My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.

Heritage Auction held their American Art Auction on May 10, 2014, with some good results. Included in the sale were Western, California, & Golden Age Illustration paintings. Milton Avery led the pack, with Leroy Neiman second and Frank Xavier Leyendecker (brother of the more famous Joseph Christian Leyendecker) third. Sold lots totaled $3,975,744, for an average of $15,714.

Top lot of the sale was #70159, a large, 1954, Milton Avery painting entitled From the Studio.  It sold near its low estimate of $800,000, realizing $875,000, including buyer’s premium.

There were several offerings of Leroy Neiman’s works, and all did well.  Top lot of the group was #70176, a large, 1970, oil on masonite painting, entitled Roulette II. It sold near its high estimate of $150,000, realizing $161,000. The other smaller works by Neiman, for Playboy magazine, also did well and exceeded their high estimates.

Francis Xavier Leyendecker’s cover illustration for Vanity Fair magazine, lot #70287, brought the third highest price of the auction, $118,750 — many times the pre-sale estimate of $20,000 – $30,000. The June, 1915, oil on board, measuring 23½” x 16½”, depicted Pierrot and Columbine, from the 17th century Comédie-Italienne.

For the complete results of the sale, click here to begin. You will have to sign in (free) to get the results.

It’s spring, so there are no shows, but we’re still very much in business.  Click here to view my new website and look around. We always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on our website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps.