By Carter B. Horsley Although this American Paintings auction at Christie's May 22, 2003 is relatively small in size, it has some excellent pictures, most notably "Cowboys in the Badlands," by Thomas Eakins, that was once in the collections of Stephen C. Clark and Mrs. Francis P. Garvan. Lot 32, it is an oil on canvas that measures 32 1/4 by 45 inches. Executed in 1888, it has an estimate of $5,000,000 to $7,000,000 and has been widely exhibited and was included in the recent Eakins retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see The City Review article). It sold for $5,383,500 including the buyer's premium as do all the results mentioned in this article. The catalogue provides the following commentary: "The last great landscape created by Thomas Eakins, Cowboys in the Badlands is a magnificent summation from a career of one of America's premier realist artists. Eakins demonstrated a new modern approach to the depiction of landscape, portraiture, and genre paintings that have become important representations in American art. The focused detail of the figures in the foreground, contrasted to the slightly out-of-focus distant landscape invokes a very modern approach to painting with the use of photographic effects to establish a blurred distance to reinforce an overwhelming sense of space. Cowboys in the Badlands is distinguished by the monumentality of the scene and its distinct sense of space. Intellectuals of the day were often preaching for the need to differentiate American art and culture from that of Europe. Western themed paintings effectively fit this attitude of American artists' seeking to depict a native, divergent landscape. In the present work, by choosing a raised vantage point, Eakins elevates the landscape to grandeur in part with the overwhelming scale of the canvas itself. The unique physical structures of the Badlands landscape seem to dissolve into each other as amorphous forms and diagonals lead the viewer deep into space. The overwhelming visual portrayal of this unique Western landscape is integral to the overall success of Cowboys in the Badlands." The auction is also highlighted by two superb works by Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823-1880) and an excellent painting by John F. Kensett.
Mount Chocorua in New Hampshire was one of the most popular sites for landscape paintings in the mid-19th Century and Lot 54 is a fine, large rendering of this landscape by Sanford Robinson Gifford. An oil on canvas that measures 18 by 30 inches, it was executed in 1863 and has an estimate of $800,000 to $1,200,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $700,000. "The artist," the catalogue entry noted, "has combined realist-style detail in the landscape with romantic fantasy, as the mountain is dreamily unfocused in the background. Gifford creates a powerful scene transforming a landscape into a dramatic rendition of nature and through his rich depiction of Luminist light, he suggests a transcendental notion of the passage from God to Nature to Man.Gifford's compositions, complemented by the artist's ingenious use of light to convey emotion, are among the boldest conceived in the nineteenth century."
Whereas "Mount Chocorua" is a classic Gifford, Lot 4, "The Mouth of the Shrewsbury River" is more unusual and its somber skies recall similar scenes by Martin Johnson Heade. An oil on canvas that measures 11 1/4 by 19 inches, this lot was painted in 1867 and has a conservative estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It sold for $545,100. The painting shows telegraph poles receding into the distance on the right and numerous sailboats on the left beneath foreboding skies. It is a marvelous work.
A work similar to the Luminist "Mount Chocorua" is Lot 7, "Mountain Lake," by John Frederick Kensett (1816-1872). An oil on canvas that measures 24 by 36 inches, it is dated 1866 and has a modest estimate of $120,000 to $180,000. It sold for $231,500. The catalogue entry notes that Kensett was rarely drawn to dramatic subjects in his "search for quietude" and "hushed serenity."
James Macdougal Hart (1828-1901) and his brother, William Hart, were active members of the Hudson River School of Painting. Lot 9, "Loon Lake, Adirondacks," is a handsome large oil on canvas by James Macdougal Hart that has an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It measures 46 by 78 inches. It sold for $119,500. George Inness (1825-1894) is best known as America's greatest Tonalist. In the early part of his career, however, he was a Hudson River School painter and like many of his artistic colleagues of the time he traveled abroad. Lot 36 is a large and very impressive work from his travels in Italy. Entitled "Perugia," the oil on canvas measures 72 by 54 inches. Dated 1872, it has an estimate of $700,000 to $900,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $500,000.
