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Edward Hopper’s Valedictory Two Comedians Looks for $12m at Sotheby’s American

November 7, 2018 by Marion Maneker

Sotheby’s announced its line-up for the American art auctions auction on 16 November 2018. The sale will be led by Edward Hopper’s final painting, Two Comedians (estimate $12/18 million), as well as significant examples by American icons such as Norman Rockwell, Grant Wood, Georgia O’Keeffe, Horace Pippin and Robert Henri.

EDWARD HOPPER’S TWO COMEDIANS

The November auction is led by Edward Hopper’s iconic autobiographical painting, Two Comedians (estimate $12/18 million). Executed in 1966, Two Comedians represents the culmination of Hopper’s career and manifests a number of the most important themes that he explored in his art. The work depicts the artist and his wife Jo on stage, taking a bow before turning to walk into the unknown.

Hopper often used Jo as a model and muse, yet he typically portrayed her as an anonymous character and protagonist of his figural paintings. In contrast, Two Comedians explicitly depicts Jo holding the artist’s hand, symbolizing their close bond and the significant role she played in his life and career. Hopper’s choice of a stage for the framing device of this final work speaks to his lifelong interest in theater, as well as the voyeuristic and escapist themes that figure prominently throughout his body of work.

Extensively exhibited and illustrated in literature on Hopper and 20th–century American art, Two Comedians is distinguished further by its notable provenance: it was acquired by Frank and Barbara Sinatra in 1972, and remained in their collection until it was purchased by the current owners in 1995.  

GRANT WOOD’S SEMINAL PORTRAIT OF HIS SISTER, NAN

On offer for the first time in over 65 years, Portrait of Nan comes to auction at a time of heightened interest in Grant Wood’s work, following his recent 2018 retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art (estimate $1.5/2.5 million). This extremely personal work portrays Wood’s beloved sister Nan, whose likeness is most recognized in the artist’s American Gothic from 1931, one of the most iconic images in 20th century art. In response to the criticism the artist received for his stern depiction of Nan in American Gothic, Wood painted Portrait of Nan one year later as a heartfelt apology to his sister.

The only work Wood refused to sell in his lifetime, Portrait of Nan remained in the artist’s collection until his death in 1942. In 1952, the work was purchased by Senator William Benton of Connecticut, the publisher of the Encyclopedia Britannica, and an important patron of American modernism, and subsequently descended to his daughter Helen Boley, appearing at auction this November from her estate.

A NORMAN ROCKWELL CHRISTMAS

Leading the selection of five works on offer by Norman Rockwell is his Tired Salesgirl on Christmas Eve (estimate $5/7 million), which served as the cover illustration for the 27 December 1947 edition of The Saturday Evening Post, and which has remained in the same private collection since it was last sold in 1996. The painting depicts a department store employee on Christmas Eve after a strenuous shift, exhausted by the relentless onslaught of customers seeking last-minute gifts. To create this composition, Rockwell had elements of the scene photographed on-site at the Marshall Field department store in Chicago, and asked a 17-year-old waitress he discovered working at a diner nearby to pose as his protagonist. The work demonstrates Rockwell’s undeniable gift for visual narration, and captures an aspect of the holiday season that would become increasingly common throughout the century.

A RARE & MONUMENTAL CANVAS BY EMANUEL GOTTLIEB LEUTZE

The selection of Western art on offer this November is led by Emanual Gottlieb Leutze’s Western Emigrant Train Bound for California Across the Plains, Alarmed by Approach of Hostile Indians (estimate $2.5/3.5 million). Though Leutze was born in Germany in 1816 and spent most of his life living and working there, his paintings of the significant figures and historical events of 18th and 19th century America rank as the most celebrated images of his oeuvre – including his iconic image of Washington Crossing the Delaware (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). Painted in 1863, this dynamic image represents one of Leutze’s finest achievements on the subject of Manifest Destiny and the struggle to tame the Wild West. Highly ambitious and sophisticated in both content and form, the painting exemplifies the unique synthesis of realism and idealism that allowed Leutze to successfully mythologize episodes of American history.

Measuring more than 5.5 feet across, the impressively-scaled work is being sold this fall to benefit the Dover Free Public Library in Dover, New Jersey, where it has resided since it was gifted to the institution in 1943.

