Rago Auctions
Marie Zimmerman carved wooden box, c. 1920
estimate: $30,000-$50,000
realized: $117,500
Remember interiors of the 90s? The Stickley and Tiffany knockoff businesses were booming. From movie sets to mall stores, Craftsman-style furniture and decorative arts were everywhere. These days, even though the winds of interior design fashion are blowing more in the direction of midcentury modern (think […]

Photography has been on a tear this week. At Christie’s, twelve new world auction records were set for artists like Robert Mapplethorpe, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Horst P. Horst, Brassai and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Since his death last year, Avedon’s prices have started to climb, with three of his more bankable commercial images making the top […]

RM Auctions
1937 Talbot-Lago T150-C Lago Speciale Teardrop Coupe
estimate: $3-4 million
realized: $3.69 million
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance….the annual vintage car beauty pageant….just the name conjures up suntanned swells in blue blazers and expensive loafers (no socks, of course), swilling spirits and kicking tires. This is where the sweetest vintage restorations strut their stuff each year for the […]

Hi guys! Some of you may know me from my monthly newsletter, The Forbes Collector, where I try and help collectors understand “what’s good” and how to navigate the closed, clubby world of galleries and auction houses. This blog is an extension of those efforts.
One of my regular newsletter features is called Marketwatch, where I […]