Renowned gallerist Alan Hartman started his art collecting journey early, acquiring his first hardstone jade carving at age 12. When he died in February of this year at age 93, he and his wife, Simone, had long been distinguished patrons of the arts with a shared reputation for not only their superb art collection but also their donations of art and antiquities to institutions including Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts (which holds the couple’s collection of English Huguenot silver), the Brooklyn Museum and several other institutions.
In an obituary for Alan Hartman, Lewis Smith of Koopman Rare Art and Stuart Marchant of Asian art dealer Marchant paid tribute to that impulse: “While his dealing was recognized the world over, his quiet philanthropy to different museums includes a Chinese imperial porcelain stem-cup from the Chenghua period among other pieces donated by Simone and Alan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
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Hartman, who was a global authority in Chinese jade, bronzes and Asian art, was instrumental in the expansion of the Rare Art gallery, founded in 1927 by his parents Urban and Hazel Hartmanon on New York’s Madison Avenue, into both Dallas and Palm Beach. Privately, he and Simone amassed an extraordinary collection of Asian, Impressionist and Modern art. At the core of the Hartmans’ art collection were Chinese and Japanese works that included notable porcelains, vases, bronzes and lacquer suzuribako.
A selection of these, along with masterpieces from Paul Signac, Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, recently toured Bonhams salesrooms in Paris, London and Hong Kong before coming to New York for the auction house’s inaugural Alan and Simone Hartman Collection sale yesterday (Dec. 14).
Twenty-three works of fine art and 70 works of Asian art went on the block in the landmark single-owner sale, which achieved a total of $22.2 million after what the auction house described as fierce competition among bidders. “The Hartmans’ legacy as both dealers and patrons shows their unwavering commitment to extraordinary works of art,” said Bruno Vinciguerra, CEO of Bonhams and The Bonhams Network, in a statement, adding that the results were a testament to the collection’s historical significance.
Signac’s Sisteron, which led the sale with a high estimate of $6 million, sold for $8.6 million. The vibrant and dreamy Pointillist work depicts the town also known as the Gateway to Provence and is one of just nine paintings finished by the artist in 1902. Monet’s painting of a tranquil bend in the Seine, La Seine près de Giverny (1888), also exceeded its $6 million high estimate, selling for $6.4 million. Sisley’s La Seine à Suresnes (1879) sold for $1.3 million, and a Ming-era statue of a standing official sold for $165,600—less than several other Ming and Eastern Zhou lots but more than twenty times its estimate.
“We are delighted with the success of the Hartman Collection sale, especially the enthusiastic response to the remarkable works of Asian Art,” Dessa Goddard, VP and US Head of Asian Art, Bonhams, said in a statement. “The collection showcases Bonhams’ longstanding commitment to offering exceptional items from this genre. We look forward to offering further highlights from this collection in forthcoming sales worldwide.”
Additional Asian works from the Hartman Collection will go on the block during Asia Week 2024 in March and in future Chinese and Japanese auctions at Bonhams.
