Innholdsfortegnelse for November - December 2019/ No.48 i American Fine Art Magazine

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in Texas, recently acquired an early landscape by 19th-century master Albert Bierstadt titled A Rustic Mill. The painting—which was a gift to the museum from long-time MFAH trustee Frank Hevrdejs and his wife, Michelle—depicts a pastoral scene marked by lush greenery with a body of water in the foreground and a distant mill flanked by towering trees. Though mostly associated with his scenes of the sublime in nature of the American landscape, Bierstadt established his reputation early on with paintings like A Rustic Mill, painted while the artist was in Dusseldorf, Germany. “A Rustic Mill exemplifies Bierstadt’s style in its infancy and would allow our audiences to trace the arc of his career from this starting point through the height of his powers,” says…

The Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State is the recipient of the estate of Barbara R. Palmer, longtime benefactor, friend and champion of the museum, who passed away in January 2019. Her world-class collection, which includes 200 major works of art, benefits the museum’s already-strong holdings and elevates its status as a significant national museum. The works of highly esteemed 19th- and 20th-century American artists are part of the bequest, including Georgia O’Keeffe, Frederic Edwin Church, Martin Johnson Heade, Thomas Anshutz, Thomas Hart Benton, Romare Bearden and many others. Also represented are significant works on paper by Mary Cassatt, Jacob Lawrence, John Marin, Charles Demuth and Chuck Close, as well as several major sculptures by Seymour Lipton and an impressive collection of late 20th-century ceramics. “[The bequest is] truly…

I prefer lakes. This is likely the result of 13 youthful summers on a lake in southwestern Maine. The glassy surface of a lake is both calming and inviting. It is simultaneously transparent yet defined. A crystalline pool whose bottom remains visible. Its borders, repeated in reflections which, while dissolved by any surface disturbance, quickly reappear. An early morning plunge into its depths is invigorating. Although immersed, you know where you are, and the safety of the shore is easily attainable. The sea, on the other hand, is endless and changing. It can be turbulent and at times threatening, requiring a sterner resolve. The sea has no visible definition. You can easily be lost in its vortex. Its moods are affected by unseen forces. It is the great unknown. Those…

Keith Sherman and Roy Goldberg have been together for 32 years. When they were in their 20s they moved into a 1920s art deco building in New York and wanted to know more about the period. In the days before the internet, a trip to the Strand Book Store in Manhattan turned up books on the subject. Even with the internet, the couple have amassed a formidable library on the period. “We do research on artists both before and after we purchase a piece,” Roy explains. In the days of flea markets and antiques shows, each discovered an object from the 1939 World’s Fair and gave it to the other. Roy declares “three makes a collection” and when the third hand-crafted piece from the fair appeared (they eschew tourist items)…

November 8-30 Questroyal Fine Art 903 Park Avenue, Third Floor New York, NY 10075 t: (212) 744-3586 www.questroyalfineart.com Eric Sloane (1905-1985) is often referred to as “the painter of barns.” Like anyone laboring under an easy sobriquet he was more than that. He left his well-to-do family in the east when he was 14 and became an itinerant sign painter. He eventually ended up in Taos, New Mexico, where he befriended the Russian immigrant painter Leon Gaspard. Painting planes at an airport, he learned to fly and was enraptured by clouds. He studied under George Luks and John Sloan at the Art Students League in New York. He studied meteorology at MIT and became the country’s first TV weatherman. Along the way he became fascinated by rural culture. He found…

October 26-February 23, 2020 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts 200 N. Arthur Ashe Boulevard Richmond, VA 23220 t: (804) 340-1400 www.vmfa.museum Traveling in the early 20th century came with many options that might seem very confusing today in our era of Airbnb and full-featured resorts. There were hotels, which had lobbies and more amenities. Motels were lobby-less and were designed so guests could park in front of their rooms. Then there were motor courts and motor lodges, with imperceptible differences to motels. Apartment hotels were for longer stays, but with a common dining area. Tourist homes were essentially early bedand-breakfasts. And that’s just scratching the surface. These many forms of travel accommodations are the stars of a new Edward Hopper exhibition, Edward Hopper and the American Hotel, opening October 26…

