Scott Cantrell
The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — Expected to bring bids in excess of $1 million, a circa 1700 painting owned by a Dallas family failed to sell Thursday, possibly a victim of the economic downturn. The Vision of St. Bruno by Italian artist Sebastiano Ricci was part of a morning auction at Heritage Auction Galleries' Slocum Street annex.

The last time an important painting by Ricci went on sale, it drew $2.4 million. And there was particular interest in his portrayal of the 11th-century founder of the Carthusian monastic order because it was long thought lost.

In fact, the painting belonged to several generations of descendants from St. Louis attorney Charles Rannells. Rannells apparently acquired the canvas in an 1840s exchange for legal services to a fur trader, banker and brewer who helped equip the Meriwether Lewis and William Clark exhibition.

Heritage declined to identify the current owners.

"I think economic factors and others must have played a part," said Edmund "Ted" Pillsbury, chairman of fine and decorative arts at Heritage, of the no-sale. "But there's been tremendous interest in the painting, and we are sure, because of the importance and quality and beauty of the painting, it will find a home.

"It's a difficult moment for museums meeting their budget shortfalls, and dealing with losses in their endowments, not to mention the tightening of the credit markets for the art trade."

 

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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Nov. 14, 2008) — In 1919, the world’s most famous actor, Douglas Fairbanks, purchased 18 acres outside of Hollywood in a little-known, undeveloped area called Beverly Hills.

The next year, he married the world’s most famous actress, Mark Pickford.

Working together, Doug and Mary renovated the rustic lodge on this large parcel of land and out of their effort and love, one of the most famous residences in the world, dubbed Pickfair, was born.

This incredible home for Hollywood royalty included amenities like no other. Pickfair featured a projection room to view the couple’s latest films, a western-themed bar to display Doug’s props and costumes, a room housing the couple’s collection of Asian art, accommodations for servants and a pool house for the first residential pool built in the Los Angeles area.

Pickfair was decorated by several designers throughout the years including Marjorie Requa, Harriet R. Shellenberger and Tony Durquette. The designers’ work and couple’s sensibilities created a hub of social life in Los Angeles. Royalty, presidents, artists, authors, inventors, actors and athletes all coveted an invitation to Pickfair to be entertained by the most famous couple in the world. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Pearl S. Buck and Charlie Chaplin were among the scores of honored guests.

After the dissolution of their 16-year marriage in 1936, “America’s Sweetheart” married “America’s Boyfriend” Charles “Buddy” Rogers in 1937. The couple was visited often by her stepson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Upon Mary’s death in 1979, after 42 years of marriage, Buddy built Pickfair Lodge on the property of Pickfair and moved many of the beautiful furnishings and memorabilia to his new home, thus preserving the memories for future generations.

The personality of Pickfair was shaped by those who lived there and the many famous guests who visited. While Pickfair no longer stands as it was, the memory of its majesty and the history of what it held lives on.

Pickfair Estate Auction: They were the Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes of early 1900s Hollywood. Now you can own one of more than 700 pieces of fine art, furnishings and jewelry that graced the home, dubbed “Pickfair, owned by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.  

This amazing two-day auction, conducted by Julien’s Auctions, and broadcast live on Auction Network (auctionnetwork.com) will be held at the Beverly Hilton, Saturday, Nov. 22 and Sunday, Nov. 23, starting at 10am/8c both days.

Pickford was known as “America’s Sweetheart” during Hollywood’s Golden Age of silent films. Dinners there were legendary with guests including Charlie Chaplin, Albert Einstein, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.  

Some of the storied and exotic items from Pickfair up for bid include rare artworks such as two oil-on-canvas still life paintings by Paul de Longpre and Philip Mercier.

If you can’t make it to Los Angeles for this event, you can get a front-row seat on the Auction Network. Be sure to register now for this event. It’s free, and easy to Watch, Bid, and Win on Auction Network!

To register for this auction, click here.

 

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NEW YORK (AP) — A painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat has been sold for $13.5 million at an auction in New York City.

The 1982 painting, "Untitled (Boxer)," was consigned to Christie's auction house by Lars Ulrich, drummer for Metallica. Christie's didn't identify the buyer.

The painting shows a black heavyweight fighter with his arms thrust in the air against a white graffiti-filled background. It surpassed its pre-auction estimate of more than $12 million.

The current auction record for a Basquiat is $14.6 million for "Untitled," which sold at Sotheby's last year.

Francis Bacon's "Study for Self-Portrait" didn't sell. Christie's says it had been estimated to sell for about $40 million.

Untitled (Boxer), painted in 1982, is an important "proxy self-portrait,'' Brett Gorvy, Christie's international co-head of postwar and contemporary art, tells Bloomberg. "The black artist as defiant hero.'"

