Basquiat painting fetches record $48.8M at Christie’s

Christie's says Dustheads sold for $48.8 million on Wednesday.

His Untitled, a painting of a black fisherman, held the previous record when it sold for $26.4 million last November.

Also breaking world auction prices for artists were works by Roy Lichtenstein and Jackson Pollock.

Lichtenstein's Woman With Flowered Hat fetched $56 million. A classic example of pop art, the 1963 painting is based on Pablo Picasso's portrait of his lover Dora Maar.

An important drip painting by Pollock, Number 19, realized a record $58.3 million.

Christie's says Wednesday's auction brought in $495 million, the highest total at any art auction.

___

Online: www.christies.com

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-05-16-13 1240GMT

Jeweler Harry Winston buys $26.7M diamond at Christie’s

Christies representative Raul Kadakia told reporters after the sale that Harry Winston was the buyer of the diamond that Wednesday evening smashed the previous auction-price record for a diamond in its category by more than $10 million.

It's the highest ever paid for a flawless colorless diamond, according to the auction house, which had hoped the gem would go for $30 million.

"Twenty-three million (Swiss) francs! Your last chance! Twenty-three million, sold!" Francois Curiel, the head of Christie's jewelry division shouted, clinching the deal before some 150 people gathered for the auction at a luxury Geneva hotel.

Christies said after the sale of the stone, which is the largest diamond in its category ever to go under the hammer.

The American Institute of Gemology has handed the gemstone the top colorless grade "D" and the best clarity grade, "flawless," which is characterized by its "absolute symmetry," according to Christie’s.

In the rough, the diamond was 236 carats when it was extracted from the Jwaneng mine in Botswana, before it was meticulously sculpted for 21 months, Christie's said.

Wednesday's auction marked the first time the rock had gone on sale, and the buyer has the privilege of naming it.

Wednesday's sale marked the highest price ever paid for a flawless colorless diamond at auction.

The previous auction-price record-holder in this category was the 84.37-carat Chloe round diamond, snapped up at a Sotheby's auction in Geneva in 2007 by Guess Jeans founder Georges Marciano.

A diamond merchant sold the new diamond, the centerpiece of Christie's traditional May jewelry and luxury watch sale.

In the "colorless, flawless" category, the reigning world champion in terms of size is meanwhile the Cullinan Diamond, a gem weighing 530.2 carats that is part of the British crown jewels.

Last November, Christie's sold the 76-carat Archduke Joseph Diamond, in the initially flawless category a notch below flawless, on auction in Geneva for $21.5 million.

And in May 2011, a heart-shaped 56-carat diamond was auctioned off for $10.9 million.

The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, which is in the same D-color category but weighs in at only 33.19 carats, was meanwhile sold for $8.8 million on auction in New York in December 2011.

Gina Lollobrigida's pearl earrings set new auction record

GENEVA (AFP) – A pair of pearl earrings belonging to actress Gina Lollobrigida sold for an auction record of $2.39 million at Sotheby's Geneva Tuesday as the veteran Italian star auctioned off some dazzling jewelry.

The lot, the highlight of the auction, went under the hammer for more than twice the presale estimate, and in doing so broke the previous record for pearl earrings set by a pair from the jewel box of fellow screen siren Elizabeth Taylor in 2011.

Lollobrigida, a popular movie star in the 1950s and '60s, was selling off a collection created by Italian jewelers Bulgari, with some of the auction proceeds going to help stem cell research.

Lollobrigida, 85, said she was very happy that the jewels would help a good cause.

"Selling my jewels to help raise awareness of stem cell therapy, which cancure so many illnesses, seems to me a wonderful use to which to put them," she said in a statement.

Sotheby's said the entire collection sold for a total of just under $5 million.

In March Lollobrigida, star of The World's Most Beautiful Woman and Come September, said she wanted to devote herself to sculpture and "a sculptor doesn't need jewelery."

DiCaprio environmental art auction tops $38 million

The "11th Hour" auction at Christie's featured 33 works of mostly contemporary art, much of it created for the event and addressing environmental themes.

The strong result doubled presale estimates, with nine of the works selling for more than $1 million. Among the main sellers, Mark Grotjahn's Untitled went for $6.5 million and Zeng Fanzhi's The Tiger fetched $5 million, both of them doubling their estimates in enthusiastic bidding from around the world.

