Museums - Big Consignors in Fall Auctions

Kelly Crow has a good article in the Wall Street Journal about museums consigning works for the fall auctions.  The works being offered from museums include some rather big names, such as  Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Crow reports

The Cleveland Museum of Art is asking at least $5 million for Monet's 1881 landscape, "Cornfield," which depicts wildflowers and spindly trees against a wispy, blue sky. This work was originally bought by an American collector shortly after it was painted, and it was first exhibited in New York in 1886. The Ohio museum received it as a gift in 1947.

Washington's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is also selling off Picasso's 1967 portrait, "Musketeer With a Hat," with an asking price of at least $3 million. The museum's namesake founder, Joseph Hirshhorn, bought the artwork in 1970, and it's belonged to the museum since 1981. Picasso's late-era series of musketeers enjoyed a price run-up a few years ago—Christie's got $14.6 million for another 1968 Picasso musketeer three years ago—but this work could offer a fresh test. Dealers say the market has been awash with swashbucklers by Picasso lately, which may explain why the Hirshhorn's 32-inch-tall version carries a much-lower asking price than recent examples at auction.

Sotheby's specialist Simon Shaw says the artist—and his musketeer series—"still feel safe" to buy compared to other lesser-known artists.

The Virginia Museum of Art is also joining in the sell-off, offering up its Renoir still life from 1883-84, "Vase of Roses and Dahlias," for at least $400,000. The museum received the painting as a gift in 1994.

Source: Wall Street Journal