Moran’s achieves $3.4 million from December auctions including impressive results from Botero, Weston, and Imogen Cunningham!

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Moran’s went out [of 2023] with a bang! Last week, December 5-7, John Moran Auctioneers presented four auctions over three days: Fine Jewelry & Watches, 20^th Century Photography: The Emergence of Modernism, The Collection of Frederick W. Davis, and Latin American Art + Design. With 368 buyers purchasing 716 lots, the aggregate total of all four sales reached an astounding $3.4 million. 

The top lot was from the Latin American Art + Design sale: a Fernando Botero work titled, “Couple Dancing,” 1980 brought in a whopping $381,000*. The second Botero, “Nude Figure Reclining,” 2002, achieved $177,800*. Other highlights came from Rufino Tamayo’s work, “‘Adam’ and ‘Eve’ From the ‘Tamayo 90 Anniversario Suite,'” 1989-1990, quadrupling its estimate and selling for $20,320*, as well as a sterling silver chess set by Hector Aguilar that left the block for $13,970*. 

The other major event happened in the 20^th Century Photography auction— The 1929 work, “Two Callas,” by Imogen Cunningham sold for an incredible $292,100*, making a new world auction record for the image! Excitement and anticipation for this sale was present in the modern photography community with works coming from both the Fred Davis and Dr. Amy Conger estates. The new-to-market works by Edward Weston, “Cuernavaca,” 1925, and “Prologue to a Sad Spring,” 1920, each reached an impressive price realized of $215,900*.

The Collection of Frederick W. Davis sale represented some of the best Mexican artists to come out of the early to mid-20^th century. Leading the sale was the artist couple, Miguel Covarrubias and Rosa (Rolanda) Covarrubias. Selling for above estimate, Mr. Covarrubias’s “El Mercado” earned a winning bid of $34,925*, but the real surprise came from the two works by Mrs. Covarrubias. They each started with modest $2,000-3,000 estimates, but after the bidding wars, “Girl in White Dress” achieved a phenomenal $15,240* and “Floral Still Life” brought in $11,430*. Other noteworthy lots were “Octavo Presagio: Casa El Hombre,” 1959, by Vicente Rojo, selling for $13,970*, and a brass cigarette case by Line Vautrin brought $9,240*.

Noteworthy results from the Fine Jewelry & Watches sale were a Rolex GMT-Master II gold wristwatch achieving $28,575* and a pair of Bulgari diamond earrings that sold for $20,320*. For more information and to see the full results, go to www.johnmoran.com.

*– Includes buyer’s premium 

Contact: 

Brenda Smith
[email protected] 

SOURCE John Moran Auctioneers