Of the 40 artworks removed from the Berkshire Museum collection, 22 were sold, netting $53.25 million. 18 artworks were returned.


La bourrique
(the Pony-back Ride)
1884, Oil on canvas
Unknown (Fred Ross)
Price: $1,755,000
Anonymous buyer revealed 11/22
Fred Ross, founder of the Art Renewal Center

Paysans allant aux champs (Le matin)
Oil on canvas
Unknown
Price: $68,750







A Ten-Panel Coromandel Lacquer ‘Daoist Immortals’ Screen
dated by inscription 1689
Unknown
Price: $75,000

Giant Redwood Trees of California
1874, Oil on canvas
Unknown / Located 2/23
American Museum of Western Art –
The Anshutz Collection, Denver, CO
Estimate: $1.5 – 2.5M (Private Sale)
Link: ‘Giant Redwoods Trees’ will fall at Berkshire Museum despite interpretive value

Dancing Torpedo Shape
1932, wood, wire & aluminum
*First museum to give Calder an exhibition and first museum to purchase his work.
Public (while not accessible to the public, foundation ownership indicates it remains in the public domain. )
Price: Sold through private transaction.
Link: Calder statement from 1933 Berkshire Museum Exhibition

Two Ladies in a Drawing Room
The White Dress
1921
Price: Estimate $600-800K

Mountain Landscape – The Painter at Work (Leeds in the Catskills, with the artist sketching)
Circa 1867—1869,
Oil on canvas

Magnolia
1863, Oil on panel
Private Transaction
Price: $262,500

Portrait of General David Forman
Circa 1784, Oil on canvas
Estimate: $200-300K

Blacksmith’s Boy – Heel & Toe
(Shaftsbury Blacksmith Shop)
1940, Oil on canvas
Donated by the artist in 1966
Unknown
Price: $8,131,000
(gifted to the Berkshire Museum from the artist, 1966)


Daniel Interpreting to Belshazzar
the Handwriting on the Wall
1775, Oil on canvas
Estimate: $200 – 300K



Double Arc & Sphere
1932, Painted wood, wire
& sheet metal
*First museum to give Calder an exhibition and first museum to purchase his work.
Public (while not accessible to the public, foundation ownership indicates it remains in the public domain.)
Price: $1,215,000


The Temptation of Adam and Eve
Oil on panel
Private Transaction
Price: $325,000

Three Seated Figures
1942, Pastel, ink pen on paper
Unknown
Price: $300,000

George Washington
1784, Oil on canvas
Unknown
Price: $225,000

Shuffleton’s Barbershop
1950, Oil on canvas
Donated by the artist in 1959
Believed to be his greatest work
Private transaction with
the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
Purported Sale Price: $30 million
(Loaned to the Norman Rockwell Museum
for 18 months)



Chinese porcelain vase.
Blue on white.
Decorated with draqon motifs
Jiaqing-Daoguang Period
Unknown
Price: $137,500

L’Agneau Nouveau-Né
(the newborn lamb)
1873, Oil on canvas
Unknown
Price: $975,000

Valley of the Santa Ysabel
1875, Oil on canvas
Public
Sold to PAFA; PAFA will offer free admission to Berkshire County Residents in perpetuity.
Price: $5 – 7M (sale price unknown)

Hunter in Winter Wood
1860, Oil on canvas
Private Transaction
Price: $312,500

Flight into Egypt
Oil on panel
Private Transaction
Price: $759,000

The Last Arrow
1867, Oil on canvas
Unknown
Price: $1,335,000
(withdrawn from the November 2017 American Art auction due to MA temporary injunction)

Force Comique
1914, Watercolor on paper
Unknown
Price: $1,119,000




Where are the 40 works of art consigned to Sotheby’s in 2018?
The Berkshire Museum signed a contract with Sotheby’s removing the most valuable paintings and sculpture without the Pittsfield community’s knowledge or participation in the decision-making process. Leadership ignored repeated requests for a public forum, and there was no time or opportunity to organize a farewell exhibition or keepsake catalogue. Added to the loss are lingering questions as to where the paintings are now located. Sotheby’s is not obliged to release purchaser information, and it is not known whether 15 of these cherished works of art are held in public or private collections.
Norman Rockwell’s Shuffleton’s Barbershop is the most commercially valuable of the two Rockwell’s gifted to the Museum by the artist for the public to enjoy in perpetuity. It was the crown jewel of the collection and a source of pride, and the most significant loss to the community.