Upcoming Timed+ Auction: Open Questions and Mysterious Pasts Auction · September 14–27, 2026
View AuctionCollective Hudson · September 2026 Timed+ Auction
Open Questions and Mysterious Pasts
An Auction of Discoveries, Attributions, Unanswered Questions & Second Looks
Bidding Opens September 14 at 10:00 AM EDT · Lots Begin Closing September 27 at 11:00 AM EDT
Works with missing histories, conflicting attributions, mysterious signatures, possible discoveries and questions still waiting to be answered.
Auction Format
Timed+ Auction
Online bidding through LiveAuctioneers
Bidding Opens
September 14
10:00 AM EDT
Lots Begin Closing
September 27
Beginning at 11:00 AM EDT
Location
Kingston, New York
Preview and pickup at Collective Hudson
September 2026
What Happens To The Works We Aren't Quite Ready To Sell?
Over the years, Collective Hudson has put aside works that left us with unanswered questions: paintings separated from their documentation, works accompanied by acquisition stories we could not verify, illegible signatures, conflicting attributions, questionable authorships and discoveries that simply required more research.
Some appeared potentially important. Others seemed almost too good to be true.
This auction brings those works together.
The Premise
Rather Than Pretending The Questions Don't Exist, We're Making Them Part Of The Sale.
Where appropriate, we will explain what we know, what we don't know, what we found during our research and why we reached our opinion. Buyers can examine the works, study the photographs and catalog information, do their own research and reach their own conclusions.
Artists & Names Represented
Familiar Names. Unfamiliar Questions.
Among the names represented, attributed, inscribed, signed, referenced or discussed in the sale are:
Bernard Buffet, Serge Charchoune, Alexander Rodchenko, René Gruau, Emilio Grau-Sala, Leonor Fini, Christian Bérard, Alexandra Exter, Olga Rozanova, Georges Guido Filiberti, William Patton Brown, David Shterenberg, Vladimir Lebedev, Jacques-Louis David, Antoine-Louis Barye, Jean Pougny, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Paul Cézanne, Salvador Dalí, Jean Cocteau, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edouard Cortès, Édouard Baldus, Liubov Popova, Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, Paul-César Helleu, Charles Dufresne, Jean-Gabriel Domergue, Gen Paul, Alfred Leslie, Arthur Carles, Paul Colin, William Pogany, Harry Herman Roseland, Louis Latapie, Alfred Stevens, Henry Picou, Alfred Agache, Nicolas Issaiev, Alfons Walde, Konstantinos Parthenis, Georg Wichmann, Yves Brayer, Gustave Flasschoen, Jacques Van Melkebeke, José María Llopis Galofré, Alexis Pérignon, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Rosalba Carriera, Nicolas Lavreince, Joseph-Marie Vien, Francesco Cairo, Giovanni Francesco Romanelli, David Teniers II, Jan Brueghel, Rembrandt van Rijn, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Piero della Francesca, Bruno Zach, Demétre Chiparus, Max Le Verrier, Émile Gallé, Legras, Camille Gauthier, Gabriel Viardot, Koloman Moser, Itzik Benshalom, Andor Ruff and others.
Important: Some names represent firm identifications; others appear as attributions, possible attributions, works in the style or circle of an artist, inscriptions, historical catalog information or comparisons requiring further study. Please review each individual catalog entry for the specific basis of its description.
The Collection
Centuries Of Art, Design & Mystery
The sale crosses periods, countries and categories, bringing together researched works alongside objects still waiting for another set of eyes.
01 · Paintings
Old Masters & European Art
Renaissance and Old Master works together with European paintings spanning the 17th through 20th centuries.
02 · Modernism
Russian Avant-Garde
Russian and Eastern European works associated with avant-garde, Futurist, abstract and Suprematist traditions.
03 · Design
Art Nouveau & Art Deco
Sculpture, glass, furniture and decorative arts from two of the defining design movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
04 · Asian Art
Chinese & Asian Works
Asian antiquities, furniture and decorative arts requiring close examination and consideration.
05 · Objects
Sculpture, Glass & Furniture
Sculpture, glass, furniture, icons, works on paper and distinctive decorative objects.
06 · Discoveries
Unidentified & Illegibly Signed
An unusually large group of unidentified and difficult-to-read works awaiting another opinion, another clue or another set of eyes.
New · Authentometer™
A New Collective Hudson Rating
Introducing The Authentometer™
Selected higher-valued artworks may include the new Authentometer™ rating, A1–A10, reflecting Collective Hudson's assessment of the available attribution and authenticity information for a work. Higher ratings indicate a greater degree of confidence.
Works rated A8–A10 with a hammer price of $5,000 or more may be returned for a refund within 30 days of the auction date if a recognized expert clearly states in writing that the work is a forgery and is not an authentic work by the artist described.
The Authentometer™ represents Collective Hudson's opinion based upon the information available to us. It is not a formal authentication or Certificate of Authenticity.
Please review the individual lot description and Collective Hudson's Terms and Conditions of Sale for the rating assigned to a work and any applicable return privileges.
A Closer Look
Russian & Eastern European Works
A particularly intriguing part of the auction concerns Russian, European and Eastern European art.
Maintaining a complete and verifiable history for many 20th-century works from this region can be extraordinarily difficult. Revolution, two World Wars, political upheaval, displacement, changing borders, suppression and the destruction or dispersal of collections and archives have all contributed to gaps in provenance.
During the Soviet period, decades of suppression and the promotion of official Socialist Realism resulted in avant-garde, abstract, Futurist and other disfavored works being hidden, dispersed or stored. Works can now appear separated from their original documentation and history.
The Russian avant-garde market has subsequently been the subject of significant scholarly disagreement, attribution controversies and litigation. An incomplete provenance therefore deserves consideration—but by itself establishes neither authenticity nor inauthenticity.
Read The Catalog.
Do Your Research.
Make Up Your Own Mind.
September 14–27, 2026
Open Questions and Mysterious Pasts
Sometimes the most interesting works are the ones that still have questions left to answer.
Consignments
Have A Discovery Of Your Own?
Request an evaluation for an individual work, collection or estate. We review fine art, antiques, furniture, lighting, design and decorative arts.
Auction Resources
Before You Bid
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View The Auction
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Buyer Information
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Third-Party Shipping
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Schedule Pickup
Arrange collection from our Kingston gallery Tuesday through Saturday by appointment.
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Ask About A Lot
Contact Collective Hudson before bidding with questions about catalog information or a work.