In 2002, Ulrich, a noted collector, sold Basquiat's 1982 Profit I at Christie's for $5.5 million. In July, Irish rock band U2 sold the artist's Untitled (Pecho/Oreja) for $10.1 million at Sotheby's in London.

 

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Filed under: Fine Art , World Auction News  Tags: metallica, u2, lars ulrich, jean-michel basquiat, christie's

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Nov. 13, 2008) — Pickfair in the 1920s was the social focal point for not only Hollywood celebrities, but for the world’s nobility and notable personalities. Pickfair was referred to as the West Coast White House. An invitation to Pickfair meant you had arrived in the closed social community of Hollywood.

If Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were Hollywood royalty, then this was their court, where they accepted visits from fellow actors and actresses as well as the most interesting minds of the day.

Amelia Earhart, Albert Einstein, George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, Charles Lindbergh and The Duke and Duchess of Windsor all visited the fabled Pickfair.

A dinner could include Einstein, who used the flatware to explain his theory of relativity, a discussion of world politics with a prince, or the rehashing of Hollywood gossip with Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo. The table was always set for a crowd, and dinner was a multi-course affair.

Lot 275 features an international silver Trianon monogrammed sterling flatware set. Comprised of 131 pieces, the setting is monogrammed “DMF” and weighs approximately 140 troy ounces.

Between lot 272 (Victoria Elkington Epergne centerpiece) and lot 323 (sterling silver Alvin bowl stand), you’ll find plenty of opportunities to grab glasses, cups, tankards, coffee services, decorative utensils and presentation plates that were used during the entertaining at Pickfair.

Fairbanks was known to invite guests to dinner at the last minute so those attending never knew with whom they may be dining.

Pickfair Estate Auction: They were the Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes of early 1900s Hollywood. Now you can own one of more than 700 pieces of fine art, furnishings and jewelry that graced the home, dubbed “Pickfair, owned by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.  

This amazing two-day auction, conducted by Julien’s Auctions, and broadcast live on Auction Network (auctionnetwork.com) will be held at the Beverly Hilton, Saturday, Nov. 22 and Sunday, Nov. 23, starting at 10am/8c both days.

Pickford was known as “America’s Sweetheart” during Hollywood’s Golden Age of silent films. Dinners there were legendary with guests including Charlie Chaplin, Albert Einstein, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.  

Some of the storied and exotic items from Pickfair up for bid include rare artworks such as two oil-on-canvas still life paintings by Paul de Longpre and Philip Mercier.

If you can’t make it to Los Angeles for this event, you can get a front-row seat on the Auction Network. Be sure to register now for this event. It’s free, and easy to Watch, Bid, and Win on Auction Network!

To register for this auction, click here.

 

 

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DALLAS — A valuable, 300-year old Italian Baroque masterpiece painting, whose whereabouts were not publicly known for centuries until earlier this year when it was identified in a Texas warehouse, will be offered in a fine arts auction by Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas, Texas and online, Nov. 20, 2008.

Now owned by a private family corporation, the painting was previously owned by an 18th century Italian nobleman and an early 19th century St. Louis, Mo., fur merchant who outfitted explorers Lewis and Clark.

"The three-by-four foot painting depicts 'The Vision of Saint Bruno,' and was created around 1700 by the celebrated Italian master, Sebastiano Ricci (1659 - 1734) with assistance from his nephew, Marco Ricci (1676 - 1730) for the landscape. The work is a rediscovery of major art historical importance," said Dr. Edmund Pillsbury, Heritage's Chairman of Fine Arts and former Director of Fort Worth's Kimbell Art Museum.

Saint Bruno, founder of the Carthusian order, is shown in a landscape scene, reclining on the ground as he contemplates angels above.

"The painting's grand design, confident use of rich Venetian palette, fluid brushwork and its beautifully preserved surface, show Sebastiano Ricci at his finest. The work is a grand example of why the artist enjoyed wide appeal in 18th century England, France and Austria as well as his native Italy," said Dr. Pillsbury.

"It was in the collection of Count Francesco Algarotti (1712 - 1764) of Venice, a famous connoisseur, art critic and author who, among other notable cultural achievements, shaped the Royal Collection in Dresden into the stunning chronological history of European painting it is today. Not having known the whereabouts of The Vision of St. Bruno any time after the 1776 publication of Algarotti's collection, modern-day Ricci scholars have consistently recorded this painting in their catalogues as lost."

After learning earlier this year the painting was in the possession of a Dallas area family and stored in an art warehouse, Dr. Pillsbury examined it, quickly identified its significance as "the lost" Ricci masterpiece, and with the family's help and independent research solved the mystery of its provenance.