HORACE PIPPIN’S AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WORK

A self-taught painter from West Chester, Pennsylvania, Horace Pippin began producing art at age 37, after his honorable discharge from the United States army due to an injury. The pastoral Holy Mountain, I presents an autobiographical scene, with a harmonic foreground that is contrasted by the soldiers marching through the ominous forested background (estimate $1/1.5 million). The painting is first in a series of four works Pippin executed on this subject. Reflecting both his personal experiences in World War II and the cultural climate of the period, the painting – datedJune 6, 1944 – corresponds with D-Day, further reinforcing the ideological dichotomy between war and peace. Holy Mountain, I last appeared at auction in 1981 at Sotheby’s New York, establishing the artist’s auction record of $385,000 that has held to this day.

THE ESTATE OF ESTELLE WOLF

Sotheby’s is also pleased to present a group of four works from the Estate of Estelle Wolf are led by Robert Henri’s At Far Rockaway from 1902, an important 20th century landscape of Rockaway Beach in New York City that represents a pivotal moment in the artist’s career (estimate $700,000/1,000,000). At Far Rockaway represents one of the earliest examples of Henri’s works that demonstrate the influence of the Spanish tradition of painting, which turned the attention of a generation of important American artists including George Bellows and Edward Hopper toward the gestural European style.

John Singer Sargent’s portrait Mrs. Charles Anstruther-Thomson is another highlight from the Wolf Estate (estimate $450/550,000). The work depicts Anges Anstruther-Thomson, a fashionable member of London society and wife of prominent Scottish landowner Charles Anstruth-Thomson. The painting remained with Mrs. Charles Anstruther-Thomson and descended in her family until it was sold at Sotheby’s in 1981.

GEORGIA O’KEEFFE’S SOUTHWESTERN INSPIRATION

Four years following our sale of Georgia O’Keeffe’s iconic flower painting Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, Sotheby’s is honored to announce that we will again offer three important works by the artist from the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico to benefit its Acquisitions Fund.

The American Art auction on 16 November is highlighted by Cottonwood Tree in Spring from 1943 (estimate $1.5/2.5 million). O’Keeffe started to visit New Mexico regularly in 1929 when, in an effort to escape city life, she left New York to spend the summer there.

Works such as Cottonwood Tree in Spring reveal the profound inspiration O’Keeffe gleaned from the American Southwest. The sublime beauty of the landscape provided a free range for her imagination, and she would continue to investigate its imagery for the remainder of her life, returning almost every summer until 1949 when she made Abiquiu her permanent home. While the artist had always utilized the natural world as the basis for her unique visual language, in New Mexico her art gained an even deeper intimacy and, in works such as Cottonwood Tree in Spring, it transcends a literal study of nature to evoke the spiritual connection she felt with her adopted home.

Two additional works by the artist from the O’Keefe Museum – A Street, a rare and highly significant depiction of New York City from 1926, and the striking Calla Lilies on Red from 1928 – will highlight our Contemporary Art Evening Auction on 14 November 2018.

Berkshire Museum’s Rockwell Leads Sotheby’s American Art Sale

May 22, 2018 by Marion Maneker

It’s a festival of Norman Rockwell works at Sotheby’s American Art sale tomorrow with 13 works by Rockwell along with more than 100 other works—by Frederic Edwin Church, N.C. Wyeth, Milton Avery, Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran — estimated at around $40 million. Sotheby’s placed the most valuable of the Rockwells from the Berkshire museum privately late last year. Here is their press release on the works for sale this week:

Leading the selection of works by Norman Rockwell is Blacksmith’s Boy – Heel and Toe (Shaftsbury Blacksmith Shop), sold to benefit the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts (below, estimate $7/10 million). Commissioned for a 1940 The Saturday Evening Post story by Edward W. O’Brien, this monumental painting – measuring nearly six feet across – illustrates a horseshoe-forging contest, which O’Brien captured from the point of view of the local blacksmith’s son.

Another exceptional example by Norman Rockwell is The Little Model from 1919 (estimate $1/1.5 million). A gift from the artist to his aunt that has remained in the family collection for nearly a century, the work was completed for the 29 March 1919 cover of Collier’s, making it one of Rockwell’s earliest images executed on commission for a prominent American publication. Rendered in the artist’s early style and technique, The Little Model brilliantly captures a young girl’s wistfulness and longing to transform into a beautiful adult, a detail highlighted when it appeared on Antiques Road Show in 2011.

