High Demand For Norman Rockwell Lifts Heritage Auctions' American Art Auction
New Auction Records Achieved For Seven Artists
Norman Rockwell is among the most beloved and important American artists of all time, said Heritage Auctions director of American Art Aviva Lehmann. Art lovers of all levels and types can relate to the people in his paintings, which is why an auction like this one was such a success.
Once in the private collection of late actress Debbie Reynolds, Norman Rockwells Ben Franklin's Sesquicentennial, The Saturday Evening Post cover from May 29, 1926, sold for $762,500. One of Rockwells most patriotic images, it was commissioned in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and is Rockwells only cover lot featuring a Founding Father.
Another lot from the famed illustrator that drew major interest from collectors was Rockwells The Census Taker, The Saturday Evening Post cover study, 1940, which brought $372,500. While the painting offers a humorous view of a mother trying to wrangle six children while answering questions, The Census Taker also documented an important event in American history, the 1940 U.S. Census. That census occurred April 1, a couple weeks before the April 27 debut of this Post cover.
Numerous bidders pursued Joseph Christian Leyendeckers Living Mannequin, The Saturday Evening Post cover, March 5, 1932, until it drew $312,500, more than double its pre-auction low estimate. Originally from the estate of Harry Glass, the painting from Illustrations Golden Age originally sold at the 1943 U.S. War Bond at the United States Treasury-Saturday Evening Post War Bond Show, in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Competitive bidding helped John S. Jamesons Grazing Sheep at Headwaters of a Stream, from 1862, crush its pre-auction estimate when it realized $250,000, a new auction record for the artist. The influence of the Hudson River School on the young prodigy (Jameson died at just 22 years old after being captured while fighting in the Civil War) is evident in this landscape and exploration into theatrical light and weather effects.
Rockwells Before the Shot, The Saturday Evening Post cover study, 1958, went for $187,500. A preparatory study for an illustration that graced the March 15, 1958, cover of The Saturday Evening Post and of the artist's most iconic and most popular images, had been exhibited alongside the final painting at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass.
Rockwell broke from his stance of shielding his political views in The Day I Painted Ike (All through that grind of turning on different moods, he never lost patience. At the end-by golly, it was time to go fishing) from The Saturday Evening Post interior illustration, 1952, which sold for $150,000. The artists admiration for the 34th U.S. president was so unwavering that Ben Hibbs, then the editor of The Saturday Evening Post, wrote to Rockwell, saying, If Ike is elected, as I think he will be, no small share of the credit should go to Norman Rockwell.
A couple lots that established new auction records included W.P. Wilsons Mr. Trunk and his Advisors His Friends, Old Mr. Parrot and Mr. Starling, from 1862, $13,750; and Henry Schnakenbergs Summer in the Park (Central Park, Bethesda Fountain) that sold for $13,750.
Norman Rockwells Stealing Socks, from an Interwoven Stocking advertisement, 1928, realized $143,750. LeRoy Neimans Paris Cafe Deux Magots, 1961, sold for $81,250, and Marguerite Thompson Zorachs Mother and Child, 1919, $75,000. Churning Bay, by Milton Avery, 1945, sold for $65,625, and Norman Rockwells Man with Rod and Reel, a probable advertisement study, circa 1940, realized $50,000.
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