New York – The Winter Show 2021 takes place on an immersive online platform, on view from January 22-31, 2021 with VIP Preview Access on January 19– 21, 2021. Featuring 60 exhibitors, the virtual fair brings together a dynamic group of leading international dealers that represent a diverse and global mix of fine and decorative arts from ancient times to the present day. The Show is New York’s longest-running art, antiques, and design fair, established in 1954 by East Side House Settlement to benefit the community- based organization’s critical mission serving the Bronx and Northern Manhattan. All net proceeds from The Winter Show’s VIP Preview Access and any additional donations directly benefit East Side House and contribute substantially to the organization’s life-changing work.

The Winter Show’s new online platform allows exhibitors to present works in a variety of formats including a three-dimensional virtual gallery exhibition, featuring up to twenty artworks and objects at a time. Visitors are able to take in the digital presentations as a whole and view close-up, detailed views of the range of works displayed. The new platform also provides a space for discussion and engagement, offering virtual “office hours” for visitors to connect with dealers directly by phone, text, or video chat via Zoom. In keeping with the Show’s commitment to presenting an unparalleled and high-quality selection of works in the fine and decorative arts, objects in the online fair have been reviewed by photographs and documentation for authenticity, date, and condition by a committee of experts from the United States and Europe.

"We’re thrilled to share the first online edition of The Winter Show,” said Helen Allen, Executive Director. “We are grateful to our exhibitors, partners, and the institutions and leading voices in art, antiques, and design who have adapted to our current times and brought together incredible presentations and engaging programming for digital audiences this year. It’s a tremendous opportunity to be able to support the mission of East Side House and expand awareness of the organization’s critical work.”

Exhibitor Highlights
The 2021 online edition offers collectors and connoisseurs the opportunity to acquire and encounter an extensive range of works including painting, photography, sculpture, tapestry, prints, ceramics, jewelry, arms and armor, antique furniture, and contemporary design. Dealers from around the world present exclusive art and objects, highlighting historically significant pieces by leading designers, artists, and makers in their respective fields. Jonathan Boos (New York, USA) who specializes in American paintings, drawings and sculpture of the 20th century, features an important painting by Jacob Lawrence (1917- 2000), Makeup (Dressing Room), 1952, from the artist’s experimental “Performance” series made in the early 1950s that depicts actors transforming into characters through elaborate, harlequin-esque stage makeup. Robert Simon Fine Art (New York, USA) presents The Judgment of Paris, a significant German Renaissance oil painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder and Workshop, alongside other European works of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Menconi + Schoelkopf Fine Art’s (New York, USA) presentation includes a watercolor work by Winslow Homer from 1885 and an oil painting by Thomas Cole, View of Schroon Mountain (1838) among other important works of American art. Donzella (New York, USA), a forerunner in the 20th century design community, highlights a rare pair of iconic egg chairs by Ico & Luisa Parisi from 1953, produced by Cassina.

Apter-Fredericks (London, UK) features eighteenth century English furniture, including a grand pair of commodes attributed to Mayhew & Ince from circa 1775-80, and Bernard & S. Dean Levy (New York, USA) highlights a Federal Inlaid Tall Case Clock with works made and signed by Charles Tinges (1765-1816), dated 1802, among other fine Americana objects. Cohen & Cohen (Reigate, UK) who specializes in Chinese porcelain, showcases a Chinese armorial porcelain charger with a finely painted grisaille scene from the Qianlong Period, c. 1740. S.J. Shrubsole’s (New York, USA) presentation includes exceptional antique silver and jewelry, such as a George II Antique English Silver Punch Bowl (1728) by David Willaume. Arader Galleries (New York, USA) brings a selection of rare maps, prints, books and watercolors, including prints by John James Audubon (1785-1851). David A. Schorsch–Eileen M. Smiles American Antiques (Woodbury, CT, USA), an authority in American antiques and folk art, exhibits a rare cat weathervane, c. 1890-1910. Specialists in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Les Enluminures (Chicago and New York, USA; Paris, France) highlights a luxurious Parisian Book of Hours from Northern France, Paris, c. 1445- 1455. Plektron Fine Arts AG (Zurich, Switzerland), presenting antiques with a particular emphasis on the Greek and Roman periods, features art and objects dating as far back as to the Sumerian early dynastic period, c. 2900-2500 B.C.

Lillian Nassau LLC (New York, USA) presents important Tiffany Studios works, such as a gold iridescent "Jack in the Pulpit" vase from 1904-1905. Joan B Mirviss LTD (New York, USA) exhibits masterworks of modern Japanese art, specializing in screens, scrolls, woodblock prints, and modern and contemporary ceramics, and Michael Goedhuis (London, UK) features pieces by contemporary Chinese artists, as well as works ranging back to the Warring States Period in China from 475 - 221 BC. Tambaran (New York, USA), with a focus in African, Oceanic and North West Coast art, showcases a shaman's Eskimo mask from Anvik, Alaska among other highlights. Experts in 18th and 19th century European porcelain and faience and contemporary ceramics and glass, Michele Beiny, Inc. (New York, USA) presents glass works by Contemporary American artists including William Morris (b. 1957) and others. Didier Ltd (London, UK) features jewelry from the 20th century, including a unique necklace and bracelet designed by Afro Basaldella (1912–1976).