November 20, 10 a.m. Christie’s 20 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10020 t: (212) 636-2000 www.christies.com Christie’s fall American sale on November 20 will feature works from artists who are iconic figures in American art—artists such as Norman Rockwell, Georgia O’Keeffe, Edward Hopper, Albert Bierstadt, Andrew Wyeth, Childe Hassam and many others. “We’re very excited about offering a strong selection of American art spanning all the key categories, from 19th-century Hudson River School, to great Civil War imagery, to illustration from artists such as Norman Rockwell and others, to more modernist and regionalist works,” says Paige Kestenman, associate vice president in Christie’s American art department. “It’s a strong sale with some of the icons of American art.” Top works include Wyeth’s 1981 48-inch-square tempera on panel Oliver’s Cap, which shows…

November 1, 2019 Heritage Auctions Design District Showroom 1518 Slocum Street Dallas, TX 75207 t: (800) 872-6467 www.ha.com In 1965 Andrew Wyeth painted the charming work Coldspell for his wife, Betsy. The piece was from his recognized series of views of the landscape out of a window that he revisited throughout his lifetime. A year later, Wyeth sold the piece to a collector who knew him and Betsy personally and saw the work hanging in their bedroom. On November 1, the painting arrives to market for the very first time in Heritage Auctions’ American Art sale. Coldspell, which in 2014 was included in the seminal Wyeth exhibition Looking Out, Looking In at National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., descended in the original collector’s family whose grandchild is now parting…

ASHEVILLE, NC BRUNK AUCTIONS SEPTEMBER 13-14 Premier & Emporium Auction $1.54 million Brunk Auctions, based in Asheville, North Carolina, realized $1.54 million with 92 percent of total lots sold during its Premier & Emporium Auction on September 13 and 14. Bidders and buyers hailed from 17 countries across six continents. While the sale included a diverse range of categories, works in historic American art claimed some of the prime results—Hans Hofmann’s modern work Fall Foliage more than doubled its high estimate of $30,000 when it sold for $66,000, while Maud Gatewood’s Morna (The Artist’s Companion) achieved $28,800 from an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. In addition, Flowers by Andy Warhol realized $26,400 and Fifth Avenue in the Snow by Guy Carleton Wiggins sold for $19,200, among other prominent American lots…

Helen Frankenthaler at Berggruen Gallery On view through November 9 at Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco, California, is Helen Frankenthaler: Paintings, an exhibition showcasing works that span nearly three decades of the abstract expressionist’s career. The show will include some of Frankenthaler’s most significant paintings from between the years of 1953 to 1978—highlighting the evolution of her artistic practice in the ways she that translated the world around her. Frankenthaler was known for pushing the boundaries of the typical painting processes, pioneering a soak-stain technique that ultimately created new possibilities in her work. PAFA receives Getty grant The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) recently received a $134,000 grant from the Getty Foundation to offer a traveling seminar on contemporary prints for early-career curators, organized by The Brodsky Center.…

For the past 11 years, The American Art Fair has shown its dominance in the American art industry by dedicating its efforts solely to one of the most respected segments of the market—works of the 19th and 20th centuries. This New York event, which sees 17 elite art dealers displaying prime inventory, has only grown in prestige since it first opened by keeping the show intimate in scale and by engaging collectors through tightly curated exhibitions and educational lectures. It also happens during the city’s famed American Art Week in November when three of the top auction houses host sales and dealers along Madison Avenue open their doors for the Just Off Madison gallery stroll. This convergence of events focused on historic American art has made the metropolis a top…

