December 21, 2006
AUCTION GALLERY OF THE PALM BEACHES
Sale December 4, 2006
West Palm Beach, FL
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - The three previous sales at Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, FL produced some eye opening surprises, primarily centered around Oriental art and porcelain. The December sale produced some surprises too for owner Brian Kogan but they were not about Oriental art. They were about Western art and a Palm Beach art gallery consignor.
Just prior to the sale over 160 lots were withdrawn after questions arose about the consignor’s right to sell the items. Preferring to stay on the conservative side Kogan withdrew all the lots related to the consignor until the questions can be resolved. The sale still featured a healthy inventory with over 300 lots on the bill of fare from a variety of estates in the South Florida area and several items from the Albert Peter Thomas Rochelle estate.
Unusual furniture sold surprisingly well in a sale focused on art. A 19 leg bronzed resin over steel dining table base, 103in by 60in, with an oval glass top, the "Stalagmite" table by American Paul Evans, circa 1974, sold over estimate at $5,175 including the fifteen buyer’s premium. An Evans glass top bronzed coffee table reached $4,025 and a four piece collection of coffee tables and end tables, tiled in polished chrome and brass, sold for $2,750, soaring over its $500/700 estimate.
The real excitement of the sale was reserved for three works by Indian born artist Avanash Chandra (1931-1991). He left India for England at age 25 in 1956 and within ten years the BBC had produced a documentary about him, the V&A bought his work and he had became the first Indian painter to have work displayed at the Tate Gallery, London. He moved his studio to New York in 1967 and by the time of his death in 1991 had held thirty two individual shows. When the Chandra works crossed the blocks five phone operators in the Gallery had their hands full with bidders. The first lot was an abstract composition with figures, watercolor on paper, 21 by 28in, signed "Avanash ’60." It sold on the phone to a New York bidder for $7,475. The second lot was a Jamaica landscape, oil on unframed canvas, 22¼ by 50in. Inscribed "Avanash Chandra, London, 1986" it sold over estimate on the phone to a different New York bidder for $19,550. The third lot was the charm. It was an abstract composition, oil on canvas, signed and dated "83" on the lower left. The 35¾ by 47½in unframed work went to the New York buyer of the earlier abstract for a sale high of $43,700, well above the $20,000/$25,000 estimate.
Two Salvador Dali works sold solidly within estimate. The "Grasshopper Child" etching, signed in pencil numbered 65/100, circa 1935, sold on an absentee bid of $9,200 and four color lithographs entitled "Visions Surrealiste" in a purple silk folio case. Each litho was signed in pencil and numbered 125/150. The set sold online for $4,500 including the twenty percent online premium.
A screen print on Perspex, "Untitled-Fragment 2" by Bridget Riley English, b. 1931, signed in pencil, 27 by 26½in, sold on the phone to a bidder in England for $7,475 and an oil on canvas landscape by American Samuel. S. Carr (1837-1908) entitled "Genre Scene with Children and Goat Cart," 12 by 18in in the original gesso cast frame, in need of cleaning and repair, sold for $8,050, more than double the $4,000 high estimate. After many years of storage in a garage in Palm Beach a bronze sculpture by Marius Jean Antonin Mercie. French (1845-1916) saw the light of day. Entitled "Gloria Victis" (Glory to the Defeated), 37in high in good condition it sold within estimate for $14, 950.
On final surprise came very late in the sale. An antique Persian Oushak carpet, 11ft 5in by 14ft 9in, estimated at $4,000/$6,000 brought $11,270 on the phone. There was one small oriental delight after all. A pair of intricately carved white jade plaques with dragon and scroll forms on rosewood stands, 2¾ by 2¼in and 2¼ by 4½in, sold online to bidder in Taiwan for $2,160, well over the $500/$700 estimate.
For more information about this sale or about the upcoming sale in January call (561) 805-7115, email info@agopb.com or visit the website at http://www.agopb.com/.
written by:
Fred & Gail Taylor
800-387-6377
PHOTO CAPTIONS FOR AUCTION GALLERY OF THE PALM BEACHES
Sale DECEMBER 4
Top lot of the sale was this abstract O/C by Avanash Chandra at $43,700.
37in tall bronze by Marius Jean Antonin Mercie. French (1845-1916) reached $14,950. The larger 1874 original bronze is at the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
A large antique Persian Oushak carpet rolled up $11,270.
A three piece Tiffany clock set sold for $9,775.
Salvador Dali’s etching "Grasshopper Child" brought $9,200.
This 19 leg dining table with bronzed resin base under oval glass top by Paul Evans sold in the room at $5,175.
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