Design Co-Chairs
The Winter Show’s 2021 Design Co-Chairs are Wendy Goodman, Thomas Jayne, and Frank de Biasi. Each year the Show invites leaders from the worlds of interior design and architecture to lend their voices as Design Co-Chairs, reinforcing the Show’s deep relationship with the design community. This year’s digital format has provided new avenues to showcase the use of historic art and objects in contemporary architecture and design. The fair’s platform will feature a virtual viewing room designed with works selected by the Design Co-Chairs from the Show’s 60 exhibitors.

Virtual Conversations and Special Events
Highlights of the Show’s 2021 virtual In Dialogue series include a conversation between Carol Cadou, the Charles F. Montgomery Director and CEO of Winterthur Museum, and award-winning designer Thomas Jayne on Winterthur’s Chandler Farm; “Evolving Narratives in the 21st Century Museum,” a panel discussion presented by The Magazine ANTIQUES featuring leading curators and museum directors Sylvia Yount (Lawrence A. Fleischman Curator in Charge of the American Wing, Metropolitan Museum of Art), Jami C. Powell (Citizen of the Osage Nation and curator of Native American Art at the Hood Museum), David Pilgrim (VP for Diversity, Inclusion, and Strategic Initiatives and the Founder and Director of the Jim Crow Museum), and Joanne T. Hyppolite (Supervisory Museum Curator of the African Diaspora, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian); “The Bennett Collection: A Passion for Collecting,” a discussion between Texas-based collectors Steven Alan Bennett and Dr. Elaine Melotti Schmidt on their passion for championing women artists; “Historic Gardens: Three New York Treasures,” a conversation between Winter Show exhibitor Barbara Israel and Howard Zar (Director, Lyndhurst), Stephen Byrns (President, Untermyer Gardens Conservancy) and Lorraine Gilligan (Director of Preservation, Old Westbury Gardens); and a discussion between Glenn Adamson (Curator, Writer & Senior Scholar at the Yale Center for British Art) and Ethan Lasser (Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) on “Craft: An American History.”

To see the full list of events and register in advance for live conversations, please visit https://thewintershow.org/events.

New York — On October 2, 1917 the American 77th division, made up of 694 men, launched an attack on the German lines dug into the Argonne Forest in Northeastern France believing that they were supported on both sides by French and other US forces. The flanks however did not progress as planned and the 77th found themselves isolated in the forest surrounded by German troops, giving rise to the name ‘The Lost Battalion’. They may have stayed lost forever if not for the work of a carrier pigeon. An archive of the belongings of James Leak, a platoon commander in the 77th, including a handwritten letter describing his experience of the Argonne and his capture and transfer to a German prisoner of war camp, his brass shoulder insignia of crossed rifles and his officers record book, is on offer as part of the Conflicts Online Sale taking place between January 19-29. It has an estimate of $4,000-6,000.
 
Head of the Sale Bonhams’ specialist Tom Lamb said, “The incident of the Lost Battalion is engrained in the psyche of American Military Tradition. To read first-hand accounts from a platoon commander of the event is as thrilling as it is shocking. The bravery that these men showed more than 100 years ago helps put the world’s current situation in a little perspective. Leak’s archive stands alongside many other objects from the American military in World War I on offer in the sale. Given they were only on the ground in France for 9 months, American WWI relics are very rare.”
 
The Lost Battalion were trapped in the forest for six days, holding out under consistent German shelling and even some from their own lines. Food was scarce and water was available only by crawling, while under fire, to a nearby stream. There was limited ammunition and reinforcements attempts to contact the 77th to work out their location proved futile. All the runners sent from within the forest to get help were intercepted by German patrols, so Major Charlie White Whittlesey decided to use carrier pigeons. Initially this proved unsuccessful as many of the birds were shot down and the only one which did return passed on incorrect coordinates which resulted in the Lost Battalion taking friendly fire. The unit was saved however by the heroic efforts of a different pigeon Cher Ami.
 
Cher Ami was dispatched by the 77th with a note written on onion paper reading ‘We are along the road parallel to 276.4. Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heavens sake stop it’. As she attempted to fly home the Germans saw her rising out of the bush and opened fire. Despite being shot through the breast, blinded in one eye, and with her left leg hanging only by a tendon, Cher Ami managed to take flight again and arrived back at her loft at division headquarters 25 miles away in just 25 minutes. This brave bird helped save the lives of the 194 survivors of the 77th as, upon discovering their location, American reinforcements managed to push the German forces back and find the Lost Battalion.
 
James Leak was the platoon commander of Company E in the 77th. On 4 October he moved his platoon to the right and got detached from the main force. During a bombardment he took shrapnel to his left leg, unable to move he lay pretending to be dead as a German patrol came by. One of the patrol spiked him with a bayonet and upon realising that Leak was still alive captured him and transferred him to a German prisoner of war camp.
 
