101
PALM BEACH
LESLIE HINDMAN
AUCTIONEERS
JANUARY 23: PROPERTY
FROM THE KENNEDY WINTER
WHITE HOUSE
153 LOTS SOLD FOR $483,400
TOP LOT:The sale of contents
from the iconic home—built
in 1923 by Palm Beach
architect Addison Mizner for
department store magnate
Rodman Wanamaker, and
owned by the Kennedy family
from 1933 to 1995—was led
by a pair of undated Venetian
glass mirrors, which brought a
glittering $38,750 (est. $2,000–
4,000). A pair of 20th-century
Venetian-style walnut twin
beds, which were the property
of the original owner and
which remained in the
residence throughout the
Kennedy years, brought
$20,000, soaring past their$5,000 high
estimate. A set
of 14 Spanish
Baroque-style
walnut dining
chairs, from the
18th century
or later, sold for
$17,500 (est. $3,000–
5,000), while an
18-foot-long Louis
XV provincial-style
mahogany ban-
quet table that had
been used in the
Kennedy family
dining room, realized
$16,250 (est. $4,000–
6,000). A late
19th-century, eight-
panel Coromandel
screen, once
owned by Sir
Winston Churchill’s
daughter and
gifted to RoseMACAU
POLY
JANUARY 10:
INAUGURAL ART AUCTION
101 LOTS SOLD FOR
$HK245 million ($31.6 million)
TOP LOT:Landscape in the
Early Spring, 1973, an emerald
green and blue colored ink on
silk by Zhang Daqian, was the
highest-selling lot of the sale,
capturing a final price of
$HK17.7 million ($2.3 million)
(est. $HK8–15 million; $1–2 mil-lion). Chu Teh-Chun’s La
transparence du silence, an
oil on canvas from 1989, found
a buyer for $HK12,036,000
($1.6 million) on an estimate
of $HK10 million to $HK15
million ($1.3–1.9 million). Wu
Guanzhong’s undated ink
and color on paper, depicting
various buildings, trees,
and waterways, Yunnan
Landscape, secured a buyer
for $HK11.8 million ($1.5 mil-
lion) (est. $HK8.5–12 million;BLOUINARTINFO.COM | MARCH 2016 ART+AUCTION
$1.1–1.5 million). From the
ceramic offerings, a fine
and rare underglazed blue,
polychrome enamel phoenix
and peony vase, dating
to the Qianlong period (1736–
1795), realized $HK8,968,000
($1.2 million) against its
$HK8 million to $HK12 mil-
lion ($1–1.5 million) estimate,
and from the jewelry high-
lights, a jadeite bead and
diamond necklace took in
$HK6,726,000 ($866,000)(est. $HK6.8–9.8 million;
$872,000–1.3 million). The
house’s first sale in Macau
offered works by leading
Asian artists, including Lin
Fengmian and Daqian, as
well as contemporary artists
like Takashi Murakami and
Liu Wei. Buddhist art, Qing
Dynasty (1644–1911) ceramics,
and other ancient works
also hit the block at the
opening sale, and 101 out of
145 lots found buyers.Kennedy in
exchange for a
fur coat during
a visit to England,
secured a final
price of $16,250
(est. $2,000–
4,000). The
Kennedys sold
the home and
its furnishings to
John and Marianne
Castle of Palm
Beach in 1995;
the Castles sold it
in May 2015 for
$31 million but held
on to the furniture
and art. The white-
glove White House
auction attracted
buyers from
around the U.S.
and achieved a
sell-through rate
of 100 percent.TOP
5
NEW YORK
IMPORTANT
DESIGN
SOTHEBY’S
DECEMBER 16
During Design
Week, at the house’s
sale dedicated
to masters of the
category, 142 out
of 178 lots offered
found takers, for
a total of $9,385,250.
Sotheby’s also
hosted its annual
sale of Tiffany works,
which brought
the week’s total to
$17.1 million.(^1)
ALBERTO
GIACOMETTI
Grande Feuille, Version
Epaisse, fine floor lamp,
1933–34
$442,000
(est. $200–300,000)
(^2)
CLAUDE LALANNE
Banquette,
2003
$394,000
(est. $250–350,000)
(^3)
DONALD DESKEY
Table lamp,
circa 1927
$274,000
(est. $150–250,000)
(^4)
GEORGES JOUVE
Monumental sculpture,
circa 1955
$250,000
(est. $200–300,000)
(^5)
CLAUDE LALANNE
Miroir de Bagatelle,
1998
$250,000
(est. $200–300,000)