Most of the proceeds went to environmental protection causes championed by the Hollywood actor's Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

Even after the sale, the haul shot up when an anonymous collector donated $5 million to match the prices realized for all three tiger paintings featuring in the line-up "in order to protect tigers," Christie's said.

"The gifts of many other generous donors totaled $500,000, generating an overall amount of $38.8 million," the auction house said.

DiCaprio, currently starring in a lavish new production of The Great Gatsby, describes his foundation as "dedicated to protecting the last wild places on Earth and the critically endangered species that inhabit them."

A 2013 portrait of DiCaprio himself by Elizabeth Peyton sold for $1.05 million, compared to its $400,000-600,000 estimate.

The Hollywood element added even more glitz to the already luxurious atmosphere of a Manhattan Christie's auction room, with actress Salma Hayek -- whose father-in-law Francois Pinault owns Christie's -- joining DiCaprio in the audience. Other DiCaprio pals who showed up to support the effort and bid on art included Bradley Cooper, Mark Ruffalo and Lukas Haas. DiCaprio stood and applauded when another of his good friends, Tobey Maguire, placed the winning bid of $262,500 for a pair of paintings.

However, DiCaprio said the world's embattled environment needs far more help.

"Despite the significant efforts of organizations and individuals all over the world, our modern way of life has caused unprecedented devastation to our oceans, our forests and our wildlife," he said, urging buyers to "bid as if the fate of the planet depends on us."

"We are at the 11th hour, we are facing a tipping point of environmental crisis unprecedented in human history," he said.

Auction Central News International contributed to this report.

Sticker shock: Feds probe canceled sale of $1.7M Chinese vase

Acting on a tip, Murphy and Estes looked into the background of the double-gourd Chinese vase described in Altair’s auction catalog as “18th century” with a “Qianlong six-character mark” and concluded it bears striking similarities to a possible repro vase that sold last year for a mere $3,840.

The vase said to be a modern iteration of an antique design was auctioned on May 23, 2012 in a Russian, Asian, European & American Fine Art sale conducted by Jackson’s International Auctioneers & Appraisers of Cedar Falls, Iowa. Jackson’s, a highly reputable, long-established specialist in fine art and antiques, had identified the vase in its catalog description as being Chinese famille rose porcelain with a “Qianlong archaic mark on the base.” The description made no mention of the vase being an antique, which was borne out by the modest auction estimate of $5,000-$7,000.

The main differences between the 6¾in modern copy sold at Jackson’s and the line-for-line twin auctioned recently by Altair had to do with representation. The vase in Altair’s sale was identified as having “Provenance From Christie’s Sale 2/23/1989. Lot 297.” A further reference noted: “See ‘Palace Museum Collection of ancient ceramics data Clippings (Volume II)’ page 180, Figure 204 Forbidden City Publishing House, 2005.”

The vase even bore a Christie’s sticker under its base suggesting it has been entered as Lot 297 in the aforementioned 1989 sale at the company’s South Kensington gallery in London. But there was one problem with that. Lot 297 in that particular sale was not even a vase; it was a blanc-de-chine statuette of Guanyin estimated to be worth around $100.

The vase sold by Jackson’s had on its base an aged partial sticker, also from Christie’s, with an illegible lot number on it. If, indeed, it was the same vase that appeared a year later in Altair’s auction, then logic would suggest that someone may have tampered with it subsequent to its sale at Jackson’s by adding a newer Christie’s sticker that had no connection to the vessel whatsoever.

Jackson’s president and CEO James Jackson spoke extensively with Auction Central News about the two vase transactions. Jackson stated that it “did not require an expert” to see that the vase in their May 2012 sale was not an antique. “You can put a Mercedes-Benz hood ornament on a VW Beetle, but that doesn’t make the car a Mercedes. Likewise, you can put a Christie’s sticker on a vase, but that doesn’t warrant that it’s an antique or that it even sold at Christie’s. We place no validity in auction house stickers unless research proves the sticker to be authentic and/or indigenous to the piece. This is the type of research we do on a regular basis and which often takes very little time and energy. Stickers have no bearing on value."

