Christie’s in Amsterdam

There are so many good lots up for auction this summer at Christie’s in Amsterdam. There is a lot by Petrus Paulus Schiedges called Sailing on open water that is oil on panel. This is supposed to sell for more than two thousand euros.

There is another lot up for auction at Christie’s that is of a busy canal near a Dutch town. It was painted by Joseph Bles. Joseph Bles was Dutch and he signed his painting “J Bles”. This painting should go for about fifteen hundred euros.

Albertus Verhoesen was Dutch and he painted a lovely painting called Cattle in a Sunny Meadow. The painting was created in 1845. It is up for auction in Amsterdam at Christie’s this summer. This painting will sell for more than twelve hundred euros.

Louis Smets was a 19th century Belgian. His painting of a horse-drawn-sled on a frozen waterway is up for auction this summer at Christie’s in Amsterdam. It is possible that this painting could fetch six thousand euros.

There is a nice painting by German Johann Erdmann Gottlieb called The Runaway Carriage that is dated 1844. It is one of the lots up for sale at Christie’s in Amsterdam. This is a rather large painting at 59.5 x 89 cm. The auction house thinks that it could sell for as much as five thousand euros.

The most expensive painting up for auction at Christie’s in Amsterdam this summer is called Setting Out. Setting Out was painted in the nineteenth century by Abraham Hulk. The painting is oil on canvas and it is estimated to sell for up to twenty thousand euros.

All of the top five paintings at the summer auction at Christie’s in Amsterdam were painted by Dutch painters. I think that I like the Jan Cossaar painting depicting playing in the snow after school better than I like the painting entitled Bollenveld by Anton Dircks. They look like they will sell for similar prices.

The oil painting of a lake in a panoramic Alpine landscape by Swiss artist Jacob Joseph Zelger is very large and very beautiful. I liked the style that he used for his creation. Christie’s estimates that this painting will sell for five to seven thousand euros.

There were less than twenty lots that Christie’s estimates will auction for less than a thousand euros. I found one of the most inexpensive paintings listed in the catalogue to be that of a clown with two yellow balls. It really did not speak to me at all and I’m not surprised that it will sell for one of the smallest amounts.

I actually liked the Dutch artist Simon Maris’ oil painting of pumpkins, grapes and elderberries. The painting is signed and may go for as little as seven hundred euros. Simon Maris lived from 1873-1935.

Another piece of art up for auction at the Christie’s in Amsterdam is a lithograph printed in colors from 1978. The artist is Bram van Velde and he signed his piece in pencil. Bidding for this piece may go as high as sixteen hundred euros. This artist was very poor as a child. He first entered into an apprenticeship as a painter in 1907 in The Hague.

Another painting that is going to be auctioned off at Christie’s in Amsterdam this summer is a flower still life with chrysanthemums. This oil painting was painted by Willem Elisa Roelofs. He was from The Hague and his painting should go for about seventeen hundred euros.

Upcoming Trip to Sotheby’s

I am planning a trip to an auction at Sotheby’s in June. I have a real interest in 20th century British art and they have an art auction scheduled. I have spent a great deal of time planning this trip.

While I was browsing the Sotheby’s online catalog, I found a signed Sickert named South Façade of St. Jacques. I saw this painting once in London in 1971. It has been in Canada since its purchase around that same time.

The painting is thought to be painted around 1900 after the artist had been in the town of Dieppe for two years. He found a great deal of beauty in this medieval place. He loved the architecture and it was the subject of a lot of his work. Sotheby’s has several pieces of his work up for auction at this event.

I also noted in the catalog that Sotheby’s will be auctioning off a watercolor of a cat by the artist Gwen John. She painted a lot of cats and also portraits of seated women. She was known to paint the same picture over and over again like Monet did.

There was another lot listed in the Sotheby’s catalog that interested me. I really am partial to Sickert and there was a painting that he completed in Venice while he was there with his wife. There are stories of marital troubles between them and the trip to Venice is thought to have been taken to repair their marriage.

I can’t wait to see the painting Thunder in the Mountains by James Dickson Innes. His watercolors are really splendid. The painting is thought to have been painted in 1910 in the mountains of North Wales. Sotheby’s has such an extensive catalogue for this auction.

I’m anxiously awaiting my trip to London. I love Sotheby’s art auctions and going out to expensive restaurants at night. I plan to go to the Mango Tree while I’m there. It is the best Thai food, hands down, that I’ve ever eaten.

My business partner was really taken with the Landscape Near Lyons painted by Sir Matthew Smith. I liked this oil painting as well. The Sotheby’s catalogue reported that the painting was done in 1922 and that there is a still life of flowers on the reverse. My partner will be unable to make this trip and has asked me to bid on it for him.

I have a small private collection of pencil drawings. I liked the Flower in a Glass Vase that was penned by Christopher Wood in 1925. I think that it would display nicely with other still lifes that I have. I think that this pencil art may well go for twelve thousand dollars. My favorite pencil drawings have all been found at Sotheby’s auctions

I have a patron that is very interested in a lot at the Sotheby’s auction that contains Poppies by Ivon Hithchens. She has authorized me to bid up to sixty five thousand dollars for her. I hope that I am successful in acquiring it for her. I know that this Sotheby’s auction will be well attended because they all are. It is too much to hope for that no one will notice this fantastic painting.

After looking forward to this trip for so long and poring over the Sotheby’s catalogue so intently, I must say that I have my heart set on Broomswade by John Piper. I absolutely must have this watercolor. The person that is selling it has been the only owner. He bought it directly from John Piper in 1966. If I win nothing else, I will win this painting.

