Los Angeles – A jewel-toned painting by Joseph Kleitsch achieved a new auction record for the artist at the California and Western Paintings and Sculpture auction at Bonhams Los Angeles on November 20. The vivid work, The Oriental Shop (or The Jade Shop), sold for more than three times its low estimate, achieving $912,500. The sale totaled $4,136,000 and sold 84% by lot and by value.

Scot Levitt, Bonhams Director of Fine Arts, said, “We were witness to robust bidding across the board in last night’s auction of California and Western paintings and sculpture. Top quality works continue to energize a bevy of collectors, all vying for those works rarely seen on the market.  Most of the top ten lots saw multiple bidders in both the San Francisco and Los Angeles auction rooms, as well as on the telephones and online. The cover lot established a new record, while collectively the sale reminded the market that interest in California and Western art is alive and very healthy.”