Through November 22 Anita Shapolsky Gallery 152 E. 65th Street New York, NY 10065 t: (212) 452-1094 www.anitashapolskygallery.com Lawrence Calcagno (1913-1993) was brought up in the midst of nature on his family’s ranch near Big Sur, California. He observed the landscape and taught himself to paint. It wasn’t until he returned from World War II that he began studying art under the G.I. Bill at the California School of Fine Arts where one of his teachers was Clyfford Still. Still’s rich color and thickly applied paint would influence Calcagno’s work throughout his life. He is included in the exhibition, CA→NY: Post-War Migration of Abstract Expressionists at Anita Shapolsky Gallery in New York, through November 22, “a group exhibition of select Bay Area and Los Angeles artists who followed the surge…

January 05, 2020 Harvard Art Museums 32 Quincy Street Cambridge, MA 02138 t: (617) 495-9400 www.harvardartmuseums.org When asked about Winslow Homer, one might think of scenes from the sea or pastoral depictions of country life. But before he became known for his oil paintings and watercolors, Homer reported from the front lines of the Civil War. His sketches of the fighting were engraved and printed in Harper’s Weekly, where they were seen by hundreds of thousands of people on the Union side of the conflict. The works from this early period of Homer’s early career are the subject of the exhibition Winslow Homer: Eyewitness at Harvard Art Museums, on view through January 5, 2020. “We’d been having a conversation about Winslow Homer at Harvard for many years, and we have…

November 1-December 14 New Canaan Museum & Historical Society 13 Oenoke Ridge Road New Canaan, CT 06840 T: (203) 966-1776 www.nchistory.org In 1779 the lament of an “ancient mariner” was first published—“Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink.” Almost 250 years later, roughly 35 percent of the global population of seven and a half billion people lives in regions where water is scarce. The concept for an upcoming exhibition at New Canaan Museum & Historical Society, Northeast Waterscapes: Artists Explore Oceans, Rivers, Harbors, was developed while viewing a number of prominent landscapes and realizing the majority had water in them. Whether the paintings depicted crashing surf or simply a quiet landscape, water was part of the composition. Often it was just a creek or a river seen in…

November 19, 10 a.m. Sotheby’s 1334 York Avenue New York, NY 10021 t: (212) 606-7000 www.sothebys.com In discussing the upcoming Sotheby’s American Art sale on November 19, specialist Elizabeth Pisano hones in on one particular thread that ties together many of the lots: freshness. “A number of the works have been in private collections for many years and there are works that have never been at auction before, so we’re quite excited to present those works to collectors for the first time,” she says, adding that in the process of finding these quality examples the sale became more tightly edited and curated. The sale reaches across multiple segments of the market to appeal to collectors of all interests. One of the major highlights of the auction is a 1952 painting…

November 17, noon Grogan & Company 20 Charles Street Boston, MA 02114 T: (617) 720-2020 www.groganco.com More than 175 works of fine art, most of which come from esteemed American artists, will be available at Grogan & Company’s annual Fall Auction, taking place this year on November 17. In addition, the sale will include a range of curated jewelry, silver and decorative arts. Leading the fine art portion is a special section featuring 40 works by artists who all share a common connection to the Maine coastline, titled A Maine Perspective: The Collection of a New England Gentleman. “I’m looking forward to auctioneering to a room full of our enthusiastic local buyers. We were impressed by the competitive bidding we saw from the standing room only crowd at our Spring…

THOMAS COLVILLE Owner Thomas Colville Fine Art In Paris and Rome this summer, I visited some of the great museums as well as some not so well known… Sometimes it is easier to make discoveries where not everybody is looking. Now collectors are crowding around contemporary art where only the super-rich can buy major works. Even the price of second level examples by popular contemporary artists is out of reach for the average collector. It should make sense now to seek visual pleasure where others may not be looking. American art of the 19th and early 20th century is just the place today. While the availability of masterpieces is not what it was thirty years ago, first rate works are still coming on the market at comparatively reasonable prices. Based…

The McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, breaks ground on its $6.25 million landscape master plan, with the goal of enhancing the outdoor museum experience with additional works of art, “invisible” fencing, new landscaping and increased accessibility…Nora Atkinson has been named Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge for the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery. Having joined the museum staff in 2014 as the Lloyd Herman Curator of Craft, Atkinson will oversee acquisitions, exhibitions, research, publications and more…Elissa Auther is the new deputy director of curatorial affairs and William and Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design where she will create diverse exhibition programs and collections and foster relationships with artists…Anne Kraybill, the Westmoreland Museum of American Art’s Richard M. Scaife Director/CEO, was selected by the…

