The June 3rd sale at Clarke Auction ushered in summer with a wave of heated bidding and spectacular results for the Larchmont, NY house.

        The highly coveted and featured item in the sale, a 1935 German surrealist painting entitled “Archaic Fragment” by Richard Oelze, hammered at $340,000 against a $60,000 - $80,000 estimate. After a rousing bout of bidding between the internet, the phones, and audience members, the sound of the hammer instantly turned to the sound of applause as the winning bid was secured in-house.

         Not only did the Oelze surpass its auction estimate, but the $408,000 sale with commission, set a new historic auction record for the artist. The previous record for a work by Oelze was $89,000 set by Christie’s London in 2011.

         The fine art maintained strength following the Oelze with a Bernard Buffet oil on canvas floral still life entitled “Soucis Oranges” which hammered at a distinguished $70,000.

         Other fine art and print highlights included a $16,000 hammer for signed impressionist oil on canvas of two girls, and a $14,000 hammer price for a Pablo Picasso etching entitled “Garcon et Dormeuse a la Chandelle.” The Picasso was plate 26 from La Suite Vollard and was pencil signed by the artist.  A Louis B. Hurt Scottish landscape also hammered at a respectable $8,500 and an oil on canvas entitled “Beach in Ostia” by Nicola Simbari brought $6,500.

          Outside of the fine art  selections, jewelry and silver offerings in the June 3rd sale also created quite a buzz. A magnificent Russian silver gilt, plique a jour, translucent and champleve Enamel set with sherbet cups, trays, and spoons by Khlebnikov, was the featured item in the selection. Khlebnikov was the court master to Nicolai II circa 1910 and the set brought $55,000 on the hammer. The set was followed by a rare gold and diamond necklace at $11,000, and a set of 12 J.E Caldwell pierced and engraved silver plates that brought a winning bid of $7,000.

          Rarity also propelled a Tiffany favrille lava vase to the $32,000 mark in decorative arts category on June 3rd. Other highlights from the selection included a pair of Dore bronze urns which brought $13,000, a spectacular marble fireplace mantle that brought $12,000, an Enzo Palazzo bronze female figural statue at $10,000, a signed C.H. Boye A Paris French mantle clock for $9,500, a pair of male and female bronze figural sconces which hammered at $8,500, and a bronze mounted green marble pedestal that brought $8,000.

           The antique furniture selection also had a strong showing. A French gilt bronze mirror surtout de table raised considerable interest in the presale viewing and brought a winning bid of $19,000. From the same estate, an important and fine ormalu mounted two piece vitrine closed with a winning bid of $17,000.

            The midcentury furniture selection kept up with the market trend as well, showing great results for George Nakashima, who’s “Conoid” dining table hammered at $19,000. Nakashima’s designer daughter Mira Nakashima also brought excellent results for a set of eight signed dining chairs which hammered at $14,000.

                Asian highlights included a Chinese jade Quan Yin shelf clock for $7,000 and a pair of Chinoiserie wall mounted screens for $4,200.

Clarke Auction is now accepting consignments for July and hopes to follow suite of their own early summer blockbuster with a sale to be held on Monday, July 22nd, 2013. Please contact the gallery at (914) 833-8336, or via email through sell@clarkeny.com for more information.