Marc Chagall oil painting, $28.453 million, Sotheby’s
An oil on canvas painting from 1928 by artist Marc Chagall, titled Les Amoreaux, sold for $28.453 million at an Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale held November 14th by Sotheby’s in New York. It was a new record price for the artist at auction. Also, Claude Monet’s 1893 oil on canvas from 1893 titled Les Garcons, Bennecourt, knocked down for $23.37 million; and Pablo Picasso’s oil on canvas titled Buste de femme au chapeau, painted on May 27, 1939, rose to $21.68 million. Prices include the buyer’s premium.
1955 painting done by JFK, $162,500, Heritage Auctions
A painting completed in 1955 by John F. Kennedy consigned by Kennedy family heirs sold for $162,500 at an Americana & Political Auction held December 2nd by Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Tex. Also, a cigar store Indian tobacconist figure signed by artist Julius Theodore Melchers climbed to $81,250; an 1846 quarter plate daguerreotype profile portrait of Pres. John Quincy Adams brought $31,500; and a New York City skyline sketch by Donald Trump gaveled for $20,000. Prices include the buyer’s premium.
Photos of Yellowstone, $12,000, PBA Galleries
A rare album of 63 Albertype photos of Yellowstone National Park taken in 1871 by William Henry Jackson for the Hayden Geological Survey sold for $12,000 at an auction held December 14th by PBA Galleries in San Francisco. Also, a two-volume first edition of Richard F. Burton’s account of his trip into the interior of Africa, published in 1860, went for $5,700; and 14 consecutive annual editions of a Chinese telephone directory for San Francisco and Oakland, 1931-1944, fetched $2,040. Prices include the buyer’s premium.
Einstein’s telescope, $432,500, Christie’s
Albert Einstein’s personally owned telescope, made late 19th century by the Paul Dorffel Company (Berlin), sold for $432,500 at a Books & Manuscripts Auction held December 5th by Christie’s in New York. Also, Brigham Young’s copy of the W. Stone-engraved Declaration of Independence (1823) also brought $432,500; the Nobel medal awarded in 1978 to Nathan S. Daniel for physiology or medicine hit $372,500; and a Yorktown Campaign map of New York (1781) made $275,000. Prices include the buyer’s premium.
1587 map of the New World, $80,000, Swann Galleries
Richard Hakluyt’s 1587 map of the New World, titled Novus Orbis, the first map to use the designations “Virginea” and “Nuevo Mexico”, sold for $80,000 at a sale of Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books held December 5th by Swann Galleries in New York. Also, John Norman’s The American Pilot, with 11 double-page or folding charts (Boston, 1810), went for $68,750; and a map by Paolo Forlani and Bolognino Zaltieri, published in Venice in 1566, realized $47,500. Prices include the buyer’s premium.
