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Blake sale falls flat.(William Blake)

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From: Art in America
Date: 20060601
Author:Hirsch, Faye

A controversial sale of a set of 19 watercolors by William Blake failed to meet expectations at a special-session auction at Sotheby's in New York on May 2. Estimated at $12-17 million, Blake's illustrations for "The Grave" a 1743 poem by the Scotsman Robert Blair, realized just $7.1 million, with eight lots bought in. (Selling prices cited--unlike estimates--include Sotheby's commissions, which are calculated as 20 percent of the first $200,000 and 12 percent above that.)The sale had been roundly criticized by museums, scholars and the press in both England and the U.S. for the ...

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