Other World War I Highlights Include:
 
    •    94th Aero Squadron, Original Plane Side Fabric "Hat in the Ring" from Alan Winslow's Nieuport 28. A historic plane side from the Nieuport 28 which was flown by the first American pilot in an American Squadron to shoot down an enemy plane. The 94th Aero Squadron was one of the most famous flying squadrons in America’s fledgling Air Arm and is the oldest in the US Air Force. In April 1918 they were sent to the front at Toul in Northeastern France with their planes adorned with the ‘Hat in the Ring’ insignia. On April 14th two pilots who had yet to see combat, Douglas Campbell and Alan Winslow, took off to hunt down two enemy aircraft seen in the vicinity. Within minutes they had returned to the base with two victories- the first victories of any American Flyer in WWI. The insignia on the plane side fabric shows an Uncle Sam Top Hat of white stars on blue with red and white stripes. There is also a black iron cross painted on the mouth of the hat, which was added to cover up a bullet hole. It is estimated at $15,000-20,000
 
    •    93rd Aero Squadron. "Screaming Indian" Panel. The 93rd Aero Squadron was founded in August 1917 in Missouri and were deployed to France in June 1918 where they moved up to the front in the Toul Sector, near Verdun, to support the American push in the St Mihel area. In their short time on the Western front, they flew 1,183 sorties and 151 combat missions with 31 enemy aircraft shot down. The panel on offer is different any of the Screaming Indian insignia offered at auction in the last 10 years as it is painted on aircraft linen as an object to be hung. It was likely recovered from a mess hall at one of the aerodromes that the 93rd flew from. It is estimated at $15,000-20,000
 
    •    Camouflaged Section of a Fokker D VII, Shot Down by A.W.Carter, 201st squadron RFC. This painted camouflage canvas panel from a German Fokker D VII plane was recovered from a crashed plane by the Canadian Pilot A.W.Carter (1894-1986) who shot it down. A.W ‘Nick’ Carter joined the Canadian air-force in 1916 and took part in operations on the Somme and other battles. Overall, he was credited with 6 victories in World War I. Along with the panel are 8 periods photographs of Carter and his fellow flyers and a letter from Carter to a collector called ‘Jim’ explaining the history of the panel and giving details on the photographs. It is estimated at $10,000-15,000

London — Exceedingly rare works by Galileo, Samuel Johnson and J.K. Rowling are among a selection of exceptional books and manuscripts brought together in Fifty Fine Items, the new catalogue from Peter Harrington featuring 50 standout collectibles from the 13th to the 21st century.

Many of the items are completely unique, including a miniature Harry Potter manuscript handwritten and illustrated by J. K. Rowling, and a set of autograph letters from J. R. R. Tolkien to his close friend George Sayer. There is also a one-of-a-kind jewelled binding of Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry illuminated by the renowned Alberto Sangorksi, one of the early twentieth century's most highly regarded illuminators.

Pom Harrington, Owner, said: “ Our 50 Fine Items catalogue has been a much-anticipated fixture of our annual catalogue calendar in recent years, and we are proud to present this exceptional selection for 2021. The demand for rare books and manuscripts has remained remarkably buoyant in 2020, as collectors refocused their energies on building up their existing collections and pursuing new passions. As we look ahead to the coming year, we are excited to be in a position to present these rare works and expect them to find pride of place on the shelves of some of our most serious collectors.”

The catalogue presents a rich selection of works chronicling our developing knowledge of the world, including the most valuable item in the selection – a Latin edition of Ptolemaeus’ landmark geographical text the Cosmographia, one of the most influential books in shaping our understanding of the modern world (£450,000).

Other highlights include an important 18th-century atlas – used by English and American officers during the American Revolution; and the rare first edition of Galileo’s second published work which reveals his contemptuous outrage at the man who plagiarized his compass, his first significant scientific invention (£175,000). Collectors of rare travel books would also find of interest one of the most remarkable travel books of the Renaissance, a rare Latin edition of Varthema’s travel undercover through the Middle East, which documents the first recorded eyewitness account of Mecca in print.

The catalogue features several storied association copies, including a copy of Casino Royale inscribed by Ian Fleming to his friend Anthony Kemsley, the youngest son of Fleming’s employer Viscount Kemsley, who enabled him to write the Bond novels; John Lennon’s first book, signed by all four Beatles; a first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary documenting the friendship between two titans of New York business; and T.E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom, inscribed to the financier of the edition.

Charting the rise of the novel, collectors will find treasures including one of the very first presentation copies of James Joyce’s Dubliners, inscribed to a young Triestine lady friend, as well as first editions of Charlotte Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Charles Dickens’s Bleak House and Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. The first edition of Cervantes’s epic prose romance Don-Quichote also appears in its first translated edition, along with other highly desirable collectible editions including rare first bindings of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (£300,000) and Walt Whitman’s great song of America Leaves of Grass (£250,000).

Stuttgart, Germany — For the first time in its 60 year history, the Stuttgart Rare Book Fair, always held in January in the South-German city of Stuttgart and well established with international collectors and the trade, had to be cancelled and as many other international events in the rare book trade, will now take place as a virtual fair instead of a physical one. After the Verband Deutscher Antiquare (Association of German Antiquarian Booksellers), organizer of Germany's leading fair for the rare book trade, cancelled the physical fair as early as August 2020 due to legal restrictions but also so as not to endanger exhibitors or visitors, an alternative had to be found.

