Innholdsfortegnelse for July-August 2021/ No. 58 i American Fine Art Magazine

Welcome to the July/August edition of American Fine Art Magazine! We know you (collectors and readers) will have a feast to behold in this incredible issue. The American art market is full of activity in the next 60 days. There are more than nine auctions going on across the country, plus numerous shows taking place in-person, including the highly anticipated LA Art Show. You will see our booth and magazines all weekend at the show in downtown Los Angeles. Please stop by and say hello, we’d love to meet you. In our pages you can read about some of the upcoming exhibitions, sales and events, and then decide if you personally want to attend. We also include images of important masterpieces that are available to purchase, so you can review…

JULY 8-10 Premier and Emporium Brunk Auctions • Asheville, NC www.brunkauctions.com JULY 9-10 Sporting Sale Copley Fine Art Auctions • Hingham, MA www.copleyart.com JULY 9-11 July Splendor Thomaston Place Auction Galleries • Thomaston, ME www.thomastonauction.com JULY 9-20 American Art Sotheby’s • New York, NY www.sothebys.com JULY 29-30 The Summer Sale Eldred’s • East Dennis, MA www.eldreds.com JULY 31 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction Grand Sierra Resort & Casino • Reno, NV www.cdaartauction.com AUGUST 3 California Art Bonhams • New York, NY www.bonhams.com AUGUST 4 Western Art Bonhams • New York, NY www.bonhams.com AUGUST 19-20 The Marine Sale Eldred’s • East Dennis, MA www.eldreds.com AUGUST 27-29 Summer Sale of Fine Art & Antiques Thomaston Place Auction Galleries • Thomaston, ME www.thomastonauction.com…

While impressive auction results of historic American paintings and sculpture or an occasional celebrity collector may garner a newspaper headline now and then, there is no magazine, until now, that has offered complete and comprehensive coverage of the upcoming shows and events of this always-fascinating market that is so deeply tied to American history, society and culture. Previews of Upcoming Shows and Auctions The historic fine art of America’s greatest artists is in big demand and if you are serious about acquiring it, you need to know about it sooner so you can plan your collecting strategies. When you subscribe to American Fine Art Magazine you’ll know in advance what major works are coming to market because, every other month, you’ll have access to this valuable information when we email…

On May 18, Christie’s offered bidders a rare opportunity to own the collection of two important modern painters and the results produced an astonishing $8.1 million across just 26 lots. In addition to high sales total, Fields of Vision: The Private Collection of Artists Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason had a 96 percent sell-through rate, with all but one work finding a new home. Georgia O’Keeffe’s 1926 oil Autumn Leaf with White Flower was the top lot, coming in at $4.95 million, a whisper away from its $5 million high estimate. Kahn and Mason acquired it in 1977 in celebration of Kahn’s successful solo show at Grace Borgenicht Gallery in New York. Coming in behind the O’Keeffe work was Richard Diebenkorn’s 1957 abstracted still life Cups II. The work had…

This May’s American art sales were a delight to watch virtually; collectors were enthusiastically bidding on a number of pieces in all of the major sales and new auction records were created. Some pieces even soared over their presale estimates, showing that the market for fine art is continuing to thrive. One of the standouts of the sales was Heritage Auction’s May 7 American Art Signature Auction, which set a new world auction record for Joseph Christian Leyendecker’s Saturday Evening Post cover illustration Beat-up Boy, Football Hero. The work, estimated at $150,000 to $250,000, sold for an astounding $4.12 million. Along with Heritage’s sale, we also have results for the sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Bonhams, and a number of other important sales that happened around the country. While these…

Fine We stern & American Art The 2021 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction will be held July 31 in Reno, Nevada at the Grand Sierra Resort. View works featured in the 2021 Auction and purchase Auction Catalogs & Event Tickets on our website. Visit our website at www.cdaartauction.com 208-772-9009 • info@cdaartauction.com…

