Robert-Goldwater-Library

Upcoming Auctions: June

CHRISTIE'S

From the Collection of Claude & Simone Dray
Modern Art, Contemporary Art & African Art
Sale 5450
June 9, 2006, 5:00 pm
Paris
view highlights & online catalogue

Pictured above (l-r) : Lot 71, Bambara Mask, estimate: €6,000-7000; Lot 70, Baga altar head, estimate: €4,000-6000; Lot 73, Kota reliquary figure, estimate: €12,000-15,000 (source)

African & Oceanic Art
Sale 5325
June 20, 2006, 2:00 pm
Paris
view highlights & online catalogue

Pictured above (l-r) : Lot 71, Fine antelope headdress, estimate: €25,000-30,000; Lot 289, Fine and rare Maori canoe bailer, estimate: €30,000-50,000; Lot 222, Superb kikuyu shield, estimate: €10,000-15,000  (source)

American Indian Art
Sale 1683
June 29, 2006, 10:00 am & 2:00 pm
New York
view online catalogue

Pictured above (l-r) : Lot 77, Jemez painted buffalo hide shield, estimate: US $15,000 - 25,000; Lot 61, Navajo regional rug, estimate: US $800-1,200; Lot 69, Navajo regional rug, estimate: US $1,000-2,000 (source)

SOTHEBY'S

Textiles from the Collection of Alistair McAlpine
Sale W06756
June 7, 2006, 10:30 am
Olympia, London
view online catalogue (free registration is required)
(source)

Nicole and John Dintenfass collection of important African Art
Sale PF6024
June 23, 2006, 2:30 pm
Paris
view online catalogue (free registration is required)
(source)

Art of Africa, Oceanian and the Americas, Various Owners
Sale PF6005
June 23, 2006, 3:30 pm
Paris
view online catalogue (free registration is required)
(source)

BONHAMS & BUTTERFIELDS

Sunset Estate Auction
Sale 14006
Jun 11, 2006, 10:00 am
Los Angeles
view online catalogue
(source)

Native American, Pre-Columbian & Tribal Art
Sale 13668
Jun 12, 2006, 12:00 pm
San Francisco
view online catalogue
Pictured above (l-r) : Lot 6039, Two Hopi Mudhead masks, Estimate: $3,000-5,000; Lot 6030, Four Southwest musical instruments: rattles (3), drum, Estimate: $1,000-1,500; Lot 6031, Two Apache fiddles, Estimate: $1,200-1,800 (source)

FRENCH AUCTION HOUSES

Arts d'Orient, Archeologie, Islam
Boisgirard & Associés
June 7-9, 2006, 2:30 pm
Paris
(source)

Art précolombien
Sale 6 (Binoche)
June 9, 2006, 2:30 pm
Paris

Argenterie, orfèvrerie, arts de la table, arts primitifs, tapis, tapisseries, vins et alcools
Gautier, Goxe, Belaisch, hôtel des ventes d'Enghien
June 11, 2006, 2:30 pm
Enghien

Art précolombien, arts primitifs, tableaux contemporains et abstraits
Arcadia
June 11, 2006, 2:30 pm
Ameins

Collection Vérité
Hôtel Drouot
June 17-18, 2006, 2:30 pm
Paris
view earlier post
Pictured above : Fang Statue, €200,000-300,000 (source)

Art Tribal, Art Précolombien
Sale no. 01025 (Hôtel Dassault)
June 19, 2006, 4:00 pm
Paris
view online catalogue
Pictured (l-r) : Lots 93-95 & 101-104, Mochica ceramics, Estimate: from €1,000-1,500 (source)

Art Précolombiens
Sale 5 (Binoche SVV)
June 26, 2006, 2:30 pm
Paris
view online catalogue (pdf)
(source)

Les collections de Pierre et Claude Vérité

Les collections de Pierre et Claude Vérité
Ventes Hôtel Drouot, Paris
June 17, 2006 at 2:30 and 7:30
June 18, 2006 at 2:30

Over 500 African and Pacific works from the collection of the art dealer Pierre Vérité and his son Claude will be auctioned in Paris later this month. Though works from their collection have appeared in major reference books and exhibitions, when the Vérités loaned objects they almost always did so anonymously.

