Washington portrait fetches over $1 million

28 March 2010

click to enlarge

Folk art dealer Jeff Bridgman bid $925,000 for a client on the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington. A 15% buyer's premium was added.

Cottone Auctions in Geneseo, New York, sold a George Washington painting by famous presidential portraitist Gilbert Stuart for $1.06 million (including 15% buyer's premium) on Saturday.

Provenance was part of the appeal to buyers. The consignor, who descended from John Jacob Astor, traced the ownership of the painting back to his great-grandfather John Winthrop Chanler, who served in the House of Representatives from 1863 to 1869, although previous generations may have owned it.

The buyer was Pennsylvania dealer Jeff Bridgman, bidding on behalf of a client. He was underbid by Grant Holcomb, director of the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester.

The estimate was $200,000 to $300,000.

Read more at WGRZ

More News Feed Headlines

Julien Hudson, 1811-1844 American. Creole Boy With A Moth, 1835, oil on canvas, courtesy of a private collection; photo courtesy of Fodera Fine Art Conservation, Ltd.

First Retrospective of Early African American Artist Julien Hudson at Worcester Art Museum

A groundbreaking exhibition opened Dec. 9 at the Worcester Art Museum entitled “In Search of Julien Hudson: Free Artist of Color in Pre-Civil War New Orleans.” Julien Hudson (1811-1844) is the second-earliest documented portrait painter of African descent to work in the United States. Little-known today, Hudson died an untimely, somewhat mysterious death, and only fragments of his oeuvre survive to tell his story.

'May,' by Alexander Motyl, $25/month to rent ($550 to buy), artsicle.com.

Virtual Art Buying Gets a Boost From New Websites

A bevy of new online ventures are helping to streamline the process of buying art for both beginners and established collectors, facilitating keyboard-click access to information and galleries.

An installation view of the new Tuscaloosa Museum of Art: Home of the Westervelt Collection.

New Tuscaloosa Museum of Art to Showcase Important American Art

Last week, the Tuscaloosa Museum of Art opened its doors, finally giving a home to the art collection assembled by Jack Warner. Earlier this year, the Jack Warner Foundation and Westervelt Company separated, leaving the fate undetermined as to where their respective collections would be housed. Several key works were sold by the Westervelt Co. at auction and privately. Now, more than 800 pieces...

Portrait of a Man and Woman in an Interior, painted about 1666, by Eglon van der Neer (Dutch, 1634–1703). Oil on panel. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Seth K. Sweetser Fund.

Museum Curator as Art Detective

At the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Victoria Reed is the first and only endowed curator of provenance at an American museum. Since 2010, her role has been to research objects in the museum's collections, and new acquisitions, in order to determine the right of ownership. At times, Reed's findings have led to restitution...