Life Transition
Thinning a Collection
Life transitions include downsizing from large properties, reducing the size of a collection after a spouse passes, the dissolution of a marriage, or a landmark event where one needs to convert an asset to cash. La Finca provides the expertise to sell your collectible assets.
Whether selling an entire collection or thinning it over time, there are key factors to success—understanding the value of the works, and how to best leverage those things to achieve the maximum return. La Finca’s services are led by a thorough research-based approach that is focused on returns, transparency and controlling costs
Key success stories:
The diversity of the rare.
Category: Jewelry and Watches
Collections are almost never myopic. The often contain a myriad of collectibles outside of fine art. There are very few advisory firms in the world with the diverse experience like La Finca to ensure that the whole collection is handled correctly with a rigorous valuation phase across a broad network of trusted experts to be activated on your behalf. This can mean leveraging the entire collection to get the best-selling terms for the entire collection or a more focused strategy where specialized items get better returns in narrow markets. This owner of this 6-ct. diamond of example also owned high value watches and painting that was sold for $1,000,000. It is through a transparent research stage into the value and market for each of these items than one can then have the confidence to find the best pathway forward for each item.
LDS Platinum Diamond Ring
6.28 Ct. Asscher cut diamond
I/J color, VVS2 clarity
Flanked by two trillian cut diamonds
G/H color, SI clarity, 0.80 Cts.
Total 7.08 Cts.
Bringing everyone to the table.
Category: Post War & Contemporary Art
This Andy Warhol painting needed to be sold on behalf of a Los Angeles couple that was in the process of a divorce that owned considerable assets together. Helping both parties to understand the potential value and sign off on the selling plan was key to allowing them to move forward in this challenging period. This sale was handled with the utmost care was sold for over $900,000 as the cover lot in a New York auction, one of the highest performing iterations of this Warhol “Jackie” images at auction.
Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
Jackie, 1964
Signed and dated 'Andy Warhol '64' (on the overlap)
Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas
20 x 16 in.
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Moving on during a move.
Category: Impressionist & Modern Art
This beautiful Balthus drawing was sold as part of a shift in style and environment on behalf of a member of the Getty Family in Los Angeles. The owner of this work was preparing for a move from a large, more traditional apartment into a new contemporary home. It is often the case that when a collection and the collector’s aesthetics change, the works in that collection are re-evaluated. This is where the cross-sectional of curatorial and market advice comes into play with key decision-making in times of life transition.
Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski de Rola) (1908-2001)
Étude pour Jeune fille endormie (Portrait de Jeannette), 1943
Signed 'Balthus' (lower right)
Pencil on paper
12 x 16 3/8 in (30.7 x 41.7 cm)
Risk and reward for a new era.
Category: Post War & Contemporary Art
The owner of this Helen Frankenthaler painting had a carefully designed apartment that was featured in magazines and books and celebrated for its overall interior design. As she put the historic home on the market in favor of a much smaller contemporary apartment, inevitably some items wouldn’t find a place. As such, this work on paper was better sold. During the valuation phase, the risk at auction for Helen Frankenthaler works on paper were determined to by too high giving the lagging estimates. This was then priced, offered and sold privately from one collection to another for a much higher return without the potential risk.
Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011)
Untitled, 1988
Acrylic on paper
25 1/2 x 35 1/8 inches
Signed lower right
© 2024 Helen Frankenthaler / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
A time to sell.
Category: Post War & Contemporary Art
A couple in Brentwood, California had thought about selling this Ed Ruscha “Window” painting for some time. During their process of downsizing, they wanted to put some resources into new areas, including travel to see their granddaughter in Europe among other things. They sought out advice on timing as to when was the best time to sell this piece and how they would get the maximum return. With this expertise in hand and the owner’s 80th birthday on the horizon they decided when it was best to sell. Realizing just under $300,000 for this work in a private sale, they were able to put their asset to work toward realizing their new pursuits.
Ed Ruscha (B. 1937)
Lightly Disturbed, 1985
Dry pigment on paper
23 x 29 in.
© 2023 Ed Ruscha
Great choices for great returns.
Category: Post War & Contemporary Art
A collector had acquired this hanging sculpture by Oakland artist, Ruth Asawa for decades after befriending her and her husband in the 1960s. He had acquired it on whim at a dinner party at the artist’s house with the $500 cash he had in his pocket and hung it under the eve of his house for over 50 years. After the market for Asawa started to move significantly around 2013, he sought out a new valuation and discovered it was worth many, many times what he had invested in it. Now getting on in years and doing some estate planning it was the perfect time for him to see a high return on his fantastic investment.
