CE -- A lifetime of collecting comic related material :: My Origin Story Illustrated

William Henry Hunt, Too Hot, 1832 -- The One on Which I Outbid a Koch Brother at Auction

Artist: William Henry Hunt (Painter)

1 Comment - 363 Views - 1 Like

William Henry Hunt, Too Hot, 1832 -- The One on Which I Outbid a Koch Brother at Auction Comic Art

Additional Images:

A Small Gathering at the Beecham's

H.W.F. Bolckow, Iron Magnate and Founder of Middlesbrough, England, Another 19th Century Owner of Too Hot!

The Trafalgar Hotel on Trafalgar Square, Operated by Georgee James, former Owner of Too Hot

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William Henry Hunt, The Artist, c. 1836, & My Thoughts on Auctions, Pt. 8

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One Reason Why I Had to Sell Some Comic Art, William Henry Hunt, The Eavesdropper, 1839

Artwork Details

Title:	William Henry Hunt, Too Hot, 1832 -- The One on Which I Outbid a Koch Brother at Auction
Artist:	William Henry Hunt (Painter)
Media Type:	Paint - Watercolor
Art Type:	Other
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	363
Likes on CAF:	1 2
Comments:	1
Added to Site:	6/5/2021
Comic Art Archive:

Description

I managed to juggle my income and insatiable collecting desires fairly well until March 18, 1986. On that date, this watercolor, one of the most famous of the hundreds of paintings that Hunt had painted, turned up at Christie's in London. I had known of it since my first quarter of Law School [11-1977], which I had largely spent in U.C.L.A.'s art library instead of the law library. This watercolor was owned at the beginning of the 20th century by Sir. Joseph Beecham, who was one of the first businessmen to employ mass advertising and who was the 3rd richest man in the UK. Even though I had only waited about 10 years for the painting to turn up, I just had to have it. It actually had last been sold 50 years earlier, but I was blissfully unaware of the artist's existence for 40 of those years. As with most works by Hunt, this once famous painting, which had sold for a new record price every time it was auctioned in the 19th century, had been almost completely forgotten by 1986. Christie's had even given it a low auction estimate! I therefore thought that I would have no trouble in successfully buying it at the upcoming auction. I was WRONG.

First, Christie's was initially unwilling to call me so that I could bid by phone during the sale -- they had a policy of not calling on items estimated to sell for under £1,000. After securing the assistance of the woman at Christie's East who I had assisted two years earlier in connection with the Basmajian animation auction, I was ready to bid when London called at 3:00 A.M. (my time) on the day of the sale in London. The piece started out at £200 (about $350 at the time). The bidding proceeded in £ 20 increments, then £50, then £100, £200 until the bidding reached £5,000. It continued to rise with £500 increases until I finally won. The cheap Hunt had set a new world record, selling for more than double what the next highest price paid for a Hunt had been. At the end of the bidding, I was unable to lower my arm, since it had frozen from being so tense. I had to lie on it and gradually move it during the rest of the night.

I went to London two months later, where the London dealers were mighty impressed that an unlikely buyer, such as 30 year-old me, had bought the picture. I was also informed that I had almost certainly outbid Fred Koch, the oldest of the Koch brothers, who collected art instead of going into politics and who had been buying watercolors by Hunt. In 1980 Koch owned the then most expesive painting ever sold at auction, his $10 million Joseph Mallord William Turner, along with other million dollar paintings. To ensure that his bidding agent would always win anything he bid on, Koch would add the upper and lower auction estimates and multiply that amount by 6. But his formula wouldn't work with a zealot like me who wanted a picture that was estimated to sell cheaply!

Anyone who marvels at the technique of George Herriman and other comic artists of using a razor blade to cut highlights into a comic original should look at the dog in this picture -- it was almost totally scraped away from the dark background, with darker pigment then being added to complete the image. During the 19th century, this watercolor was famous because of Hunt's extreme use of scraping.

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About the Owner

	C E
Joined:	April 2006
Last Login:	August 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	C's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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Stephen F
Member Since 2005

Posted on 6/6/2021

A wonderful piece and an equally wonderful story. I love Hunt's method of buying at auction. Hard to lose too many lots using that method! Congrats!

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