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A SELECTION OF AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS
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Lot 248
Colombian, b. 1932
A Family, 1980
Signed Botero and dated 80 (lr)
Pencil on paper
13 3/4 x 17 1/4 inches
Provenance:
Galerie Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland
Hokin Gallery Inc., Palm Beach, Florida
Exhibited:
New York, James Goodman Gallery, Inc., Fernando Botero Drawings: 1964-1988, Sep. 8-Oct. 22, 1994, no. 18. West Palm Beach, Florida, Norton Gallery and School of Art, lent by Regional Arts, Clyde Fyfe.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 197
Chilean, b. 1941
Peaceful Kingdom, 1972
Signed G. Novoa and dated 1972 (lr)
Oil on four-panel screen
Overall 71 1/2 x 83 1/2 inches
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 249
British, 1926-2008
A Game of Roulette
Signed (lr)
Oil on panel
18 x 23 3/4 inches
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 55
In the Salem pattern, comprising twenty-two salad forks, sixteen dinner forks, nineteen fish forks, sixteen cocktail forks, twenty-one soup spoons, twenty-one teaspoons, twelve grapefruit spoons, twelve iced tea spoons, sixteen tablespoons, sixteen butter knives, sixteen steak knives, twenty-eight fish knives, thirty-one assembled dinner knives and fourteen serving pieces, each monogrammed G.
Total approximately 263 ounces, weighable.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 247
TARGET (UNIVERSAL LIMITED ART EDITIONS 38)
Etching, 1967, signed, dated and numbered 5/8 in pencil, published by ULAE, West Islip, New York and with their blindstamp.
4 x 4 inches; 102 x 102 mm.
Sheet 5 3/4 x 5 3/8 inches; 146 x 137 mm.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 103
Circa 1820
In two parts, the upper section with three glazed doors, resting on a lower section with three drawers above three panelled doors.
Height 7 feet 8 1/2 inches, width 69 inches, depth 17 inches.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 102
Attributed to John Carlisle, Providence, Rhode Island, circa 1795
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 76
Japanese, b. 1948
Paris Street, 1977
Signed Yamagata, dated 77 (lr); inscribed photograhie (sic) de souvenir on the reverse
Oil on canvas
18 1/8 x 14 7/8 inches
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 341
[MUSIC]
etc., from the Library of Beverly Sills. Many of these (most markedly her copy of Bizet's Carmen) have notations by her. A few bear presentations by friends and composers, and many of the bound volumes have her name blocked in gold on the front cover.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 358
(1903-2003)
[BEVERLY SILLS ENCORE]
Ink and watercolor on paper, 1979, signed and inscribed HIRSCHFELD 3 lower right.
Sight 17 3/8 x 19 inches
Published as a cover for Stereo Review in 1979.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 371
[SILLS, BEVERLY]
Beverly Sills's for Profiles in Music: Beverly Sills, winner of the 1974-1975 award for Outstanding Classical Music Program; Together with the for Outstanding Informational Program 1976-1977 (for The Special Child); Together with Three Emmy Honorary or Nomination Plaques, all presented to Beverly Sills. The inscription reads "1974-1975 TELEVISION ACADEMY AWARDS/Outstanding Classical Music Program/PROFILE IN MUSIC: BEVERLY SILLS/Festival '75/Patricia Foy, Producer/Beverly Sills, Star/March 10. 1975/PBS."
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 339
Depicting Ms. Sills in her various important opera roles, each corner with the San Diego Opera's monogram cipher, inscribed Brava Beverly!/ Happy Birthday Beverly Sills/ With Love and Appreciation/ The Guild of the San Diego Opera/ May 26, 1979 and with various signatures of Guild members on the reverse.
Approximately 7 feet 6 inches x 4 feet 2 1/2 inches.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 326
Thierry Bosquet
Belgian, b. 1937
, in Mozart's "Die Zauberflote," circa 1987
Signed and dedicated Beverly with Love/Thierry Bosquet (lr)
Watercolor and gouache on gray paper
Sight 18 3/4 x 12 1/4 inches
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 293
Nikolai Alexandrovich Benois
Russian, 1901-1988
in Rossini's "L'assedio de Corinto," Metropolitan Opera, 1974
Signed and dated '74 (lr); dedicated a Beverly Sills con immensa amirazione (ul)
Pastel on paper
15 1/4 x 11 1/4 inches
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 294
Carl Toms
British, 1927-1999
Signed (ll) and inscribed Beverly Sills Thais/worn over gold dress (ur)
Pencil and watercolor on paper
Sight 19 7/8 x 14 5/8 inches
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 374
Cartier Opera Collection
Comprising examples depicting Romeo and Juliet, Aida, Madame Butterfly, Carmen and La Traviata, each with an engraved plaque inscribed Cartier Opera Series Presented to Ms. Beverly Sills March 29, 1979.
Length of largest 2 7/8 inches.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 423
With modified shawl collar and turned back cuffs, pale khaki satin lining.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 420
14 kt., signed Cartier, 32.6 dwt.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 425
With black satin sleeves.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 459
Circa 1991
Gilt-metal applied with small flat multicolor rhinestones, the interior lined with metallic gold kid, comb with tassel, red cord shoulder strap, metal plaque stamped: Judth Leiber (use copyright symbol), Judith Leiber dust sac with handwritten note: jeweled books.