As every year, a printed catalogue has again been published for the 2021 edition; highly appreciated by customers and a commitment to printing and the history of the book, which is deeply embedded in German culture. In addition, a digital solution was sought for the trade and customers, so book and art collectors could browse and buy rare books, maps, prints or autographs this January.

For this reason, the Stuttgart Rare Book Fair will take place from 29 January - 1 February 2021 in the form of a virtual fair but also with a significantly expanded printed catalogue.

76 dealers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but also from Australia, the US, Great Britain, the Netherlands and France, all members of the German booksellers association or affiliated to the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, will offer treasures of book printing and works on paper both on the specially developed virtual fair platform and in the aforementioned printed catalogue.

Whether Dante, whose anniversary of death is celebrated for the 700th time in 2021, early printing, groundbreaking historical figures and works of medicine, politics and philosophy, literature and art up to the present day, the catalogue of the Stuttgart Rare Book Fair shows the entire range of the rare book trade.

Link to the catalogue: https://www.yumpu.com/s/CIMRY5ZultVAkDgS

The "Red Sofa" talks successfully kicked off in January 2020 and were scheduled to continue in 2021. Due to the cancellation of the physical fair, it was only natural to move these events to the internet. Since October 2020, discussions with authors, rare booksellers and representatives of the trade took place in the run-up to the fair and allowed for dialogue in a virtual space.

The talks will continue right up to the fair when German and international rare booksellers and galleries will present selected highlights of the Fair in a live conversation on 20th and 27th January 2021.

Registrations are now open on the website under the following link: https://www.antiquariatsmesse-stuttgart.de/de/veranstaltungen

The virtual fair will go live on 29th January 2021 at 12 noon, the same time when the annual physical fair would open, and will close again on Monday, 1 February 2021 at midnight. From the start of the fair, customers will be able to move from stand to stand, browse by author and subject area or do specific research using a full-text search. The virtual fair does not process direct sales; these are made directly through the dealer.

"In these, for all of us, very unsettling, uncertain and unusual times, we need continuity and consistency. Digital options are available and offer a welcome alternative. Worldwide, numerous art and rare book fairs have moved into the virtual space and the success shows that a large part of our customers support this move," says Sibylle Wieduwilt, Chairwoman of the Association.

Link to the virtual fair - launch on 29 January 2021: www.antiquariatsmesse-stuttgart.de

Exhibitors and organizers have found a wonderful alternative to allow customers and the trade to visit this popular German fair with its international exhibitors and range of material and be inspired in times of lockdown.

Paris — Following the successful sale of the first two parts of the Une bibliothèque des avant-gardes, Paul Destribats, Christie's Book Department is pleased to announce the sale of the third part, with 502 lots for a total estimate of €1,438,800-2,075,200. Three catalogues will be produced for the three days of the sale, 2nd, 3rd and 4th February. The sale will be held in collaboration with the expert booksellers Claude Oterelo and Jean-Baptiste de Proyart.

Adrien Legendre, Director of the Books Department presents the sale: "While the second part of the collection focused on two major figures of avant-garde publishing, ILIAZD and PAB, the third part is intended to be generalist and will follow the chronological thread of the literary and artistic life of the 20th century".

Jean-Baptiste de Proyart, an expert associated with the sale: "With this third part, Paul Destribats' library reveals its unparalleled and, no doubt, unrivalled breadth. It was known as the queen of inter-war surrealism; now it is powerfully original, revealing to the general public the superb books created by the sometimes little-known avant-garde and always bound by artists of genius".

Claude Oterelo: "Collecting, and in what way, the Avant-gardes of the first part of the 20th century is already a challenge, but to continue, to trace its path to those of the 70s and 80s, which are often little-known, and to dress them up by master bookbinders is a stubborn and brilliant feat”.

We will thus find the key avant-gardists of the first half of the 20th century, René Char, Paul Éluard, Louis Aragon, Benjamin Péret, Man Ray, Tristan Tzara, and of course André Breton. The latter is notably embodied in an important set of autograph working manuscripts, brought together under the title "Écrits sur la peinture" (1942-1953), and bound by Daniel Mercher. This fascinating corpus is estimated at €15,000-20,000. We also will mention the complete manuscript of the Eros dictionary, conceived for the International Exhibition of Surrealism organised by André Breton and Marcel Duchamp at the Daniel Cordier Gallery (December 1959 - February 1960). This autograph manuscript, with 275 definitions, has a daring erotic-musical binding by Monique Mathieu (€15,000-20,000).

On the occasion of the same 1960 exhibition, Breton and Duchamp also published the famous Boîte alerte. Missives lascives, presented here in a very luxurious, complete copy of her "couple of aprons" (ill. on the cover page, estimate €40,000-60,000). The collection also includes a trial version of this most suggestive ready-made, accompanied by Mimi Parent's autograph documents retracing the history of its conception (estimate €20,000-30,000).

