Innholdsfortegnelse for November - December 2017/ No.36 i American Fine Art Magazine

The Board of Trustees of the Birmingham Museum of Art has appointed Graham C. Boettcher as its new R. Hugh Daniel Director. After a six-month national search, Boettcher replaces Gail C. Andrews, who announced plans for her retirement in March after 21 years of leadership…The Chrysler Museum of Art welcomes Corey Piper, an art historian specializing in 19th century and early 20th century American art, as the Brock Curator of American Art. Piper comes from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, where he served as a curatorial associate… Crawford Alexander Mann III has joined the curatorial staff at the Smithsonian American Art Museum as the curator of prints and drawings. Mann joins the 12 curators currently on staff …Rutgers University-New Brunswick announced the appointment of the distinguished museum leader and…

William Sergeant Kendall studied painting with Luc-Olivier Merson in France and Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The influence of both is evident in his work. Kendall’s brushwork owes a debt to Eakins, whose portraits show perceptive awareness of his sitters coupled with technical skill. Merson was a “classicist who insisted on precise drawing,” and his teaching is evident in Kendall’s careful attention to detail and frequent use of neutral backgrounds (Robert Austin, “William Sergeant Kendall: Painter of Children,” The Magazine Antiques, 1983, 1024). In a 1910 article, Frank Jewett Mather Jr. described Kendall’s style as a “classical intimist,” with his classicism balanced by domesticity (Austin 1026). Kendall served as Dean of Fine Arts at Yale University from 1913-1922, and had been a painting instructor for…

November 2-December 8 Godel & Co. 506 E. 74th Street, 4W New York, NY 10021 t: (212) 288-7272 www.godelfineart.com When Katherine Baumgartner was a graduate student at the University of Virginia specializing in ancient and medieval art, she took a seminar on American still life. The text for the seminar was Painters of the Humble Truth: Masterpieces of American Still Life, 1801-1939 by William H. Gerdts, one of the first books on the subject. “That was it,” she says, “I credit his passion and scholarship on the subject to changing my mind and moving me into American art. I’ve now known him and his wife Abbie for over 30 years. It’s always a treat to visit them in their apartment which is full of paintings, floor to ceiling. Most dealers…

November 16- February 18, 2018 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 118-128 N. Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19102 t: (215) 972-7600 www.pafa.org In the early 19th century, women of means were often encouraged to dabble in watercolor. As the century progressed, art became a way to make a living for more and more women. Graphic Women, a new exhibit at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), focuses on the flourish of professional work created by women in Philadelphia in the late 19th and early 20th century. The show was in part inspired by an exhibit celebrating Violet Oakley, currently on view at the Woodmere Art Museum. “They wanted us to do something to help celebrate Oakley. I started investigating our collection of works on paper, and I thought…

November 13, 4 p.m. Sotheby’s 1334 York Avenue New York, NY 10021 t: (212) 606-7000 www.sothebys.com There are few “sure things” in the auction world, though Norman Rockwell is certainly a candidate. Not only has the famed Saturday Evening Post illustrator had blockbuster auction results—his Saying Grace sold in 2013 for a staggering $46 million, more than double the $20 million high estimate—but his works have commanded consistently high auction results with 24 of Rockwell’s 25 top-selling auction records all coming in the last 11 years, many of them achieving results that are double, triple and quadruple the high pre-sale estimates. These consistently high results are likely to continue November 13 when Sotheby’s, which sold Saying Grace four years ago, offers two major Rockwell works at its American art auction…

December 3, 2 p.m. Freeman’s 1808 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 t: (215) 563-9275 www.freemansauction.com When a work of art hasn’t been seen on the market in quite some time or is a brand-new find, an interest is sparked in collectors. And even more so when they learn the piece has remained in the same family or was given to the consignor by the artist themselves. In Freeman’s December 3 American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionist auction, a number of paintings that fit one or more of those characteristics will cross the block. Daniel Garber’s A Jersey Road (est. $200/300,000) has been with the same family in Massachusetts for a number of years. The work, which is in its original Harer frame, is a scene that collectors have come to expect…

American Fine Art Magazine is comprised of many different sections and features, all designed to keep you informed on what’s happening in the market for historic American art. UPCOMING GALLERY SHOWS Previews of upcoming shows of historic American art at galleries across the country. UPCOMING MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS Insight from top curators about major exhibitions being staged at key American museums. EVENTS & FAIRS Previews and reports of major art fairs across the country for you to attend. AUCTIONS Previews and Reports of major works coming up for sale at the most important auction houses dealing in historic American Art. IN ADDITION: COLLECTOR’S FOCUS Find out everything the discerning collector needs to know about important and timely segments of the historic American art market. COLLECTOR HOMES In each issue you will…