5 1/4 x 3 1/2 inches, length of strap 47 inches.
This minaudiere is one of the pieces described as being part of Beverly Sills' collection of Judith Leiber bags in Enid Nemy, Judith Leiber: The Artful Handbag, p. 33.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 454
Circa 1988
The elephant's head in gilt-metal applied with gold and clear crystals along with cabochons in amethyst, carnelian, quartz, onyx and blue, the interior of bright metallic gold kid, coin purse, tasseled comb, tip-in chain strap, metal plaque stamped: Judith Leiber (use copyright symbol), pale dusty blue dust sac, Judith Leiber New York printed in white.
6 x 5 inches, length of strap 41 inches.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 424
Pieced horizontally, with modified shawl collar and kimono sleeves, chocolate brown satin lining.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 388
18 kt. gold, signed Seaman Schepps, with maker's mark, #2454.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 455
Gilt-metal applied with small flat crystals in clear, pale cognac, green, red, yellow and pink, tip-in gold-tone metal link handle, interior of metallic gold kid, with change purse en suite, gilt-metal swivel mirror, stamped signature: Judith Leiber (use copyright symbol), pale blue dust sac with handwritten note: white Faberge.
6 1/2 x 4 inches, length of handle 50 inches.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Lot 457
Silver-tone metal molded with a lattice of bow tied ribbons, the background pave with flat rhinestones, the interior of silver metallic kid, silver-tone metal shoulder chain, gold stamped signature: Judith Leiber, Judith Leiber brown dust sac.
6 1/2 x 5 inches, length of chain 30 inches.
A similar piece, with gold ribbon bows, is part of the assemblage featured on the cover of Enid Nemy, Judith Leiber: The Artful Handbag.
The Estate of Beverly Sills
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Doyle New York is honored to auction the Estate of Beverly Sills. One of the world’s greatest coloratura sopranos, Beverly Sills was also a tireless champion for the arts, an advocate for people with disabilities, a much beloved New Yorker, and a devoted wife and mother. Extraordinarily accomplished, but also genuinely humble, she had the talent and panache of a diva combined with the irreverence of a “kid from Brooklyn,” as she described herself. Sills was effervescent, approachable and refreshingly candid. With her tremendous talent and generosity, intelligence and humor, vitality and charm, she won the hearts not only of the American public, but of opera lovers worldwide.
Beverly Sills was born Belle Miriam Silverman on May 25, 1929 in Sea Gate, Brooklyn, the daughter of Jewish immigrants. Morris Silverman was an insurance broker from Bucharest, Romania, and his wife, Shirley (Sonia), was from Odessa, Russia. Spurred along by her mother, who had great expectations for her daughter as a performing artist, young Belle (or "Bubbles," as she was called throughout her life) had already won a local Miss Beautiful Baby contest in Brooklyn’s Tompkins Park at the age of 3. At age 7, she adopted her stage name, Beverly Sills, and won the talent competition on Major Bowes’ Original Amateur Hour on CBS Radio. This was followed by regular performances on Major Bowes’ Capital Family, where she proved herself to be a prodigious talent as well as a natural performer.
By the time she turned 10, Sills had already begun vocal training with Estelle Liebling, a prominent vocal coach in Manhattan. Liebling quickly recognized Sills as her star pupil, and in 1944 introduced her to the Broadway impresario Jacob J. Shubert. In 1945, Sills left Brooklyn’s Erasmus Hall High School at age 16 and continued her studies through correspondence courses at the Professional Children’s School while performing in regional Shubert theaters as part of a traveling company of Gilbert and Sullivan players. This repertory not only appealed to Sills’ penchant for the theater, it was well suited to her voice -- light, quick and shimmering.
In 1947, Sills made her operatic stage debut playing Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen with the Philadelphia Civic Opera, and later went on tour with the Charles Wagner Opera Company. The schedule was grueling. She recalled once having to sing sixty-three consecutive Micaelas in Carmen: "I will never sing Micaela again, for anyone, anywhere."
In 1953, she made her debut with the San Francisco Opera, where she sang the roles of Helen of Troy in Boito's Mefistofele and Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Two years later, on October 29, 1955, she first appeared with the New York City Opera as Rosalinde in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus. Although she was beginning to be noticed by the operatic establishment, Sills still had not performed with the Metropolitan Opera and would not do so until 1975, well after she was established as one of the great American singers of the day. The fact that Sills rose to prominence primarily through her work with the New York City Opera was unprecedented.
On November 17, 1956 in Estelle Liebling’s Manhattan studio, Beverly Sills married Peter Bulkeley Greenough -- an Episcopalian, Mayflower descendant, Harvard graduate, and journalist whose Boston Brahmin family owned the Cleveland newspaper, The Plain Dealer. They initially lived in Cleveland, where Peter had just undergone a difficult divorce and custody battle for his three daughters; later they moved to Milton, Massachusetts. The couple had two children, Meredith ("Muffy") in 1959 and Peter, Jr. ("Bucky") in 1961. Sills cut back on her rapidly advancing career to devote time to Bucky and Muffy, who both needed special care. Bucky was severely mentally disabled, and Muffy was deaf. Sills reluctantly placed Bucky in a specialized institution outside Boston and saw to it that Muffy was making progress in a school for the deaf.
