This year, Hake’s Americana & Collectibles celebrated their 50th anniversary in style with another exceptional sale. Auction #220 closed last week and brought in several impressive sales. The top lot from the auction, as expected by Hake’s, was a piece of mixed media original art by Norman Mingo (1896-1980) valued at $50,000. The piece soared past the estimate and was ultimately realized for $52,241.
“Eclipsing our pre-auction estimate of $35-50K did not surprise me. A piece this unique is always hard to predict but I knew it had great potential. This is an iconic work of art, not only as a MAD Magazine cover but as a truly classic piece in the annals of pop culture,” Hake’s President Alex Winter said.
Mingo was an American artist and illustrator best known for formalizing the image of Alfred E. Neuman for MAD Magazine in 1956. The incredible image was published as the front cover to MAD Magazine #121 in September 1968. Depicted on the cover is Alfred E. Neuman as a spiritual guru being held aloft by all four members of The Beatles along with actress Mia Farrow and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Yogi was a famous leader and guru of a worldwide organization, who is credited with inventing the Transcendental Meditation technique. The cover was drawn as a spoof of The Beatles’ trip to India in February 1968, where they attended an advanced Transcendental Meditation training session at the ashram of Yogi.
While there, they met Farrow, who was also attending the training session with her sister Prudence. Considering the art combines the major pop culture icons of Alfred E. Neuman and the Fab Four, it’s no wonder this piece served as such a highlight. This double-matted and professionally framed cover, which also included a reading copy of MAD Magazine #121, will undoubtedly shine within the new buyer’s collection.
“I was really pleased with how hard they worked promoting the Mingo cover. Especially the video they produced. Ted, Alex and Scott exceeded my expectations and the results show. I am so pleased that I chose Hake’s to market this piece. There’s no one else in the industry that could have done such a fantastic and highly nuanced job,” Alex Miller, the consignor of the Mingo MAD art, said.
“The success of this item is also a testament to our clientele. We have the most diverse bidder base of any auction house. Those who were active on this item included serious art collectors, Beatle maniacs and one person who was just captivated by the awesomeness of the piece, it was far removed from what they are known to collect,” Winter added.
All prices realized within the auction included a buyer’s premium of 18%. Go to hakes.com to view all prices for Auction #220.