It was acquired after Count Algarotti's death by Polish-born fur trader, banker, brewer and important art collector, Joseph Philipson (1773 - 1844), the first permanent Jewish settler in St. Louis. Charles Samuel Rannells (1813 - 1877), a St. Louis lawyer and state senator, obtained it between 1844 and 1848 from Philipson's estate, perhaps in payment of legal fees.

The Rannells family then owned it for more than 160 years, passing it from one generation to another. It was never publicly exhibited or published, but the family proudly hung it at their residences in Maplewood, Webster Grove and Dexter, Mo.; Stillwater, Okla., and a suburb of Dallas, Texas. It has been consigned to the auction by a Rannells family descendant, explained Dr. Pillsbury.

The Joseph Philipson Gallery of St. Louis was the very first collection of Old Master paintings West of the Mississippi and one of the earliest assembled anywhere in the United States. It was known only through an 1844 probate list of 400 artworks until "The Vision of Saint Bruno" came to light. Philipson's goal as a collector was to establish the first public art museum in the Gateway City, and failing that in Cincinnati, Philadelphia and New Orleans. He assembled some 400 works of Renaissance, Baroque and early 18th century paintings by Titian, Rubens, Rembrandt, Poussin, Rosa, Hals, Murillo and many other masters.

Paintings by Sebastiano Ricci have reached $2.4 million in recent sales. "The Vision of Saint Bruno" has been conservatively estimated for its Dallas sale in the range of $600,000 to $800,000.

"Although Joseph Philipson and Francesco Algarotti were, quite literally, oceans apart, they both perceived something exceptional in this expression of Ricci's talent. They also shared a desire to express their creativity by striving to assemble the finest painting collections of their time."

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LOS ANGELES (Jill Serjeant/Reuters) — H.G. Wells wrote that Mary Pickford was "his life-long devotion," Thomas Edison dedicated his entry to "the sweetheart of the Americas," and Benito Mussolini simply signed his name and the date, May 10, 1926.

More than 120 famous names from 1926 to 1981 signed the silent film star's personal autograph book, which is among more than 750 lots from the Pickford estate going up for auction for the first time in November.

"These books contain the Who's Who of the 1920s and 1930s," auctioneer Darren Julien said of the autograph book and two leatherbound guest books signed by visitors to the Pickfair mansion in Beverly Hills shared by the Canadian-born Pickford and actor Douglas Fairbanks.

The autograph book, which also includes dedications from playwright George Bernard Shaw, aviator Amelia Earhart, U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower, and automaker Henry Ford, carries a pre-sale estimate of between $6,000 and $8,000 U.S.

However, Mr. Julien said he thought the book could fetch five times that much at the Nov. 22-23 auction.

"These people came to Pickfair, and, when Mary travelled, she would take the book with her to get autographed. Those books are probably the most valuable and rare autograph books that I've ever seen come up for auction," he said.

He said that in 2006, a collection of 20 love letters written by Fairbanks to Pickford were sold for almost $30,000.

Dinnerware from parties thrown by the Hollywood couple for royalty and the leading minds of the times are also up for sale, along with paintings that graced the walls of Pickfair, furniture, photos and jewelry.

Mr. Julien said the auction contained the biggest collection to date from the Pickfair estate, where the screen star of Hollywood's Golden Age lived with Fairbanks and, later, her third husband, musician Buddy Rogers, for more than 50 years before her death in 1979.

The Pickfair estate, which has changed hands several times since Pickford's death and was rebuilt in the 1990s, was put up for sale in September with a $60 million asking price.

The items in the November auction come from the collection of Buddy Rogers, which was passed to his heirs. It is expected to raise a total of $400,000-$600,000.

Pickfair Estate Auction: They were the Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes of early 1900s Hollywood. Now you can own one of more than 700 pieces of fine art, furnishings and jewelry that graced the home, dubbed “Pickfair, owned by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.  

This amazing two-day auction, conducted by Julien’s Auctions, and broadcast live on Auction Network (auctionnetwork.com) will be held at the Beverly Hilton, Saturday, Nov. 22 and Sunday, Nov. 23, starting at 10am/8c both days.

Pickford was known as “America’s Sweetheart” during Hollywood’s Golden Age of silent films. Dinners there were legendary with guests including Charlie Chaplin, Albert Einstein, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.  

Some of the storied and exotic items from Pickfair up for bid include rare artworks such as two oil-on-canvas still life paintings by Paul de Longpre’ and Philip Mercier.

If you can’t make it to Los Angeles for this event, you can get a front-row seat on the Auction Network. Be sure to register now for this event. It’s free, and easy to Watch, Bid, and Win on Auction Network!

To register for this auction, click here.

 

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Filed under: Antiques , Auction Previews , Celebrity , Fine Art  Tags: h.g. wells, mary pickford, autographs, beverly hills, douglas fairbanks