Leading Destination Montana’s Tippet Rise Art Center was announced as the Best Museum of the Year, North America, by the 2017 Leading Cultural Destination Awards. Located at the foot of the Beartooth Mountains, Tippet Rise opened in 2016 and has quickly become a destination for local residents and international visitors alike. Sixty Years in Paint Childs Gallery in Boston will present an exhibition celebrating the prolific career of Robert S. Neuman. Neuman bridged the gap between gestural and geometric abstraction, and Sixty Years in Paint will remain on view at Childs Gallery through November 12. Save the NEA Washburn Gallery in New York will celebrate its move from 20 W. 57th Street to 177 Tenth Avenue with the new exhibition The WPA: Save the NEA. The show, which runs through…

When Richard Totten Button graduated from Harvard Law School in 1956, he knew that there was one thing he did not want to do. Practice law. He already had enjoyed a share of fame and celebrity. At 18, in 1948, he seized a gold medal in the men’s singles figure skating at the St. Moritz Olympics, capping his performance by successfully landing the first double axel jump in a competition. He subsequently became the first-ever skater to achieve a triple jump in competition. His backto- back Olympic golds would join a host of winning performances in national and international competitions. He remains unique in winning the National, North American, European, Olympic and World championships in the same year (1948), also becoming the youngest man and the first American to earn…

Ten years ago, fine art dealer Thomas Colville began to notice that how collectors were purchasing art was changing. Information and imagery was becoming more readily available on the internet and an increased number of art fairs and auctions were taking place. It was a different landscape than when Colville started in the business 45 years ago, so what he decided to do was create a niche fair including some of the top historic American art dealers that took place at the same time as the fall American art auctions in New York City. The American Art Fair was born. “We wanted a show to take advantage of the people coming in for the auctions to visit the dealers,” Colville says. “Because of the trends, I think people being short…

By DeeDee Wigmore, president, D. Wigmore Fine Art, Inc. Through November 22 D. Wigmore Fine Art 152 W. 57th Street New York, NY 10022 t: (212) 581-1657 www.dwigmore.com D. Wigmore Fine Art opens their new gallery at Carnegie Hall Tower with an exhibition of paintings by Sally Michel, Milton Avery’s wife, from 1953 to 1988. The 22 paintings featuring primarily landscapes, as well as figurative and animal subjects, come from the Sally and Milton Avery Arts Foundation. Milton Avery (1885-1965) and Sally Michel (1902-2003) met the summer of 1924 painting out-of-doors in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and married in 1926. When Milton followed Sally to New York, he had not yet experienced the European modernism taking New York by storm. Through the late 1920s into the 1940s, Avery and Michel developed their…

Through December 8 Hawthorne Fine Art 12 E. 86th Street, Suite 527 New York, NY 10075 t: (212) 731-0550 www.hawthornefineart.com New York has a magnetic quality, attracting artists from all over the United States, calling on them to create their own portrayals. The same principle has held true for over 150 years. Our Metropolis: Paintings of New York by American Artists at Hawthorne Fine Art presents city scenes spanning a hundred years, from the Hudson River School to the Modern movement. “I’ve always witnessed an interest in New York City subjects. I think they can trigger fond memories of the city and also serve as historic documents of its ever-changing physicality,” Jennifer Krieger, owner of Hawthorne Fine Art, says of the impetus for the exhibition. “There is a timeless quality…

November 12, 5-8 p.m. Just Off Madison New York, NY www.justoffmadison.com During autumn’s American Art Week, 13 galleries located on or near Madison Avenue will showcase paintings, sculptures and other historical works during the semi-annual Just Off Madison event. “This year the dealers have a wide variety of quality material, many works have never been seen in the market. We look forward to welcoming our colleagues and clients to this exciting event,” says Betty Krulik, event organizer and owner of Betty Krulik Fine Art. “We love having the opportunity to unveil new works to collectors from the neighborhood and also those visiting from out of town,” says Ann Restak, gallery manager of James Reinish & Associates. On display at the gallery during Just Off Madison is Arthur Dove’s watercolor and…

December 8-March 24, 2018 Burchfield Penney Art Center 1300 Elmwood Avenue Buffalo, NY 14222 t: (716) 878-6011 www.burchfieldpenney.org The visionary artist Charles Burchfield (1893-1967) was born in Ohio and left to attend the Cleveland School of Art. When he graduated in 1916, he returned to Salem, Ohio, and continued his painting. “I have always believed 1917 to be the ‘golden year’ of my career,” he wrote. “Forgotten were the frustrations and the longing for more freedom. The big city was not for me. I was back home in the town and countryside where I had grown up, which were now transformed by the magic of an awakened art outlook. Memories of my boyhood crowded in upon me to make that time also a dream world of the imagination.” The Burchfield…

