COMPLIMENTARY COPY
Newell Convers Wyeth’s “Hands Up!” Sets New Record FRIDAY DECEMBER 16, 2016 • VOL. 47, NO. 51
Snuggle Up Under A Jacquard Coverlet From Our Files By Andrew Richmond Joseph Marie Charles (1752-1834) never really bore the surname that has been applied to his loom. Rather, Jacquard was a nickname of sorts given to his family’s particular branch of all the Charleses in Lyon during the 18th century. Despite the family’s prosperity (his father was a master weaver), Joseph had very little edu- As most jacquard coverlets are woven in two strips, cation and did not learn to large designs such as this are uncommon and typicalread until he was a teenager. ly date to the later years of the jacquard era. William Joseph’s father died when Ney wove this undated coverlet in Lebanon County, Pa. Joseph was 20, and it is Horst Auctioneers sold it in January of 2014 for $1,300. unknown how he spent Jacquard a pension and royalties much of his early adult life. on machines. Historians are fairly confident In traditional weaving, warp that Joseph Charles married in 1778, threads are stretched up and down had a son in 1779, fled the spread- on a loom, while weft threads run at ing rebellion in Lyon in 1793, and right angles to the warp through joined the revolutionary army, the “shed,” or the gap created where his son would die in battle. between the lower and upper warp By 1800, Charles had returned to threads, which are raised and lowthe family tradition and was exper- ered by the operation of the loom imenting with innovative new ideas in between passing the weft – including the Jacquard loom, threads across back and forth which could be “programmed” to through the shed. For plain cloth, weave pattern. Although there was this is simple – every other warp opposition from weavers who felt thread is raised and over hundreds they would lose their work and and thousands of passes of the there were technical glitches that shuttle of weft threads, the cloth is would not be resolved until 1815, Continued on page 2 the potential of his loom was immediately recognized, and the French government awarded
Two factors drove the price on this coverlet: first, it’s green, a highly unusual color to appear by itself, and second, it was part of the collection of Lester and Barbara Breininger, noted Berks County, Pa., collectors. The coverlet was woven in 1844 by Henry Keener. Pook and Pook sold it for $1,896 in November of 2011.
The Hempfield Railroad pattern, perhaps the most desirable of American jacquard coverlets. Fifteen years ago, this pattern could bring more than $5,000. Despite the downturn in coverlets, however, Hempfield Railroads are still rare in any condition. The stains and holes on this example would, in any other pattern, likely cause this coverlet to be cut up and made into pillows. However, as a Hempfield, it still sold for a respectable $499 at Garth’s in May 2009.
Christie’s American Art auction in New York City on Nov. 22 totaled $36,728,000 and was 75 percent sold by lot and 83 percent sold by value. The top lot of the sale was Newell Convers Wyeth’s “Hands Up!” which set a world auction record for the artist and sold for $4,951,500 against a presale estimate of $1.5-2.5 million. The 43-by-30-inch oil-on-canvas was done in 1906. To learn more, visit www.christies.com. Image courtesy of Christies.
Season’s Greetings From Our Advertisers
AAN Current News
Newell Convers Wyeth (18821945) painted the oil-on-canvas “Hands Up!” in 1906. Estimated at $1,500,000–$2,500,000, it sold for a new artist record at auction of $4,951,500.
Strong Prices Prevail At Eclectic Briggs Auction on page 2
Seven Velázquez Portraits On View In Focused Exhibition At The Met Velázquez’s “Portraits of a Young Girl” (ca. 1640) and of “Cardinal Camillo AstalliPamphili” (ca. 1650), both from the collection of The Hispanic Society of America in New York City, were recently examined and treated at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The removal of extremely discolored varnish layers that had masked these paintings revealed Velázquez’s remarkable technique and subtle sense of color in ways that had not been seen in more than a century. These two works, along with five other exceptional portraits created in the final two decades of the artist’s career - including The Met’s iconic “Juan de Pareja” (1650) - are being presented in “Velázquez Portraits: Truth in Painting,” currently on view at the museum through Sunday, March 12, 2017. Although his formal state portraits of the leading figures of the Spanish monarchy are what established Velázquez (1599–1660) in his career, these bust-length likenesses he produced in Spain and during his travels in Italy are some of his most immediate and captivating images. Freed of the restrictions that apply to state and allegorical portraiture, Velázquez was able to capture in these paintings the temperaments, moods, and inner reflections of their subjects. In showing them roughly life-size and setting them against a neutral background, Velázquez invested his subjects with a timelessness that
Earliest 10 Commandments Tablet Sells At Heritage on page 4
Jeffrey S. Evans Conducts Successful Americana Auction Velázquez (Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez) (Spanish, 1599-1660) painted “Portrait of a Young Girl,” ca. 1640. It is an oilon-canvas and on loan to The Met from The Hispanic Society of America, New York, N.Y. makes them powerfully affecting to this day. The exhibition is made possible by the Richard and Natalie Jacoff Foundation. The exhibition is organized by Stephan Wolohojian, curator in the department of European paintings, and Michael Gallagher, Sherman Fairchild conservator in charge of paintings conservation, both at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Velázquez Portraits: Truth in Painting” is featured on the museum’s website with essays about The Hispanic Society of America’s paintings. One is by Michael Gallagher on a conservator’s approach to treating “Portrait of a Young Girl,” and another by Stephan Wolohojian on the colorful life of Cardinal Camillo Astalli-Pamphili.
on page 6
“Evolving Elections”: Comparing the 1916 and 2016 Presidential Campaigns on page 14
In This Issue SHOPS, SHOWS & MARKETS . . . . . . . . . . starting on page 3 SHOPS DIRECTORY . . . . . . . . . on page 5 EVENT & AUCTION CALENDAR . on page 8 AUCTION SALE BILLS . . . starting on page 8
FEATURED AUCTION: Weiss Auctions - December 17 & 18 in Lynbrook, New York - Page 10
AUCTIONEER DIRECTORY . . . . on page 11 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . on page 15