Saturday, June 28, 2008

Rest In Peace, Michael Turner

When I first heard the news, I was blown away. I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of such a great artist and person, at such a young age.

http://www.aspencomics.com/community/forum_posts.asp?TID=11978&PN=1&FID=25&PR=3

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Monet painting sells for $80.5 million

So much for a recession. The art market is strong.

Olivier Camu, head of impressionist and modern art at Christie's in London, said the sale "illustrates the continuing strength and confidence of the art market."

---------

Reuters.

LONDON - A Monet water-lily painting sold for $80.5 million on Tuesday, doubling the previous auction record for the artist and ensuring London's key art market season got off to a flying start.

"Le Bassin aux Nympheas" had been expected to fetch $35.4 million to $47.3 million, but after an intense bidding battle it smashed the previous Monet auction record of $41.5 million set in May.

It was part of the evening sale of impressionist and modern art at Christie's which raised $284 million, the highest total for an auction in Europe. All figures include buyers' premiums.

Olivier Camu, head of impressionist and modern art at Christie's in London, said the sale "illustrates the continuing strength and confidence of the art market."

Some experts have predicted a correction or even collapse in values due to deepening economic gloom caused by falling stocks, rising oil prices and the mortgage meltdown.

Christie's, its main rival Sotheby's and other London auction houses hold a series of sales of modern and contemporary art over the next 10 days during which works worth more than $1 billion will go under the hammer.

Elsewhere in the evening sale, a pastel picture by Degas sold for 13.5 million pounds, well above its pre-sale estimate of around 5 million and the second highest price paid for the artist at auction.

Rich Russians
Looking ahead, Christie's holds its main post-war and contemporary art sale on Monday featuring "Naked Portrait With Reflection" by British artist Lucian Freud, which is expected to fetch $19.7 million to $29.5 million.

The 85-year-old artist shattered the world auction record for a living artist in May when "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping" sold for $33.6 million in New York.

Media reports said the buyer of the Freud was Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, underlining his country's growing importance in the art market along with the Middle East and Asia.

The owner of Chelsea Football Club was also reported to have bought Francis Bacon's "Triptych, 1976" for $86 million, another auction record, this time for post-war art.

On Monday Christie's expects Bacon's "Three Studies for Self-Portrait" to sell for more than $19.7 million, and a Jeff Koons sculpture called "Balloon Flower (Magenta)" to make about $23.6 million.

Overall the auction house is selling art estimated to be worth up to $591.2 million.

Sotheby's is offering more than $394.1 million worth of art, including two more Bacons — "Figure Turning," estimated at $19.7 million to $29.5 million and "Study For Head of George Dyer" ($15.7 million).

At the same auction next Tuesday, the company is offering a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting owned by Irish rock group U2 and estimated at $7.8 million to $11.8 million.

To coincide with the Wimbledon tennis championship, former champion John McEnroe is selling an Andy Warhol of him and his former wife Tatum O'Neal to raise funds for charity. It is expected to fetch $492,000 to $690,000.

Copyright 2008 Reuters.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Byrne Austin Uncanny X-Men 132 page 12


Byrne Austin Uncanny X-Men 132 page 12. I can imagine this one will get at least 3-5k with current valuation of Byrne Austin Uncanny X-Men art. Nice Storm splash in the center panel to boot. :)

Is it just me, or does it seem like there have been many many high ticket items on ebay the past year+ ? With the San Diego Comic-Con just around the corner, maybe this is a sign of the quality of this year's show. I can only imagine the number of gems that will become uncovered there.

If anyone is seeking any other Byrne Austin Uncanny X-Men artwork, I'm aware of a couple other pages that were offered to me from other collectors last month. Lemme know if you might be interested and I can put you in touch with them.

NOTE Image recreated from auction details.

FOLLOW-UP $5,600 and reserve not met.

Kirby Captain America 105 page 15


More Jack Kirby original art with inks by Dan Adkins, from 1968, Captain America 105 page 15. If you are looking for Kirby Captain America, this might be the one to get. Capt in all seven panels. I can't remember the last Kirby Captain America page on eBay. I've seen many Kirby FF, esp earlier this year. See my other postings for more valuation on those Kirby FF pages.

UPDATE: Sold for $5,122.05

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Kirby Sinnott FF 61 page 19


Kirby/Sinnott Fantastic Four 61 page 19. Twice up. Nuff said.

Mr Fantastic and Human Torch taking on Sandman in this early FF page.

Currently at $17,877.00 with 2 hours to go. I'll update this one after it closes.

UPDATE: Reserve not met.

Hulk abducted. Hulk will smash.

[AP Associated Press.]
LOWELL, Mass. - Missing: an eight-foot-tall green man wearing ripped purple pants and missing his feet.

Police in Lowell, Mass., say a promotional statue for the movie "The Incredible Hulk" disappeared from its spot in front of a local theater this week.

Police Captain James McPadden said the statue is probably in some kid's bedroom. But he thinks more than one person was involved and that a car or pickup truck was needed to whisk it away.

The statue is missing its feet because it was bolted to a platform and whoever took it snapped it off at the ankles.

-----

Hulk promo statue photo courtesy of Slash Film

Byrne Avengers 165 original art


Byrne Avengers pages are slowly coming out of the closet and selling at 5-6k+ prices. These early gems hardly ever show up and when they do, they will command these high prices since many collectors are dearly seeking a piece for their own collection. Could it be that Byrne/Austin Uncanny X-Men original art has slowly made it's way around to all the "hard-core" collectors seeking pages from that run? Has this artificially created demand for his other early work that isn't as well publicized and not as well known?