"In this supercharged Asian art market, it’s not unusual for things with questionable stickers to come through any auction house’s doors," Jackson continued. "You’ll notice that in our catalog description we made no mention of provenance from Christie’s, even though the vase had a Christie’s sticker. Our pre-sale estimate of $5,000-$7,000 told bidders our opinion of what the vase’s value was. I have four kids to put through college. If we had even sniffed the possibility that it might be a $1.7-million-dollar vase, we would have sought out an independent expert’s opinion. I’ve spent 25 years building up our company’s reputation. Does anyone really think we would have let it go for $3,840?” he asked rhetorically.

Jackson explained that the inclusion of “Qianlong archaic mark” in the auction-catalog description for the vase was in line with standard protocol used throughout the auction industry.

“It did have a Qianlong archaic mark on it, which any expert in Asian art will tell you is in no way a representation of a piece’s age. A ceramic made today in a village in China could have that mark on it. When the famille rose vase first came in to us, we thought it was probably a copy of an archaic prototype.” Jackson said.

“Not just in Chinese art, but in all Asian art, it’s not uncommon for contemporary makers to apply a mark to pay homage to their forefathers or to the artist who they apprenticed under,” Jackson explained. “For example, a Japanese woodblock print might be signed ‘Hiroshige,’ but does that mean it was created by Ando Hiroshige [born in the late 18th century] or one of a long line of artists whose work is ‘in the manner of’ and signed in the same way as original Hiroshiges were?”

Jackson said that he and his staff “look suspiciously” at everything that is brought in to them for potential consignment to auction. “Every item has to stand on its own merits. Its value can’t be assessed on the basis of an auction-house sticker or marking,” he said.

Altair Auctions & Appraisers is owned and operated by Benjamin Wang, who studied Asian art and antiques at the Institute of Mongolian History. He opened the doors to his auction business in September 2012.

Wang spoke at length with Auction Central News and confirmed that the $1.7 million sale of the vase has been canceled, not due to any sort of revelation that the vase was a copy, but because of nonpayment on the part of the winning bidder, who had participated by phone.

“After the auction we contacted the winning phone bidder in Italy, but he failed to pay for the vase or any of the other items he had won in the sale,” Wang said. “Instead, he asked to see the provenance for the vase. He asked if we had the consignor’s receipt from its prior sale, and my office sent it to him along with the invoice for all of the other pieces. We never heard from him again. Unfortunately that is not an uncommon occurrence in Asian art sales.”

Wang said the buyer had provided Altair with a copy of his passport as well as credit card details, which were used to charge a $3,000 deposit prior to bidding in the sale. Asked why he did not charge the same credit card after the sale for the amount shown as due on the invoice, Wang responded, “because the provenance – the receipt we had sent to him – turned out to be a fake.”

According to Wang, the vase was consigned to Altair’s sale by someone well known to him. “He’s a customer and a friend of mine. I trusted his judgment because he is a longtime collector of Chinese art,” Wang said. “My mistake was trusting him and not having the vase checked in depth. [The consignor] did not admit it to me openly, but the sticker turned out to be a fake. This has damaged my company.”

Wang denies any wrongdoing with respect to the now-aborted sale of the vase and says he still believes the piece to be a genuine Qianlong production. “The fact that the bidding went so high shows it’s real,” Wang told Auction Central News. “People weren’t bidding just because of the Christie’s sticker, which did not belong on the vase.”

However, in light of the controversy, the Department of Justice has taken an interest and is investigating parties involved in the Altair vase transaction to determine if any misrepresentation or fraud might have occurred.

In the Boston Globe article, Attorney Orestes Brown, who represents Benjamin Wang, said that his client plans to send the vase to China for independent authentication. “We don’t want the reputation of the vase to be tainted because of the opinion of some guy with no credibility,” Brown reportedly told the Globe in reference to James Jackson.

Jackson told Auction Central News he found Attorney Brown’s comment to be “extremely offensive,” adding, “If [Wang] is so sure the vase is of the Qianlong period, why doesn’t he stand up for his guns? With the sale canceled, presumably he has lost a very large commission. Why doesn’t he have a mutually agreeable expert here in the United States examine it?”

Wang told Auction Central News he “fully intend(s)” to have the vase authenticated, not in China but in the United States.