The sale is accompanied by an enormous 557 page catalogue with color illustrations, a bibliography, and English translations of the introductory history of the collection and the lot descriptions. E P23

Partial exhibition history:

International Confederation of Dealers in Works of Art. Chefs-d'œuvre de la curiosité du monde : 2e exposition internationale de la C.I.N.O.A. [Paris] : June 30-Sept., 1954. 107.4 C76 (Watson) & N5068 .C67 1954 (Lehman)

Exposition rétrospective internationale des arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie. Première Exposition retrospective internationale des arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie [Cannes] : July 6-Sept. 29, 1957.  K2 C22

L'art de l'Afrique noire : Palais Granvelle [Besançon] : July 12-Oct. 5, 1958. O2 B55

Museum of Primitive Art. Bambara sculpture from the Western Sudan [New York] : Feb. 17-May 8, 1960. O5MB N55

Museum of Primitive Art. Senufo sculpture from West Africa : Feb. 20- May 5, 1963 (New York); July 12-Aug. 11, 1963 (Art Insititute of Chicago); Sept. 17-Oct. 27, 1963 (Baltimore Museum of Art). O2 N55 no. 7

Afrique, cent tribus cent chefs-d'oeuvre : Musée des arts décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Pavillon de Marsan [Paris] : Oct. 28-Nov. 30, 1964. O2 P25a

Kunsthaus Zürich. Die Kunst von Schwarz-Afrika : Oct. 31, 1970-Jan. 17, 1971. O2 Z95 1971
 
Manding art and civilisation (Department of Ethnography, British Museum) [London] :  June 23-Aug. 31, 1972. O5MB A87

Notable published reference:

Carl Einstein. Negerplastik. O3 E35n SpecColl

pictured above : Fang Statue, 200 000/300 000 € (image source)

Sotheby's Native American sale stirs controversy

From the Toronto Globe and Mail (Insider Edition = $$):

EARL OF SOUTHESK COLLECTION

Canadian history, at a price

An Alberta museum bids to bring back 'fantastic' native artifacts from Scotland

by DAWN WALTON                                                                                    

CALGARY -- Susan Berry gushes as she describes the moccasins, the beaded knife sheaths, the rifle case, the beaded sheepskin dress and the man's hide shirt, also adorned with beadwork.

The curator of ethnology at the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton says it's rare to see native artifacts from Western Canada that date back to the 1850s. It's even more unlikely to see such a large collection of "spectacular" and "fantastic" objects preserved in a pristine fashion, she adds.

And now, the museum finds itself in an unfamiliar position: scrambling to come up with the more than $1-million it will take to acquire the items, long housed in a Scottish castle, which are today on the auction block in New York. Staff at the museum were relieved to receive word on Friday that the federal Department of Canadian Heritage had pledged $600,000 ...

But the sale is also coming under fire from the Minneapolis, Minn.-based American Indian Movement, which for years has likened Sotheby's sale of native artifacts to Nazi theft of property from Jewish families during the Holocaust.

Vernon Bellecourt, director of the group's council on foreign affairs, said explorers like [James] Carnegie took advantage of native peoples left destitute by governments and settlers and who would trade anything for pennies and food.

"What we're dealing with here are predators, parasites -- all culture vultures," Bellecourt says, "Private collectors and museums, universities and colleges throughout the world should start returning these articles to the specific tribes from which they were stolen. We hope this will become a watershed to do that." [read more of the article]

UPDATE, 9 May 2006:

Alberta Museum lands bulk of rare aboriginal collection (Paula Simons for Edmonton Journal via Canada.com)
Photograph by : Peter Battistoni, Vancouver Sun

EDMONTON -- The Royal Alberta Museum has acquired two-thirds of a native artifact collection from a 19th-century aristocrat who travelled throughout what is now Western Canada.

Susan Berry, the museum's curator of ethnology, said staff learned just two weeks ago that Sotheby's in New York was about to auction the ninth Earl of Southesk's collection. Since then, they've been working flat out trying to raise the funds.

