Best in Show: Auction House Previews

Vintage Diamond Ring tried on at a Christie's jewelry preview

Auction previews happen all the time in New York City, but who goes? Well intrepid collectors, obviously, looking for their next big purchase and art world insiders. At any time the top auction houses: Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Phillip’s and Bonham’s, have a rotation of artwork, furniture or jewelry (just to name a few) on view. What is not widely known is that these previews are open free to the public. What is so exciting about this is that much of what is on view will go from private collections back into private collections. For some of these artworks and objects this is the only time they will be viewed by the public.

Not to mention, if you are a jewelry lover like me and want to try on $100,000+ rings, necklaces and earrings this is your chance! All one has to do is walk in and ask what floor the preview is and then you are good to go. But this is not the only reason you should go to a preview. Much like a museum or gallery these exhibitions are often curated and will offer a different perspective on the work at hand. An upcoming auction at Sotheby’s, The New York Sale, looks like a good prospect. According to Sotheby’s this is a curated auction of “items from, inspired by and celebrating New York City.”  This inaugural New York Sale includes Print, Photographs, Paintings, Sculpture, Silver, Books, Jewelry and iconic New York Memorabilia.

Auctions are often themed and scheduled to coincide with other events in New York. Right now Bonhams has an exhibition called Dogs in Show and Field for an auction featuring only canine focused fine art, a perfect match for the annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, also in New York. The auction is happening tomorrow February 18th in New York beginning at 10am, so don’t worry dog lovers you still have time to hit both events.

Seeing auction previews and the auctions themselves is a great way to get a feel for what’s in the market at the moment, the prices and conditions of what is available. Plus, it can be a great way to spend an afternoon.

Here are some interesting auction previews and exhibitions that are coming up:

·         Rockefeller Center and the Rise of Modernism in the Metropolis, Christie’s Private Selling Exhibition, New York

• • On view: 17 January – 25 February 2015

·         Dogs in Show and Field, Bonham’s New York

• • On view: Today, February 17th 10AM-6PM
  • Auction: February 18th 10AM

·         Under the Influence, Phillips New York

• • 23 February – 3 March, 10am-6pm (Sundays 12pm-6pm)
  • Auction: March 4th 11am

·         The New York Sale, Sotheby’s New York

• • On view: 26 March - 31 March, 10AM - 01PM
  • Auction: April 1st, 7PM 

Walking Off Art, Just Off Madison

On Wednesday night, in the now arctic Manhattan, during an art walk entitled “Just Off Madison,” American Art dealers opened their doors to give art lovers who actually work during the day an opportunity to view some pretty good art that art journalists seldom report about these days. Seduced by All Contemporary Art All the Time, they would have missed the fabulous “Bal Martinique,” a 1928 oil by William Glackens of an exuberant and wildly colorful dance hall, traveling to the Barnes Foundation. The coy response by the Kraushaar Gallery assistant when the price was asked was “above $500,000.” I had guessed closer to a million. Why the secrecy?

Pamphlets from participating galleries

 Graham Gallery was showing two Norman Bluhms, vividly colored and exciting paintings at $150,000 for the 72 x 48 inch, and $65,000 for the 30 x 22 inch from 1961. The Remington “Bronco Buster” from 1895, 23 x 20 inches, was priced at $285,000. There was a room filled with rather wonderful sculpture, definitely worth a visit – or two. Debra Force showed Wyeth, Conner Rosenkranz displayed pieces that included Paul Jennewein, and Menconi + Schoelkopf had a really beautiful “Little Girl in Large Red Hat,” circa 1881, sitting opposite the entrance of their space, as if waiting patiently for some kind visitor to take her by the hand and out of the madding crowd. 

Cold weather may have kept many away, but the good thing about this art is that it is still there and right off Madison Avenue.

Written by Elin Lake-Ewald

An Unusual Man: OTE Founder James St. Lawrence O'Toole

OTE’s founder was an unusual man; born in Baltimore in 1895 to an American mother, James St. Lawrence O’Toole brought to the art world the charm of his father, the Irish air attaché to the U.S., and former World War I flying ace.  He studied at Trinity in Dublin, after which he spent several years in Europe where he worked for Jacques Seligmann et Fils. Between this and his travels back and forth between the States and Paris that he gained his extensive knowledge in fine and decorative arts. During this time he worked at the Hotel de Sagan in Paris and at the New York branch at 5 East 57th Street.  

Shortly before the Second World War hit he met and later married the opera singer, Diodata Dandi, who had come to the States to teach belle canto voice to Americans at the Peabody Institute. Not long after James St. L. O’Toole joined the army and became a member of O.S.S. (the forerunner to the CIA) parachuting into France at one point and evading capture as a spy. A historical novel about the time, Surrounded by Howard Burman, claims that at some point O’Toole even posed as an "art consultant" to Herman Göring in Switzerland until he was discovered after trying to pass off a fake Vermeer painting. While we can’t confirm or deny this but it certainly adds to the legend that is James St. Lawrence O’Toole.

After the war ended he returned to a more sedate life in New York. He and his wife had purchased a town house and began an association with the Paul Reinhardt Gallery. In 1932 he established his own eponymous gallery that later morphed into O’Toole-Ewald Art Associates, Inc. His clients included celebrities in both the worlds of society and politics. Lawrence O’Toole also testified in a number of high profile art trials during the 1930 and 40s.  

By the 1980s when Elin Lake-Ewald became a partner and the organization had offices in Manhattan and Venice, where James O’Toole lived half the year.  His friends and associates came from nearly every country on the globe and when he died in 1988 the rooms of the American-Irish Historical Society were crowded with those who had benefitted from the many years of his wisdom and words and his vast knowledge of the wide world of art.