Market report

What we’re hearing from galleries and auction houses across the country

Exterior view of Bonhams Skinner salesroom in Boston, Massachusetts.

Robin Starr

General Manager
Bonhams Skinner

As long as the estimates are right, the top echelon works will always find a home. We’re finding that middle-market works—in the $50,000-500,000 range—are selling more consistently and attracting a slightly younger group of collectors. This is especially true for 20th and 21st-century works, but we’re also seeing it extend into 19th‑century material, helped in part by growing interest as we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

A good example is our recent Americana: Crafting a Nation—Art, History & Legacy sale. We offered two exceptional works from the Los Angeles Athletic Club that fell squarely within this middle‑market range: Trophy of Game Birds by John James Audubon and an After Leutze’sWashington Crossing the Delaware. Both had been with the club for decades before coming to auction and ultimately drew exceptionally active bidding.

It may sound trite, but quality sells. A mediocre work by a major artist may struggle, but an exceptional work by a secondary or tertiary artist is likely to soar well above its auction estimate. And when a fantastic work of art is also fresh to the market, it’s virtually money in the bank.

The two Los Angeles Athletic Club works mentioned are perfect examples of this. The Audubon was both rare and fresh to the market, painted at a pivotal moment in Audubon’s career, and is also one of his few known oil paintings—factors that contributed to its strong result of $394,200.

Similarly, the period copy of Washington Crossing the Delaware, also fresh to the market, taps into the enduring power of Leutze’s iconic imagery immortalizing Washington’s heroic 1776 crossing. Considering the original work by Leutze was destroyed during World War II, and another version being housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, examples of this subject are exceptionally scarce, which helped drive the success of the work. It was sold for $102,100.

Lately I’ve been asked about a number of collections of works by university professors from smaller liberal‑arts programs that no longer exist, and who have had only a very limited market history. Some of them have been wonderful and highly experimental. Because they are largely unknown in the marketplace, there are deals to be had and some really great art.

Bonhams Skinner
236 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116
skinner.bonhams.com