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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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Rockwell painting sets new American record
12/7/2013 1:14:29 AM
Painting sets U.S. record

Rockwell art sells for record $46M at NY auction

Norman Rockwell's 'Saying Grace' sells in NY for $46 million, an American art auction record


Associated Press

Saying Grace' Norman Rockwell's 1951 Thanksgiving cover for the Saturday Evening Post has sold for just over forty-six million dollars at auction. (Dec. 4)

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NEW YORK (AP) -- A Norman Rockwell painting titled "Saying Grace" sold at an auction on Wednesday for $46 million, a record for the Saturday Evening Post illustrator and for any work sold at an American art auction, Sotheby's said.

Two people on the telephone bid against each other for nine minutes before the hammer came down, the auction house said. The buyer's identity wasn't disclosed.

The painting had a pre-sale estimate of $15 million to $20 million. In 2006, the auction house sold Rockwell's "Breaking Home Ties" for more than $15 million, then a record.

The previous record for any work at an auction of American art was set in 1999, when George Bellows' painting "Polo Crowd" sold at Sotheby's for $27.7 million, the auction house said.

Another Rockwell painting, "The Gossips," sold Wednesday for just under $8.5 million, while a third, "Walking to Church," fetched a little more than $3.2 million.

For nearly two decades, all three had been on loan at the Norman Rockwell Museum in his hometown, Stockbridge, Mass. The museum has the world's largest collection of original Rockwell art.

Rockwell was paid $3,500 for "Saying Grace," which appeared on the cover of the magazine's Thanksgiving issue in 1951 and was voted Post readers' favorite cover in a 1955 poll.

The idea for the illustration came from a reader who saw a Mennonite family praying in a restaurant. Rockwell's son Jarvis Rockwell was among the models he used for it.

The illustrator, who created his first cover for the Post in 1916, is celebrated for his reflections of small-town America and portraits of famous figures. He spent 47 years at the magazine and produced 321 covers. He died in 1978.

"The Gossips," which was a cover illustration for the March 6, 1948, issue, depicts a montage of the artist's neighbors, his wife and himself, finger-wagging and yammering on the phone.

"Walking to Church" appeared on the cover of the April 4, 1953, issue and shows a family dressed in its Sunday best walking along a city street.

The three paintings, along with four other Rockwell works, were auctioned by the family of Kenneth Stuart, Rockwell's longtime art director at the magazine. The sale comes years after a legal fight among Stuart's three sons. Rockwell and Stuart worked together at the magazine for 18 years.

Rockwell Museum director Laurie Norton Moffatt, who attended the "Saying Grace" auction, called it "a thrilling moment for Norman Rockwell."

"It's a painting of such significance that, wherever it is, there will hopefully be a desire to share it, have it seen in public," she said.

She said perhaps it will go on loan or be placed in another museum exhibition.

"We're just so happy we were able to share it for two decades," she said.

The auction record for a work by any American artist goes to Andy Warhol's painting "Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)," which sold at Sotheby's last month for $105 million.

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Rockwell painting sets new American record


The legendary artist's "Saving Grace" masterpiece sells for more than double its preauction estimate.
Buyer's identity unknown


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: Rockwell painting sets new American record
12/7/2013 1:15:40 AM

Rockwell art sells for record $46M at NY auction (video)




Publicado el 04/12/2013

NOTE: Since the original video was not viewable here, I considered it convenient to replace it with this YouTube video.


"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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Myrna Ferguson

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RE: Rockwell painting sets new American record
12/7/2013 4:07:50 AM
Hi Miguel,

I really like the painting, but $46 million. OMG!
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Roger Macdivitt .

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RE: Rockwell painting sets new American record
12/7/2013 9:17:24 PM

Here is an artist who was great in capturing events in time.

Quite superb but WOW the price.

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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: Rockwell painting sets new American record
12/8/2013 2:55:04 AM

Norman Rockwell, "The Gossips,&q

Relaxnews
Norman Rockwell, "The Gossips," 1948

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

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