Rockwell’s Boy Playing Flute Surrounded by Animals (Springtime) is another major highlight of the auction, carrying an estimate of $1.5/2.5 million. Appearing on the 16 April 1927 cover of The Saturday Evening Post, the painting captures the artist’s pivotal transition from his early aesthetic to his most iconic style; the white background evokes his earlier vignette-style format while the near-photographic likeness of the animated animals dancing around the young boy’s feet foreshadows his mature works. Spirited and cheerful, the painting comes to auction for the first time from the collection of Jack and Bonita Granville Wrather – he the producer of films such as The Lone Ranger and Lassie, she the Hollywood actress who brought Nancy Drew to life.

Nearly forty years after the completion of Springtime comes Little Girl Looking Downstairs at Christmas Party, one of Rockwell’s most recognizable images. Painted for the cover of the December 1964 issue of  McCall’s, the work depicts a forlorn young girl looking from the top of the stairs at the merry cocktail party taking place downstairs that she cannot join. A gift from the artist and being offered for the first time, this beloved image will be presented with a pre-sale estimate of $1/1.5 million.

Also appearing at auction for the very first time is N.C. Wyeth’s Portrait of a Farmer (Pennsylvania Farmer) from 1943, which was formerly in the collection of the artist’s wife. Wyeth created this striking portrait by synthesizing his memories and experiences of his Pennsylvania home: the architectural elements are common to the Chadds Ford area, while the subject is based upon a local farmer whom Wyeth encountered carrying a pig under his arm. The artist discussedPortrait of a Farmer in a 21 January 1943 letter to his daughter Henriette, writing: “In spite of all, my present large panel of the squealing pig is vastly superior to anything to date.” In keeping with the true quality of this work, the painting will be offered this May with an estimate of $2.5/3.5 million.

Also sold to benefit the Berkshire Museum is Frederic Edwin Church’s Valley of Santa Isabel, New Granada (estimate $5/7 million). One of the finest panoramic landscapes of his oeuvre, this rare and extraordinary painting showcases Church’s incredible attention to naturalistic detail, romantic sentiment and unmatched ability to capture light. Completed in 1875 after he achieved broad critical and popular success with works such as Heart of the Andes and The Icebergs, held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Dallas Museum of Art respectively, the work is one of Church’s final paintings.

Albert Bierstadt, another master of the Hudson Valley School, is represented this season with a View of Nassau, The Bahamas (estimate $700/1,000,000). One of a small series of works inspired by his visits to this tropical paradise – a location also frequented by American artists including Louis Comfort Tiffany and Winslow Homer – in the mid-1870s and through the early 1890s, the work is distinguished by its impressive scale, vivid hues, saturated sunlight and attention to architectural detail.

A Showery Day, Grand Canyon by Thomas Moran is another significant landscape by a major 19th century artist presented in the May sale. The painting depicts the terracotta peaks of the canyon shrouded in silvery clouds, capturing the majesty of one of the Unites States’ greatest natural treasures. Offered by a private American collection with a pre-sale estimate of $800/1.2 million, the work last appeared at auction nearly twenty years ago at Sotheby’s New York.

American modernism is highlighted by Milton Avery’s spectacular The Seamstress (estimate $2/3 million). The vibrant work from 1944 captures the artist’s embrace of color as his primary expression of emotion. Last offered at auction in 1998, the painting belongs to a group of 17 works from The Collection of Patrick & Carlyn Duffy – Patrick Duffy who unforgettably portrayed Bobby Ewing on the hit show Dallas 40 years ago. Lovingly curated by the couple over 45 years, the works from their collection will be offered at Sotheby’s over three auctions this May and October, the last of which will be led by Andrew Wyeth’s 1964 watercolorThe Bachelor.

American realism is represented by two Edward Hopper drawings from the collection of Steve Martin. Study for ‘A Woman in the Sun’, a charcoal drawing executed in 1961, was the foundation for the painting of the same name in the collection of The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Estimated at $150/250,000, the work was purchased in 2005 along with Study for ‘Summer Evening’, another preparatory study for a major oil painting of the same title, which carries an estimate of $200/300,000.

The Western Art offerings this season are highlighted by works by Charles Marion Russell, Frederic Remington and Olaf Carl Seltzer from the Jack and Bonita Granville Wrather Collection. Russell’s When Guns were the Locks of the Treasure Box is a spectacular watercolor, gouache and pencil on paper that conveys the sense of excitement and adventure that the American West inspired (estimate $150/250,000).

