Innholdsfortegnelse for September-October 2021/ No. 59 i American Fine Art Magazine

Like the rebirth of spring each year and the buds opening to set the stage for a beautiful blooming summer, so too has the American art world opened for collectors. Record sales are happening across the United States with no end in sight. Rochelle Belsito, executive editor, just returned from LA Art Show—where every single copy of American Fine Art Magazine that we had at the show was taken like it was a historical guide. While in Los Angeles, she also made a stop at Bonhams’ showroom on Sunset Boulevard and had the chance to preview the artwork that was in the California Art, Western Art and Portrait of the West: The Diane and Sam Stewart Collection sales. Meanwhile Michael Clawson, executive editor of our sister magazine Western Art Collector,…

» The Saint Louis Art Museum has named Min Jung Kim its new Barbara B. Taylor Director. Bringing nearly 30 years of experience to her new role, including more than a decade at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Kim will succeed retiring director Brent R. Benjamin. » Renovations will take place at the Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland, Florida, in its largest gallery, the Dorothy Jenkins Gallery this summer and Gallery II in early November. The renovations are meant to create a more versatile space for exhibitions as well as imbue a contemporary atmosphere. » Horace D. Ballard will be the new Theodore E. Stebbins Jr. Associate Curator of American Art at the Harvard Art Museums, beginning September 1. In his previous role, Ballard was curator of American art at…

Nearly 800 works on paper by Polish-American artist Theodore Roszak were recently gifted to the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) by the artist’s daughter, Sara Roszak, from the artist’s estate. “This generous gift will help Mia to tell a more dynamic story of modernist drawing and sculpture in the United States, especially because Roszak was a tireless innovator, open to new forms and techniques,” says Robert Cozzolino, Mia’s Patrick and Aimee Butler Curator of Paintings. Cozzolino, who specializes in American modernism, worked closely with Sara Roszak on the selection of materials for the museum and has long admired Roszak’s work. “Even though his approach and philosophy overlapped with styles ranging from constructivism and abstract expressionism to surrealism and realism, he always remained an independent.” Among the items in this massive…

The concept was originally conceived with an exhibition at the Neuberger Museum of Art back in 2017 (with discussions about the show going back as far as 2009), and now it resurfaces as a major national exhibition—Romare Bearden: Abstraction. The show will include incredible abstract works byinfluential artist Romare Bearden, many of which haven’t been seen since they first exhibited in the 1960s. will begin at the Gibbes Museum of Art this October 15 and remain on view through January 9, 2022. “The project doesn’t give an overview of Bearden, but rather covers that body of work which was absent, chronologizes it and reinserts it back into his [oeuvre],” explains exhibition curator, Dr. Tracy Fitzpatrick, director of the Neuberger Museum of Art and Associate Professor of Art History at Purchase…

One of the things I enjoy about historic American art is the Orange in styles, subjects and mediums represented. And there always seems to be something new to discover—a work of art that’s been hidden away in a private collection for years or pieces by lesser-known but highly skilled artists that are just hitting the market. There’s also history and context to be discovered as art is contextualized through exhibitions and exploration. Our September/October issue brings to light many new ideas and fresh finds. Women in the arts are explored in three distinct articles. First is Lisa Koenigsberg’s essay on women artists as related to the November Initiatives in Art and Culture Conference on American Art. Next is a preview on theYale University Art Gallery’s new exhibition On the Basis…

AUGUST 27-29 Summer Sale of Fine Art & Antiques Thomaston Place Auction Galleries • Thomaston, ME www.thomastonauction.com SEPTEMBER 2-OCTOBER 1 Fine American Paintings & Sculpture Skinner • Online www.skinnerinc.com SEPTEMBER 9-11 Premier and Emporium Auctions Brunk Auctions • Asheville, NC www.brunkauctions.com SEPTEMBER 17-18 Jackson Hole Art Auction Center for the Arts • Jackson, WY www.jacksonholeartauction.com SEPTEMBER 18 Fine Art, Antiques & Clocks Cottone Auctions • Geneseo, NY www.cottoneauctions.com SEPTEMBER 27 American and European Art Hindman • Chicago, IL www.hindmanauctions.com SEPTEMBER 28 Fine Art Auction Doyle’s Auction • New York, NY www.doyle.com SEPTEMBER 29-OCTOBER 7 Two Centuries: American Art Sotheby’s • New York, NY www.sothebys.com OCTOBER 4 Illustration Art Heritage Auctions • New York, NY www.ha.com OCTOBER 7 African American Art Swann Auction Galleries • New York, NY www.swanngalleries.com OCTOBER 28…

In each issue of American Fine Art Magazine, industry experts share their opinions and insights on a wide range of topics to help grow your knowledge of the historic American art market and make you a more informed collector. Given that 2021 has seen the first female vice president take office, it constitutes a real if unofficial “year of the woman.” This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Linda Nochlin’s seminal essay, “Why HaveThere Been No Great Women Artists?” Hence, it is the ideal time to consider women in American art. This article contextualizes highlights of Initiatives in Art and Culture’s upcoming 26th annual Conference on American Art, this November in NewYork City, within the framework proposed by Diana Greenwald in her important work Painting by…

