Detail of Lot 13, "The
White Dress" by Dewing
The lot has an estimate of
$600,000 to $800,000. It and the six other lots consigned by the
Berkshire Museum were withdrawn from the auction November 10, 2017 when
the Massachusetts Appeals Court blocked the auction of seven works from
the {ittsfield, Massachusetts museum that it wanted to sell "to raise
money the museum considers essential to its survival, according to a
November 12, 2017 article in The New
York Times by Colin Moynihan. "The sale had been opposed
by two groups of plaintiffs, including [Norman] Rockwell's two sons.
Two paintings by Rockwell, a popular illustrator for the Saturday Evening Post,
were stars of the auction: Lot 10, "Shuffleton's Barbershop," a 1950
oil on canvas that measures 46 by 43 inches and was the cover
illustration of the catalogue and had an estimate of $20,000,000 to
$30,000,000; and Lot 16, "Blacksmith's Boy - Heel and Toe (Shaftsbury
Blacksmith's Shop)...," and oil on canvas that measures 35 1/2 by 70
1/4 inches and was painted in 1940. It has an estimate of
$7,000,000 to $10,000,000.
Lot 16, "Blacksmith's Boy - Heel and
Toe...," by Norman Rockwell, oil on canvas, 35 1/2 by 70 1/4 inches,
1940
The
latter is the better painting with an unusual horizontal format and
finer composition. The painting includes a self-portrait of the artist
wearing a hat looking not at the blacksmiths but back to the painter's
viewers at the far left. The artist used about 50 photographs of
his models that were not taken by him in this painting.
Both the Rockwells were consigned by the Berkshire Museum and withdrawn
because of the court ruling.
Lot 11, "Hunter in Winter Wood," by George Henry Durrie, oil on canvas,
36 by 54 inches, 1860
The museum's other withdrawn lots were 11, "Hunter in Winter Wood," by
George Henry Durrie (1820-1863) which had an estimate of $400,000 to
$600,000; 12, "Magnolia," by John La Farge (1835-1910) that had an
estimate of $200,000 to $300,000; 14, "Diana of the Tower," a 26
3/4-inch-high bronze by Augustus St. Gaudens (1843-1907) that had an
estimate of $250,000 to $350,000; and 15, "Connecticut River Valley,
Claremont, New Hampshire," a 44-inch wide oil on canvas by Albert
Bierstadt (1830-1902) that had an estimate of $600,000 to $800,000.
Lot 35, "South American
Landscape (Study for Chimborazo)," by Frederic Edwin Church, oil on
canvas, 12 1/8 by 18 1/8 inches, circa 1857
Lot 35
is a wonderful, small oil on canvas study by Frederic Edwin Church
(1826-1900) of a much large landscape of the Ecuadorian volcano known
as Chimborazo that is in the Thyssen-Bornemizsa Collection. This
painting measures 12 1/8 by 18 1/8 inches and was painted circa
1857. It was once in the collection of Gloria and Richard Manning
of Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. It has a very modest estimate of
$200,000 to $300,000. It sold
for $519,000.
The sale total for the auction was about $19,400,000.
L:ot 34, "Indians
Crossing the Columbia River with Mt. Hood in the Distance," by Albert
Bierstadt, oil on canvas, 23 3/4 by 35 3/4 inches, 1867
Lot 34
is a dramatic sunset scene of "Indians Crossing the Columbia River with
Mt. Hood in the Distance" by Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902). An oil
on canvas, it measures 23 3/4 by 35 3/4 inches and was paitned in
1867. It has an estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,500,000. It sold for $2,175,000.
Lot 33, "A Sand Storm,
Acoma, New Mexico," by Thomas Moran, watercolor and pencil on paper, 9
3/4 by 13 1/4 inches, 1901
Lot
33 is a very good and strong watercolor and pencil on paper of "A Sand
Storm, Acoma, New Mexico" by Thomas Moran (1837-1926). It
measures 9 3/4 by 13 1/4 inches and was painted in 1901. It has
been a gift from the artist to Dr. and Mrs. William Abraham Bell.
Dr. Bell had founded with General William J. Palmer the Denver and Rio
Grande Railroad. He and his wife subsequently acquired "The
Mountain of the Holy Cross," one of Moran's masterworks and it has be
cut out of its frame at their estate in a firm and restored partially
by Moran. This lot has a very modest estimate of $150,000 to
$250,000. It sold for $399,000.
Lot 32 is a fine romantic landscape of Indians "Hunting Elk by
Moonlight" by Alfred Jacob Miller (1910-1974). A watercolor and
gouache on paper, it measures 8 by 11 1/2 inches. It has an
estimate of $150,000 to $250,000.
It sold for $200,000.
Lot 48, "Gray Day on the River" is a great oil on canvas by
Frederick Carl Frieske (1974-1939). It was painted in 1908 and
measures 26 by 32 inches. It was once in the famous Manoogian
Collection. It has an estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,500,000. It sold for $1,695,000.
Lot 72, "Street
Movement, Lower Manhattan," by John Marin, watercolor and charcoal on
paper, 21 3/4 by 26 3/4 inches, 1920
Lot 72
is a wonderful watercolor and charcoal on paper of "Street Movement,
Lower Manhattan" by John Marin (1872-1953). It measures 21 3/4 by
26 3/4 inches and was painted in 1920. It has a modest estimate
of $80,000 to $120,000. It
failed to sell.
Lot 7, "The Deer Park,"
by Maurice Prendergast, oil on canvas, 23 1/4 by 32 1/2 inches, circa
1915
Maurice
Prendergast (1858-1924) was a great American Impressionist who mixed a
colorful palette with a Cezannesque style of abstraction. Lot 7,
"The Deer Park," is a fine example of his artistry. It is an oil
on canvas that measures 23 1/4 by 32 1/2 inches and was painted circa
1915. It has a modest estimate of $600,000 to $800,000. It failed to sell.
Lot 25, "Blue and White
Abstraction," by Georgia O'Keeffe, oil on board, 12 7/8 by 30 inches,
1958
Lot 25
is an excellent "Blue and White Abstraction" by Georgia O'Keeffe
(18878-1986) that is an oil on board that measures 12 7/8 by 30
inches. It was painted in 1958. It has an estimate of
$500,000 to $700,000. It sold
for $615,000.