November 20, 10 a.m. Bonhams 580 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10022 t: (212) 644-9001 www.bonhams.com Bonhams’ American Art Week sale of American art offers a wide range of material from many genres of American art. From modernist works by the likes of Milton Avery and Arthur Dove to bronze and marbles from Allen George Newman, Mahonri Mackintosh Young and Edward Thaxter, as well as illustration works from Lynn Bogue Hunt and Philip R. Goodwin, the sale has a little bit of something for everyone. “We have found that property from established private collections, specifically the best examples by important American artists, consistently achieve high prices at auctions,” says Bonhams’ head of sales Liz Goodridge. “Fresh material and works completely new to the auction market create a unique opportunity for…

Jane Peterson: At Home and Abroad November 19- January 28 Jane Peterson: At Home and Abroad Mattatuck Museum 144 W. Main Street Waterbury, CT 06702 t: (203) 753-0381 www.mattmuseum.org I hope that the word “Abroad” in the title of the new exhibition Jane Peterson: At Home and Abroad at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut, was a deliberately chosen. For though Jane Peterson was no broad in her manner—indeed, she seems to have been quite genteel in that regard—her approach to life and painting was anything but conventional when measured against the standards of her time. Peterson traveled widely, often unaccompanied, and sought instruction and collegiality from artists she admired, without regard for formalities. Her career spanned four decades, and though she never fully embraced postwar American abstraction, the formal…

In 1996 Thomas Davies was invited to write a text for Aldro Hibbard’s first retrospective exhibition at the Rockport Art Association. Hibbard (1886-1972) painted primarily in Rockport, the small coastal Massachusetts town with a larger-thanlife reputation for the artists who called it home and for those who visited to paint. Davies wrote, “Whatever period of Aldro T. Hibbard’s work you prefer, he was a giant who truly knew his subject, perhaps better than any artist attempting to tackle one of nature’s most unforgiving elements, snow. Elaine Hibbard [his daughter] reflected, ‘He once said to me you have to let yourself go. I was surprised because of his reserve. But I really think he knows what’s out there and he really loves what he sees, so much so he’ll let himself…

November 7-December 2 Vose Galleries 238 Newbury Street Boston, MA 02116 t: (617) 536-6176 www.vosegalleries.com Aldro T. Hibbard (1886-1972) was captain of his baseball team at Dorchester High School in Massachusetts for four years. In 1906, the mayor of Boston, John Francis “Honey-Fitz” Fitzgerald, threw the ceremonial first ball to start the season. Fitzgerald was the grandfather of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Baseball was a lifelong passion for Hibbard as was the outdoors. He studied painting at the Massachusetts Normal Art School in Boston and later at the Boston Museum School under Frank Benson and Edmund Tarbell. In 1933 he was elected to the National Academy of Design. Vose Galleries in Boston, which has shown his work since 1919, presents the exhibition, Aldro T. Hibbard: The Lure of Winter, November 7…

By DeeDee Wigmore, president, D. Wigmore Fine Art, Inc. Through December 15 D. Wigmore Fine Art,Inc. 152 W. 57th Street New York, NY 10022 t: (212) 581-1657 www.dwigmore.com Harold Weston: Modernist of the Adirondacks is the second exhibition of Weston’s Adirondack landscapes I have done working with the artist’s daughter Nina Foster and granddaughter Rebecca Foster. My husband and I met Weston’s wife Faith around 1975 at an exhibition of the artist’s paintings held at The Adirondack Store and Gallery in Raybrook, New York. We felt an immediate connection to the abstracted beauty of Weston’s spiritual Adirondack landscapes and made some purchases. I have been a member of Harold Weston’s fan club ever since. Harold Weston (1894-1972), born in Merion, Pennsylvania, graduated from Harvard in 1916 magna cum laude, Phi…

November 21, 10 a.m. Christie’s 20 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10020 t: (212) 636-2000 www.christies.com With works varying in scope from immense and epic to personal and intimate, Christie’s American art sale will provide bidders a wide range of works that show the breadth of historic American art on November 21 in New York. On the epic side are five Thomas Moran works, including a major oil and watercolor, as well as a breathtaking Venice scene from Maurice Prendergast and, just in time for the upcoming season, a football scene from Thomas Hart Benton that not only shows nearly a dozen players vying for the pigskin but also thousands of people in stands in the distance. Smaller scenes that evoke a meditative stillness include an Andrew Wyeth watercolor, a…

November 3 Heritage Auctions Design District Showroom 1518 Slocum Street Dallas, TX 75207 t: (877) 437-4824 www.ha.com At the heart of every Golden Age illustration is a narrative that piques the interest of the viewer. Whether it is a scene created for a magazine cover or story, a calendar or book, the images are ones that evoke Americana and nostalgia. Sometimes the stories surrounding the work itself can also be intriguing to buyers, such is the case of the Lazybones by Norman Rockwell, which will arrive at market during Heritage Auctions’ November 3 American Art Signature Auction in Dallas. Robert and Teresa Grant purchased the painting, which depicts a young lad and his dog taking a nap, in the 1950s for less than $100. In the summer of 1976 it…