Doyle New York
George II Stripped Pine Pier Mirror, c. 1740
Auction Date: May 18
Estimate: $6,000 – $8,000
Part of Doyle New York’s auction of English & Continental Furniture & Decorative Arts/Old Master Paintings, this gorgeous mirror with its classical features exhibits the influences of Daniel Marot, the Huguenot architect to William III, and — in the mask of Riana within a scallop shell — William Kent, architect to Lord Burlington.
Sotheby’s
“Road Block,” 1949
Norman Rockwell (1894–1978)
Auction Date: May 18
Estimate: $4 million – $6 million
“Road Block” is among the most ambitious of the more than 300 paintings Rockwell executed for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post. Rockwell received particular praise for his ability to encapsulate the components of a complex narrative — plot, character, mood and setting — into a single image.
Christie’s
“Exoke,” 2013
El Anatsui (b. 1944)
Auction Date: May 11
Estimate: $600,000 – $800,000
At more than five square feet of shimmering, undulating, sculptural material blocked into textural swaths of vivid color, El Anatsui’s “Exoke,” part of the Post-War and Contemporary Art Afternoon Session at Christies, is mesmerizing. The visually and conceptually rich work is one of the Ghana-born, Nigeria-based artist’s celebrated “hangings,” which examine the remnants of globalization, consumerism, colonialism and post-colonialism in West Africa.
Bonhams
“Tête de faune”
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)
Auction Date: May 11
Estimate: $50,000 – $80,000
Part of Bonham’s Impressionist and Modern Art Sale, this is a prime example of Picasso’s late-career whimsy, when he began combining bold, sun-kissed colors with an almost childlike simplicity. It is reminiscent of his woodcuts, ceramic work and poster designs for his own exhibitions, which themselves have become collector’s items.
Alex Cooper
Important Sapphire and Diamond Ring
Auction Date: May 12–14
Estimate: $15,000 – $20,000
Dated June 17, 1985, from the American Gemological Laboratory, this dazzling platinum ring is centered with a natural sapphire, with diamond surround and shank, custom designed and marked.
BRINGING THE HAMMER DOWN
Sloans & Kenyon
“Scouting with Daniel Boone,” 1914
Norman Rockwell (1894–1978)
Auction Date: May 1
Final Selling Price: $119,500
This early Rockwell painting was originally a wedding present given to the owner’s grandfather, a great outdoorsman, from his five ushers in July 1925. It had previously been published as an illustration for “Scouting with Daniel Boone” in 1914. Little did those ushers know that a small painting by a then-unknown young artist would one day sell at auction for more than $100,000.
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- Sloans & Kenyon
