With a 98% sell-through of 402 lots, Paul Cadmus and His Circle: Property from the Estate of Jon F. Anderson –presented by Lark Mason Associates– achieved $1,163,055 including buyer’s premium. Spirited bidding amongst international museum curators, art dealers, interior designers and private collectors necessitated extending the sale to May 21st, two days beyond its original closing date.

Says Charlene Wang, fine art specialist at Lark Mason Associates: "We were honored to work with the estate of Jon F. Anderson and are pleased that we fulfilled our goal– which was to represent his legacy. “Traditionally the sale would have been divided into three parts, but we made the bold decision to proceed with a single sale. With record prices, often skyrocketing above high estimates, it turned out to be the right choice.”

The collection consisted of three artists’ estates—Paul Cadmus, Jared French, Margaret French–and the work of their intimate friends and fellow artists. Referred to collectively by the acronym PaJaMa (acronym for Paul, Jared, and Margaret), they founded the movement known as Magical Realism. This trio formed a close, often polyamorous relationship, since Cadmus was once the lover of Jared French and others before his relationship with Anderson. Their inner circle also included: George Platt Lynes, Lincoln Kirstein, Fidelma Cadmus Kirstein, and Pavel Tchelitchew.

Among the works sold by Paul Cadmus were Male Nude #NM5, Crayons on Hand-toned Paper, 1965 ($41,250), Male Nude NM67, Crayon on Hand-toned Paper, c. 1968 ($42,500), and The Cecropia Helmet, Watercolor and Crayons on Hand-toned Paper, 1972 ($32,500).  Works by Jared French included Male Figures in Garden ($37,500) and Untitled, Head of a Man, Plaster Sculpture, 1945 ($16,500). Workers at Harbor, by Margaret Hoening French, Egg Tempera on Board, hammered $19,500.

According to Nick Oddo, the executor of the Estate of Jon. F. Anderson, proceeds from the auction will be divided among five non-profit organizations including: Doctors Without Borders, New York; Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, New York; the Nature Conservancy in Fairfax, Virginia; PBS Thirteen, New York; and the World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC.

Says Oddo: "Paul Cadmus, a truly great American artist, and his muse Jon Anderson were my personal friends. This collection represented the last body of Paul’s works, many of which hadn’t been seen in public. I was very pleased to see the wonderful results of the Lark Mason Associates auction held 20 years after his death. It’s a marvelous tribute to his life and legacy.”

About Lark Mason

With locations in New Braunfels, Texas and New York City, Lark Mason Associates, the eponymous, auction house specializing in Asian, ethnographic, and ancient works of art, was founded by Lark Mason after many years as an expert at Sotheby's New York.

Mason served as a General Appraiser from 1979 until 1985, and as a Senior Vice President and specialist in Chinese art with Sotheby's Chinese Works of Art Department from 1985-2003.  From 2000-2003 he concurrently was a Director of Online Auctions for Sothebys.com. He also served as a consulting curator at the Trammel and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas, Texas from 2003-2009. He is a generalist in American and European works of art and paintings, as well as an expert in the field of Chinese art and has valued and advised many private collectors and institutions.

Lark Mason Associates regularly hosts auctions on the iGavel Auctions platform and has an established history of record sales of Chinese and other works of art and holds the record for the highest price achieved for any work of art in an online sale, for a painting sold in May 2014 that realized close to $4.2m. In addition, the recent sale of the Collection from Anthony Bourdain achieved an impressive $1.846,575. Mason, the founder and CEO of iGavel Auctions, is noted for his regular appearances on "The Antiques Road Show." For more information, visit www.igavelauctions.com.