Here's what C.X. Carlson pieces fetched the highest bids at a recent auction
C.X. Carlson collectors who didn't attend a sizable Lancaster auction on Saturday may be curious how much money 70 works by the storied late artist ended up fetching.
Here's the answer. Just under $15,000 in total, said Grant Kirsch, owner of Timeless Treasures Auctions LLC.
The painting that brought the highest bid of $1,600 was of a gunsmith shop surrounded by fall foliage (above), Kirsch said in an email.
The next highest was a sketch of Thaddeus Stevens for $975 (above) followed by "The Wishing Tree" (below), a painting featuring a white house and a horse-drawn sleigh for $800, he said.
A consigner brought additional Carlson works to Saturday's event to display. Those will be sold during a December auction, Kirsch said. The 70 works that headed home with new owners on Saturday had belonged to an estate that Kirsch was asked to keep confidential. Some brought winning bids in the $475 to $600 range, he said.
"While some obtained those wonderful prices, there were still many affordable paintings," Kirsch said.
Tom Wiley of Mountville has long been familiar with the works of Carlson – a prolific artist who died in 1991 after spending the second half of his 89 years living near Kirk's Mill south of Quarryville.
On Saturday, Wiley scored, for $260, a painting of a red barn in the snow. He wanted it to go with another Carlson barn he bought years ago from someone who deals in things like reclaimed wood and randomly had that painting for sale.
"I got a good deal on that one," he said.
Dave Loula of Lititz broke into a huge smile when the auctioneer called out his bidder number. He'd just purchased his second piece of art from Carlson – an artist he'd never heard of before reading about Saturday's offerings.
"I said to my wife, 'We just need to get out of the house this morning. And there's this auction,'" he said. "She loves art, so it wasn't a tough sell."
He figured there were enough pieces on the block that they stood a chance of scoring something for a decent price. They did. Around 11 a.m., Loula walked to his vehicle with two Carlson paintings, each setting him back less than $150. He then headed back into the auction. Two more paintings that he and his wife liked had yet to sell.
"My wife and I were talking and there's a piece we bought from Interiors over our couch. (For that piece) we paid $180," he said. "And we just got original art for less than that."