November 18, 5-8 p.m. Just Off Madison New York, NY www.justoffmadisongalleries.com Historic American art takes center stage this fall in New York City with an array of events and auctions dedicated to timeless prewar paintings and sculptures. Often under the moniker of American Art Week, these November-based happenings are well-attended and highlight every genre from Hudson River School landscapes through modernism. One of the much-lauded evenings is the annual Just Off Madison art walk where private dealers along Madison Avenue open their doors from 5 to 8 p.m. for an exclusive showing of their inventories. This year’s stroll happens November 18 with 10 galleries participating: Avery Galleries, Betty Krulik Fine Art, Conner • Rosenkranz, Debra Force Fine Art, Driscoll Babcock Galleries, Graham Shay 1857, Jonathan Boos, Lois Wagner Fine Arts,…

December 31 Fenimore Art Museum 5798 Route 80 Cooperstown, NY 13326 t: (607) 547-1400 www.fenimoreartmuseum.org Hans Hoffman once said of Lee Krasner’s artwork, “This is so good you would never know it was made by a woman.” Krasner and 18 of her female contemporaries are the subject of the Fenimore Art Museum’s Heroines of Abstract Expressionism, which features 30 works from the private collection of Richard P. Friedman and Cindy Lou Wakefield. As Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko were developing their radical abstract styles in the ’40s and ’50s, women artists were also breaking new ground. They gathered at the 8th Street Club in Manhattan, discussing the theory and philosophies of their work. Many of these artists lived and worked in the Hamptons, where Friedman and Wakefield now reside, and…

November 19, 4 p.m. Bonhams 580 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10022 t: (212) 644-9001 www.bonhams.com Collectors can expect the usual at Bonhams’ upcoming American art sale—and that’s nothing to be disappointed about. The prominent New York auction house will offer an expansive array of offerings spanning 19th- and 20th-century art across a diversity of art movements and a variety of price points, from three to six figures, according to American art director Jennifer Jacobsen. Included in the sale will be works in modernism from artists like Charles Burchfield and John Marin; impressionism from Childe Hassam, Jane Peterson and William J. Glackens; landscapes by Albert Bierstadt; maritime art by Antonio Jacobsen and James E. Buttersworth; and even a few surrealist works by John Atherton. Most of these pieces come from…

November 9, 1:30 p.m. Santa Fe Art Auction 932 Railfan Road Santa Fe, NM 87505 t: (505) 954-5858 www.santafeartauction.com Santa Fe, New Mexico, is one of the great art destinations in the United States, a distinction it has held for more than a century. What’s remarkable about the famous city—first, and still, inhabited by many Native Americans—is how art of all types thrive in the Southwest hub, from modernism and abstraction to traditional cowboy and cattle painters. Everyone was welcome in Santa Fe, and still is today. That diversity in form, subject matter, style and genre can be seen in the offerings at this year’s Santa Fe Art Auction on November 9. One area worth singling out, though, says Gillian Blitch, Santa Fe Art Auction president, is modernism, which will…

On September 13 and 14, the Jackson Hole Art Auction returned to Wyoming for its 13th annual sale. Hosted by Trailside Galleries and Gerald Peters Gallery, the sale realized more than $5.6 million in sales, with an 84 percent sell-through rate. The top lot was Carl Rungius’ Alaskan Wilderness, a work of a moose on top of a bare ridgeline with a terrific view out over the valley below it. The painting was estimated at $400,000 to $600,000, and surpassed those numbers when it closed at $642,500. It is now the second-best selling piece by Rungius to come up for auction—his top lot was set in 2006 at $952,000. A second Rungius that performed strongly was Timber (est. $150/250,000), another moose scene, which sold for $105,300. Additionally, a number of…