Three paintings by Norman Rockwell
among the most popular of his 322 covers for The Saturday Evening Post, sold at
Sotheby's on December 4, 2013 for a total of nearly $57.8 million, about twice
their high estimate.
“Saying Grace”, one of Rockwell's most admired icons went
for 46 million US, well above its high estimate of 20 million to establish a
new record price for the artist which previously stood at 15,4 million USD
fetched at Sotheby's in 2006 for “Breaking Home Ties” showing a boy leaving
home for the first time.
The “Gossip, showing friends, neighbours and Rockwell
himself went for 8,45 million USD, within the range of its estimate. It had
served as the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on March 6, 1948.
“Walking to Church”, a painting which was the cover of
the April 4, 1953 Morning Post issue sold for3.2 million USD. Rockwell based it on Vermeer's
painting “The Little Street” to show a
urban street scene, with family members in their Easter best, each holding
Bibles.
These paintings had belonged to the magazine's former
art director Kenneth J. Stuart , Kenneth
who had received them as presents from Rockwell while the two men worked
together, from World War II to the eve of the Vietnam War.
When Stuart died in 1993, he left his entire estate to
his sons — Ken Jr., William and Jonathan — in equal shares. Both sued their
older brother Ken Jr after his death, claiming that he had taken advantage of
their ailing father in order to gain advantage of his fortune.
The pieces sold at Sotheby's had been previously on
loan to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., for the past 18 years
while during Stuart's lifetime, “Saying Grace” hung in his office at The Post,
and after his retirement in the family's living room in Wilton, Conn. “Walking
to Church” had been in the bedroom of Stuart's wife, Katharine.
Sotheby's also sold several works on paper by Rockwell, from the Stuarts, notably a colour
study for “Breaking Home Ties,” from 1954, which fetched 905,000 USD, more than
three times its high estimate.ALMOST 58 MILLION USD FOR THREE NOMAN ROCKWELL PAINTINGS
Three paintings by Norman Rockwell
among the most popular of his 322 covers for The Saturday Evening Post, sold at
Sotheby's on December 4, 2013 for a total of nearly $57.8 million, about twice
their high estimate.
“Saying Grace”, one of Rockwell's most admired scenes went
for 46 million US, well above its high estimate of 20 million to establish a
new record price for the artist which previously stood at 15,4 million USD
fetched at Sotheby's in 2006 for “Breaking Home Ties” showing a boy leaving
home for the first time.
The “Gossip, showing friends, neighbours and Rockwell
himself went for 8,45 million USD, within the range of its estimate. It had
served as the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on March 6, 1948.
“Walking to Church”, a painting which was the cover of
the April 4, 1953 Morning Post issue sold for
3.2 million USD. Rockwell based it on Vermeer's
painting “The Little Street” to show a
urban street scene, with family members in their Easter best, each holding
Bibles.
These paintings had belonged to the magazine's former
art director Kenneth J. Stuart , Kenneth
who had received them as presents from Rockwell while the two men worked
together, from World War II to the eve of the Vietnam War.
When Stuart died in 1993, he left his entire estate to
his sons — Ken Jr., William and Jonathan — in equal shares. Both sued their
older brother Ken Jr after his death, claiming that he had taken advantage of
their ailing father in order to gain advantage of his fortune.
The pieces sold at Sotheby's had been previously on
loan to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., for the past 18 years
while during Stuart's lifetime, “Saying Grace” hung in his office at The Post,
and after his retirement in the family's living room in Wilton, Conn. “Walking
to Church” had been in the bedroom of Stuart's wife, Katharine.
Sotheby's also sold several works on paper by Rockwell, from the Stuarts, notably a colour
study for “Breaking Home Ties,” from 1954, which fetched 905,000 USD, more than
three times its high estimate.
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