“I’m not a god. I could have gotten that piece wrong or I could have gotten it right, but I sincerely believe it’s real. If I had thought it was a fake, I would have had it checked out,” he said.

Auction Central News will continue to report on this story as it develops.

# # #

Copyright 2013 Auction Central News International. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Gandhi's handwritten will and leather sandals up for auction in Britain

Auction house Mullock's said the battered leather shoes, due to be sold on May 21, were expected to fetch up to £15,000 ($23,000, 18,000 euros) despite being "in a bad state."

The scandals are among the star lots in "one of the largest collections of memorabilia relating to Mahatma Gandhi ever to be offered," the auction house in Shropshire, central England, said.

The collection also includes Gandhi's will—written "in a neat secretarial hand" and signed by him in Gujerati—which is expected to sell for up to £40,000, as well as a shawl hand-woven from thread that he spun himself.

Other items up for sale include letters, paintings, prints, audio recordings of Gandhi's speeches, and a fragment of his blood on a microscope slide.

The auction house said the sandals had come from Gandhi's home in Juhu, western India, where he lived between 1917 and 1934.

Gandhi's sandals were an instantly recognizable part of his image along with his glasses, loin-cloth, shawl and staff.

Sandals also feature in a story that is often used to illustrate the independence icon's personal philosophy.

Running to catch a train, Gandhi supposedly lost one of his sandals. Unableto snatch it from the platform as he sped away on the train, he decided to throw the other one after it so that someone could use them—a classic example of his practical generosity.

A pair of Gandhi's sandals and also a pocket watch, a bowl and a plate that belonged to him were bought for $1.8 million by an Indian businessman at an auction in New York in 2009.

India has in the past fretted about private auctions of Gandhi's belongings, saying that they insult the memory of a man who rejected material wealth.

Auctions of his personal items often raise an uproar at home, where many feel the items are part of their cultural legacy.

Known as Mahatma or Great Soul, Mohanchand Karamdas Gandhi spearheaded a nonviolent campaign against the British Raj which finally saw India gain itsfreedom from colonial rule in 1947.

He was shot dead by a Hindu hardliner in New Delhi in 1948.

Handwritten poem by Philip Larkin sells for $11,650

Titled Love, it was written in 1962 on a sheet of paper apparently torn from a notebook.

Its first lines read: “The difficult part of love/ Is being selfish enough,/ Is having the blind persistence/ To upset an existence/ Just for your own sake.”

The poem was published in Critical Quarterly in 1966.

According to auctioneer Bonhams, Larkin said in a letter that he had forgotten he wrote the poem, but that he “thought it rather good.”

Bonhams called it the first autographed manuscript by the English poet to be auctioned.

It said Wednesday's sale price almost doubled the initial estimate of up to 4,000 pounds.

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-05-08-13 1751GMT

Forgotten painting brings $750,000 to school district

The painting by Impressionist Henri Le Sidaner (French, 1862-1939) was donated to the district in 1933, but officials didn't realize how special it was until January.

On Wednesday the 40- by 32-inch painting titled Interior brought $750,000 at an auction in New York's famed Sotheby's, plus a 20 percent buyer's premium. The painting was expected to bring $350,000 to $450,000.

The district opted to sell the painting because most of the artists in its collection are from the Pittsburgh area, and because the painting is too valuable to display in a school.

“We're all pleased it went as high as it did,” said Superintendent Linda Lane.

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-05-08-13 2240GMT

Leonardo DiCaprio art auction to benefit environment

Thirty-three works of art will go on the block, many by contemporary artists addressing environmental themes. Organizers of the "11th Hour Auction" estimate they could raise $15 million, Christie's said.

DiCaprio, currently starring in a huge new production of The Great Gatsby, will attend the auction in Manhattan. In the catalog for the auction, DiCaprio wrote that his foundation is "dedicated to protecting the last wild places on Earth and the critically endangered species that inhabit them."

"Our goal is simple: to support innovative conservation projects worldwide that protect nature, and improve the lives of local communities."

Among the works on sale will be The Tiger, by Zeng Fanzhi, which comes from the collection of billionaire Francois Pinault. The presale estimate was $1.5-2.5 million.

