By Carter B. Horsley
For the first time in a few seasons, the American Paintings auctions at both Sotheby's and Christie's have a good, balanced selection of early landscape paintings and Western paintings as well as the usual assortment of still lifes, Impressionist and Modern works.
This auction is highlighted by some very good Hudson River landscapes, a nice selection of seascapes by such artists as William Haseltine and William Bradford, and a rare portrait of a couple by Sheldon Peck, a self-taught primitive artist of the mid-19th Century.
Lot 12, "Upper Hudson," shown above, is a very fine example of the fine color and luminism of Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823-1900). The 20-by-35-inch oil on canvas was dated 1871 and has a modest estimate of $60,000 to $80,000 and was illustrated in John K. Howat's 1972 book, "The Hudson River and Its Painters." It sold for $55,375 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article.
This was a very strong auction with more than 85 percent of the lots selling, many over their high estimates, especially early landscape paintings, for a total of $22,498,400.
Given the troubled state of the economy and an uneven auction season so far, it was not suprisingly that few blockbusters in this field were being offered at auction this season. Indeed, Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg decided not to hold an American Paintings auction this season although it will hold a major American Art auction in May. Two nights before this sale, it held a benefit for the Twin Towers Fund that included the auction of a very fine small painting of the World Trade Center disaster by Jamie Wyeth and a preview of many of the excellent marine paintings it has already assembled for the May auction. The Wyeth painted sold for $400,000 to great applause and the auction house announced it was taking no commission.
A delightful and very fine series of four small paintings by Cropsey of the "Four Seasons," oil on canvas, each 4 by 8 inches, Lot 30, has also been consigned to Sotheby's by the Feld estates. The lot has an estimate of $60,000 to $80,000. The lot sold for $75,500.
The cover illustration of the catalogue is Lot 36, "A View from Mount Desert," by William Stanley Haseltine (1835-1900), an oil on canvas, 30 by 50 inches, dated 1861.
This large and handsome painting was executed by the artist in his studio based on drawings he had made on the site. Haseltine is noted for his interest in geology and had studied natural history at Harvard University and then spent four years studying under Andreas Achenbach at the Dusseldorf Academy in Germany. Achenbach also influenced Albert Bierstadt and this work is reminiscent of Bierstadt's grandiose and fine style. It has an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It sold for $748,250.
Haseltine's works do not appear often at auction but there are two other works by him in this sale, Lots 32 and 33.
Lot 32, "New England Rocks," shown above, is a 12-by-22-inch oil on canvas that is very typical of his most famous works. It has been consigned by the estate of Maude B. Feld and Samuel B. Feld and has an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. It sold for $159,750.
Lot 33, "Capri Coast," shown above, is a 15-by-23-inch oil on canvas by Haseltine and it also has an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. It sold for $98,500.
William Bradford (1823-1892) is best known for his paintings of the Artic. Lot 3, "Coastal Scene," shown above, is a very strong small work by him that is quite dramatic and lovely. The 8-by-12-inch oil on board is dated 1860. It was consigned by the estates of Maude B. Feld and Samuel Feld and has an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. It sold for $159,750.
Another good Bradford is Lot 9, "Entering Harbor, Coast of Labrador," a 20-by-30-inch oil on canvas. It has an estimate of $50,000 to $75,000. It sold for $84,125.
Lot 16, shown above, is another Bradford, more subdued and subtle than the other two lots but quite lyrical. Entitled "Fishermen's Homes Near Cape St. Johns, Coast of Labrador," it is an oil on canvas, 18 by 30 inches and was executed in 1876. It has an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000. It sold for $126,750.
It is one of about 40 works consigned by "an International Corporate Collection," including several fine Hudson River School landscapes.
Also from the Feld estates is Lot 28, "A Spring Day on the Hudson," by William M. Hart (1823-1894). The 12 1/4-by-18 1/4-inch oil on canvas has an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. It sold for $69,750.
Lot 37, "Under the Vines," is a sweet view of a woman seated beneath a tree close to her Nantucket house by Eastman Johnson (1824-1906), one of America's finest genre painters. The 17-by-21 1/2-inch oil on canvas was also consigned by the Feld estates and has an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. It was "passed" at $37,500.
Lot 41, another consignment from the international corporate collection is "A Dream of the Alps," shown above, by Thomas Doughty (1793-1856), one of the earliest fine landscape painters in the United States. The 26-by-36-inch oil on canvas has a modest estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It sold for $21,450.
Lot 6, "Autumn, Hunter Mountain," by Worthington Whittredge (1820-1910), shown above, is also from the international corporate collection and is a fine, detailed landscape. The oil on board measures 11 1/2 by 15 inches and is dated 1866. It has an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. It sold for $58,250.
Another Whittredge, Lot 5, consigned by the Feld estates, is entitled, "A Home by the Sea, Newport," and is a 14 1/2-by-21-inch oil on canvas that was executed circa 1885. It was once in the collections of M. & M. Karolik and Victor Spark. It has an estimate of $60,000 to $80,000. It sold for $269,750.
The loveliest painting in this auction is Lot 84, "Landscape at Fontainebleau," by Abbot H. Thayer (1849-1921). Consigned by the "international corporate collection," it is a 21 1/4-by-18-inch oil on canvas and was painted circa 1876. It was once in the collection of George de Forest Brush, the artist. It has a very conservative estimate of $20,000 to $30,000 and would have surely made Corot rhapsodic. It sold for $58,250.