Ruth Asawa (1926-2013)
Untitled (S. 606, Hanging Single-Lobed Five-Layer Continuous Form Within a Form, circa 1962
Copper, naturally oxidized to a green patina
13 3/4 x 14 3/4 x 14 3/4 in. (34.9 x 37.5 x 37.5 cm)
© Ruth Asawa
Roses are green
Category: Decorative Art
Design has been a thread of expertise for me for much of my career. Professionally I worked years ago as a Director at Moss —the legendary design gallery owned by Murray Moss. Given this interest, it is always a pleasure to bring a great object like this rare Tiffany “Rose” lamp to market. The shade, thought to have been designed by female design pioneer Agnes Northrop, is a 26-inch flaring rose design featuring blooms in various stages of growth over a beautiful confetti glass ground. The work was well-placed in a sale that featured some marquis pieces from Tiffany Studios, Lalanne and Giacometti and performed exceptionally well with a hammer of $210,000 ($264,000 with the Buyers Premium) against an estimate of $100,000-$150,000. This was one of the highest prices ever for a Tiffany “Rose” lamp.
Tiffany Studios
´Rose Bush´ Floor Lamp, circa 1915.
Leaded glass, patinated bronze
62 in. (157.5 cm) high, 24 7/8 in. (63.3 cm) diameter of shade
Shade impressed TIFFANY STUDIOS N.Y 1915
Base impressed TIFFANY STUDIOS NEW YORK 4996
The price of storage.
Category: Indigenous textiles
Storing collectibles, especially ones that are fragile, can be costly in time, effort, stress, fees and depreciation. This indigenous rug collection had been stored for quite a few years after the passing of a Los Angeles film director. Eventually his widow decided to sell them and the right strategy was needed. There were important decisions that needed to made for these specialized works including working through a large number of rugs in a short time period that had a broad spectrum of values. Once the strategy was outlined and the right auction house was chosen, they achieved exceptional results and were 100 percent sold, allowing the owner to see the returns while relieving her from the burden of storing these important, historic textiles.
Sold for: $11,880.00
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000
Art of the American West Auction. March 12, 2024. Monrovia, CA
A Navajo Second Phase Chief’s Blanket
Late 19th / Early 20th century, Diné
Woven in alternating bands of cream and dark brown wool with blue banding and green crosses.
56 x 69.5 in.
One house is not like the other
Sale category: Books & Manuscripts
When picking the right venue, it is important to understand the difference in the options and how they each present advantages. Do you want to be one of three hundred lots in a large Day Sale at a big auction house, or do you want to be a top lot with a smaller one. That was the choice here with this publication of images from artist Thomas Moran. With this recommendation, the work received a lot more marketing, context and a bespoke selling strategy which well positioned this lot to produce exceptional results for a Atherton, California family estate.
Sold for US $150,075 inc. premium
Thomas Moran (1837-1926)
The Yellowstone National Park, and the Mountain Regions of Portions of Idaho, Nevada, Colorado and Utah. Boston: L. Prang and Company, 1876
The many and the few.
Category: Prints & Multiples
Prints are often found in both large and small collections. Market-wise they operate in a slightly different market and selling options can be different than paintings, for example, because there are, of course, more than one. Price a print too high and it languishes on the market. If you don’t properly assess its condition it likely will receive some passes from collectors and dealers as they wait for another one. This Warhol “dollar sign” is something of a hybridized piece because it is from an edition of 60, but each version is different. Because of this, the decision was made for this to go to auction and let print collectors compete for this one-off print that would not be seen on the market again. It produced exceptional results for the Santa Monica, California collector soaring to over $94,000.
Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
$ (1) (Feldman & Shellmann IIA.278), 1982
Unique screenprint in colors on Lenox Museum Board, signed in pencil and numbered 27/60 (there were also 10 artist’s proofs), published by the artist, with the blindstamp of the printer, Robert jasen Smith, New York, the full sheet, framed.
Sheet 19 3/4 x 15 5/8 in. (50.2 x 39.7 cm)
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Controlling the market.
Category: Post War & Contemporary Art
‘Thinning’ is the process of slowly selling off a larger holding of art and is often done when one is estate planning or downsizing. This is different than active collectors who are still evolving their collections because they are more focused on selling lesser examples. Collections that are thinning often want to sell from the top, divesting of their most valuable pieces first. This makes it even more important to have great, objective advice of how and when to sell. After a risk assessment, this painting by Andy Warhol of Alfred Hitchcock could only effectively be sold privately. Auction estimates received were conservative due to challenges in pricing this particular piece and controlling the price in a private sale was an immense advantage to eliminating the risk of underselling this fantastic painting.