By Carter B. Horsley

This auction of American Paintings at Sotheby's May 19, 2010 is highlighted by many superb paintings include a great, large painting of a girl by George Luks, a very beautiful pastel of a young lady by Maurice Brazil Prendergast, a fabulous watercolor of a women in a veil in a gondola by John Singer Sargent, a very good Marsden Hartley, a memorable watercolor by Oscar Bluemner, a great hummingbird and orchid picture by Martin J. Heade and a good Winslow Homer.

Lot 22 is the superb "Lily Williams," an oil on canvas that measures 45 by 39 1/2 inches by George Luks (1867-1933).  It has an estimate of $1,200,000 to $1,800,000 and it sold for $1,874,500 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article.

Lot 24, "In a Gondola (Jane de Glehn)," by John Singer Sargent, watercolor onpaper, 18 by 12 inches, 1904

Lot 24 is an extremely beautiful watercolor of a lovely woman (Jane Emmet de Glehn) in a white veil in a gondola by John Singer Sargent (1856-1925).  It measures 18 by 12 inches and was executed in 1904.  It has been widely exhibited and published.  The woman was the niece of architect Stanford White and a relative of Henry James and was on her honeymoon.  She was also an artist who had studied with William Merritt Chase and Frederick MacMonnies.  Her husband,Wilfred de Glehn was a long-time friend of Sargent and a musician and he and his wife appear in several Sargent works.  The work is from the collection of Carolyn and Roger Horchow of Dallas.  It has a modest estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,500,000.   It failed to sell!

Lot 9, "Berlin Series No. 1," by Marsden Hartley, oil on canvasboard, 18 by 15 inches, circa 1913 

Lot 9 is a very strong and beautiful small abstraction by Marsden Hartley (1877-1943) that is the cover illustration of the auction catalogue.  Entitled "Berlin Series No. 1," it is an oil on canvasboard that measures 18 by 15 inches and is dated circa 1913.  It was formerly in the collections of Alfred Stieglitz of New York and Georgia O'Keeffe of Abiquiu, New Mexico.  It is property of the collection of Carolyn and Roger Horchow of Dallas.  Although he became a member of Alfred Stieglitz circle of artists in 1909, it was not until he traveled to Europe a few years later that he began to produce his greatest works that are an amalgram of primitive American Indian symbolism and German military insignia.  The catalogue notes that is is one of the earliest such works.  It has an estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,500,000.  It sold for $1,762,500.

Lot 16, "Cafe Place des Vosges" by Stuart Davis, oil on canvas, 29 by 36 inches, 1929

Another excellent work consigned to the auction from the collection of Carolyn and Roger Horchow of Dallas is Lot 16, "Cafe Place des Vosges" by Stuart Davis (1892-1964).  An oil on canvas, it measures 26 by 36 inches and was painted in 1929.  It was formerly in the collection of The Downtown Gallery, Edith Gregor Halpert and the Corcoran Gallery of Art inWashington, D.C.  It has been very widely exhibited and published.  It has an estimate of $3,000,000 to $4,000,000.  It sold for $3,442,500.

Lot 32, "Black Petunia and White Morning Glory I," by Georgia O"Keeffe, oil on canvas, 30 by 36 inches, 1926

Lot 19, "Inside Clam Shell," by George O'Keeffe, oil on canvas, 24 by 36 inches, 1930

Another O'Keeffe work is Lot 19, "Inside Clam Shell,"a 1930 oil on canvas that measures 24  by 36 inches.  It has been widely exhibited and its subject matter is neither instantly discernible nor ravishing.  It has an ambitious estimate of $3,000,000 to $5,000,000.  It sold for $3,442,500.  The catalogue notes that the artist once recalled that when she was small and visited her O'Keeffe grandmother she "sometimes got into the parlor by myself and would take a shell from the 'whatnot,' a set of fancy shelves between two windows."  "The shelves," she continued, "held many things I was not to touch but when I got  in there alone I would take a shell from the whatnot and hold it close to my ear.  I had been told that the sound I heard was the sound of the sea - I had not heard the sea at that time but it was wonderful to me to listen to it in the shell.  So when I grew up and went where there were shells I was always looking for them."

Lot 13, "Sunset," by Oscar Bluemner, watercolor on paper, 9 1/4 by 12 1/2 inches

Lot 13 is a sensational "sunset" watercolor by Oscar Bluemner (1867-1958) that measures 9 1/4 by 12 1/2 inches.,  It was once with the Graham Gallery in New York and also the Kraushaar Galleries in New York.  It has a modest estimate of $150,000 to $250,000.  It sold for $422,500.

