Norman Rockwell
Saying Grace
Cover illustration for the Saturday Evening Post, November 24, 1951
Estimate $15/20 million
Sold for $46,085,000
World auction record for the artist
Norman Rockwell’s ‘Saying Grace’ sells for $46 million Sotheby’s American Art auction on 4 December 2013 concluded with an exceptional total of $83,915,500. Norman Rockwell’s masterpiece ‘Saying Grace’ set a new record for any work sold in an American Art auction, achieving $46,085,000.]]>
December 5th, 2013, source: Sotheby’s
The centerpiece of the auction was a selection of seven paintings by Norman Rockwell from the family of Kenneth J. Stuart,Sr. – the artist’s longtime friend and art editor at The Saturday Evening Post – all of which sold for a stunning total of $59,663,000.The group was led by Rockwell’s masterpiece ‘Saying Grace’, which nearly tripled the previous auction record for the artist, soaring past its $20 million high estimate. The painting was sought after by two determined phone bidders who competed for more than 9 minutes.
Originally painted for the Thanksgiving issue of the Saturday Evening Post in 1951, Rockwell’s “Saying Grace” was named his most popular cover just four years later in a reader poll that coincided with an exhibition of his work at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. Many of the artist’s favorite models are depicted: his son Jarvis is seated at the table with his back to the window, next to Don Winslow, his studio apprentice at the time.
Additional highlights of the Stuart Family Collectionincluded “The Gossips”, which fetched $8,453,000 (est. $6/9 million) and “Walking to Church”, whichbrought $3,245,000 (est. $3/5 million).
Property from an Important American Collection brought exceptional results for both 19thcentury paintings and American Modernism, led by Albert Bierstadt’s “Lake in the SierraNevada” from 1867 that fetched $2,105,000 (est. $1.5/2.5 million) and Arthur Dove’s “Latticeand Awning”‘ from 1941 that brought $1,685,000 (est. $1.2/1.8 million) – a new world auctionrecord for the artist.
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