It was without a doubt an exceptionally bold move: in the midst of this economic slump, at the end of the summer, when many art buyers are typically doing other things anyway, James D. Julia, a Maine auction house, holds a spectacular 4 day auction, including upward of around 850 lots of fine art. That’s right: 850 lots. The offerings ranged from those estimated in the low hundreds to the six figures, many offered without reserve. Talk about a stimulus plan for the art market! And here’s what happened: the auction brought in 3.1 million. People bought art. The top lot in the auction, and cover lot for their catalog, the Stunning 20″ x 30″ canvas entitled “The Villa Borghese, Rome, 1871, by George Inness: 
Sold for $132,250
Because the offerings were so vast and diverse, it’s difficult, at the moment, to characterize the individual results with any broad statement. Looking only at the unsold lots, though, the bulk seem to have been among the paintings estimated at the mid-to-high four figure, and low five figure range. Perhaps this is the market sector that has been hit the hardest over the last year: the buyer of the 10k painting. Outside of this range, the results reflect really a rather strong auction. By their website’s own account, “Along with a capacity crowd, active internet participation and a telephone bank that, in several occasions showed 16 people standing, bidding was very active and proved that fresh conservatively estimated quality goods are still in demand and can fetch strong prices”. A heartfelt Bravo, James Julia, for taking such a chance on the art market. Encore!!