Joan Miró is one of the most famous artists to have illustrated Breton's texts and poems, and Constellations, published by Pierre Matisse in 1959, is one of his most admirable achievements. The copy in the Destribats library originally belonged to the famous patron and collector Edmond Bomsel - it includes four original engravings signed by Miró, the complete autograph manuscript of the poem and a set of corrected proofs (estimate: €30,000-40,000, ill. right).

Another famous creation by the Catalan painter, this time inspired by a collection by Paul Éluard, gave rise to one of the most beautiful artists' books : À toute épreuve, published by Gérald Cramer in 1958. This is a copy with an additional suite on China of the 80 woodcuts by Miró (estimate €50,000-70,000).

In many ways, the library appears as a pantheon of the most renowned artists of the 20th century, including Picasso, Giacometti, Braque, Masson and Arp, but also of a new generation of authors, such as Jacques Prévert, Jean-Paul Sartre, Yves Bonnefoy and Henri Michaux. Georges Bataille is also present, notably through a head copy of Histoire de rats (1947), illustrated with 6 etchings by Giacometti, including the complete autograph manuscript of the text in which Bataille's readings and Kafkaesque influence are palpable. This precious copy is estimated at €40,000-50,000.

Mirroring these authors who imposed themselves on the cultural landscape of the post-war period, various artistic movements appeared, such as Art Brut, of which Jean Dubuffet was one of the main initiators. His work as an illustrator for the book Les murs d'Eugène Guillevic, for which he produced 14 lithographs, is of great importance (1950, left, inside illustration). According to Dubuffet himself, the different tones of the black walls evoke an invitation to see beyond the limits of reality, plunged into infinite darkness during the Second World War.

Dubuffet's work seduced Jean Paulhan, who introduced him to Francis Ponge, with whom he produced Matière et mémoire ou les lithographes à l'école (1945). The talking binding by Monique Mathieu that adorns this copy continues the play of materials of Dubuffet's 34 lithographs (estimate: €20,000-30,000). Among the other books produced or illustrated by Dubuffet, let us finally mention Anvouaiaje par in ninbesil avec de zimaje (1950), a copy with the artist sending it to his friend and patron Henri Pierre Roché, covered with a binding by Georges Leroux inspired by the emblematic "bonhomme" (estimate €12,000-18,000).

The Paul Destribats Library is home to many artists from the post-war movements who deserve to be mentioned: Asger Jorn, Karel Appel, Pierre Alechinsky and the Cobra movement, the lyrical abstraction of Hans Hartung and Georges Mathieu, Nicolas de Staël and Simon Hantai, the Romanian School of Jacques Hérold and Victor Brauner. The latter collaborated with many writers, including Gherasim Luca. He illustrated Ce Château presenti (1958) with a beautiful etching (estimate: €8,000-12,000), and this manuscript copy of Le Tangage de ma langue (1949) with an original watercolour (estimate: €5,000- 7,000).

Pop Art is also in the spotlight with Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein and this mythical Pop book, Walasse Ting's One ¢ Life, published by Sam Francis in 1964. The top copy of the Destribats collection is decorated with a superb binding by Georges Leroux (€20,000- 30,000, ill. left).

The liberation of morals, still in its infancy at the end of the war, became established in the 1960s and especially after 1968. Although the sadomasochistic work L'Image by Catherine Robbe-Grillet (published under a pseudonym) was censored in 1956, and a lawsuit was brought against Jean-Jacques Pauvert for the publication of the writings of the Marquis de Sade, Western society evolved, and erotic writings and works were less subject to the censors' wrath. Hans Bellmer's reflection and work on the possibilities offered by the human body, real or fantasised, are represented by several choice copies, including his Jeux de la poupée (1949), where his photographs play the leading role and, in an inversion of the traditional text-image relationship, are "illustrated by texts by Paul Éluard" (estimate: €40,000-60,000). Bellmer had long been fascinated by the character of the anatomist from the Tales of Hoffman, and became a puppeteer: the copy of Von Kleist's treatise on puppets, illustrated by Bellmer and covered in a fascinating, flexible binding by Monique Mathieu, develops this register (estimate: €8,000-12,000).

After the war, women authors and artists gained in visibility: Emily Dickinson, Joyce Mansour, Catherine Robbe-Grillet, Emmanuelle Riva, Mila Gagarine, Annie Le Brun, Léna Leclercq, Toyen, Geneviève Asse, Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, Joan Mitchell, Mimi Parent, Germaine Richier and Dorothea Tanning are also present in the Destibats library. In addition to these names is Unica Zürn, whose sale will feature an exceptional autograph collection entitled Orakel und Spektakel. Anagramm texte und Zeichnungen (1955-1956), estimated at €15,000-20,000. These poems, most of them unpublished, combine anagrams and original drawings in ink. In these fourteen chimerical creations, the artist gets rid of the conventions of the artist's book, where text and image are placed side by side without intersecting, in order to create, notably through collage, effects of superimposition and accumulation.

Finally, the library offers numerous productions of the Lettrist movement, embodied by Isidore Isou, and, following him, Jacques Spacagna, Maurice Lemaître, Roland Sabatier, or Roberto Altmann. Often disconcerting, sometimes provocative, always chosen with care and attention to detail, these documents and works are the image of this library representative of the 20th century, where all the avant-gardes are in dialogue.

