Auction block - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Art Business News, Feb, 2002 by Vanessa Silberman

* Two paintings received feverish bidding at Doyle New York's recent American and European Paintings and Sculpture Sale. The paintings, "Anchorage" by Armin Carl Hansen (est. $30,000 to $50,000) and "Lily Pond, Newport, Rhode Island" by John Frederick Kensett (est. $100,000 to $150,000), were the top two lots of the night, tying at $254,000 each. There were a few upsets, however, including "In an English Garden" by James Jacques Joseph Tissot, which sold for a disappointing $150,000 (est. $200,000 to $300,000), and "Market Day" by Paul Henry, which sold for $120,000 (est. $150,000 to $200,000).

* Harry Potter mania proved it was not limited to books and toys at the recent sale of Original Book Illustrations at Christie's in London. Original artwork created in 1997 for the second Harry Potter book, The Chamber of Secrets, brought magic to the auction block as two out of three watercolors offered by artist Cliff Wright sold, including his "Final Sutdy of the Ford Anglia" at $21,000 and the "Original Design for the Back Cover illustration" at $7,000. The cover of the first book previously sold for $124,000.

* At Sotheby's recent London sale of Old Master Paintings, two important views of Naples, know as the "Medinaceli Vanvitellis," made a new world record for the artist Gaspar van Wittel, called Vanvitelli (1652-1736) when they sold for $3.2 and $2.6 million respectively. Painted circa 1700 and estimated at $1.7 million to $2.3 million each, the paintings were from an important series of views commissioned by the ninth Duke of Medinaceli and have remained in the same family since.