Inaugural New York Auction Season and A Record Number of Single-Owner Sales Headline Hindman’s 2023

Hindman’s first ever New York auction season and a record number of single-owner sales drove Hindman to one of its most memorable years. The firm held 17 single-owner auctions throughout the year across a wide variety of collecting categories including Fine Art, Furniture & Decorative Arts, Watches, Books & Manuscripts, and more. All told, the sales accounted for more than $14 million of the company’s $99.7 million total in 2023.

“This past year the team redoubled our focus on showcasing remarkable single-owner collections at auction,” said Alyssa Quinlan, CEO of Hindman. “I’m proud our efforts resulted in the presentation of property with truly outstanding provenance driving multiple ‘white glove’ collections and a record number of single-owner sales in 2023.”

Hindman Makes New York Debut

After opening a New York office in the fall of 2022, Hindman was thrilled to host its inaugural auction season in October 2023 featuring four auctions across three days. All told, the season achieved a combined total of $5.3 million with 295 lots sold from Hindman’s pop-up saleroom in SoHo. Over 2,000 bidders from 49 countries registered for the four sales and over 40% of buyers were first-time clients to Hindman.

“We were thrilled with the excitement surrounding our very first New York auctions. The strong results achieved across a diverse range of collecting categories demonstrates Hindman’s strength in the region and the New York team’s deep bench of expertise, art-world connections, and ability to curate a compelling offering for our clients in the Northeast,” said Gemma Sudlow, Hindman’s Managing Director, New York Region. “Hindman’s strategy is about connecting with our communities, and we were delighted by the warm welcome we received here in New York for our series of events and auctions. We look forward to continuing this strong momentum with additional New York sales planned for Spring 2024.”

The standout of the New York auctions was Time & Space: Watches from the Collection of Glen de Vries, which soared well past its pre-sale estimate achieving a total of $3 million and saw 95% of its lots sell. The top lot of the auction was a rare F.P. Journe, Platinum 'Tourbillon Souverain Black Label' that realized $415,800 against a low estimate of $250,000.

The New York season also saw two lots achieve auctions records. In Forever Young: Photographs from the Joe Baio Collection, a 2008 piece by LaToya Ruby Frazier entitled Momme sold for $50,400 while Francis Speight’s 1930 work White House with Variations sold for $126,000 in Canvas & Clay: The Collection of Judith and Philip Sieg.

World Class Collections from Across the Country

Hindman’s 2023 was driven by a record number of single-owner auctions and sessions across the entire breadth of its collecting categories and sourced from coast to coast. All told, the auction house held 17 single-owner auctions throughout the year, a record for the firm, which achieved a combined total of $14,173,933.

In March, Hindman offered Property from the Fred and Kay Krehbiel Collection in three parts in both its Chicago and Palm Beach salerooms. The remarkably provenanced and diverse collection from the Krehbiels’s Chicago and Palm Beach homes brought in bidders from 39 countries and realized over $3.5 million, more than double its pre-sale estimate.

In the Books & Manuscripts category, the Fine Books from the Dorros Family Collection achieved a result of $1.5 million headlined by a remarkable complete copy of Edward S. Curtis’s seminal The North American Indian, which sold for $882,000. November also saw a pair of single-owner sales in the Cincinnati saleroom exceed their pre-sale estimates. Beyond a Cincinnati Legacy: The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fleischmann III achieved a combined total of $956,095 while The Donald F. Moylan, M.D. Collection of American Furniture, Folk & Decorative Arts netted $830,372.

Curated Single-Owner Sessions Spur Various-Owner Sales

A number of extraordinary collections also spurred on several of Hindman’s various-owner auctions. The year ended in dramatic fashion with a pair of white glove collections which sailed past their pre-sale estimates in back-to-back days. First, the collection of Ernest and Ella Brummer more than quadrupled its pre-sale estimate selling for a combined total of over $2 million in the December Antiquities & Ancient Art auction. The standout of the collection was a Roman marble head of a youth wearing a laurel wreath, which sold for $504,000 against an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. The next day, the incredible jewelry collection of Marguerite Hark of Chicago and Surfside, Florida sold for $2.4 million in Important Jewelry, headlined by an important Kashmir unheated sapphire and diamond ring that sold for a staggering $1.29 million.

The Asian Art Department had the pleasure of handling the Estate of Hisazo Nagatani, a world-famous collector and dealer. The collection was offered in the September Asian Works of Art auction and achieved a total sales price of $1.1 million and saw all lots in the collection sell. The top lot of the collection was a Chinese ink and color on silk ‘cats’ painting which sold for $327,600.

Notable Highlights Across All Collecting Categories

Hindman held 134 auctions offering 34,301 lots in 2023 and saw impressive highlights in a wide variety of collecting categories. Some of the other standouts from the year included:

• In October’s American Art, a 1919 oil on canvas by Norman Rockwell entitled One More Week of School and Then... sold for $529,200.
• Hindman continued to establish itself as a leading auction house for works by Gertrude Abercrombie when 1950’s Four Trees and Three Owls sold for $352,800 in the April Post War & Contemporary Art
• Fritz Scholder once again topped a Hindman Western & Contemporary Native American Art auction when Indian at the Bar sold for $239,400 in May.
• Gustave Loiseau’s Le quai du Pothuis à Pontoise sold for $201,600 in May’s European Art auction, making it the top lot in the category for the year.
• In November, a Navajo classic second phase blanket topped the Native American Art auction selling for $100,800.
• An exceedingly rare 1910 Tip Top Bread Honus Wagner baseball card sold for $114,000 in the June Sports Memorabilia
• The standout in the Arms & Armor category was a Singer U.S. Model 1911A1 cutaway prototype which sold for $78,000 in Cowan’s, a Hindman Company’s October Arms, Armor & Militaria