Boston — A 100-year-old F. Scott Fitzgerald handwritten letter sold for $37,987, according to Boston-based RR Auction.

The four-page handwritten letter, undated but, circa late 1920, to "Mr. Fitzgerald,” in Paterson, NJ, replying to commentary on This Side of Paradise, in which the protagonist 'Amory Blaine' was based upon himself, and the character 'Rosalind Connage' was based on Zelda.

The letter is paired with a signed by F. Scott Fitzgerald: a matte-finish photo of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, boldly signed in fountain pen with reference to This Side of Paradise, "This is 'Rosalind,' don't you prefer her to Clara? F. Scott Fitzgerald".

Accompanied by a carbon copy of John J. Fitzgerald's two-page letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald that elicited this exceptional response, and an envelope marked "Fitzgerald Correspondence" in an unknown hand.

Though Fitzgerald dropped out of Princeton to join the Army in 1917, his university years permanently shaped his life and career; it was in this world of privilege that he devoted himself to finding his voice as a writer.

Drawing inspiration from the people he knew in real life, Fitzgerald drafted This Side of Paradise after a breakup with Zelda. He hoped it would make him a famous novelist and help win her back—a successful endeavor, as he notes that "that 'Amory' married 'Rosalind,' two days before the publication of the novel." He also makes reference to his favorite cousin, Cecilia Delihant Taylor, upon whom 'Clara' was based. In 1919 Scribner's accepted his manuscript for This Side of Paradise on its third submission, and the book was released to wild success the following year.

Additional highlights from the sale include, but are not limited by:

Malcolm X typed signed letter to Elijah Muhammad sold for $52,663.

Nirvana signed 'Nevermind' album sold for $38,910.

Nikola Tesla twice-signed check, paid to the Hotel New Yorker sold for $28,501.

Martin Luther King, Jr. typed signed letter sold for $27,977.

Al Capone twice-signed gold coin interest note sold for $27,500.

F. Scott Fitzgerald signed first edition of The Vegetable sold for $25,000.

Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone signed photograph sold for $21,587.

Online bidding for the Fine Autograph and Artifacts auction from RR Auction began December 18 and concluded on January 13. For more information, go to www.rrauction.com.

Basel, Switzerland — Beginning the new year with an exciting event, the Stuttgart Antiquariatsmesse is going online from 29th January to the 1st February. Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG brings twenty exceptional, museum-quality works to the fair, and features two wonderful stately books which are featured in the fair’s print catalogues.

One of the two catalogue items, this first edition of Emperor Maximilian I’s Theuerdank is both vibrant and historically fascinating. The epic celebrates Theuerdank (Noble Mind), a knight who represents Maximilian himself. Overcoming innumerable dangers to win the heart of Queen Ernreich (an allegory for Mary of Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold), Theuerdank is impeded by meddlesome military figures who wish to disrupt his quest.

New York — Swann Galleries will open the winter 2021 season on Thursday, January 28 with a sale of Illustration Art featuring the Dick McDonough Collection of Golf Illustration.

Golf advertisements, cover art, calendar designs, cartoons, and more, as well as a curated selection of sports illustrations, are among an offering of works from the avid collector and esteemed author on the subject, Dick McDonough. Highlights include Howard Chandler Christy’s watercolor story illustration for Arthur Ruhl’s A Break in Training published in Scribner’s July 1902 issue ($8,000-12,000); Edward Penfield’s Golf Calendar for 1900, with nine prints, each representing a hole on a nine-hole course ($8,000-12,000); J.C. Leyendecker’s circa-1920 study for a cigarette advertisement, featuring a golfer lighting a cigarette ($7,000-10,000); Ruth Eastman’s Hitting the Links of Palm Beach, gouache on paper, a proposed cover for The Saturday Evening Post, mid-1920s ($5,000-7,500); and Bill Randall’s Broken Iron, an advertisement for Dodge featuring a couple leaving the golf course ($1,000-1,500). Many of the famous illustrators represented in the collection were fans of the sport, including James Montgomery Flagg, Arthur B. Frost, Lealand Gustavson, John Held, Jr., and Arthur Sarnoff. A small group of fine printed graphics and posters completes the section.

Additional sport illustrations include Joseph F. Kernan’s College Football, oil on canvas, the October 15, 1932 cover of The Saturday Evening Post ($25,000-35,000); Leslie Thrasher’s Conference on the Mound, oil on canvas, also a cover for The Saturday Evening Post published June 8, 1912 ($8,000-12,000); and Charles Addams’s One Pin, watercolor and gouache, a cartoon for The New Yorker published in 1962 ($6,000-9,000).

A strong showing of advertisements features a 1923 oil-and-graphite study for a Kuppenheimer clothing ad by J.C. Leyendecker ($7,000-10,000); What Should a School Child’s Breakfast Be?, oil on canvas, a 1936 ad for Cream of Wheat by Haddon Sundbloom ($4,000-6,000); a gouache work for Cities Service Gasoline featuring a worker cleaning Santa’s windshield ($4,000-6,000); and John Falter’s 1942 image for Four Roses Whiskey featuring “gentlemen in the know” ($4,000-6,000).