During these years, Sills occasionally performed with director Sarah Caldwell at the Opera Company of Boston, including singing the title role in Massenet’s Manon (which would become one of her favorites) and the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute (which she didn’t care for at all). Sills famously remarked a propos of the Queen of the Night, "I threw out that broad very quickly. I realized she wasn’t for me when I found I could address 250 Christmas cards in my dressing room between her first act aria and her second act aria."
Soon she heard the siren call of New York and accepted director Julius Rudel’s repeated pleas for her to return to the New York City Opera. In 1966 to inaugurate City Opera’s new home at the New York State Theater, Sills sang the role of Cleopatra in Handel’s Julius Caesar -- a triumph that catapulted her to international stardom. Sills had come into her own as an artist, transforming from a talented ingenue with a flair for the theater into a full prima donna. During her remarkable career, she would take on a repertory of more than 70 roles -- showcasing a remarkable versatility -- from her tragic portrayals in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Anna Bolena to her comedic nimbleness in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Donizzeti’s The Daughter of the Regiment.
Sills was by this time acknowledged as "America’s Queen of Opera," appearing on the cover of Newsweek in 1969 and Time in 1971 and travelling overseas to the most prestigious opera houses in Europe and South America as an ambassador for American talent. She made her debut at Milan’s La Scala in 1969 and at London’s Covent Garden in 1973. In 1974, she underwent successful surgery for ovarian cancer and, remarkably, performed at the San Francisco Opera one month later.
Following the resignation of Sir Rudolf Bing as director of the Metropolitan Opera, the doors were now open for Sills to make her long-belated Met debut. On April 7, 1975, she sang the role of Pamira in Strauss’s The Siege of Corinth. After the final curtain, she appeared onstage for her bow, and the audience erupted in a thunderous 18-minute ovation.
Having performed with the Met to huge acclaim, she still remained loyal to the New York City Opera, saying to the Met’s new director, Goeran Gentele, just prior to her debut, "I’d be delighted to be a guest at the Metropolitan, but just that, a guest."
This is just one instance of the populist spirit that Sills retained throughout her life. She made it her mission to spread opera’s reach from the few to the many. To that end, she appeared on numerous television programs, including Great Performances, Live from Lincoln Center, Young People’s Concerts, In Performance at the White House, The Carol Burnett Show, Sills and Burnett at the Met, The Muppet Show, and various talk shows, where she was interviewed by Johnny Carson, Dick Cavett, Dinah Shore, Merv Griffin, David Frost and Barbara Walters. Her work on Profile in Music (1975) and Lifestyles with Beverly Sills (1978) garnered her two Emmy Awards. These diverse outlets gave Sills the opportunity to show the public a new kind of opera diva, one that fit with the American dream: a self-made woman and the survivor of personal hardship, yet funny, natural and self-deprecating in her inimitable way.
Beverly Sills retired from the stage at a nationally televised farewell gala at New York City Opera on October 27, 1980. That same year, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and in 1985, the Kennedy Center Honors. In 1981, she traveled to China and gave master classes at the Conservatories of Shanghai and Beijing.
Rather than fading into the wings after her performing years, she began to play a new role -- that of a high-level administrator, first as Director of the New York City Opera (1979-1989), then Chairman of Lincoln Center (1994-2002), then finally as Chairman of the Metropolitan Opera (2002-2005). Throughout these years, she demonstrated an almost preternatural talent for fundraising -- sending the New York City Opera into a position of financial security that it had never enjoyed before.
Sills also brought her passion and dedication to other organizations. She served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and was a Presidential Appointee to the President’s Task Force on the Arts, because, as she said, “Art is the signature of civilizations.” She was Chairman of the Multiple Sclerosis Society and National Chairman of the March of Dimes Foundation, where she helped to raise over $80 million for combating infant disability while speaking publicly about her experience as a mother of disabled children.
After leaving Lincoln Center in 2005, Sills focused increasingly on her friends and family. Her husband, Peter, died in 2006 after a long illness just short of their 50th wedding anniversary. The following year, on July 2, 2007, opera lost one of its most ardent supporters when Beverly Sills died from lung cancer, with Muffy at her side.
The conductor James Levine said on hearing of her death, “Beverly was an extraordinary artist, a gifted administrator, and a magnificent human being. In every facet of her career, she had a mission -- to bring the joy and love of our great art form to as many people as possible." Her home in the Beresford on Central Park West was a reflection of this inclusiveness. Filled with whimsical paintings from a spectrum of world cultures, including brightly colored works from the Caribbean, Asia, Latin America and Africa, her apartment overlooked a playground from a low floor. We can imagine Sills wanted it that way -- not to remove herself from the world, looking down on it from a remote distance -- but rather, to stay close to the people.
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