Posts Tagged ‘Sotheby’s’

Winnie-the-Pooh and the Auction Record

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

I love Winnie-the-Pooh. Who wouldn’t love the “tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff”? Apparently somebody loves him a whole lot!

An auction record was set at Sotheby’s yesterday when a collection of E.H. Shepard’s original drawings for A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books sold for approximately £1.3 million ($2 million USD), well above the estimated sale amount. Shepard’s drawing “He went on tracking, and Piglet … ran after him,” also sold at more than double the estimated sales price at £115,250 - a record sales amount for a drawing by a British artist.

The popular image of Christopher Robin dragging Pooh by the leg up the stairs, bumped bidders up to the final sales price of £97,250. Again, the final sale price beat expectations.

These sales amounts are a bit surprising given the recent downturn in the fine art market.

Perhaps comfort can be found in cuddly teddy bears after all.

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Bruce Chatwin’s inspiration

Monday, November 17th, 2008

The Independent has a great feature about Bruce Chatwin’s early days as a ‘Southerboy.’

On a crisp winter morning 50 years ago Bruce Chatwin stepped off New Bond Street and into the galleries of Sotheby’s for the first time. He was an 18-year-old, dough-faced boy straight from Marlborough College. The following eight years spent at the auction house were to prove pivotal. They would inform his unique prose style, introduce key themes to his work, provide him with a wife and create a lasting fascination with the allure of objects.

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