Charles Schulz leads a selection of comic strips with an original 1960 four-panel Peanuts comic strip featuring Linus and Lucy ($8,000-12,000). Otto Messmer is present with original Felix the Cat comics from 1933 and 1934 ($4,000-6,000, each). Also available is a comic book illustration from Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane by Werner Roth and Vince Colletta ($1,000-1,500).

Cover art for The New Yorker includes Family Tree, watercolor and gouache, by Constantin Alajalov published February 12, 1938 ($3,000-4,000); and two covers by Arthur Getz with Schoolgirls in Museum, tempera on paper, published March 23, 1963, and Studio Party, ink and watercolor, published August 2, 1976 ($2,000-3,000, each); as well as A Day at the Beach, watercolor, ink and gouache, by Barbara Shermund published August 5, 1944 ($2,000-3,000).

Works of narrative art created for books and magazines by twentieth century illustrators include a three illustrations by N.C. Wyeth for H.W. Longfellow’s The Courtship of Miles Standish (estimates ranging from $5,000-7,500, $4,000-6,000, and $3,000-4,000). Edmund Dulac is present with a watercolor, pen and ink illustration for the tale of Bluebeard published in The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales From the Old French, retold by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch ($6,000-9,000). Edward Gorey’s Another Nineteenth-Century Moment Musical, pen and ink, possibly published in Look magazine in the 1970s ($5,000-7,500); and Elbert McGran Jackson’s 1924 oil-on-canvas story illustration for Smoke of Battle by Robert W. Chambers, published in Cosmopolitan ($3,000-5,000) are set to cross the block. An offering of children’s book illustrators include Eric Carle, Arnold Lobel, William Pène du Bois, Clement Hurd and more.

Limited previewing (by appointment only) will be available through January 27, to be scheduled directly with a specialist in advance and conforming to strict safety guidelines. Swann Galleries staff will prepare condition reports and provide additional photographs of material on request. Advance order bids can be placed with the specialist for the sale or on Swann’s website, and phone bidding will be available. Live online bidding platforms will be the Swann Galleries App, Invaluable, and Live Auctioneers. The complete catalogue and bidding information is available at www.swanngalleries.com and on the Swann Galleries App.

London — It is our pleasure to inform you that Edward Nassau Lake is, from 1st January, joining Brian Lake and Janet Nassau as a partner in Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers, Bloomsbury.
 
Ed has worked in the family firm for fifteen years and demonstrated not only that he is a knowledgeable bookseller who has greatly enhanced the business, but is also committed for the long term to take Jarndyce into a second generation.

Ed comments: “It is a privilege for me to join the partnership of a business created by my father with Christopher Johnson in 1969 - and since the late 1970s developed by both my parents working together – which has grown, with the hard work and love from all those who have been involved with us, to become one of the leading companies in its field.  
 
I look forward to continuing to develop the business, working with our fantastic team, and helping to shape a rare book trade to reflect our changing society.
 
In particular, it has given me great pleasure to establish Jarndyce at international book fairs, to enhance the design of our catalogues, to oversee the growth of the Jarndyce team and to guide the partnership to a greater presence on-line, while remaining committed to our core catalogue business.”

Chicago – Hindman is thrilled to reflect on an exciting 2020 despite the unmatched environment and challenges presented. The year included over 100 auctions and $64.9 million in sales, and the auction house saw exceptional participation from online bidders throughout the world. More than 55 percent of successful bids were a result of online bidding activity, and the firm saw an increase in online engagement by over 10 percent. The company was proud to consistently exceed expectations throughout the year with the majority of sales surpassing presale estimates. Hindman is looking forward to continuing to provide clients with incredible offerings moving into 2021.

After Hindman’s record setting year in 2019, the firm continued that trend in 2020, breaking more records than the previous year. The Fine Art Department set 15 global auction records and continued to draw extraordinary engagement throughout 2020, ultimately reaching more than $14.6 million in sales. The sale of Alexander Calder’s standing mobile, Triple Cross from 1947, for nearly $1.9 million in the October Post War and Contemporary Art auction was the highest auction price in the company’s 38-year history and a momentous achievement for the department.

With distinguished expertise in presenting works by Chicago Imagists, the Post War and Contemporary Art sales offered a number of highlights and set significant records. Jim Nutt’s Shouldn’t We Be More Carefull? led the December auction, achieving the third highest sale price ever for the artist’s work, ultimately realizing $396,500. Barbara Rossi’s, Mir-ror Grr-L realized $55,000 against an estimate of $30,000-50,000 in the May sale, eclipsing the previous benchmark for the artist set by Hindman in December 2019. Across the year’s sales, excellent results and records were also achieved for artists Keith Haring, David Hockney, William McKendree Snyder, Dorothy Fratt, Philip Hanson, Paul Horiuchi, Thomas Kapsalis, Jordan Davies, John Himmelfarb, Keith Morrison, Albina Felski, and William Conger.