A new exhibition atYale University Art Gallery celebrates 150 years of women artists who studied and trained at the Yale School of Art (formerly Yale School of the Fine Arts) during their careers. On the Basis of Art: 150 Years of Women at Yale, running September 10, 2021, to January 9, 2022, takes visitorsthrough the history of women at the Yale School of Art, demonstrating the ways in which these groundbreaking artists broke down walls and surged past the confines of the time to become established figures in the field. “When the [School of Fine Arts] opened in 1869, coincidentally, it was the same year that Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton established the NationalWoman Suffrage Association. It marked a point in time when women’s rights and women’s autonomy…

Nicolai Fechin is one of the most distinguished portraitists of the 20th century. During Hindman’s September 27 American and European Art auction, a stunning work measuring over 40 inches in height, will hit the market. The piece, Portrait of a Young Lady (possibly Marina FlamantMakovsky), is a great early work by the artist likely painted while he still lived in Russia and is thought to depict Marina Flamant Makovsky, the daughter of painter Konstantin Makovsky. “It’s a bit rarer, and I think it will appeal to a slightly more international audience than the work he was doing out in New Mexico,” says Joseph Stanfield, director of fine art at Hindman. The painting, which is the star of the day’s sale, is expected to sell between $600,000 and $800,000. Along with…

The American Art & Pennsylvania Impressionists department at Freeman’s is riding a wave of success with its recent auctions. Between its December 2020 and June 2021 sales, the auction house is seeing its best year to date in the category, with more than $10 million realized in fewer than 200 lots. The 89-lot American Art & Pennsylvania Impressionists auction on June 6 achieved a total of nearly $3.5 million, a 91 precent sell-through rate and multiple auction records. “I’m absolutely delighted. We just had our best year as a company, and for American art, it’s our best year,” says Alasdair Nichol, Freeman’s chairman. He adds, “New material is coming on to the market, which collectors like. The market seems solid, and the Pennsylvania Impressionist market is seeing an influx of new…

Adolphe Alexandre Lesrel (1839 - 1929) A New Sword Oil on panel 21 3/4 x 18 inches Signed & dated 1888 “At some point in the 1880s, Lesrel began to focus his attention more specifically on historic genre paintings dealing primarily with scenes from the time of king Louis XIII (1601-1643). Unlike his earlier medievalizing canvases, Lesrel was now showcasing scenes of sophisticated gentlemen engaged in activities related to intellectual pursuits such as art collecting, architectural design, chess games, musical parties and the consumption of fine wines. There are very few women in these paintings, and the setting is almost always a domestic interior of some sort. Although these paintings might trace their lineage back to the troubadour paintings of the first half of the nineteenth century, they are less…

Every fall the city of Palm Springs, California, hosts its four-day mini Modernism Week—its full week happens in February over Presidents’ Day weekend—with more than 50 events happening around the city. This year’s festivities will take place October 14 to 17. In celebration of modernism in the city, Rubine Red Gallery will host the exhibition Abstraction: Mid-Century Works on Paper with artwork by Malcolm Myers, Reginald Murray Pollack, Lynne Mapp Drexler and Jacob Semiatin from October 1 through 25. Throughout Myers’ career he created paintings and watercolors, but is considered one of the American masters of intaglio printmaking. He created many series, including one dedicated to the rhythms of jazz music. His 1951 woodcut and color stencil Abstraction Jazz is one such instance. On the influence of jazz, Myers once…

Marsden Hartley (1870-1953) was born in Lewiston, Maine, and referred to himself as “the painter from Maine.” A loner and peripatetic by nature, he was constantly on the move, but always returned to Maine. The Bates College Museum of Art in Lewiston has partnered with theVilcek Foundation in NewYork to mount the exhibition Marsden Hartley: Adventurer in the Arts. It will be shown at Bates September 20 through November 19 and at theVilcek Foundation from September 19, 2022, through January 20, 2023. The 35 works in the exhibition include all 22 of the artist’s works in theVilcek Collection. Personal items from the Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection at Bates will be shown along with his paintings and drawings, and include mementos of his travels from pressed edelweiss to postcards. Rick Kinsel,…

This fall, Swann Auction Galleries hosts its African American Art sale, which will feature a variety of works by both historic and contemporary Black artists. Art ranges from abstract to figurative to sculpture. “We will also have some late 19th-century and early 20th-century paintings in the sale,” says Nigel Freeman, Swann’s director of African American art. Among the highlights in the sale are works by Norman Lewis, Emma Amos and Elizabeth Catlett, to name a few. Abstract expressionist, scholar, teacher and NewYorker Lewis has two important oils in the sale coming from a private collection that has not been exhibited in more than 50 years. His Untitled (Gate Composition) (est. $60/90,000), painted in 1947, features a depiction of wrought-iron gates found throughout NewYork City punctuated by brilliant shades of red.…

SANTA FE, NM SANTA FE ART AUCTION JUNE 26 The Christopher Cardozo Edward S. Curtis Collection $2 million Santa Fe Art Auction’s recent sale from the collection of Christopher Cardozo was a major success. The two session sale, with 316 lots by significant American photographer Edward S. Curtis, achieved more than $2 million, ultimately selling over 98 percent. A full 20-volume set of books from Curtis’ The North American Indian made the top lot in the summer sale, demolishing its high estimate of $250,000 when it hammered at $895,000, a world record for a set of Curtis books without portfolios. Additional highlights include Curtis’ iconic photo The Vanishing Race – Navaho that sold for $24,000, doubling its $12,000 low estimate; A Zuni Governor (Sat Sa, a Young Zuni Governor), which sold…