Stolen Art DealerA pile of artichokes with pea pods, small pears and red tomatoes lies on the ground before dark trees, with a small hilly landscape beyond to the right.
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Catalogue No. 1897 · Sotheby's · New York
Still Life with Artichokes and Tomatoes in a Landscape
About $2.2 million in today’s money: 26 years of the typical US household’s income. Source
- Artist
- Luis Meléndez (Spanish, 1716-1780)
- Title
- Still Life with Artichokes and Tomatoes in a Landscape
- Date
- c. 1770s
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 62.4 x 82.7 cm (24 5/8 x 32 5/8 in.)
Luis Meléndez, who lived from 1716 to 1780, painted this still life in oil on canvas. A heap of artichokes, pea pods, small pears and red tomatoes lies on the ground before dark trees, with a small hilly landscape beyond to the right.
The earliest owner in the provenance is Edward Sackville-West, 5th Baron Sackville (1901 to 1965). His estate sold it at Sotheby's in London on 16 March 1966, as lot 71, to the Hallsborough Gallery. By 1970 it belonged to Herman Shickman. It hung at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on long-term loan from 1999 to 2018.
Sotheby's offered it from the estate of Herman Schickman in New York on 1 February 2024, in the Master Paintings and Sculpture Part I sale, as lot 338, with an estimate of $2 million to $3 million. Artnet News reports a final price of $2.056 million for the sale. The sources do not state whether that figure includes the buyer's premium.
The sale
- Auction house
- Sotheby's, New York
- Date
- 1 February 2024
- Lot
- 338
- Estimate
- $2,000,000-3,000,000
- Sold for
- $2.1 million (including buyer’s premium)
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Provenance
before 1966
Edward Sackville-West (1901-1965), 5th Baron Sackville
1966-03-16
By whose estate sold ("The Property of the late Lord Sackville"), London, Sotheby's, 16 March 1966, lot 71; where acquired by Hallsborough Gallery, London
by 1970
From whom acquired by Herman Shickman
1999-2018
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, long term loan, 1999 - 2018
2024-02-01
Property from the Estate of Herman Schickman; sold Sotheby's, New York, Master Paintings & Sculpture Part I, lot 338
Sources
- Sotheby's, Luis Meléndez, Still Life of Artichokes and Tomatoes in a Landscape, Master Paintings & Sculpture Part I, lot 338
- Sotheby's, Master Paintings & Sculpture Part I (New York, 1 Feb 2024)
- Artnet News, The 10 Most Expensive Lots Sold at Auction in February 2024
Prices include the buyer’s premium, in US dollars at the time of sale, unless marked as a hammer price.