Frederic Remington’s Western Stage Managers is also a noteworthy addition from the Wrather Collection. A striking scene with a pre-sale estimate of $60/80,000, this work has been exhibited extensively across the Midwest, including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Sterling and Francine Clark ArtInstitute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Christie’s American Sale Leads with $4m O’Keeffe

May 21, 2018 by Marion Maneker

One of the surprises of the Rockefeller collection sale two weeks ago was the huge price achieved by the American art evening sale. That auction totaled $106.8m with strong performances for classic names in the American field like Georgia O’Keeffe, John Singer Sargent, Maurice Prendergast and Milton Avery.

As with the Impressionist and Modern market, there was some concern that the Rockefeller sales might crowd out the rest of the market. That clearly didn’t happen with Imp-Mod which saw a total of $1.5bn in sales, including the Rockefeller material.

Tomorrow, May 22nd, we’ll see the Rockefeller collection’s effect on the American market as Christie’s holds its American sales (followed by Sotheby’s the day after.) Highlights of Christie’s sale include the work of Georgia O’Keeffe who is increasingly showing up in the marquee May and November auctions of Impressionist and Modern art. Here’s Christie’s release:

The top lot of the sale is Georgia O’Keeffe’s seminal work, Hibiscus, painted in 1939 during her three-month Hawaiian sojourn at the behest of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (estimated: $4,000,000-6,000,000). Composed of brilliant and varying hues, Hibiscus is an affirmation of O’Keeffe’s color theory and epitomizes the brilliance of the artist’s Hawaiian works that excited such praise from contemporary critics.

Norman Rockwell in the sale is Piano Tuner, painted in 1947, and gifted to the boy depicted in the painting,Andrew Smith. As payment for his work, Rockwell gave young Smith, only eight years old at the time, $5 to model for him. 

Works from a private Midwestern Collection include Childe Hassam’s Conversation on the Avenue and George Wesley Bellow’s Evening Blue (Tending the Lobster Traps. Early morning) (estimate: $1,500,000-2,500,000 and $1,000,000-1,500,000).

From the Collection of Joan and Preston Robert Tisch: Milton Avery’s Red Nude (estimate: $1,000,000-1,500,000) and General MacArthur on the Rocks (estimate: $20,000-30,000)

Rockwell Removal Result of Mass AG Foot Dragging

November 13, 2017 by Marion Maneker

Norman Rockwell, “Shuffleton’s Barbershop,” 1950

Appellate judge Joseph Trainor granted a 30-stay on the sale of the Berkshire Museum’s art resulting in the withdrawal of two Norman Rockwell paintings from tonight’s American art sale at Sotheby’s.

William Lee, the museum’s lawyer, will meet again with the Massachusetts AG’s office to resolve the the issue, according to the Berkshire Eagle:

In challenging the museum’s deaccession plan, Lee wrote in his filing Friday, the attorney general has exerted an “extraordinary authority … under which the minutiae of public charity decision-making would be subject to the approval of a small group of government lawyers.”

Lee’s filing faults the office for moving too slowly last week to seek an appeal, leaving Trainor with scant time to review a court record that tops 1,000 pages and hours of transcribed arguments. He says his office asked the attorney general’s team Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday whether it would appeal, only to hear that it would do so at 10 p.m. Thursday.

In his decision Friday, Trainor noted that he had read only the filings entered into this court’s docket that day. He granted the attorney general’s motion after deciding that the “balance of risk of irreparable harm … weighs in favor of the petitioner.”

That petitioner was the government, which had argued that all would be lost if the Monday auction were to proceed, to be followed by three other sales of museum objects at Sotheby’s the same week.

Dispute over Berkshire Museum art sale moves to next stage (The Berkshire Eagle)

Sothebys American = $28.6m

November 23, 2016 by Marion Maneker

sothebys-am-art-1116-tt

Sotheby’s did well with its Norman Rockwell painting emphasizing the election. Works by Norman Rockwell accounted for more than 40% of the sale’s total. Other top Rockwells performed creditably too. Rockwell Kent’s Gray Day made a record for the artist and outperformed the estimates.

Here’s Sotheby’s own report on their sale:Continue Reading

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