Latest Clarke Auction is dominated by international fine art

On January 22, Clarke Auction Gallery held a successful New Year's Estate Auction to kick off 2023. Although just roughly a third of the almost 600 pieces were in the furniture category, fine art took the top spot in the sale as a whole. Both Chinese and European art, as well as Israeli art, received a lot of attention. An average of $1.2 million was raised at auction, with a 95 percent sell-through rate.

The top lot was a painting by Reuven Rubin (Romanian-Israeli, 1893-1974), named "Road to Safed," which depicts a modernist panorama of the Israeli countryside. The oil on canvas, which was painted in 1927 and was part of Hope Weil's collection, has been certified authentic by the Rubin Museum Foundation in Tel Aviv, Israel. The oil painting by the late Romanian-Israeli artist, who spent a lot of time in New York, attracted attention from across the world in the weeks before the sale. He was good friends with the Weil family, who held the picture for many years before selling it. The Weils first purchased the Galilean landscape, which is dotted with tree groves and flat-topped homes, in 1928 at a New York City auction. An offer of $300,000 was placed on "Safed," which was listed in Sarah Wilkinson's 1974 book on Rubin, within the bounds of its $250–350,000 estimate. It was bought over the phone, and it's going back to Tel Aviv.

Additionally, two Picasso-related lots (1881-1973) had successful bids. A white earthenware ceramic pitcher from Picasso's Madoura workshop, named "Visage aux yeux rieurs" (Face with laughing eyes), came in third place at the auction. It was glazed, marked, and numbered.

According to owner and auctioneer Ronan Clarke, the pitcher received a bid of $55,000, about five times its top estimate of $8/12,000 and a record for that edition of 300. A Picasso still life aquatint by Jacques Villon (French, 1875-1963), which sold for $12,500 as opposed to $6/9,000, also fared well. The aquatint, which was printed on woven paper and was numbered and signed in pencil by both Picasso and Villon, was donated by Hope Weil, just like the vintage wood dentist's cabinet that brought $250 ($200/300).

The work of contemporary Chinese artist Gao Xiaohua (b. 1955) was included in the auction and sold for more than expected. With the exception of the woman on the right side of the painting, all three women in "Ladies With Parasols" are dressed traditionally. Xiaohua paints both contemporary and historical topics. The artwork exceeded the $10–15,000 estimate it was given to sell for $18,750, and it was joined in the top lots by traditional Chinese ornamental arts, producing even more exponential outcomes. A huge famille verte Gu vase with enamel decoration brought in $6,875 ($300/500), while a blue and white lotus vase with a dragon theme went for $10,000 ($300/500).

A massive bronze sculpture by Émile Louis Picault (French, 1833–1915), a prolific artist who produced more than 500 works, most of which were allegorical and mythical in nature, was the largest piece of art to be auctioned. This sculpture was one of many that Picault presented to the Salon des Beaux-Arts. He signed all of his work simply "E. Picault." As stated on the angel's slab, the bronze is titled "Vox Progressi" or "The Voice of Progress," and it also has another inscription that reads, "Always go towards the light." From a $4/6,000 estimate, it soared to $15,000.