Wyeth Family Exhibition On view through March 27, 2022, at Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine, is Betsy’s Gift: The Works of N.C., Andrew and Jamie Wyeth. Betsy James Wyeth, wife of Andrew, daughter-in-law of N.C., and mother of Jamie, devoted most of her adult life to supporting the Wyeth family and their art careers. Not as often discussed, however, is her immense passion for collecting work by each of them, which has resulted in a diverse collection of paintings, drawings and watercolors amassed throughout the years. The exhibition features 27 works in total (six by N.C., two by Andrew, and nineteen by Jamie) from a bequest to the Farnsworth Art Museum upon Betsy’s passing in 2020. New England Art Colonies A collaboration between the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester,…

Manhattan’s Hotel des Artistes: America’s Paris on West 67th Street By Robert Hudovernik with introduction by Nils Hanson. (Schiffer Publishing, December 2020). Hardback, 288 pages with 632 color and black and white images. $65. Located on the northeast corner of West 67th Street and Central Park West in New York City is a storied landmark. It is recognized from the outside for its early-to-mid-20th-century architecture, including gargoyle sentinels reminiscent of Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral. However, the more exciting stories of the building, named the Hotel des Artistes or the Grand Old Matriarch of West 67th Street, are from the artistic presence that lives on the inside. Hotels des Artistes is an artists’ cooperative that was built in 1917 and even included the ideal art windows with northern light exposure. The building…

The journey through American art is a path that tells the story of a constantly changing world. It ranges from the idyllic Hudson River School landscapes that have seemed to fade over time as industrialization took hold and bustling cities began to make their mark all the way through the modernist works and to the abstract expressionist era when the notions of traditional art were tipped on their axis. There are other genres that fill in the gaps, such as fine portraiture and illustration, that continue to delight collectors. This summer, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will present an exclusive exhibition of one of the most astonishing and significant collections of American art in private hands. For around 60 years Houston collector and philanthropist Fayez S. Sarofim has quietly…

Through September 12 Portland Museum of Art 7 Congress Street Portland, ME 04101 t: (207) 775-6148 www.portlandmuseum.org The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland describes Driskell succinctly as “distinguished university professor emeritus of art, artist, art historian, collector, curator and philanthropist.” Driskell died of complications of the coronavirus just as finishing touches were being made on a major retrospective of his role as artist, one aspect of his extraordinary life and career. David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History continues at the museum through September 12. The museum states, “Icons represents a landmark moment in American art: A major museum exhibition focused solely on David Driskell’s remarkable career as a painter.…

American impressionism, modernism, abstracted figurative, Golden Age illustration and the Hudson River School are just a small sampling of the artwork that crossed the block during Sotheby’s spring American art sale May 19 in New York City. The sale, which was just $6,000 shy of $15 million, kicked off with an early set of fireworks, including a Gertrude Abercrombie work that sold at more than $365,000 on a high estimate of $15,000. The second lot, a work by Orville Bulman, also soared, selling at $126,000, many times over its $35,000 high estimate. The top lot was Mary Cassatt’s Baby Charles Looking Over His Mother’s Shoulder (No. 3). The work, estimated at $1 million to $1.5 million, has a long and distinguished exhibition history and has appeared in many books on…

May 7 was a momentous day for Heritage Auctions, as its American Art Signature Auction set a record total for the department at more than $10.75 million. The energy of the online-live sale was palpable from the very first hammer drop on Gustave Baumann’s Processional (est. $10/15,000), which sold for $37,500. It continued through lot after lot, leading to a 98 percent sell-through rate. The star of the sale came from the Golden illustration category: Joseph Christian Leyendecker’s Beat-up Boy, Football Hero. The charming work featured several hallmarks of the artistst’s: a child subject, a football theme and a November Saturday Evening Post cover. It hit all the right buttons as collectors competed for the work with an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. The steady bidding saw the price soar…