Here are 3 auctions I'm aware of that ended recently:

Avengers 165 page 1 (Listed at $24,500.00)
Avengers 165 page 23 (Realized $6,050.00)
Avengers 165 page 27 (Realized $5,900.57)

Reportedly, an unknown page from this issue sold in the range of $7250.00 earlier past year.

If you are already thinking like I'm thinking, here is a checklist of Byrne artwork from the Byrne Robotics website (Official John Byrne site)

Romita Sr Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-Man 15 cover


If anyone blinked, this 1977 Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-Man 15 original cover artwork by John Romita Sr auction ended this morning at $7050.00

Really nice large Spiderman image on hard to find early Romita Sr cover. Might not be from ASM, but still great great cover artwork for a nice price.

As noted in the auction, the published cover had a mask statted to Flash's face/head, and another body statted in the background amongst the rubble. Nevertheless, can't beat the original vision as shown in the original art without those 2 stats.

If you have any 70s-80s Romita Sr Amazing Spiderman (ASM) or Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-Man original art for sale, please contact me.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

eBay Feedback experiences

I recently was invited to and attended a focus group dealing with eBay's feedback, specifically their new feedback system and why it works/doesn't work. Generally it was an interesting discussion with some hardcore eBay buyers in the mix throwing down their opinions on the new eBay 5 star system.

On one side of the fence were those that didn't use it at all. This could be either they just weren't used to it, didn't see value in it, or didn't care to use it. The other side of the spectrum in our session included those that did not really care one way or another about it, or those that found it difficult to use and just filled in "5 stars" regardless.

I can imagine there will be changes in this area in the near future, based on what I heard.

---

Any other eBayers here notice that eBay no longer allows sellers to leave negative zingers? Yes no more negative feedback. I guess they were sick of dealing with buyers who complained they'd get a neg as retribution from a seller. Or they were noticing a lack of feedback being left in general, as a result of sellers holding out for the buyer, and buyers holding out for the seller to go first. Personally, I still think sellers should leave feedback immediately after the buyer has paid. Short of a shipping disaster, there really shouldn't be a reason for buyer to give a neg. I believe the seller should stand by the product they sold. That's why when listing an auction, they should disclose disclose disclose everything about the item, all potential problems should be brought out so there won't be any surprises later. Buyers on the other hand should realize that once the product is in transit, they can't really blame the buyer if there is a problem. The exception to that might be if the buyer took a long time to ship the item, packed the item carelessly, or fraudulently stated they shipped the item but didn't send it out. Delivery confirmation and tracking should be a no-brainer for all transactions, especially where large dollar amounts are involved.

I was mulling in the focus group that transaction dollar amounts be attached to each rating as well. A number like total and average transaction amount might be a good way to establish more trust in a particular buyer or seller, sharing more info that might make a difference to keen buyers/sellers. Although the dollar amount could be skewed rather easily with 1 or 2 large ticket items, etc. such as a car purchase. Of course eBay could calculate mean after removing high/low values. I bet they'd lose or confuse half of the US with this complicated numbers mumbo jumbo.

Anyways, back to regularly scheduled programming. Did anyone get the license plate of the truck that ran over the Lakers last night?!? DOH. :)

Sunday, June 15, 2008

OT: Does scamming get worse than this?

Sorry this post is waaay not related to original art, investments, or other comic book stuff. But oh man, this is the most endearing piece of spam that has showed up in my email's inbox in a long long time. I hate getting these (it's junk email and it's a fake request) and I cringe at the level these scammers are going to, but I know this is fraud and not legit. Fortunately most of the time, my filters catch them so I don't have to read them. :)

Ouch.






I am Mrs Joy Collins from London,I am 69 years old,i am deaf and suffering
from a long time cancer of the breast which also affected my brain,from
all indication my conditions is really deteriorating and it is quite
obvious that, according to my doctors they have advised me that i may not
live for the next two months,this is because the cancer stage has gotten
to a very bad stage. I was brought up from a motherless babies home was
married to my late husband for twenty years without a child ,died in a
fatal motor accident Before his death we were true Christians.

Since his death I decided not to re-marry,I sold all my inherited
belongings and deposited all the sum of $12million dollars with a Security
Company.Presently, this money is still with them and the management just
wrote me as the true owner to come forward to receive the money for
keeping it so long or rather issue a letter of authorization to somebody
to receive it on my behalf since I can not come over because of my illness
or they get it confisticated.
Presently, I'm with my laptop in a hospital where I have been undergoing
treatment for cancer of the lungs. I have since lost my ability to talk
and my doctors have told me that I have only a few months to live.
It is my last wish to see that this money is invested to any organisation
of your choice and distributed each year among the charity
organization,the poor and the motherless babies home where i come from.I
want you God fearing, to also use this money to fund churches, orphanages
and widows,I took this decision, before i rest in peace because my time
will soon be up.
As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the
Security Company.I will also issue you a letter of authority that will
prove you as the new beneficiary of my fund. Please assure me that you
will act accordingly as I stated herein. Hoping to hearing from you soon.
Waiting for your reply get back to me.
Yours in Christ
Mrs Joy Collins