Thomas Moran (1837-1926) and Albert Bierstadt were the grandiloquent painters of the American West and Moran is represented in this auction by Lot 20, "Castle Rock, Green River, Wyoming," a 20-by-30-inch oil on canvas. The 1907 work, which evidences some craquelure, has a modest estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It sold for $433,100. Moran first painted the Green River in 1871. Another fine Western scene is Lot 30, "Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe," by Thomas Hill (1829-1908). The 27 1/4-by-45 1/4-inch oil on canvas is dated 1883 and has been consigned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to benefit the California Art Association Fund. It has an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000 and is a major work by Hill. It sold for $231,500. Eastman Johnson (1824-1906) is one of America's finest 19th Century genre paintings and Lot 31, "Ojibwe Encampment" is a rather rare scene by him of Indians. An oil on canvas, it measures 10 by 22 3/4 inches and has an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It sold for $589,900. The auction has three watercolors by Winslow Homer (1836-1910): Lots 13, 39 and 60.
Lot 13 is "Little Shepherdess," a watercolor and pencil on paper laid down on board that measures 11 3/4 by 8 3/4 inches. Dated 1878, it has an estimate of $700,000 to $1,000,000 and depicts a young girl sitting on a grassy slope. This lot illustrates the back cover of the catalogue. It failed to sell and was passed at $580,000.
Lot 39 is entitled, "The Breakwater." A watercolor and pencil on paper, it measures 14 1/2 by 21 1/2 inches and is dated 1883. It has an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. It sold for $365,900. Lot 60 is entitled "Small Sloop." This Homer watercolor on paper measures 9 1/2 by 13 1/2 inches. It has an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. It sold for $433,100.
Lot 17 is a quite spectacular work by Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823-1900). Entitled "Winter in Switzerland," it is an oil on canvas that measures 15 by 24 inches and was probably executed between 1858 and 1861 as part of a series of the four seasons. According to the catalogue, this scene represents the Simplon Pass at sunset. It has a modest estimate of $120,000 to $160,000. It failed to sell and was passed at $80,000.
Lot 35 is a very impressionistic "Gondola in Venice," a 8-by-11 1/2-inch oil on cradled panel by William Merritt Chase (1849-1916). It has an estimat of only $60,000 to $80,000. It sold for $95,600.
Childe Hassam (1859-1935) is one of America's most famous Impressionists, but his work is occasionally uneven and he employed many different styles. Lot 48, "Rooftop Garden, Paris," is one of his masterpieces, an exquisite small oil on panel that is a very fine composition, extremely painterly, and very lovely. The 10-by-14-1/2-inch work is the cover illustration of the catalogue and has a modest estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $623,500.
Lot 73 is a fine watercolor on paper by John Marin (1870-1953) entitled "Street Movement, New York City." The 18 1/4-by-22 1/4-inch work was executed in 1934 and has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. It sold for $175,000.
Lot 77, "Antelope Head with Pedernal" is a strong work by Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986). An oil on canvas, it measures 20 1/4 by 24 1/4 inches. It has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $410,700.
Edward Hopper (1882-1967) is best known for his rather static/frozen studies of farmhouses or urban scenes, many of which have become icons of 20th century American Art. Lot 78, "Lime Rock Quarry II," a 14-by-20-inch watercolor on paper laid down on paperboard, however, shows that he was capable of more interesting and dynamic compositions. This work has been consigned by the Delaware Art Museum to benefit its acquisition fund, although it is hard to imagine it could get a better work by Hopper than this. It has a very modest estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. This is one of Hopper's best works. It sold for $209,100.
Lot 42 is a masterpiece by Louis Ritman (1889-1963). Entitled "A Day in July," it is a 36 1/4-inch-square oil on canvas that was executed in 1918. It has a modest estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $365,900.
The sale sold more than 77 percent of the offered lots, a considerably lower percentage than achieved at the two American Paintings auction this season at Sotheby's.