Lot 52, "Mr. and Mrs. William Vaughan of Aurora, Illinois," is a 30-by-34-inch oil on canvas by Sheldon Peck (1797-1868), a primitive artist. It is in the original frame grain-painted by the artist to resemble mahogany veneer.
The catalogue provides the following commentary on the lot by Thomas Armstrong, Director Emeritus of the Whitney Museum of Art:
"Artists untrained in the academic principles of painting, especially those related to space and light, have too long been relegated to the subsidiary category of 'folk artists.' Sheldon Peck's Portrait of Mr. and Mrs. William Vaughan has the authenticity and conviction of a masterwork. The intuitive stylization and abstraction of the figures, along with the outstanding sense of design throughout the composition, produce a work of extraordinary power. As a mid-nineteenth century portrait of a mid-western couple, the painting has far more dignity than many academic works of the same period in which American artists produced idealized images based on European prototypes."
The lot has a somewhat ambitious estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,500,000. It sold for $830,750.
One of the highlights of the Western Art section of the auction is Lot 189, "Indian Encampment," shown above, is a large and quite bright work by Ralph Albert Blakelock (1847-1919). The 28-by-35 3/4-inch oil on canvas has an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It failed to sell.
Frederic Remington (1861-1909) is a very uneven artist most of whose popular works are not terribly great illustrations. Lot 193, "Blackfoot Indian Chief," shown above, however, is one of his better paintings and was once in the collection of the Gulf States Paper Corporation in Tuscalooosa, Alabama. The 22-by-16-inch oil on canvasboard was painted in 1888 and has an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It sold for $192,750.
Lot 190, "Coming Across the Plain," is a fine watercolor and gouache on paper, 11 3/4 by 21 inches, by Charles Marion Russell (1864-1926). The lot has a modest estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It failed to sell.
Lot 179 is a very good painting, "The Prairie Fire," shown above, by Henry Ritter (1816-1853), a not very well-known artist. The 24-by-33 3/4-inch oil on canvas was painted in 1851 and is as good as many of the best works by Alfred Jacob Miller and Charles Wimar. It has an estimate of $75,000 to $100,000. It sold for $269,750.
In the 20th Century section of the auction, there are some superb works by John Marin, Marsden Hartley, Charles Demuth and Jacob Lawrence.
Lot 143, "Trees in Autumn Foliage, Maine," is a 1948 oil on canvas, 22 by 28 inches, by John Marin (1870-1953) that is exceptional for its bright reds and overall dynamics. It has a modest estimate of $150,000 to $250,000 and has been consigned by the estates of Drs. Macia and Meyer Friedman. It sold for $269,750.
An even lovelier Marin is Lot 132, "Peach Trees in Blossom, No. 1," a 15 3/4-by-19-inch watercolor and pencil on paper. Executed the same year as Lot 143, it also is notable for its bright reds and for the fact that its subject matter is quite recognizable, which is not always the case with Marin, who is one of the great American moderns. This lot has a very modest estimate of $25,000 to $35,000. It sold for $52,500.
Another consignment from the Friedman estates is Lot 121, "Dogtown," a quite vibrant oil on board, 18 by 24 inches, by Marsden Hartley (1878-1943)(see The City Review article on a Hartley exhibition). The painting was executed in 1931 and has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It sold for $181,750.
The back-cover illustration of the catalogue is Lot 125, "Zinnias and Kiss-Me-Over-The-Fence," a 14-by-10-inch watercolor and pencil on paper, shown above, by Charles Demuth (1883-1935) that is an exquisite example of his floral studies. It has an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It sold for $225,750.
Lot 130, "The Barns, Lake George," is a 21 by 32 3/4-inch oil on canvas by Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986). A dark, somber work that is quite abstract, it has a somewhat ambitious estimate of $700,000 to $900,000. It sold for $1,105,750.
Lot 118, "New York," shown above, is a watercolor and charcoal on paper, 24 1/2 by 19 inches, by Max Weber (1881-1961). Dated 1912, it has an estimate of $75,000 to $100,000. It has been consigned by the "International Corporate Collection." It sold for $104,250.
Another consignment from the same corporate collection is Lot 92, "The Mary Maxwell House," by Daniel Garber (1880-1958), a 30-by-25-inch oil on canvas that is very lovely and one of the artist's finest works. It has a conservative estimate of $125,000 to $175,000. It sold for $236,750.
Lot 83, "Dock Scene, Gloucester," is a good oil on canvas, 22 by 21 inches, by Childe Hassam (1859-1935). Painted in 1894, it has an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It sold for $665,750.
John Henry Twachtman (1853-1902) is one of America's greatest and most poetic Impressionist painters and Yellowstone Park in Wyoming provided him with inspiration for some of his most dramatic paintings. Lot 76, "Yellowstone Park," shown above, is a good example of this series and was once in the collections of A. Conger Goodyear and Thomas Mellon Evans. The 30-by-25-inch oil on canvas was painted circa 1895 and has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It sold for $225,750.
Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) is the subject of a major retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum of Art this fall and Lot 136, "Menagerie," shown above, is a fine example of his colorful work and great compositions. It is a watercolor and gouache on paper and measures 22 1/2 by 31 inches. It was executed in 1964 and has a modest estimate of $70,000 to $90,000. It sold for $75,500.