Outsider Art Sale at Christie’s | Maine Antique Digest

Christie’s, New York City

Photos courtesy Christie’s

The 2025 edition of Christie’s Outsider art auction moved to Americana Week and was first up during the schedule of auctions held January 22-26 in New York City during bitter cold temperatures.

Offering 145 lots, including property from the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation and the Robert M. Greenberg collection, the January 22 sale totaled $1,814,400 (including buyers’ premiums) and had a sell-through rate of 90%. The total estimates were $1,371,400/2,392,100.

This mixed-media work by William Hawkins, Juke Box, which sold for $98,280, achieved an auction record for the artist before Neil House with Chimney #2 came up in the sale. Property from Just Folk, Summerland, California, Juke Box, cornmeal and enamel on masonite, 60" x 48", executed in 1987, had an estimate of $50,000/100,000. The work is signed and inscribed “William. L. Hawkins. Born. KY. July 27 / 1895” on the lower edge. An online bidder from Illinois was the buyer.

Also offered were a dozen lots from the gallery Just Folk, Summerland, California, including works by William Hawkins, Eddie Arning, and Elijah Pierce. Two works by William Hawkins achieved auction records for the artist. First was Juke Box, a mixed-media work painted in 1987 that went for $98,280 (est. $50,000/100,000), and then Neil House with Chimney #2, a large construction from 1989, achieved $113,400 (est. $50,000/100,000). Both were bought by buyers in Illinois. The co-owner of Just Folk, Marcy Carsey, in New York City for the sales, said she was pleased with the outcome.

This 1989 work by William Hawkins (1895-1990), Neil House with Chimney #2, from Just Folk, Summerland, California, sold for $113,400, achieving an auction record for the artist. Estimated at $50,000/100,000, the enamel, collage, and mixed-media construction, 64" high x 50" wide x 7" deep, is signed “’Kins. Born. KY. July 27. 1895” on the lower edge. An online bidder from Illinois was the buyer. “Hawkins painted large-scale images depicting animals, architecture, religious scenes, and well-known events. Neil House with Chimney #2 depicts a landmark hotel located in downtown Columbus, Ohio. It stood in the city’s Capitol Square from 1842 until 1980,” according to the lot entry.

Five quilts from a private collection, sold in part to benefit the Gee’s Bend Quilting Collective, Boykin, Alabama, rounded out the sale. All were sold.

The salesroom was filled with enthusiasts of Outsider art but with a more subdued atmosphere this time around. Lots sold ranged in price from a low of $1008 for a crayon and graphite on paper by Henry Speller (1900-1997) to $119,700 for the top-selling lot, a fresh-to-market 1923 double-sided work by Adolf Wölfli (1864-1930). Last year’s sale, held March 1 with 128 lots, totaled $2,536,002.

The top-selling lot of the sale was this graphite and colored pencil double-sided work by Adolf Wölfli (1864-1930), which sold to a buyer in Illinois for $119,700. The signed and dated 26" x 43 1/8" work was executed in 1923. The reverse (not shown) is covered in handwritten text. Der Grosse Skt. Adolf-Starn (The Great St. Adolf-Star) had an estimate of $40,000/80,000. “The fabulous Wölfli far exceeded estimate and expectations,” noted Cara Zimmerman, head of Americana and Outsider art. It had previously sold at Christie’s in Geneva, Switzerland, June 19, 2001, for $62,422.

Commenting on the sale, Cara Zimmerman, head of Americana and Outsider art, said the Outsider art market is “evolving” and noted the rise in interest for “graphic, colorful, joyful pieces.” She said that Amos Ferguson “continues to perform incredibly well, and we set the world auction record, twice over, for works by William Hawkins. The fabulous Wölfli also far exceeded estimate and expectations.”

For the last few years the sale was held to coincide with the Outsider Art Fair, which this year took place February 27 to March 2.

As for changing the sale date to align with Americana Week, Zimmerman said, “The jury is still out! This year, we had more online registrants than ever before as well as significant attendance at the in-person preview.”

Further information is available on the website (www.christies.com).

When I Lay My Burdens Down by Thornton Dial Sr. (1928-2016), estimated at $70,000/100,000, sold to a phone bidder for $88,200. The work in mixed media, including wire, carpet, and Splash Zone compound on canvas, is initialed “TD” center left. The 1993 work is 60" x 70" x 6". The title references a line from the song “Glory, Glory,” made popular by folk singer Odetta Holmes, often called “The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement,” according to the lot entry.

