Llewellyn Dykes Appraisals - Highlights of Findings and Sales:
2011 New Findings and Sales to arrive soon.
March/April, 2011: We were wrapping up the initial examination and inventory for a client’s insurance appraisal. It was the end of a long but pleasant day filled with fine antiques and bold, historic and sweeping canvases of both equine and maritime art. Mr. Dykes and our client stepped past a little alcove bar, when our client waved a dismissive hand at four small framed drawings, and said, “Those are nothing, not worth including.”
It was one of those magic moments when time seems to stop for me and the lighting in the room seems to shift to a slightly brighter scale. I smiled as if possibly recognizing a long lost friend, then peered through my loupe at the few sparse strokes of the first drawing. I bent to examine the second. The third. The last. I straightened and said, “No, sir. We do have something very worthwhile here. Very worthwhile indeed.”
Less than five months later, we sold four of the original drawings from Winnie the Pooh. The sale was held in New York by Bonham’s and the total hammer price for the four lots amounted to $378,830.00
Collection of Ernest Howard Shepard Illustrations for Winnie- the- Pooh Sold for $378,830.00
Findings and Sales 2010 - Diana and Callisto by Gandolfi Over $4,100,000.00
July, 2009:Mr. Dykes was asked by a client who was down-sizing to determine if any of the art in the home was saleable. Placed on the wall above the sofa, Mr. Dykes noticed a remarkable oil on canvas. It was large, bright and brilliant in execution, and depicted a stunning mythological scene. By August, a dedicated truck with climate controlled storage, two drivers and very substantial locks was on the way to Hilton Head Island, to deliver it to New York. The painting was scheduled for auction in late January of 2010. The estimated value was pegged squarely at one million dollars. Why? Because the painting was literally a missing masterpiece by the Italian master, Gaetan puo Gandolfi.
January 27, 2010:The painting, Diana and Callisto, went up for sale at Christie’s in New York. The sales room was packed for an impressive assortment of Old Masters paintings, with excited onlookers flowing out into the hallway. The sale began badly, with nearly half of the lots going unsold, proving that the art world was not immune from the lingering effects of the recent recession. Then the Gandolfi hit the auction block and took the crowd to a stunned silence. It passed the estimate of a million dollars. Doubled the estimate. Tripled the estimate. And then sold to a private collector for a hammer price of $3,600,000.00, which after buyer’s premium sold for more than $4,100,000.00! Christie’s New York gallery at Rockefeller often feels like a cross between a bank, a church, and a museum, with hushed conversations and always full regard for proper decorum. That hushed reserve was briefly shattered when one of Mr. Dykes’s clients stepped into the hallway, let out a joyous shriek, dashed through the crowd of overflow spectators, and leapt into the appraiser’s arms with a flying hug of joy and loud congratulations!
Sold for $4,100,000.00
Findings and Sales 2008 - Watermelons by Natalie Gontcharova $2,250,000.00
March, 2008:Mr. Dykes did it once again. He documented and then scheduled the next Russian masterpiece for sale. A large oil on canvas, previously incorrectly attributed to Michael Larionov and valued at $50,000.00, was a vibrant still life titled “Watermelons”, actually painted by Natalie Gontcharova, and it was delivered by special transit to Christie’s in London. This work, targeted at the explosive Russian art market and specifically aimed at the biggest Russian sale of the year in November, underwent extensive examination and authentication by independent experts brought in by Christies, and their research confirmed Mr. Dykes’ proper attribution. Later that year, Mr. Dykes’ identification of the artist was resolutely confirmed by a top expert in the field, Anna Gregorieva from Moscow State University. The sale took place on November 26, 2008 in London, with Mr. Dykes and his clients in attendance. Despite the global economic crisis exploding at the time, the still life sold for 1.5 million British pounds or $2,250,000.00
Findings and Sales 2007 - 2008 - Important Russian Pictures:
March, 2007: Mr. Dykes, Master Appraiser, GPPA, discovered and sent to market a Russian masterpiece. While performing an insurance appraisal for a client's art collection, Mr. Dykes challenged the value of $50,000.00 that had been formerly placed upon a Natalie Gontcharova still life, “Lilacs in a Vase,” circa 1905. Our appraiser absolutely stunned the client by throwing out the old appraisal and placing a value in the millions on the Russian oil on canvas. After that, Mr. Dykes arranged a sale, and he and the client received confirmation from Christie's that the work would be featured in their London sale in November.
Lot# 349, Oil on canvas, still life, "Lilacs in a Vase", by Natalie Goncharova, (Russian, 1881 -1962), Sold for $2,884,00.00
May, 2007: Mr. Dykes while performing an insurance appraisal for a totally different client found more Russian masterpieces. This client had eleven works of art that had each been formerly valued between $5,000.00 and $60,000.00. The prior appraisals had been performed a few years ago, again by a very well-respected and internationally-known firm, but our senior appraiser stunned the client when he challenged the identification of a sweeping Russian landscape that had been valued at $27,500.00. Mr. Dykes said he knew at first look that the work was far stronger and more important than was previously thought. When he told the client during the initial examination that the work had been misidentified, the client disagreed, forcefully, citing the reputation of the firm that had done the previous work.
After intensive research, Mr. Dukes had all the documentation he needed to turn the client's world upside down. The sweeping landscape, painted in 1871, was in truth a scene of Moscow, the Kremlin, during the time of the construction of the Christ Our Savior Cathedral, and had been painted by the extremely important artist, Alexei Bookshelf, personal artist and commission landscape artist for Russian Tsar Alexander III. A sticker on the reverse, written in Cyrillic, identified the painting as once the property of the Tsar! Two other of the same client’s Russian paintings had been misidentified or undervalued, too. Not surprisingly, when the works were correctly identified and valued, the client wanted them to go to market. Again, Mr. Dykes used his contacts and arranged a sale, placing three more works in Christie's Important Russian Pictures sale in November in London.
Lot #275, Oil on canvas, Moscow, "View of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior from the Kremlin," by Aleksei Petrovich Bogoliubov, (Russia 1824 - 1896), Sold for $2,884,000.00
October, 2007: The Bogoliulbov landscape of the Kremlin and the Christ our Savior Cathedral was featured in Christie’s Magazine. The Natalie Gontcharovatill life also received prominent placement and attention. Early November, 2007: The Christie’s catalog for the Important Russian Pictures auction was published and the Imperial Bogoliulbov landscape painting was chosen as the cover for the catalog! Write-ups, photos and research documentation for both the Bogoliulbov and the Gontcharova dominated page after page in the catalog.
September 28, 2007: London Christie’s Important Russian Pictures Auction. Two of our client families each flew to London to observe the sale and were present, hearts pounding, as their paintings literally dominated the sale. The total sales for Llewellyn Dykes' clients that day $6,629,080.00. Following are several of the works sold at that auction:
Lot # 280, Oil on canvas, “A Country Track by the Black Sea,” by Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovski, (Russian, 1817 - 1900), Sold for $782,800.00.
Lot #292, Oil on canvas, “Horse and Sleigh,” by Konstantin Egorovich Makovski, (Russian, 1839 - 1915), Sold for $78,280.00.
