Heritage--Elvgren and other results

[delekkerste]

Here are what I consider to be Elvgren's 3 best works. My opinion only, of course.

 

First up, "I've Been Spotted" from 1949. That huge orange umbrella is worth a good $50K alone. Striking red/white dress combination (flattering style too), perfect theme, great facial expression - it's positively luminescent and would look great gracing the wall of any millionaire's home and could be shown to almost anyone without reservation or fear of offense.

[delekkerste]

Second (going in chronological order):

 

"Hold Everything (Skirting the Issue)" from 1962. Gorgeous girl, absolutely fabulous color selection, beautiful detail on the clothing and, of course, the brilliant dog. Any list of top Elvgrens that omitted this one could not possibly be taken seriously.

[delekkerste]

Finally, "Anchors A-Wow" from 1968. This may not be an obvious choice, as Elvgren painted prettier sailor girls and it falls a bit late chronologically, but, oh, that gorgeous blue background, that wispy white skirt as weightless as the clouds below and that shimmering and radiant face/smile and great pose. A painting that could brighten your mood and light up your day for years to come. Trust me, if second tier pieces can fetch $100-$200K in this market, this one would set a record price for the artist. And don't anyone even attempt to compare this one to "Sitting Pretty" (1953) that Heritage sold for $89.6K last year - that one is not even in the same ballpark of quality despite the similar subject matter.

[delekkerste]

In my opinion, "It's a Snap (Snap Judgment)" from 1958 is far and away the best Elvgren that Heritage has auctioned to date (I believe it fetched the 2nd highest price as well). Compare the last crop of Elvgrens to hit the auction block to this piece and the 3 I've posted above and you realize just how lacking they are by comparison. I can understand if people want to shell out < $50K for second-tier Elvgrens as almost all of his paintings are lovely, but $100-$200K? That just makes no sense to me.

[comicartcom]

I think the painting with the gal in the red dress popping out of the picture frame is better than this one.. I even tried to buy it from Charlie 20 years ago.. he just kept upping the price.. But I dont think any of them are 200k pieces..

[comix4fun]

Maybe I can find this one cheap, it would be good to put out around this time of year.

 

[Bronty]

Wow, that I've Been Spotted is wonderful.

 

But at the end of the day its all so personal with this stuff. There's really no right or wrong answer. If these were comic covers we'd be looking to the characters/title, etc as ways to distinguish value. But these are all... more or less... the same from that viewpoint. So while I agree with you that there are clearly 1st, 2nd, 3rd tier elvgrens I think we all agree that the price variation is hard to understand. To me... not so much between the 50k and 200k pieces... the pieces in the archives at the 50k level are clearly inferior... but some of the ones that are in my mind 2nd tier, could go for 100k.. 150k... 200k... spin the wheel!

[Bronty]

Maybe I can find this one cheap, it would be good to put out around this time of year.

 

 

I love how even the pumpkin is looking at her

[comix4fun]

I think the painting with the gal in the red dress popping out of the picture frame is better than this one.. I even tried to buy it from Charlie 20 years ago.. he just kept upping the price.. But I dont think any of them are 200k pieces..

 

 

I was having trouble picturing the one you were referring to. Is it this one? Great composition.

[Aman619]

I always liked the one of the cowgirl on the cobbled together hobby horse.

 

the amazing thing about Elvgren , to me, that separates him from all the other pinup guys is his superior brush techniques. Close up, you see he swiped paint across the canvas quickly, and his strokes were perfect the first time, and he never overpainted them to make them better. Look closely to see he painted very few edges, that the skin and sheets and clothes and hair edges were suggested, not drawn.

 

The others look more worked on, labored over, realized over time and effort.... But Elvgrens are magically applied on the canvases.

 

Many artists cant resist reworking key areas.. or cannot get them just right in one swipe. Elvgren could, and knew enough to leave it alone afterwards.

[comicartcom]

I think the painting with the gal in the red dress popping out of the picture frame is better than this one.. I even tried to buy it from Charlie 20 years ago.. he just kept upping the price.. But I dont think any of them are 200k pieces..

 

 

I was having trouble picturing the one you were referring to. Is it this one? Great composition.

 

yep

[tylerdurden-migration]

Stumbled across this thread

 

A nice read

 

You would almost think you were listening to a bunch of fine art experts rather than the truth

 

A buncha of horny comic book geeks

[tth2]

would look great gracing the wall of any millionaire's home and could be shown to almost anyone without reservation or fear of offense.

