antiques roadshow

Naples, Florida Gets New Art Fair

Filed under: Events, Art

Each year we mention Naples, Florida for its annual luxury wine festival but the tony warm weather enclave will have a new annual event to draw the rich, the first Naples Premier Art and Antique Fair, which takes place from Feb. 24 to March 1 at the Naples International Pavilion. The event is being put on by David and Lee Ann Lester, founders of International Fine Art Expositions which also organizes the Miami International Art Fair, Art Palm Beach, American International Fine Art Fair, The London International Fine Art Fair and SeaFair – the floating art fair.

The new fair brings over 60 art, antique, and jewelry dealers to Southwest Florida in a newly renovated 55,000 square foot facility. The fair features old master paintings, impressionist paintings, modern and contemporary art and sculpture, furniture, decorative arts, silver, ancient arts, haute couture and period jewelry, and rare books. Luxury jeweler Graff will be showcasing some of its fine diamond and colored gemstone jewelry. A painting by Renoir will also be on display and a historically significant portrait of President Abraham Lincoln will be presented by the 19th Century Shop.

Tags: antique fair, antiques roadshow, art fair, art fairs, naples, naples art and antique fair, naples florida

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Leigh Keno's Paintings, Folk Art and Furniture Auction (Exclusive)

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Auctions, Art, Architecture & Design

On Tuesday, January 18, 2011, Keno Auctions will hold its American and European Paintings, Folk Art, Furniture, and Decorative Arts auction. The auction will feature such important items as a Winslow Homer watercolor, an extremely rare Andrew Wyeth sketchbook, early American antique furniture, and important Folk Art. (see gallery below). Winslow Homer's watercolor is seen above with Keno Auctions' president, Leigh Keno, who is one of the foremost experts in the world of art and decorative arts as well as a regular contributor, along with his twin brother, Leslie, to the popular PBS television program Antiques Roadshow.

"We are very excited about the sale," Leigh Keno told Luxist. "It's a mixture of American, English and British furniture and paintings. There are some Chinese and other Asian things too. There is real variety---even a Minoan bronze bowl that dates back to 1200 to 1600 BC that was found in Crete. The great thing about the auction is that we have the Internet---including Live Auctioneers and ArtFact---as well as our own telephone bidding system, which makes it possible for anyone around the world to bid."

Keno has devoted much of his time of late amassing the large collection of important items that are featured in this auction. Important furniture items include a William and Mary veneered high chest of drawers (estimate: $60,000 to $120,000). "This is the most important example of American cabinetmaking in the baroque style in early 18th century Boston," says Keno. "There are only two others with veneered walnut moldings. But this high chest has the distinction of not only having the veneer on the sides, but also having the original surface on the legs and feet. The fact that the base is completely original is of great importance."

Gallery: Leigh Keno's Paintings, Furniture and Folk Art Auction on January 18, 2011

Leigh Keno's American and European Paintings Auction

Leigh Keno's auction to feature important American furniture

Tags: american+folk+art+auction, americanfolkartauction, Andrew Wyeth, antiques roadshow, auction, Chippendale, Jennifer L. Mass, Keno Auctions, Leigh Keno, leigh+keno+auction, leighkenoauction, Leslie Keno, WInslow Homer, Winterhur Museum, Wintertur

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Alexander Calder Mobile Is Second Highest Antiques Roadshow Appraisal

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Last year's "Antiques Roadshow" opened with its first $1 million-dollar appraisal for some pieces of carved Chinese jade. This year's season, which started earlier this week, began with the second highest valuation in the popular TV show's 15-year history, for an Alexander Calder mobile was appraised at $400,000 to $1 million. In the episode which premiered on Monday, decorative arts appraiser Christopher Kennedy examined a colorful metal mobile made by Alexander Calder made around 1950.

The owner, identified as Ruth, said that Calder gave the mobile to her aunt at a cocktail party in 1958. The aunt had done a needlepoint pillow of one of Calder's works. She gave it to him, and a couple of days later he had this mobile sent to her as a thank-you for the pillow. The mobile had a slight restoration in 1986. Appraiser Chris Kennedy deemed that for fair auction value, the range is somewhere between $400,000 and $600,000 but because Calder is a hot auction property these days it could conceivably break $1 million. Check out the video and an interview with the owner at the PBS website.

[via ArtFix Daily]

Tags: alexander calder, antiques roadshow, calder mobile

Antiques Roadshow To Feature First Million-Dollar Appraisal

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

It's not that often you see "Antiques Roadshow" in the news but this week both the version here in the U.S. and the one in England have big news to report. The U.S. version will be featuring a $1 million appraisal in the new season which starts next January on PBS.

A woman brought four pieces of carved Chinese Jade that she inherited to a Roadshow event in Raleigh, North Carolina over the weekend. The pieces of carved jade and celadon dated from the Chien Lung Dynasty (1736-1795) and included a large bowl crafted for the Emperor. Asian arts appraiser James Callahan said that a mark on the bottom of the bowl indicated it was created for an imperial order. The pieces were given a conservative auction estimate of up to $1.07 million. This is far and away the biggest appraisal in the show's 13-year run, the previous record was a 1937 painting by Clyfford Still which was estimated at around $500,000. The excitement generated by this appraisal will doubtlessly send many people scrambling to the attic to revisit the treasures they've inherited. A word of caution though, an appraisal is no guarantee of a final sale price.

The British show of the same name produced by the BBC had its first million pound appraisal ($1.655 million) last November for a a scale model of Anthony Gormley's artwork, "The Angel of the North." But this week that show was also in the news when an expert from the show recognized a lost Thomas Gainsborough masterpiece at a Sotheby's auction last December. He bid for the painting over the telephone, knowing that although Sotheby's had estimated it at t £10,000 to £15,000 it was worth far more.Phillip Mould, who recently published a book called Sleuth: The Amazing Quest For Lost Art Treasures, paid around £50,000 for the painting. Now that the painting has been authenticated as a Gainsborough by several experts he is offering it to the Gainsborough's House museum in Sudbury for £750,000. And Sotheby's may be stuck with compensating the previous owner in some way for drastically underestimating the painting's worth.

[Thanks, Lana]

UPDATE: Since there's a spirited conversation going on in the comments about whether or not young people are interested in antiques, I've added a poll. Please vote.