There are also works by the graffiti artist Banksy, a photograph by Richard Prince called Silhouette Cowboy, and many works focusing on animals, such as Walton Ford's Anthroponosis, which depicts the Bible's Eve walking with an orangutan.

A 2013 portrait of DiCaprio by Elizabeth Peyton is also on sale, estimated at $400,000-$600,000.

Visit Christie's online at www.christies.com.

#   #   #

Soutine's 'Little Pastry Chef' sells for sweet $18M

Soutine's Le Petit Patissier (The Little Pastry Chef), was the highlight of the Christie's auction in New York on Wednesday. It was estimated before the sale to be worth $16-22 million.

Christie's said Soutine's rosy-cheeked chef, the sixth of a renowned series painted in about 1927, set an auction record for the Russian-born French artist. The previous highest result for any of his works was $17.2 million in London in 2007.

Marc Chagall's unusual Three Acrobats was the second most expensive work at the Manhattan sale, taking $13 million, well over the $6-9 million estimate.

However, Andre Derain's 1905 Portrait de Madame Matisse au kimono, estimated at $15-20 million, failed to find a buyer. Christie's had heralded the painting of Matisse's wife as "the most important portrait" ever auctioned by Derain, the co-founder of Fauvism.

There was better news for Egon Schiele's Selbstbildnis mit Modell (Fragment), from 1913. It had been estimated at $5-7 million, but sold for $11.3 million.

Christie's said the overall performance showed a strong market, with 94 percent of 49 lots selling. Four of these sold for more than $10 million and 10 others for more than $5 million.

On Tuesday, rival Sotheby's also had robust results, with a record $15.3 million paid for a version of Rodin's sculpture The Thinker. It also sold Paul Cezanne's Les Pommes, a landmark in modern art history, for $41.6 million.

Brooke Lampley, Christie's head of Impressionist and modern art, said that with "all but three works sold and exceptional sell-through rates of 94 percent by lot and 90 percent by value, this sale ranks among the strongest we have hosted in this category in New York.

"In all, it was gratifying to witness a sophisticated and intelligent market at work, and see the strong collecting trends from our winter sales in London gain even more momentum here in New York."

Cezanne painting goes for $41.6M at Sotheby’s

Les Pommes, a landmark still life of apples on a table from 1889-90, went for the highest price at the Tuesday night auction, followed by Amedeo Modigliani's famed portrait L'Amazone, which went for $25.9 million.

"Les Pommes is one of Cezanne's most perfect still lifes," Charles Moffett, vice chairman of Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art, said ahead of the event. The painting had been expected to go for $25 million to $35 million.

"These moving compositions, which explore the paradoxes of forms in space, inspired the Cubism of Picasso and Braque and signal the birth of modern art."

Modigliani's L'Amazone was painted early in his career in 1909 and shows the glamorous Baroness Marguerite de Hasse de Villers. It had been estimated at $20-30 million.

The two works are from the collection of philanthropists Alex and Elizabeth Lewyt and will fund a foundation set up in their honor, with a focus on animal welfare and their other favored causes.

Madonna's Trois Femmes a la Table Rouge, a Cubist work painted by Fernand Leger in 1921, sold for $7.2 million, exceeding its estimate of $5-7 million.

The proceeds will go to the entertainer's Ray of Light Foundation, which supports girls' education projects in the Middle East and South Asia.

A Pablo Picasso sculpture of his young muse Sylvette, estimated at $12-18 million, sold for $13.6 million.

Sotheby's also auctioned off three bronze sculptures by Auguste Rodin, including a version of Le Penseur, or The Thinker, which sold for $15.3 million.

All told, the auction netted more than $230 million, just under the presale high estimate of $235.1 million, Sotheby's said.

The sale failed to live up to last year's auction, when a version of Edvard Munch's The Scream set a world record by selling for $119.9 million.

Most of the 71 lots sold on Tuesday went for well within their estimated range, even when fees were added in.

The spring auctions will continue Wednesday at Christie's.

Bonhams letting ‘Jeannie’ out of the bottle with Larry Hagman sale

LOS ANGELES – Bonhams will present a selection of items from the estate of actor Larry Hagman, best known for portraying J.R. Ewing on the TV series Dallas, in its May 5 Entertainment Memorabilia auction and May 12 Period Art and Design auction, both to be held in Los Angeles.