The only other painting that I plan to bid on at the Sotheby’s auction is one by William Turnbull. There is a collector that I know that desperately wants this painting. He owns several of this artist sculptures and has now started to collect his paintings.

Books about Dale Chihuly

Books about art sell well in art auctions. I have found many publications that feature my favorite artist, Dale Chihuly. There are books, catalogs and even magazines routinely up for auction.

Chihuly Gardens and Glass is currently for sale in several art auctions. This book is beautifully illustrated and shows installations at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago. The book has an essay by Barbara Rose addressing Dale Chihuly's place in art history. There is another essay by the Garfield Conservatory director that provides a history of garden conservatories

Chihuly at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew features more than one hundred photographs that captured this event. An art auction for this book sold for fifty dollars. The exhibit at the Royal Botanical Gardens was Dale Chihuly’s first botanical garden exhibition outside of the United States.

Chihuly Seaforms has an excellent value at an art auction. It depicts forty four color photographs of his most ethereal series to date. The pieces he created for this series have been called not only "reflections of skill, passion, teamwork and sheer genius" but also "tributes" to the sea. He is truly a master.

Chihuly Form Fire was published in 1993 and it only occasionally shows up in art auctions. The book is hardcover and 144 pages long with over 75 color reproductions of his splendid work. There is a very informative commentary in the book about Chihuly’s career.

Chihuly has been exhibited all over the world and the accompanying catalogs sell for a lot at an art auction. The catalogs have a value to people that cannot possibly afford to ever own an actual piece of his art. I bought a catalog at an art auction that depicted his installations from the years 1964-1992. I have spent a lot of time looking at the photographs and have determined that Chihuly is pure genius.

I really want to find a copy of Chihuly Jerusalem 2000 at an art auction. The book sells new for fifty dollars. I think that the story of this journey and exhibit is extraordinary and I want to own a copy of this book. This book contains 117 full-color reproductions and from what I’ve seen they are all extraordinary.

I was surprised that even the book of Chihuly’s drawings has tremendous resale value at an art auction. He is able to convey such beauty and energy with his work and these drawings actually do the same thing. These drawings are what his ideas start out as before they are fully realized in glass.

There is one inexpensive Chihuly book that I rarely seen in art auctions. It only contains 17 color reproductions. It does cover the installations that had 20,000 pounds of ice. These were called the neon-and-ice installations and they had a powerful effect on the people that viewed them. This book is soft cover and it is better to buy it new from a website than from a previous owner at an art auction.

I’ve lost countless art auctions for the book that contains photos of his exhibit at the Marlborough Gallery in New York City. I just never bid enough. At some point, I will probably just have to bid more to win it from an art auction. I know that the 51 images are dramatic, but the book is a soft cover and I just don’t think I should pay $25 for it.

My mother won a Chihuly book for me at an art auction last year. It chronicled the installation in Japan at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art in 1990. I loved each and every one of the 54 images contained in this book. I have been asked several times to loan it to friends, but I have refused. This is one book that I refuse to lose.

In 1986, Chihuly was only the fourth American to get a solo exhibition at the Louvre in Paris. There was a soft cover book published with 33 photos in it that chronicles the exhibit. Also in the book is an introduction written by the chief curator and director of the Centre du Verre. This is the next book I hope to own and I’ve been watching art auctions hoping to see it pop up.

Collecting Enesco

My friends and I have been collecting Enesco for several years. We actively attend art auctions and bid on everything Enesco! We have a lot of fun finding pieces we don’t already have and winning them.

I think collecting Enesco is fun. I really like the Mary Moo Moo plates. They came in a collection of eight plates from a series called Home is Where the Herd is. I’ve had a hard time finding a complete set at an art auction, but I have found several single plates.

I started collecting Enesco right after I was married. I went to an art auction with my sister-in-law and she pointed out some items that she was collecting. The experience I had with her that day really made an impression on me.

I went to an art auction several months after the first one I attended and bought my first piece of Enesco. I got my start collecting Enesco with just one plate. I bought an Enesco plate that said Cookies are for Sharing. I have displayed it in my kitchen ever since.

I am still lacking an Enesco plate that says Cream of the Crop. It is hard to believe that I’ve been actively collecting Enesco for so long and have been unable to locate this plate. I have duplicates and triplicates of several of the plates. Each art auction I attend, I am hopeful that I will find the plate I need to complete that set.

My best friend has been collecting Enesco ever since she had a baby a few years ago. She decided on a teddy bear design for the nursery and I gave her a shower gift of several Cherished Teddies figurines for decorating with. She found more of the figurines at an art auction she went to with me and has been unstoppable ever since.

Precious Moments figurines have never been something that I particularly liked. My friend’s daughter loves them. She started collecting Enesco Precious Moments figurines after we took her with us to an art auction that had a small lot of them. She spends significantly less on her collection than the rest of us do, but I think she’ll catch up.

My husband’s birthday is on Halloween. He has started collecting Enesco Halloween statues. I bought him one statue at an art auction several years for his birthday and he totally fell in love with the work of Jim Shore.

The first Enesco statue that my husband found for himself was at an art auction we attended together while on vacation. He found the statue called Grim Reaper absolutely irresistible. I have to agree, the detail work is positively spooky! He has been searching for other pieces, but does not pursue collecting Enesco very actively.

My husband went golfing last weekend while I attended an art auction. Collecting Enesco is my passion and I rarely pass up items that I really like. I found a piece for me that added to my Moo Moo plate collection and I found a Headless Horseman for my husband’s collection.

The next piece that my husband has indicated that he wants to find at an art auction is the Jim Shore piece called Witch on a Pumpkin. I know that collecting Enesco can be addictive and it is nice that he has decided which pieces he really wants. I agree with my husband and really like the folk art that Jim Shore does.