A collector from Massachusetts told M.A.D. she had her eye on this work by Winfred Rembert (1945-2021), and after thoughtful bidding she was successful in buying Cotton Pickers, paying $81,900 for the signed piece in acrylic paint and carved and tooled leather. Estimated at $70,000/100,000, the 23½" x 33¼" work depicts the oppression and suffering of the workers. “That’s the very first thing I can remember in my life. I opened my eyes and I saw that cotton, and it was a beautiful thing. When you get out there picking in it, though, you change your mind about how beautiful it is,” wrote Rembert in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South.

A collector from Memphis, Tennessee, standing in the back of the salesroom bought two works by Bill Traylor. This untitled work (Green Man Atop Construction), tempera and graphite on card, went for $35,280. The 10 7/8" x 8" work had an estimate of $20,000/40,000. The underbidders were collectors from Chicago, bidding in the room. This work has provenance of Ricco/Maresca Gallery, New York City, and was property from the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation. The Memphis buyer also bought another untitled work (not shown) by Traylor (Brown Construction with Figures and Dog) for $37,800 (est. $20,000/40,000).

This untitled work (Young Mule) by Bill Traylor (1853-1949), graphite on a repurposed Granger Pipe Tobacco advertisement, sold to a collector from Massachusetts who was bidding in the room. She paid $44,100 (est. $30,000/50,000) for the 20" x 14" work, executed 1939-42. The work “exhibits the spontaneous creativity of one of the most important 20th-century self-taught artists,” noted the lot entry. Born into slavery, Traylor left the plantation and settled in Montgomery, Alabama, where “he composed starkly modernist images of lively animals, vibrant landscapes and active people.”

Old Key West Synagogue by Mario Sanchez (1908-2005), carved and painted wood, was estimated at $30,000/40,000 and sold to a phone bidder for $69,300. The work, 32" x 21 1/8" including the artist’s frame, is signed lower right. Sanchez was the son of a cigar maker and lived in a community in Key West called Gatoville. The pictured synagogue is the old Congregation B’nai Zion in Key West, Florida, established in 1887. Services were held in members’ homes until the congregation bought the office of Dr. John Maloney in 1907 at the corner of Simonton and Southward Streets. That is the building depicted in this work, according to the lot entry.

Mona Lisa by Elijah Pierce (1892-1984) and Leroy Almon (1938-1997), enamel on carved wood, sold for $25,200 (est. $20,000/40,000) to a buyer who left a bid with the auctioneer. The collaborative work, 32" x 28" including the artists’ frame, was executed in 1980. “It is thought that Almon carved and painted Mona Lisa and Pierce worked on the background and frame,” according to the lot entry. The piece came from a southern collection.

This work by Bill Traylor, untitled (Pitcher and Bowl), from the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, sold to a phone bidder for $37,800 (est. $20,000/40,000). Of tempera and graphite on card, the 15" x 13" work was executed 1939-42 and has provenance of Hirschl & Adler Modern and William Louis-Dreyfus, Mount Kisco, New York. It was gifted from Louis-Dreyfus to the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation in 2013.

Clementine Hunter (1887-1988) painted Melrose Complex #1 circa 1955. It sold for $21,240 (est. $8000/12,000) to a woman bidding in the room. Property from the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation, the 23 7/8" x 23 5/8" oil on card work is signed with initials “CH” lower right.

Quilter Lucy Mingo (b. 1931) made “Housetop” Variation in 2000. The cotton quilt, 72¾" x 82", sold to an online bidder for $8190. One of five quilts in the sale from a private collection sold in part to benefit the Gee’s Bend Quilting Collective, Boykin, Alabama, the work had an estimate of $1000/2000. The consignor acquired it directly from the artist in 2006.

Several online bidders chased this oil on paperboard by Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (1910-1983), Emansemano (No. 735). The 28 1/8" x 22 1/8" work, titled, signed, numbered, and dated August 26, 1958, sold for $25,200 (est. $12,000/18,000) to an online bidder in New York. The work has provenance of Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.

Works by Amos Ferguson (1920-2009) continue to surface and impress. The cover lot of Christie’s catalog was this untitled work (Birds Fishing) by Ferguson, which was also hung in a prominent place at the in-person exhibition. It sold to a phone bidder for $27,720 on a $5000/10,000 estimate. An online bidder from Missouri was the underbidder. The enamel on paperboard, 36" x 30", is signed lower left “PAINT BY MR AMOS / FERGUSON.” It was acquired by the consignor in 1995 from Ute Stebich Gallery, Lenox, Massachusetts.

This colorful work by Amos Ferguson sold for $23,940 to an online bidder from Florida. Match Me If You Can, painted in 1985, 36¼" x 30¼", enamel on paperboard, was estimated at $5000/10,000. It is signed and dated lower left and titled lower right. The work was acquired directly from the artist by the consignor in 2005.