Hagman began his career in the 1950s on the New York stage, but his breakthrough role was as Maj. Anthony Nelson, Jeannie's "master" on I Dream of Jeannie. Items related to the show include several replica "Jeannie" bottles, including one designed by Hagman himself (est. $1,000-1,500 each), as well as a photograph of Hagman with Barbara Eden, lovingly inscribed by the actress to her former co-star (est. $200-300).

Items on offer from Dallas include a complete set of Hagman's scripts from season 7 of the show (est. $600-800); a portrait of him by Oenone Acheson, featured in season 13 (est. $1,500-2,000); a group of photographs of him with his Dallas co-stars Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy (est. $300-500); a pair of Hagman's Dallas cast jackets (est. $300-500); and a group of awards Hagman received for his role on the show (est. $500-700).

Sunday’s auction will also feature a large collection of custom leatherwork by Edward Bohlin, leather maker to the stars, including a saddlebag (est. $1,000-1,500), Hagman's Dallas script binder (est. $600-800), his briefcase (est. $600-800) and his director's chair (est. $2,500-3,500), plus a custom Bohlin "J.R." belt buckle, made of silver and 10K gold and decorated with rubies (est. $3,000-5,000), recently featured on the 2013 season finale of TNT's Dallas.

The estate also includes Stetson hats, a Southfork Ranch belt buckle, a cartridge belt with holsters, hunting clothing and accessories, photographs, posters and other memorabilia of varying estimates. Additionally, it features memorabilia relating to Hagman's mother, Broadway legend Mary Martin, including a book inscribed to her by Truman Capote (est. $400-600), a sterling silver picture frame gifted to her by Carol Channing (est. $300-500) and a sterling silver salver gifted to her by Fieldcrest, for whom Martin served as a spokesperson (est. $800-1,200).

Complementing the Hagman memorabilia is a selection of furniture, decorative accessories and art to be offered in Bonhams Period Art and Design auction on May 12. Hagman was known for his eclectic personal taste, and the selection includes both traditional European antiques, such as a pair of Louis XV- style paint-decorated wood fauteuils (est. $700-900) and a George III yew wood secretary bookcase (est. $1,000-1,500), as well as more unexpected items, such as a group of antique fireman's helmets (est. $800-1,200), a brass telescope with stand (est. $500-700) and a Moorish-style brass brazier (est. $400-600).

Brazil art to be showcased at Sotheby's in New York

The "Brasil Vivido" selling exhibition includes some 50 works by 16 artists and will take place at the prestigious auction house May 10-29.

"This is the first such event and is a particularly important one for Sotheby's," spokesman Dan Abernethy told AFP.

For this first exclusively Brazilian event, Sotheby's experts have picked a wide range of samples from the country's creative talent, including Adriana Varejao, Carlito Carvalhosa and Miguel Rio Branco.

Carvalhosa's sound installation "Sum of Days" was featured at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 2011. Varejao's work has also been shown at the MoMA, as well as at the city's Lehmann Maupin gallery.

The sale will be held in Sotheby's S2 gallery space located at its New York headquarters.

Sotheby's has shown a growing interest in Brazil in recent years, with the opening of an office in Sao Paulo in 2011 and the expansion of staff in the country. It also has representatives in Rio de Janeiro.

"With Brazil becoming an ever increasing focus for Sotheby's, we are delighted to bring the creative richness and sophistication of the country's contemporary art to our S2 galleries," said Katia Mindlin Leite-Barbosa, president of Sotheby's Brazil.

"Sotheby's remains the only international auction house with a formal presence in Brazil," she added.

Leslie Hindman to sell Grant Wood sketchbook May 12

The Veterans Memorial Building in Grant Wood’s hometown, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, boasts a towering landmark to his artistic achievement, a 24-foot-tall stained glass window—the largest in the United States in 1929 at the time of its inception. The window features a central figure of a Lady in Mourning, modeled after the artist’s sister and sitter for the iconic painting, American Gothic, Nan Wood. The figure is flanked by life-size soldiers from the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War and World War I. It is the only known stained-glass window designed by Wood.

