Norman Rockwell: “After the Prom”
Norman Rockwell: “The Rookie (Red Sox Locker Room)”
Rockwell highlights American Art auctions, May 2014 Norman Rockwell was the star at the auctions of American Art at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, May 2014. His ‘The Rookie (Red Sox Locker Room)’ sold for $22,6 million at Christie’s, and ‘After the Prom’ fetched $9,1 million at Sotheby’s.]]>
May 23, 2014, source: Christie’s / Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s auction – New York, 21 May 2014
Sotheby’s sale of American Art achieved $45,9 million, and it was led by Norman Rockwell‘s ‘After the Prom’, which sold for $9,125,000. The work was last acquired at Sotheby’s New York in 1995 for $880,000. In total, ten works by Norman Rockwell totaled $20 million, meeting their combined pre-sale high estimate. ‘Boys and Girls First Aid Week’ sold for $2,965,000 (doubling its high estimate) and ‘Willie Gillis in Convoy’ brought $2,285,000, benefiting Gardner High School in Gardner, Massachusetts.
Milton Avery’s colorful ‘March and Sally Outdoors’, which has never been exhibited in public or published in scholarship on the artist, set a new auction record for the artist, selling for $5,653,000, in excess of its $3 million high estimate. Georgia O’Keeffe’s ‘Lake George Barn’ -a calm, intimate painting that resembles many works by Hopper- fetched $2,965,000. And talking about Edward Hopper, his beautiful watercolor ‘House on the shore” realized $1,1 million, doubling its high estimate.
Easily the most beautiful work at the auction, Albert Bierstadt‘s ‘Yosemite Valley’ is quite small (15 by 21 inches / 38.1 by 53.3 cm), but it possesses all the grandeur of the finest Bierstadts. Conservatively estimated at $1-1,5 million, it fetched $2,517,000.
Christie’s auction – New York, 22 May 2014
Christie’s sale of American Art achieved $64 million, highlighted by Norman Rockwell‘s ‘The Rookie (Red Sox Locker Room)’, which realized $22,6 million (pre-sale estimate of $20-30 million). The work, which has never been offered at auction, was painted in 1957 for ‘The Saturday Evening Post’ and has remained in the same private collection for nearly thirty years.
The second star of the auction was Thomas Moran‘s majestic ‘The Grand Canyon of the Colorado’, which sold for $12,5 million, surpassing its pre-sale estimate of $8-12 million. Christie’s catalogue stated that “Moran’s landscapes, particularly those of the Grand Canyon, a landscape so inextricably linked with American’s national heritage, are treasures in our cultural history“.
Stuart Davis‘s ‘Anchors’ realized $1,8 million, and ‘Coast Guard Boat’, a quite simple watercolor by Edward Hopper, fetched $1,75 million. Two works by Milton Avery (‘Siesta’ and ‘The Mandolin Player’) were sold in the region of $1,5 million each. The disappointment of the auction was Andrew Wyeth‘s ‘My Mother’s Birthplace’, an excellent urban view that is as good as many works by Hopper. Estimated at $2-3 million, it failed to sell.
Related content
Norman Rockwell’s ‘Saying Grace’ sells for $46 million at Sotheby’s (November 2013)
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