Gorgeous marine rendering by Edward Moran soars to $300,000 at Shannon's, Oct. 24 A gorgeous marine rendering of boats in the early morning haze by Edward Moran (Am., 1829-1901), titled Summer Morning, New York Bay, sold for $300,000 in an auction held Oct. 24 by Shannon's.
News-Antique.com - Nov 09,2012 - (MILFORD, Conn.) – A gorgeous marine rendering of boats in the early morning haze, with shad fishermen in rowboats, by American artist Edward Moran (1829-1901), titled Summer Morning, New York Bay, sold for $300,000 in an auction held Oct. 24 by Shannon's Fine Art Auctioneers at the firm's Milford gallery. It was a new auction record price for a work by Moran.
The oil on canvas rendering, signed lower left and dated 1873, measured 24 inches by 42 ½ inches. It was also signed, titled and dated on the reverse. Edward Moran was renowned for his marine paintings and is credited with the Moran family’s entry into the art world. Born in England, he set up an art studio in New York City in 1872 and lived for years in Paris after 1877.
The auction’s second top lot would have been a headliner at most other art auctions. It was a stunning oil on canvas by Austrian painter Franz Richard Unterberger (1838-1902), titled Canal in Venice (180,000). The 31 inch by 47 inch work was signed lower left. Unterberger was best known for his colorful, romantic Italian views. He studied and painted throughout Europe.
In all, 200 works of art (a good percentage of them masterpieces or exceptional examples by the artists) came up for bid in an auction that grossed $2.5 million. Nearly 100 people were at the sale in person, while another 134 approved bidders participated online, through Artfact.com. A bank of twenty phones with close to 300 registered bidders were kept busy throughout the evening. The auction house also executed numerous absentee bids for prospective buyers.
“This auction was very successful, with bidders from 17 countries and 40 states,” said Sandra Germain of Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers. “The activity levels were high, and many of the works that sold exceeded our expectations. The key, of course, was the high level of quality paintings that came to us through consignment. It proved, once again, that quality prevails in the art market.”
Following are additional highlights from the auction. All prices quoted include a 20 percent buyer’s premium.
Several other world auction records were set. One was for Nicholas Krushenick (Am., 1929-1999), whose acrylic on canvas titled United Color Kit soared to $102,000. The large, 51 inch by 39 inch work was signed and dated (March 1967). Krushenick was a Modernist who took Pop Art to a whole new level, using primary colors and outlines of hard geometric shapes.
New auction records were also set for Lee Mullican (Am., 1919-1998), for his signed, titled and dated (1957) acrylic on canvas titled Sun Canyon, 50 inches by 30 inches ($38,400); and Hannes Beckmann (Am., 1909-1976), for his oil on canvas board titled Equiniox ($15,600). The 24 inch by 20 inch work was initialed lower left and dated (1963) and titled on the reverse.
Two other paintings topped the prestigious $100,000 mark. The first was an oil on canvas winter rendering by Edward Willis Redfield (Am., 1869-1965), titled Sleigh Days, signed