On May 12, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers will offer Grant Wood’s personal 48-page sketchbook embellished with over 70 preparatory drawings and studies for the Memorial Window. Wood has signed the cover of the small journal and an inscription from the artist’s sister, signed and dated May 1, 1946, confirms: “This book was the property of Grant Wood. It contains sketches and ideas for the stained glass memorial window he designed for the memorial building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The sketches were made in 1929.”

LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

There are no known sketchbooks attributed to Wood in institutional or private collections, and the auction house is confident it will exceed its $40,000-$60,000 presale estimate.

The sketchbook outlines Wood’s progression of ideas for the central female figure, the four soldiers, and the layout as a whole. One discarded idea shows a Madonna-like figure in the form of a pieta, holding a dead soldier and filling the entire window like an altarpiece. Another shows the figure of Justice holding scales, and another Victory with her winged cap. Other drawings echo papal tombs and Greek architecture.

“The sketchbook is unprecedented,” says Mary Kohnke, director of books and manuscripts. “It shows the artist struggling with issues of perspective, draping, the female and male forms, and even the use of Roman numerals, which he rearranged to fit in the allotted space. We are very excited to have the opportunity to present this exciting item to the public.”

For additional information, contact Kohnke at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, 312-334-4236.

Austrian emperor’s lock of hair highlights auction

The Vienna auction house had said Emperor Franz-Josef's linen would be put on the block, suggesting there was a least a chance that one of the parsimonious ruler's patched undergarments would be put on sale.

But the only intimate apparel being sold off Thursday was a pair of silk long johns made for his wife, Elizabeth. She was assassinated in 1898 before ever wearing them, and that appeared to lower their attraction. The garment went for 2,000 euros, 500 euros below its estimated value.

Not so the hair. Bedded in a worn purple velvet case, the silvery strands fetched 13,720 euros. Hushed murmurs rippled through the room as the winning bid was announced on behalf of Austrian restaurateur Mario Plachutta, who was said to own of the world's largest collections of items from the imperial Habsburg dynasty.

“We've been concentrating on expanding the collection with special objects and the ringlet fits in very well,” said Katrin Unterreiner, who bid for Plachutta.

As might have a pair of patched undies. Journalist and author Georg Markus, who has chronicled the Hapsburg era like few others, said even Franz-Josef, who ruled from 1848 to 1916, poked fun at himself for his reluctance to replace his worn out shorts—or move up from plain cotton to silk.

“He would sometimes wear the same pair for decades,” Markus said.

Like the hair, most of other pricey objects—a portraits, tableware, statues—were also snapped up behalf of collectors or museums with fat wallets.

A picture of Elisabeth by Franx Xaver Winterhalter sold for 70,000 euros. That was more than three times its estimated value and reflected the growing scarcity of Austrian imperial memorabilia nearly a century after the end of World War I, the conflict that doomed more than 700 years of Habsburg rule.

“It's becoming increasingly difficult to get objects,” said Georg Ludwigstorfer, who has organized previous Habsburg auctions and helped stage Thursday's event.

But many articles—lithographs, a copper can from the imperial kitchens—changed ownership for only a few hundred euros, with ordinary Austrians placing the winning bid. Their efforts to secure a small piece of the greatness that was Austria suggested a longing for a time before the reputation of their country was tarred by the birth of another leader—Adolf Hitler.

The most recent manifestation of that nostalgia was provided two years ago.

Then, an estimated 10,000 spectators packed the 2.4-kilometer (1.5-mile) route from the Gothic cathedral where Otto von Habsburg, the oldest son of Austria's last ruling emperor, was eulogized, to the imperial crypt where he was entombed after his death in 2011 at age 98.

“Austrians are happy to look back on their times of glory,” Markus said.

He called Franz-Josef an “unfortunate figure” who “lost all battles and wars” and who was responsible for the loss of the empire by actions that led to World War—a conflict Austria also lost. Franz-Josef's son Charles I—Otto's father—was Austria's last emperor.

At the same time, Markus said, the mustachioed Franz-Josef was “honest and not disgusting” like Hitler, adding, “We naturally all like to remember people more pleasant” than the Nazi dictator.

__

Associated Press video journalist Philipp Jenne contributed.

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-04-25-13 2131GMT