January Highwaymen Auction Blog

January 20, 2025

Whew … It was an exhausting weekend. Not just the 3 auctions, but all the meetings, conversations with so many friends, collectors and other dealers… It was an all-immersive Highwaymen weekend !

While 2025 was kicked off with the very high quality Florida Highwaymen Magnolia Manor auction on January 4, this was the first big weekend of the year with multiple events.

Overall, the mood was extremely positive. I felt like I was back in the first quarter environment of a year ago, which was probably the all-time record period for the Highwaymen market. Following the ebullience of that first quarter 2024, the market started to get saturated with higher volume and lower quality art, coming at an ever faster pace every month. The offerings kept growing last year, with auctions at Manor alone in May and June coming in with 100+ paintings in each month. Most of that growth came from the short-term Manor policy of not charging dealers a sellers fee. This resulted in a large quantity, and lower quality paintings flooding into Manor. It was the start of a 6-month decline in the market.

The auctions this past weekend certainly seemed to bring a complete swing in mood. Attendance was up. Bidding was active, although prices were generally moderate. Nonetheless, it was a very good weekend, absorbing more than 250 Highwaymen paintings, without a hiccup !

In order of appearance …..

Vero Beach Auctions had a small sale with some very interesting offerings. Hammer prices for the strongest paintings did well – while many of the “commodity” paintings struggled to reach their target prices.

Vero Beach Statistics:

40 Lots; Total Target Prices: $85,100; Total Hammer Prices: $76,375
3 Passed Lots; Average Price Per Painting: $1,909

My Choice of Top Painting: McLendon’s “Boat Inlet”, 29×48 on Upson, The painting needed some restoration work, but still, the hammer price of $3,750 was the bargain of the auction. In full disclosure, I purchased the McLendon “Beach Palm” – another bargain at $1,900.

Manor Auctions has been discussed in greater detail in my blog from Saturday evening. The auction was crowded with many new participants, likely from the explosion of marketing that Manor Auctions started in December. It’s good to see Manor working tso hard to expand the market – it benefits everyone. It would be even better if Manor decided to support the market further by not scheduling its auctions on the same day as others – clearly a deliberate strategy which many people dislike.

The performance at Manor this month clearly improved as a result of significantly lowering their target prices from their previous estimating policies. This was a dramatic shift, as previous target prices at Manor have typically been unrealistically high, with what seemed to be an objective of trying to push up prices.

Manor Statistics:
77 Lots; Total Target Prices: $200,550; Total Hammer Prices: $233,200
1 Passed Lot; Average Price Per Painting: $3,028

Notably, there were no Backus paintings at Manor Auction this month. Beginning this year, we will be tracking Backus results along with the Highwaymen.

My Choice of Top Painting: Mary Ann Carroll’s “Blue Lagoon”, 24×36 on Upson, This was a beautiful painting that had a Hammer price of $5,600. This was the highest price of any painting in the Manor Auction, other than the Harold Newtons, which brought good prices, but the top 3 each fell far short of their target prices.

NOTE: If you were the purchaser of this beautiful Mary Ann painting, and would like to loan it to the major Mary Ann Carroll Retrospective Exhibition in the Orlando City Hall Museum (Opening April 4) , please let me know !

Rennick Auctions had the blockbuster auction of the weekend ! Despite a high percentage of lots that did not reach their target price, the number of paintings, and the hammer price levels dwarfed both of the other auctions this weekend.

As mentioned earlier, beginning this month, I am including Backus paintings in my monthly market analysis. Most Highwaymen collectors have an interest in Backus, and typically, both Rennick and Manor have Backus paintings in each of their auctions.

Rennick Statistics:

118 Highwaymen Lots + 6 Backus Lots

Total Target Prices: $542,300; Total Hammer Prices: $613,150
(Note: This is DOUBLE the sales results of the other 2 auction houses combined !)

54 lots not reaching target = 43%

Average price per Highwaymen painting: $3,412

Average price per Backus painting: $35,083

This is a high average price for Backus paintings. While Manor had no Backus paintings this month, they almost always do. Going forward we will start tracking trends in the Backus market.

There were No Passed Lots as Rennick always holds an Absolute Auction. This means there are no reserves, no passed paintings, and everything sells at the highest bid.

My Choice of Top Painting: The auction at Rennick was so large, with such high quality, that I have to choose 2 paintings.

Harold Newton’s “Full Bloom Poinciana”, 22×28 on Canvas. This was a stunning poinciana with a target price of $15,000 and hammered at $31,000. It was the highest priced painting, other than several Backus paintings which were hammered at higher prices.

This contrasted quite significantly with the Harold Newton paintings at Manor where the top 3 paintings hammered for $12,500, $9,600 and $8,400 – ALL below their target prices. While these were good paintings at Manor, they were not up to the quality at Rennick. The top 3 Harold Newtons at Rennick all exceeded their targets and hammered at $31,000, $17,000, and $11,000.

The total of the top 3 Harolds at Manor was $30,500. At Rennick the total was $59,000. This sums it up. Generally, across the board, Rennick had more paintings, bigger prices, and better results. While there were certainly quality paintings at Manor, they were a distant second to the general quality at Rennick.
A second choice and commentary has to go to the incredible collection of later James Gibson paintings on canvas. There were about 6 paintings, each very different in terms of scene, and each different in size. Most came from a single collection. As an example of the quality of these Gibsons, I personally liked the “Riomar Beach at Mid-Day”; 24×30 on Canvas. Estimated at $3,000-$6,000 it Hammered at $6,250. Every one of these Gibson paintings was gorgeous.

Conclusion:
It was a good weekend for the Highwaymen market. I have not spoken to anyone who was not positive. When it comes to markets (whether Highwaymen or the stock market or other markets), psychology is always the ruling factor. When everyone is positive about a market, you can bet that it will be going up. When people are negative, the markets suffer. My own view is that we will have a very good market for at least the next 3 or 4 months.

Coming Up:
Next month, Manor will have the market to itself. There will also be the West Palm Beach Antiques “Extravaganza” at the West Palm Fairgrounds. This Fair typically has at least 5 or 6 dealers with full booths of Highwaymen paintings. I am aware already of at least 4 dealers who will be participating, including Myself with John. It is a show not to miss !

In March, we will see all 4 Auction houses holding auctions again. The Florida Highwaymen Auction “Magnolia Manor” event will be back, although the auction may not be held at Magnolia Manor. As we get closer to March, the calendars will be circulated.

In the meantime, don’t miss the Jetson Show this coming Saturday, January 25 from 11:00am – 3:00pm (4145 S. US Hwy 1). This is a once a year, 4-hour event, and is not to be missed. It is one of the best Highwaymen events of the year !!

I will be participating with a selection of Buckner paintings, and paintings by George Buckner’s only student, Joan Arnold. I will also be giving a brief presentation on the artists at 12 noon, 1pm and 2pm.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at Jetson’s !

Mark Lerner
786-599-5816
www.TheHIghwaymenCollector.com