"Two Sun Angel Hummingbirds on a Branch near Two Orchids," by Martin Johnson Heade, oil on canvas, 13 by 22 inches, circa 1890-1904.

Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904) is famous for three completely different groups of paintings:  sensuous still lifes of magnolias; lovely landscapes of salt marches and hay stacks; and hummingbirds flitting about orchids in exotic landscapes.  The last category are Heade's finest  achievement and this is one of those masterpieces.  An oil on canvas entitled "Two Sun Angel Hummingbirds on a Branch near Two Orchids," it measures 13 by 22 inches and was painted cira 1890-1904.  It has a very modest estimate of $800,000 to $1,200,000.  It failed to sell!

Lot 37, "Midsummer," by George Inness, oil on canvas, 30 by 45 1/4 inches, 1892

Lot  37 is a large and good landscape entitled "Midsummer' by George Inness (1825-1894), the great American Tonalist.  An oil on canvas, it measures 30 by 45 1/4 inches and was painted in 1892.  While not one of the artist's poetic masterpieces, this is a nice composition with a good sense of light.  It has a modest estimate of $250,000 to $350,000.  It sold for $338,500.

Lot 63, "Coconino Pines and Cliff, Arizona," by Thomas Moran, oil on canvas, 20 by 30 inches, 1902

Lot 63 is a fine landscape by Thomas Moran (1837-1926) entitled "Coconino Pines and Cliff, Arizona."  An oil on canvas, it measures 20 by 30 inches and was painted in 1902.  It has all of Moran's masterly touches and is a wonderful study in contrasts and once belonged to Albert Gallatin.  It has a modest estimate of $500,000 to $700,000.  It sold for $746,500.

Lot 79, "The Return of the Gleaner" by Winslow Homer, oil on canvas, 24 by 18 inches, 1867

Lot 79 is an oil on canvas of a farm woman standing stoically in the fields hold a rake on her shoulder with her skirt lifted up a bit by the wind.  It is very strongly painted and the flowers and the field are painted with great impressionistic flair.  It was painted  while the artist was in France and the catalogue entry compares it with "Veteran in a New Field," one his very greatest paintings that is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  This work was once in the collection of Stephen C. Clark of New York and Berry-Hill Galleries. It measures 24 by 18 inches and was painted in 1867.  It has a conservative estimate of $400,000 to $600,000.  It sold for $2,210,500.

Lot 104, "Fisherman and River's Edge, Holland," by Robert Frederick Blum, oil on panel, 6 1/4 by 9 1/4 inches, circa 1884-5

Lot 104 is a nicely impressionistic small painting by Robert Frederick Blum (1857-1903) that is inscribed "To Will from Bob."  Will was William Merritt Chase, the important American Impressionist.  Bob was Robert Blum, who was one of the country's most important pastel artists.  The oil on panel measures 6 1/4 by 9 1/4 inches and was painted circa 1884-5.  It has a modest estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. It sold for $15,000.

Lot 25, "On the River," by Frederick Carl Frieseke, oil on canvas, 26 by 32 inches, painted by 1908

Lot 25 is a very pleasant painting by Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874-1939) entitled "On the River."  An oil on canvas, it measures 26 by 32 inches and was painted "by 1908."  It has an estimate of $500,000 to $700,000. It sold for $662,500.  The artist spent time in Giverny where he would often have tea with Claude Monet.

Lot 56, "Manchurian Forest," by Leon Gaspard, oil on canvas, 47 by 47 3/4 inches, circa 1924

Leon Gaspard (1882-1964) would eventually settle in Taos but the catalogue notes that his paintings of "Eastern Europe and Asia were in such high demand after World War I, that in 1921 he began a two and a half year journey through China, Mongolia, Manchuria, Russia and the Himalayas in search of subject matter.  He immersed himself in the native cuture and as a child he had accompanied his father on fur trading expeditions through the Siberian steppes.  This wonderful and very impressive oil on canvas is entitled "Manchurian Forest" and measures 47 by 47 3/4 inches and was painted circa 1924. It has an estimate of $700,000 to $900,000.  It sold for $752,500.

Lot 1, "Homage to a Parrot," by de Scott Evans, oil on canvas, 20 by 16 inches, circa 1890

The most charming work in the auction is Lot 1, "Homage to a Parrot" by De Scott Evans (1847-1898).  An oil on canvas, it measures 20 by 16 inches and was painted circa 1890.  It has an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.  It sold for $194,500.