Ottawa anted up $600,000 and Alberta added $500,000. By the time bidding ended on Monday, the Alberta museum purchased 29 out of 39 lots on auction ... [rest of article]

Elsewhere:

Sotheby's press release (go to page 5)

Native Americans on warpath over Earl's art treasures (The Scotsman)

On the Block : Auction Results and Upcoming Sales

----------RESULTS---------

Beaussant Lefèvre, Paris
Antiquités; Arts d'Orient, salle no. 2
March 3, 2006, 1:30 PM
[images & results]

Millon & Associés, Paris
Arts d'Asie; Arts Premiers, salle no. 6
March 15, 2006, 2:15 PM
[online catalogue & results]

Rossini, Paris
Civilisations
March 16, 2006, 1:00 PM
[online catalogue & results]

Catherine Charbonneaux, Paris
Archéologie, Art Primitif, Art d'Asie, salle no. 4
March 19, 2006, 2:00 PM
[images & results] 

Binoche, Paris
Art Précolombien, salle no.4
March 17, 2006, 2:30 PM

Bonhams & Goodman, Sydney
Australian, International & Aboriginal Art
March 29, 2006, 11:00 AM & 6:00 PM
[online catalogue and results for morning session]
[results for evening session]
 

----------UPCOMING SALES----------

Brissoneau, Paris
Archéologie ... Art Pré colombien...Art Africain et Oceanien, salle no.8
April 1, 2006, 1:30 PM
[online catalogue]

Joron-Derem, Paris
Archéologie - Art Précolombien - Art d'Extrême-Orient - Art Africain, salle no. 10
April 3, 2006, 2:00 PM
[online catalogue]

Waddington's, Toronto
Spring Inuit Auction
April 24, 2006, 7:00 PM
April 25, 2006, 10:00 AM
[website]

Northwest Coast Art Auction
April 24, 2006, 7:00 PM
April 25, 2006, 10:00 AM
[website]

Sotheby's, New York
American Indian Art, sale N08210
May 8, 2006, 10:15 AM
May 8, 2006, 2:00 PM
[website]

Skinner, Boston
American Indian and Ethnographic Arts
May 13, 2006, 10:00 AM
[website]

Sotheby's Melbourne
Australian and International Art, sale AU0702
May 16, 2006, 6:30 PM
[website]

Bonhams & Butterfield, San Francisco
Native American, Pre-Columbian and Tribal Art, sale 13668
June 12, 2006, 1:00 PM
[website]

Christie's, Paris
Art Africain et Océanien, sale 5325
Jun 20, 2006, 3:00 PM
[website]

Christie's, New York
American Indian Art, sale 1683
June 29, 2006, 10:00 AM & 2:00 PM
[website]

Pictured : 
(L) Lindsay Bird Petyarre (born 1942), Bush Plum Story (lot no. 924 from Bonhams & Goodman Australian, International & Aboriginal Art sale) / $382 AUD [source] (left)
(R) Bob Dempsey Bob (1948- ), Tahltan/Tlingit, Shark/Human Mask (from Waddington's Northwest Coast Art Auction) [source]

Upcoming Auctions

Bonhams
SoMa ESTATE AUCTION
Lots 2553 to 2571 African and Oceanic Art
January 29, 2006 at 10:00 AM
San Francisco
(lot 2569 pictured)
RGL call number : E S291 (catalogue expected soon; browse online)

Christie's
PHOTOGRAPHS
February 14, 2006 at 10:00 AM & 2:00 PM
New York
(lot 17 pictured)
RGL call number : E N49 (browse online)

Swann Galleries
100 FINE PHOTOGRAPHS
February 16, 2006 at 1:30 PM
New York
RGL call number : E N535 (browse online)

Recent sales:

Christie's
AMERICAN INDIAN ART
January 12, 2006
New York
RGL call number : E N49

IMPORTANT AMERICAN INDIAN ART FROM A PRIVATE WESTERN COLLECTION
January 12, 2006
New York
RGL call number : E N49