Record Sale of Pauline Palmer Painting Breathes New Life into Sally Schwartz, Co-Founder of Chicago Antique Market
Sally Schwartz, co-founder of the Chicago Antique Market, knew the Pauline Palmer painting she inherited from her grandparents had value, but she had no idea just how valuable it was. When the painting sold this summer for $120,000, nobody was more surprised and pleased than she. Previous auction records, according to AskArt.com, show a high of $50,400 in 2005 for a Pauline Palmer painting.
“I first started thinking more and more about the value of the items I have when I began speaking with Daryle Lambert and reading his book, “31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles,” said Schwartz. I knew the Pauline Palmer painting had some value, but since it’s been part of my inheritance for decades, I never really entertained the thought of what it was worth today, or even considered parting with it.”
The painting, painted by the artist eulogized as “Chicago’s Painter Lady,” was originally purchased by Schwartz’s grandparents, Lillian & Nathaniel Summerfield of Chicago, directly from the Art Institute of Chicago. A beautiful portrait of two young girls, the Summerfields, who both had a love of beautiful art and antiques, purchased the painting because it reminded them of their two daughters, Schwartz’s mother and aunt. As a young girl, Schwartz remembers standing in front of the painting completely drawn into its romance of another time and place. “You couldn’t ignore it. It was too beautiful,” she said.
For Schwartz, this newfound treasure couldn’t have come at a better time in her life. Her Chicago Antique Market partner recently expressed her desire to pursue other interests, and Schwartz found herself having to make some tough ownership decisions or face closing the market. “I love the market we’ve built, and I want to keep it running,” she said. An advocate and lover of the arts, antiques, collectibles, it was Schwartz and her former husband who founded the “Chicago Antiques & Collectibles Festival” several years back, putting on three successful events, before losing their site to a new real estate development in the city. Recently, she found herself, once again, having to make some hard decisions, this time about the fate of her beloved Chicago Antique Market. Recalling her many conversations about the skyrocketing growth in value of fine paintings, with Daryle Lambert, the market’s unofficial advisor and confidant, she decided to explore the value of her Palmer piece.
The gallery representatives who examined the painting were encouraged it could bring a very good price if sold. The decision to part with the work of art that had been part of her childhood memories wasn’t an easy one. “When I knew I wanted the market more than I wanted the painting, I knew what to do,” said Schwartz. She agreed to have a gallery secure a private buyer for her painting, and one was soon found. At a sales price of $120,000, it sold for more than she could have ever imagined. Its sale will enable Sally Schwartz to take the helm of the Chicago Antique Market and breathe the kind of new life into it that she wants to see.
About Chicago Antique Market: The Chicago Antique Market, hailed by Travel and Leisure as one of the top three national urban antique markets, with its festival atmosphere, takes place the final Saturday and Sunday of each month May through October from 9a.m. to 5 p.m. and features more than 200 dealers selling everything from a wide range of antiques to vintage collectibles. The indoor/outdoor market has earned a national reputation as one of the finest in North America, and has been compared to the Paris Flea Market. In Time Out Chicago, Nate Berkus, designer of Oprah fame, raved “I love the Chicago Antique Market on West Randolph Street. That is something this city was seriously lacking. The quality of the merchandise there is incredible.” (www.chicagoantiquemarket.com)
About 31 Inc: 31 Inc. teaches wealth building within the antiques, collectibles, and fine art markets and maintains a growing marketplace and gallery with many consigned pieces. The company aims to create industry millionaires through its wealth accumulation methods set forth in Daryle S. Lambert’s book “31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles. Lambert, founder of 31 Inc. also writes “The Guy in the Red Tie” antiques blog, both available online. (www.31corp.com)
