NEW YORK, NY.- Paul Manship’s Art Deco sculpture, Diana, of Diana the huntress smashed estimates at the Bonhams American Art sale in New York 22 November, 2016, selling for $727,500 against a pre-sale estimate of $400,000-600,000. The sale saw strong results across the board, achieving over $3,000,000 in total.

Manship’s bronze sculpture was conceived in New York in 1921. The artist’s influences lay in Greek and Roman mythology, and his work often depicts classical scenes inspired by the stories of antiquity. Manship is most famous for his gilded Prometheus sculpture outside the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. Although in wide demand across the US, his Diana sculptures were especially prized. The version featured in the Bonhams sale may be the most recognizable Diana, and has been described by critics as ‘the triumph of his career’.

In Alistair Smart’s essay in the Winter Edition of Bonhams Magazine, the Arts Editor and Chief Art Critic of the Sunday Telegraph writes “In [Manship’s] sculptural synthesis of influences, [he] is an elegant reflection of the can-do confidence of the 1920s era.”

“Paul Manship enjoyed fabulous success during his lifetime, and his work was wildly popular among the high-flyers of New York in the Twenties,” said Kayla Carlsen, Director of American Paintings. “His sculptures appear to be experiencing a significant revival – which was only demonstrated further by the result of this auction.”

Also among the top-selling lots at the American Art sale was Martin Johnson Heade’s Seascape at Sunset,which surpassed its pre-sale estimate of $120,000-180,000, going for $271,500 following frenzied bidding. Associated with the Hudson River School and continues to be celebrated for his visionary depictions of seascapes and haunting still lives.

Still Life with Calla by Marsden Hartley sold for $217,500, again well exceeding its pre-sale estimate of $100,000-150,000. Hartley is considered a pioneer within America’s first generation of great modern artists. From his humble origins in Maine, he grew to become perhaps the most cosmopolitan painter of his era and a great figure in the Steiglitz circle, along with Georgia O'Keeffe, Arthur Dove, John Marin and Charles Demuth. Like O’Keefe and Demuth, Hartley was drawn to the simplicity of the flower, and Still Life with Calla is testament to his poetic style and keen eye for color.

The American Art sale in New York tops out a successful sales week at Bonhams US, which also included Bonhams California and Western Paintings & Sculpture sale. The American Art department as a whole brought in $6,831,125. Read more about the California sale in the attached release.