HILLSBOROUGH, NC LELAND LITTLE AUCTIONS MARCH 13 Signature Spring Auction $1.21 million Joseph Christian Leyendecker’s Christ with Sainted Knights was the top-selling lot in Leland Little Auctions’ Signature Spring Auction, which took place in mid-March. It shattered its high estimate of $20,000 when it hammered at $88,000. The illustration is a combination of religious and Arthurian iconography, featuring a radiant Christ with a monk holding the Holy Grail and Parzival on each side. The painting was consigned with Leland by a North Carolina collector who was unaware of the artist. Leland Little Auctions’ fine art director Claire Fraser identified it as an early Leyendecker painting. The sales total for the Signature Spring Auction was $1.21 million. NEW YORK, NY SWANN AUCTION GALLERIES APRIL 22 African American Art $3.98 million At a sales…

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…

JUNE 20-SEPTEMBER 19 Ralston Crawford: Air & Space & War Brandywine River Museum • Chadds Ford, PA An exploration into U.S. aviation and military history through the art and experiences of American modernist, Ralston Crawford. www.brandywine.org/museum THROUGH JUNE 26 Ninth Street Women and Their Legacy Somerville Manning Gallery • Greenville, DE An exhibition featuring five historic American women artists, alongside five living artists, and inspired by the book Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel. www.somervillemanning.com JUNE 27-SEPTEMBER 6 Three Centuries of American Art: Antiquities, European, and American Masterpieces—The Fayez S. Sarofim Collection Museum of Fine Arts • Houston, TX The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presents an exclusive look the collection of philanthropist Fayez S. Sarofim. Featured are world-class paintings that reflect key periods in American art. www.mfah.org THROUGH JULY…

» Steven L. Bridges, associate curator, was recently promoted to senior curator and director of curatorial affairs at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University. » The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, has appointed Peter Van de Moortel as chief conservator. » A monumental milestone, Lynda Roscoe Hartigan is the first woman to be named director of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, in its 221-year history. Hartigan, who currently serves as the deputy director for collections and research and chief innovation officer at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, is set to begin her tenure at the Peabody Essex Museum in August. » Denise Gardner was recently elected the Art Institute of Chicago’s new chairperson of the Board of Trustees. Gardner succeeds…

Clark Hulings saw himself as a working artist. Given his training and early experience as an illustrator for hire this is perhaps not so unusual. When you meet artists who came of age at the same time, they often refer to paintings as “jobs,” automatically going back to the argot from the age of paintings as magazine and paperback covers, and as advertisements—jobs whose job was to sell something other than themselves. Like his peers, Hulings valued work, but his observations on work and working people on his travels led him to make the lives and labor of working people his principal subject. When we speak of the word “oeuvre,” a word we have borrowed from the French language, we mean an artwork or an artist’s body of work. In…

July 6-August 27 Debra Force Fine Art 13 E. 69th Street, #4F New York, NY 10021 t: (212) 734-3636 www.debraforce.com Debra Force is familiar to viewers of Antiques Roadshow on PBS. She has always been interested in American history, even working in costume as a young girl in Williamsburg. Following her education and a distinguished career as a curator and director of major galleries, assembling exhibitions and publishing scholarly catalogues, she opened her own gallery in 1999. Scholars and collectors look forward to the exhibitions at Debra Force Fine Art for the highest quality American paintings, drawings and sculpture from the 18th through the 20th centuries. In Bloom, running July 6 through August 27, is no exception. The show will include an extraordinary selection of paintings with a floral theme…

With major highlights from prominent Golden Age illustrators, Christie’s spring American Art sale thrilled collectors with strong offerings and robust bidding. The sale achieved $9 million in sales, $18 million if counting the Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason Collection sale that served as the lead-in to the main American sale. The top lot in the May 18 auction was by a familiar name that has dominated many American art sales in recent years: Saturday Evening Post illustrator Norman Rockwell. His piece Jeff Raleigh’s Piano Solo (“‘Oh Lord,’ Jeff said prayerfully, ‘I wish Alice was here. Oh, I wish she could hear this…’”) (The Virtuoso) had a high estimate of $1.8 million, and it easily blasted past that number before settling on $2.9 million. “The present work was published as an…