Maine Antique Digest March 2015

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30-A Maine Antique Digest, March 2015
- AUCTION -
Keeneland Association, Inc. and Cross Gate Gallery, Lexington, Kentucky
The Sporting Art Auction Brings Bounty
by Susan Nutter
Photos courtesy Keeneland Association, Inc. and Cross Gate Gallery
Location. Location. Location.
What holds true in the real
estate industry is often applica-
ble to other markets. Yes, the Inter-
net brings all things to all people, but
being able to put what is for sale in
the path of those most likely to buy
over the course of several months,
well, that’s golden.
In 2013 in Lexington, Kentucky,
Keeneland Association, Inc., the
world’s largest thoroughbred auc-
tion house, and Cross Gate Gallery,
the country’s premier gallery of fine
sporting art, joined forces to present
their inaugural sport-
ing art auction to rave
reviews and earned
more than $3 million
in sales. Sticking with
the mindset of “if it ain’t broke, don’t
fix it,” these two businesses offered
a repeat performance in November
2014 to similar success. The premise
is genius.
Keeneland hosts numerous horse
auctions every year with the Septem-
ber sales being the main event. These
sales are when the premier horses and
colts are offered and the most money
exchanges hands. Keeneland auctions
are where Derby winners begin their
careers and where horse racing’s fin-
est find new homes.
In an effort to present a total shop-
ping experience in 2013 and again
in 2014, Keeneland and Cross Gate
Gallery decided these auctions would
be the perfect place to expose great
sporting art to those who truly appre-
ciate the subject matter. Cross Gate
Gallery created a gallery space in
Keeneland’s main sale pavilion prior
to the 2014 September horse sales. In
order to get to the Keeneland auction
rings, would-be buyers had to walk
through an actual art gallery show-
casing what would be up for auc-
tion at Cross Gate Gallery. So this
art—all 175 lots—was on display
for Keeneland’s high-end September
sales, during the October race week,
and for Keeneland’s November thor-
oughbred auctions. Talk about expo-
sure! Keeneland’s auctions ended
on November 14, and Cross Gate
Gallery offered the art auction on
November 19, 2014.
The top lot sold during the actual
auction was the massive (96" x 120")
triptych Hercules by Ashley Collins
(b. 1967), which realized $149,500
(includes buyer’s premium). Sir
Hercules, a racehorse born in 1826,
had not been considered a competi-
tor, standing only 15.2 hands. Yet he
“went on to be undefeated in Ireland,
to win the Sweepstakes at York, the
Claret Stakes, and Liverpool’s Stand
Cup,” Cross Gate Gallery stated and
added that even at stud, Hercules was
dismissed, though his
sons and daughters
greatly influenced and
advanced the blood-
lines of successful
racehorses in Australia, England,
Ireland, the United States, and
France. In this work, Collins mixes
her oils with actual pages of text
from the 1800s to create an elaborate
image. Paintings such as Hercules,
which immortalize horse racing his-
tory, are very desirable.
Dead Heat for the Doncaster St.
Leger 1850 between Voltiguer and
Russborough by Henry Thomas
Alken Sr. (British, 1785-1851) rep-
resents the St. Leger, which ran at
Doncaster on September 18, 1850.
The race was notable as it finished in
a dead heat between Lord Zetland’s
Voltigeur (red spots) and Mr. Man-
gan’s Russborough. But there is more
history in this image, as described by
Cross Gate’s catalog listing:
“As was customary at this period,
the two horses then competed in a
run-off with Voltigeur emerging tri-
umphant. Voltigeur had already won
the Epsom Derby and was a strong
favorite for the race at odds of 8 to
13, while the Irish-bred Russborough
was pegged at 20 to 1. Voltigeur was
a brown colt by Voltaire out of Mar-
tha Lynn, bred by Mr. Stephenson,
and foaled in 1847. He won a total
of six races including the famous
Doncaster Cup of 1850, in which
he defeated the 1849 Derby winner,
The Flying Dutchman. This is the
only occasion in the history of the
British turf that two Derby winners
(both also won the St. Leger) have
clashed on the racecourse. After The
Flying Dutchman’s defeat his owner,
Lord Eglington, challenged Lord
Zetland to a private re-match, which
was accepted. Known as ‘The Great
Match’ the race took place at Knaves-
mire on May 13, 1851, with The Fly-
ing Dutchman taking his revenge for
the earlier defeat.”
This 14" x 21" image was signed,
inscribed, and dated 1850, and it sold
for $69,000.
Historical information concerning
each artwork offered sets Cross Gate
Gallery apart. Consider the oil on
panel Bill Hartack Wins with Majes-
tic Prince by LeRoy Neiman (1921-
2012), which did well at $143,750.
Majestic Prince gave jockey Bill
Hartack his fifth Kentucky Derby by
defeating Arts and Letters (the only
horse ever to beat Majestic Prince)
and Dike to win by a neck. This 36"
x 60" painting was signed and dated
“’69.”
The lot that brought the largest
return actually sold after the auc-
tion closed. Bringing an impres-
sive $488,750, The Horse Race, an
oil on canvas by N.C.
Wyeth (1882-1945),
is a wonderful image
with a wonderful story.
N.C. Wyeth painted The
Horse Race as an illus-
tration for James Boyd’s
novel Drums (1928).
Wyeth captured the thrill
of riding a horse as it
runs all-out. The image
shows the profiles of
two riders racing horses
neck and neck with just
a glimpse of the cheer-
ing crowd in the back-
ground. Part of Cross
Gate Gallery’s descrip-
tion said, “Considered
the best novel about the
Revolutionary War era,
Drums was published by
Scribner’s first in 1925,
with a subsequent edi-
tion illustrated by Wyeth
The Horse Race, N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), oil on canvas,
40¼" x 32¼", an illustration for James Boyd’s novel
Drums, earned $488,750 (est. $550,000/650,000) after the
auction. The painting was for the passage “Cursing and
whipping like a madman, the scarlet jockey drew up on
the turn, hung knee to knee, passed him by.”
The premise
is genius.
Three Kings (Nijinsky II, Spectacular Bid, & Secretariat at Claiborne
Farm), Richard Stone Reeves (1919-2005), oil on canvas, 28¼" x 36",
$126,500 (est. $60,000/80,000).
Hercules, Ashley Collins (b. 1967), triptych, 96" x 120", $149,500 (est.
$145,000/165,000).
This complete set of hand-colored prints
(each 18¼" x 22"), after original paintings of
famous American thoroughbreds by Frank-
lin Brooke Voss (1880-1953), sold with their
original leather-bound case for $46,000 (est.
$18,000/24,000). This is set number 73 of 260,
and each print was signed and numbered by
Voss. The artist also included in the lower
right corner of each one a square painted
in the owner’s colors. A biography of each
horse by horse race writer Neil “Roamer”
Newman is also found at the bottom of each
print. Cross Gate Gallery listed each print’s
subject, owner, and publication year.
Bluegrass Bath, Kelly Robertson Brewer (b. 1970), oil on linen panel,
34" x 34", $17,250 (est. $5000/7000). The Bluegrass Region of cen-
tral Kentucky is home to livestock of all kinds including these cattle,
painted on a farm on Walnut Hill Road near Lexington.