Christie's NYC Oct 26, 2020

Monday, Oct. 26, 2020 - I have been looking at past blogs, and I see that there is usually a Fall American Art Auction at both Sotheby's and Christie's. Sotheby's web-site did not show one, and for their one interesting auction (Master Paintings - 14 October 2020; Bernardo Bellotto: "Architectural Capriccio with a Palace beside a Moat and Figures in the Foreground"), I had already seen the Bellotto on my trip to San Diego in 2015 (read blog here). So I checked Christie's, and they have 2 auctions coming up on October 28:

I left the house at 7:15, bought gas, stopped for coffee in Connecticut, and got to my SpotHero parking garage in NYC at 11:30 AM.

On the West Side Highway, they do know how to build BIG BUILDINGS:

On Sixth Avenue, the buildings are so tall, they just disappear up into the clouds:

It is always a pleasure checking in:

This is the first time I have visited when they are in the midst of putting up new shows. As a result, 60% of the space was closed; but that still left the 2 viewings that I was interested in! "American Art" first:

Thomas Moran - "Venice", 1896 watercolor:

Albert Bierstadt - "Seal Rock, Farallon Islands", c. 1872 oil:

Jasper Cropsey - "Autumn on the Hudson River", c. 1861 oil:

Andrew Wyeth - "Crescent", 1987 tempera:

Frederic Remington - "The Mountain Man", bronze cast:

and then it was time to see T. Boone Pickens' collection:


Thomas Moran - "Index Peak, Yellowstone, Wyoming", 1913 oil:

Albert Bierstadt - "Landscape with Lake", c. 1870 oil:

Thomas Hill - "Sir Donald Peak in the Selkirk Mountains, Canadian Pacific", 1890 oil:

N.C. Wyeth - "Indian Love Call", 1927 oil:

Frederic Remington - "The Buffalo Signal (If Skulls Could Speak)", 1900 oil:

On my way out, I saw the dresses for their "Nashville" auction (Online, 15-29 October 2020), with their 3 "ensembles" [I thought they were dresses] worn by Carrie Underwood at the 55th ACM Awards in 2020:

Note from the Future - these pieces sold for:

Lot 110 - Thomas Moran - Venice - $
(estimate 15,000 - 25,000)

Lot 105 - Albert Bierstadt - Seal Rock, Farallon Islands - $
(estimate 400,000 - 600,000)

Lot 106 - Jasper Cropsey - Autumn on the Hudson River - $
(estimate 200,000 - 300,000)

Lot 120 - Andrew Wyeth - Crescent - $
(estimate 600,000 - 800,000)

Lot 102 - Frederic Remington - The Mountain Man - $
(estimate 150,000 - 250,000)

Lot 39 - Thomas Moran - Index Peak, Yellowstone, Wyoming - $
(estimate 700,000 - 1,000,000)

Lot 42 - Albert Bierstadt - Landscape with Lake - $
(estimate 70,000 - 100,000)

Lot 40 - Thomas Hill - Sir Donald Peak in the Selkirk Mountains, Canadian Pacific - $
(estimate 120,000 - 180,000)

Lot 15 - N.C. Wyeth - Indian Love Call - $
(estimate 2,000,000 - 3,000,000)

Lot 16 - Frederic Remington - The Buffalo Signal (If Skulls Could Speak) - $
(estimate 3,000,000 - 5,000,000)

Lot 15 - Carrie Underwood - 55th ACM Awards, 3 Ensembles, 2020 - $
(estimate 2,000 - 4,000)

Back out on the street, my homage to Childe Hassam and his Flag Paintings:

And my continuing study of St. Patrick's Cathedral - today in the mist/light-rain, late October:

493 miles driving - Home at 4:45 PM - Thank You God for a Great little adventure!!

Driving music:

John Coltrane - Blue Train, 1958, recorded 1957
I like starting the day with jazz, especially when it is dark outside. Often I'll turn on WHRB 95.3 FM - Harvard Radio Broadcasting, which plays jazz from 5 AM to 1 PM (then they switch to classical music). Regarding John Coltrane, I actually do not like almost all of his stuff - he goes "off the rails" too easily and way too aggressively. But I do have 4 albums by him where that sort of stuff is very limited - and he sounds wonderful: Blue Train (1958, recorded 1957), Ballads (1963, recorded 1961-62), My Favorite Things (1961, recorded 1960), and Standards (2001, recorded 1961-65)

Neal Stephenson (a sci-fi author I really like) wrote his opus Cryptonomicon in 1999, and I'm doing cds 21, 22, 23, 24 + 25 today:

then "music I don't usually listen to":

Imagine Dragons - Night Visions, 2012 debut album