Saturday, October 29, 2022 - On Thursday Ellie said that a friend of her's was down at Christie's in New York City, looking at "The Getty Collection". So I went on-line and they had some nice stuff (but not enough to justify a "Trip To The City". But then I saw that coming up was a HUGE auction of "The Paul G. Allen Collection":
I had previously seen a number of these pieces in a special exhibition "Seeing Nature: Landscape Masterworks from the Paul G. Allen Family Collection" down at
The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. [May 1, 2016] (
read that blog here).
It turns out that, although the auction itself is 2 days - Nov. 9 and 10 - "Public Viewing" begins
Saturday, October 29! So after my Saturday morning Zoom Bible Study, Wendy and I left Manchester at 9:30. Travel was easy, and we were going down the West Side Highway at 1:20
I'll get to the music list at the end of this blog, but since we were going cross-town on 57th Street, it was only appropriate to listen to Sting's album "57th & 9th" (especially crossing 9th Avenue):
I got to my 1:30 SpotHero parking reservation at 1:38 - I had paid 35 dollars for my 4 hours of parking today:
Note the "PARKING TAX ADD'L".
We walked around the corner and were at
Christie's at 1:44
No reservations/time slots are necessary.
My first favorite is Thomas Moran - "Glorious Venice", 1888 oil. I had seen back in 2016, and photographed it then:
I now have a new iPhone, with a new camera:
(estimate $200,000-300,000)
Claude Monet - "Waterloo Bridge, soleil voilé", 1899-1903 oil:
("Estimate on Request")
Vincent van Gogh - "Verger ave cyprès", 1888 oil:
("Estimate on Request")
J.M.W. Turner - "Depositing of John Bellini's Three Pictures in La Chiesa Redentore. Venice", 1841 oil:
(estimate $28,000,000-35,000,000)
Canaletto - "The Grand Canal, Venice, Looking South-East from San Stae to the Fabbriche Nuove di Rialto", oil:
(estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000)
Andrew Wyeth - "Day Dream", 1980 oil:
(estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000)
Canaletto - "The Piazza San Marco, Venice, looking east towards the basilica", oil:
(estimate $5,000,000 - 7,000,000)
Edgar Degas - "Danseuse rajustant son chausson", c. 1887 pastel:
(estimate $5,000,000 - 7,000,000)
Li Huayi - "Landscape", 2008 ink and color on paper:
(estimate $120,000 - 180,000)
Frank Stella - "Cinema de Pepsi III", 1966 Auorescent olkyd and ocrylic on canvas:
(estimate $3,000,000 - 5,000,000)
Alexander Calder - "Two-Toned Moon", 1975 sheet metal, wire and paint:
(estimate $1,000,000-1,500,000)
That was a fun walk through Christie's:
We headed over-and-up a few blocks to the
Museum of Modern Art (I had parked at 55 West 48th Street):
I had previously visited the
Museum of Modern Art [January 29, 2016] (
read that blog here).
We had entry tickets for 3:30, but they let us in early (3 PM). We went to the top floor:
Wolfgang Tillmans - "Ostgut Freischwimmer", 2004:
The Museum does have some pretty cool spaces:
Claude Monet - "Water Lilies", 1914-26 oil:
Claude Monet - "Water Lilies", 1914-26 oil, three panels:
Wendy went downstairs, and I was able to continue my exploration. I saw some really cool Pollocks:
Jackson Pollock - "One: Number 31, 1950", 1950 oil:
and I am able to play my compare-the-iPhone-camera game (I feel like I am seeing new-verses-old Hubble Space Telescope pictues, after it gets a new lens):
It is always fun to know where you are:
Sorry - why did "rat in a maze" thoughts suddenly jump into my brain?
Speaking of which - "if the shoe fits, wear it."
We left The Museum at 4, and headed down Fifth Avenue, past St. Patrick's Cathedral:
Heading back up the West Side Highway at 4:49
A lovely drive home:
Note from the Future - these pieces sold for:
Lot 107 - Thomas Moran - "Glorious Venice" - $504,000
(estimate $200,000-300,000)
Lot 41 - Claude Monet - "Waterloo Bridge, soleil voilé" - $64,510,000
("Estimate on Request")
Lot 22 - Vincent van Gogh - "Verger ave cyprès" - $117,180,000
("Estimate on Request")
Lot 46 - J.M.W. Turner - "Depositing of John Bellini's Three Pictures in La Chiesa Redentore. Venice" - $33,595,000
(estimate $28,000,000-35,000,000)
Lot 55 - Canaletto - "The Grand Canal, Venice, Looking South-East from San Stae to the Fabbriche Nuove di Rialto" - $11,840,000
(estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000)
Lot 33 - Andrew Wyeth - "Day Dream" - $23,290,000
(estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000)
Lot 24 - Canaletto - "The Piazza San Marco, Venice, looking east towards the basilica" - $10,466,000
(estimate $5,000,000 - 7,000,000)
Edgar Degas - "Danseuse rajustant son chausson", c. 1887 pastel - not part of the Paul Allen Collection
(estimate $5,000,000 - 7,000,000)
Lot 180 - Li Huayi - "Landscape" - $819,000
(estimate $120,000 - 180,000)
Lot 149 - Frank Stella - "Cinema de Pepsi III" - $5,580,000
(estimate $3,000,000 - 5,000,000)
Lot 148 - Alexander Calder - "Two-Toned Moon" - $2,700,000
(estimate $1,000,000-1,500,000)
It is not About Money (which is why I list the Estimates after showing you the Art), but MONEY is an Important Part of all these adventures - what is BEAUTY worth? What is JUNK (in my own opinion) worth?
Part I was Wednesday Nov 9, 2022; Part II was Thursday Nov 10, 2022. The proceeds were:
Part I......$1,506,386,000 (60 pieces)
Part II.....$ 115,863,500 (95 pieces)
total.......$1,622,249,500
Thank You God for a wonderful art/adventure day with my wonderful wife!
Music for today:
Lake Street Dive -
Lake Street Dive, 2010
Wendy read out loud - Louise Penny, Hillary Rodham Clinton -
State of Terror, 2021:
Sting -
57th & 9th, 2016
Spencer Brewer, Eric Tingstad & Nancy Rumbel -
Emerald, 1986
Choir Of Trinity College Cambridge, Richard Marlow, Director -
Elgar & Stanford - Great is the Lord, 1993:
Counting Crows -
Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, 2008:
Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine/New York:
