, which made

$6,900. More recent works from the early 1980s also found favor, such as Keith

Haring's white chalk sketch on black paper, entitled "Subway Drawing," which

yielded $8,050.

A healthy price of $24,150 was realized for George Rickey's 1960s sculpture

"Primavera." The work was fresh to the market from a private collector who

acquired the piece directly from the artist in 1961.

Mid-century modern furniture was distinguished by strong prices for

Scandinavian examples from such masters as Arne Jacobsen and Hans Wegner, who

first trained as a furniture designer within Jacobsen's architectural firm

before establishing his own office in 1943. Jacobsen's most influential

commission was the Scandinavian Airlines System Royal Hotel and Air Terminal

in Copenhagen, built between 1956 and 1960, for which he designed all

furnishings, including the Egg (Aegett) chair (est $6/900), an interpretation

of the traditional wing chair. Competition for two Egg chairs elevated bidding

well beyond three times the pre-sale estimates to reach $3,220 for one with

bright green upholstery and $2,760 for another with electric blue upholstery.

A sum of $3,450 was realized for Wegner's Peacock chair of 1947. This adaption

of the classic Windsor form transcends its source with innovative oval

segments centering the tapered spindles.

A pair of George Nelson painted metal and wood day beds, together with a pair

of Maija Isola design coverlets by Jack Lenor Larsen, attained $7,187. A

leather-upholstered day bed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe made a $6,037 purchase

price, double the pre-sale estimate.

Two carved and laminated wood tables designed by Wendall Castle were

well-received by private collectors. A sum of $6,900 was paid for a low top

table of irregular paddle shape with an undulating bottom support stretcher

from 1980, and $5,750 was achieved for a streamlined walnut occasional table

from 1977.

The diverse offerings also included European glass, ceramicware, metalware and

other unusual decorations, such as Franz Hagenaur's whimsical and life-sized

"Silent Butler" metal sculpture that was acquired for $7,475 by an anonymous

telephone bidder from Hagenauer's native Austria.

All prices quoted reflect the 15 percent buyer's commission. "We are excited

about the tremendous response and are organizing our fall modernism sale,"

commented Eric Silver, the gallery's Twentieth Century decorative arts

specialist. The upcoming auction on Tuesday, November 17, will include Elie

Nadelman's bronze sculpture "Standing Female" (est $160/180,000).