The Western Art category reached milestones and realized over $3.1 million in sales and set new records. The Arts of the American West Auction in June surpassed estimates with the Western Paintings & Sculpture sale realizing more than $1.8 million and online bidders winning nearly three quarters of lots in the auction and accounting for over 60% of the sale’s dollar total. The October Western Paintings and Sculpture auction set new world auction records and realized over $1.3 million. Records were set by Fritz Scholder, Billy Schenck, Howard Post, Earl Biss, David Bradley, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, William Berra, and Beatrice Mandelman.

Hindman continued its expansion in 2020, presenting new categories with its first dedicated Antiquities and Sports Memorabilia auctions. The firm hosted its inaugural Antiquities auction in June which realized nearly $1 million. While Hindman has worked with Antiquities for many years, the sale was its first auction focused exclusively on ancient art and featured artworks from the remarkable George Francoeur Trust. A second successful Antiquities auction was held in November and demonstrated the company’s strength in the market for Ancient Art. The firm’s dedicated Sports Memorabilia auction was held in October, continuing the company’s tradition of handling historic sports artifacts, like it did for the Chicago Stadium and Comiskey Park. Michael Jordan specific memorabilia continued to demand top prices with the top lot of the auction, a 1994 Michael Jordan bronze maquette, “The Spirit,” realizing $27,500 against a presale estimate of $4,000-6000.

The Books & Manuscripts Department saw another fantastic year, with auctions once again exceeding expectations, resulting in more than $5.4 million in sales and a sell through rate that was nearly 91%. Leading the June auction was the most complete archive of Supreme Court Justice manuscripts to ever appear on the market at auction, comprising 203 signed documents from 16 Chief and 93 Associate Justices of the Court from 1789-2017, which sold for $25,000. The auction also featured the collection of Rhoda H. Clark and the Monastery Hill Bindery, one of the oldest businesses in Chicago. The October auction of The Library of Gerald and Barbara Weiner realized more than $1.2 million. Highlights included a first edition of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, which sold for $112,500 against a presale estimate of $60,000-800,000, a copy of William Shakespeare’s Fourth Folio, and a copy of the Kelmscott Press’s Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. The November auction, over 91% sold by lot, included works from several private collections. The top lot of the sale, a copy of the first edition of Machiavelli’s The Prince, brought $47,000, far surpassing the pre-sale estimate of $25,000-35,000. Other highlights included a copy of the first octavo edition of Audubon’s Birds of America and a very fine illuminated Book of Hours.

Hindman, one of the only auction houses hosting dedicated sales of African Americana in the country, saw strong engagement in the category in 2020, achieving a 90% sell-through rate and beating pre-sale estimates for the majority of lots presented. A two-part auction, The Road West: The Steve Turner Collection of African Americana, presented one of the best private collections of African Americana to come to market in recent years. The collection included strong offerings in historic photography, which continues to be a strength for the department. Successes included a carte-de-visite of Edmonia Lewis seated, which ultimately realized $15,000, more than triple its presale estimate. Across four sales in 2020, highlights in the category included an ebonized wood walking cane presented to Frederick Douglass, which ultimately realized $37,500, over ten times its presale estimate. Other highlights included a copy of the first edition of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? which sold for $8,125, over double the presale estimate. Another standout sale was a typed letter from Malcolm X to his biographer, Alex Haley, which beat its presale estimate of $8,000 selling for $10,000.

It was also an exciting year for Hindman’s Luxury Goods departments. The jewelry and timepieces category ultimately realized over $9 million in sales. Important Jewelry sales included highlights from several renowned houses including Cartier, David Webb, Tiffany & Co., Buccellati, Van Cleef & Arpels, and more. An antique royal diamond tiara was a particularly stunning offering and realized over 10 times its presale estimate, selling for $68,750. The tiara was worn by Princess Eugenia for her 1938 wedding to Prince Dominik Radziwiłł, and contained numerous old mine, rose, and mixed cut diamonds weighing approximately 18 to 20 carats total, and seven diamond simulants. Couture ended the year on a high note with the Luxe Holiday: A Collectors’ Collection auction, which saw eager bidding on accessories, and featured three distinct categories: a collection of 17th to 19th century fashion and ephemera, collection contemporary luxury menswear, as well as a collection of accessories and iconic dresses and ensembles by some of the top designers in Japanese fashion.

The Palm Beach Collections auctions in December kicked off the season with two exceptional sales. The sales included furniture and other decorative art items from a Florida residence designed by respected New York-based interior designer Michael Simon, who is known for his deep understanding and knowledge of French 18th century decorative arts. Sale standouts included a sculpture by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, Sweet Grapes, which realized over three times its presale estimate and sold for $21,250, and twenty Zuber panoramic wallpaper panels, which realized $21,250 against a presale estimate of $8,000-12,000.

Looking forward into 2021, Hindman will continue to build on its digital connectivity through its new Digital Bid Room, an online and mobile bidding platform which provides clients with a simplified and efficient experience.

Additionally, Hindman is excited to be celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Palm Beach office, with highlights including the Palm Beach Jewelry Sale on February 9. Hindman will also be presenting its first photography sale on January 21 and will also be presenting its first dedicated various owner African Americana sale on February 18.

To find additional information on upcoming 2021 auctions, please visit HindmanAuctions.com.