I can say without hesitation that even if I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the painting, it would never be permitted to be put up in my home (except maybe my comic book room, and even then maybe not).

[tth2]

Getting back to the auction in general, I was struck by how strong prices were across the board. Stronger than the previous Martignette auction, even though most of the pieces were not as good in my opinion. There were several paintings that I thought I had a good shot at, where I came in thousands of dollars below the winning bid. I figured $20K would be enough to take the Flagg Life cover, but it wasn`t even close.

 

What didn`t sell was Disneyana, although that was probably more a function of the very aggressive reserve prices than lack of interest. Maybe someone needs to tell the owners that Jacko is dead. Surprised no one has come on to gloat about the Tenggren failing to sell. The Earle Sleeping Beauty background also failed to sell.

 

 

[delekkerste]

I can say without hesitation that even if I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the painting, it would never be permitted to be put up in my home (except maybe my comic book room, and even then maybe not).

 

Well, let's put it this way - if this painting couldn't go up in your home, Elvgren's pin-ups of women looking like they stepped out of a 1950s issue of Playboy or the period equivalent of a Victoria's Secret catalog certainly wouldn't. You and your household are clearly not candidates for the Elvgren market - I didn't mean to imply that everyone would both like his work and not take any offense to it.

 

My point was that, the more risque his paintings are, the more limited the pool of potential buyers. That doesn't mean they will fetch the lowest prices (his nudes have been among his most valued works), but I think the market will accord his pieces with his most classic themes, the broadest appeal and best execution with the highest prices - "I've Been Spotted" has all the right elements to attract the highest amount of money. Elvgren did so many pin-ups of ladies in sheer negligees that it's easy to confuse them, but no one forgets that brilliant red/white dress or that huge orange umbrella.

[MutantKeys]

 

Very nice

[micmack]

Heritage stated that 4000 (I think) pieces were consigned and that they would be auctioned in a 2 years time span. Is there a way to view all the upcoming stuff online somewhere or do we have to wait till they announce the auction?

Thanks!

[micmack]

Getting back to the auction in general, I was struck by how strong prices were across the board. Stronger than the previous Martignette auction, even though most of the pieces were not as good in my opinion. There were several paintings that I thought I had a good shot at, where I came in thousands of dollars below the winning bid. I figured $20K would be enough to take the Flagg Life cover, but it wasn`t even close.

 

What didn`t sell was Disneyana, although that was probably more a function of the very aggressive reserve prices than lack of interest. Maybe someone needs to tell the owners that Jacko is dead. Surprised no one has come on to gloat about the Tenggren failing to sell. The Earle Sleeping Beauty background also failed to sell.

 

Speaking of which, I saw the live feed and it appeared as though someone bid the $250k. They applauded and everything after. So what happened? Was it a thrill bid? just curious...

[lb jefferies]

Why did that McGinnis sell for $20K?

 

Mark,

 

I think both McGinnis paintings sold for over $20,000. In my opinion both were absolutely stellar examples from his best period, but i was still surprised by how high they went.

 

Cheers,

 

Simon

 

[tth2]

I can say without hesitation that even if I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the painting, it would never be permitted to be put up in my home (except maybe my comic book room, and even then maybe not).

 

Well, let's put it this way - if this painting couldn't go up in your home, Elvgren's pin-ups of women looking like they stepped out of a 1950s issue of Playboy or the period equivalent of a Victoria's Secret catalog certainly wouldn't. You and your household are clearly not candidates for the Elvgren market - I didn't mean to imply that everyone would both like his work and not take any offense to it.

 

My point was that, the more risque his paintings are, the more limited the pool of potential buyers. That doesn't mean they will fetch the lowest prices (his nudes have been among his most valued works), but I think the market will accord his pieces with his most classic themes, the broadest appeal and best execution with the highest prices - "I've Been Spotted" has all the right elements to attract the highest amount of money. Elvgren did so many pin-ups of ladies in sheer negligees that it's easy to confuse them, but no one forgets that brilliant red/white dress or that huge orange umbrella.

Just to be clear, I like Elvgren. I like his technical skills, his style and his subject matter. But I'd have a very tough time convincing my wife to allow one of his paintings to be displayed in our home.