Innholdsfortegnelse for July-August 2024/No. 76 i American Fine Art Magazine

American Art: Collecting and Connoisseurship General Editor: Stephen M. Sessler with foreword by Elizabeth Broun, PhD (Merrell Publishers, Autumn 2020). Hardback with jacket, 304 pages with 180 illustrations, $70. Despite its narrative heft and a host of very beautiful images, I can personally attest that American Art: Collecting and Connoisseurship fits a backpack as readily as it adorns a coffee table. Yet, because it was published prior to the pandemic, it seemed worthwhile to revisit it in light of the seismic shifts in the arts—not just in the market—that have occurred over the past four years. The purpose of art, its role in a turbulent world, and the place and responsibilities of artists, museums and scholarship stand at the cutting edge of culture. NFTs and A.I. alone are reshaping the…

On July 27, Coeur d’Alene Art Auction will bring major Western art to the auction block in Reno, Nevada. The 400-lot sale will include selections from the Red McCombs Collection, which features examples by Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell, John Clymer and many others. “Between the Red McCombs Collection and the rest of the lots, we are seeing a wide variety of art in this year’s sale. It’s definitely spread out and not overloaded in any particular category,” says auction partner Mike Overby. “[I]t’s a strong sale with really great material throughout.” The Remington lots will include an oil, a black-and-white grisaille and two bronzes. A “Wind Jammer,” the oil, with estimates of $400,000 to $600,000, is already generating some buzz from high-level collectors. The grisaille is Boots and Saddles,…

Swann Auction Galleries came close to achieving the overall high estimate for its African American Art sale on April 4, when it achieved $3,419,480. Of the 239 lots on offer, 196 sold—an 82 percent sell-through rate by lot. The sale established seven records and saw four market debuts. Hughie Lee-Smith (1915-1999) earned the top lot for his 1970 oil Ball Player when it fetched $341,000. “Ball Player is a significant, mid-career painting by Hughie Lee-Smith and depicts an essential aspect of his oeuvre,” notes Swann Galleries. “Throughout his practice, Lee-Smith has portrayed youth playing or improvising games, from balancing sticks and tires to flying kites and playing ball games. His subjects find moments of pleasure and escape despite their environs…Here, Lee-Smith depicts a youth playing hand ball in a particularly…

Marsden Hartley was a big highlight of Bonhams’ May 1 American Art auction, when his 1923 painting New Mexico Recollection No. 8 sold for $1,143,500, nearly tripling its low estimate of $400,000. Executed entirely from memory, it is part of a body of work consisting of roughly 20 large and small landscape paintings that have since become known collectively as the New Mexico Recollection series. “The Hartley is a really stunning example of his work,” says Bonhams’ head of American art, Morgan Michael Martin. “It greatly invokes the power and dynamism of the American West, particularly how the storms roll in and the rain falls in sheets across the plateaus.” The piece was in fairly fine condition, rare for such a large work by Hartley and quite a few collectors…

On April 24, Freeman’s | Hindman presented its Post-War and Contemporary sale in Chicago. The auction realized $2.9 million in sales. The bigger highlight, though, was the result for many of the works by women artists. The sale sold seven works for more than $100,000, four of them by women, including the top lot, Pat Steir’s modern piece Small Ghost Waterfall, 1993 (est. $250/350,000), which sold for $533,000. On the historic side of the sale, women dominated there as well, with Gertrude Abercombie’s Giraffe and Moon with Volcano selling for $266,000, nearly four times over its high estimate of $70,000, and Louise Nevelson’s untitled wood assemblage realizing $177,000, within its estimates of $150,000 to $250,000. Other historic material that sold high in the sale included Michael Goldberg’s Sad Street, which…

Einstein is reported to have said, “once you stop Elearning, you start dying.” One of my favorite aspects of my job as editor of American Fine Art Magazine is that I am always—and I mean always—learning. That has usually been the litmus test for how long I can maintain interest in anything, be it a job, hobby or subject—it has to keep opening up. Fortunately, when it comes to art, there is an inexhaustible amount of fodder for the mind and the eyes (and dare I say it, the soul), so I guess I’ll be sticking around for a while. Putting together this issue alone was educational and enlightening—it expanded my world. I fell in love with a Maxfield Parrish that recently sold in a Christie’s auction, made all the…

Welcoming an exciting, newly acquired painting by the renowned and prolific 20th -century American painter, Edward Hopper (1882-1967), is the Gibbes Museum of Art located in Charleston, South Carolina. As the title of the piece suggests, The Battery, Charleston, SC., 1929, depicts the Charleston region, making it quite significant to the museum’s holdings. “The Gibbes is honored to welcome a work by this iconic American artist into our collection, especially one so closely tied to our beloved city,” says Gibbes president and CEO Angela Mack. “This acquisition not only celebrates the artistic brilliance of Edward Hopper, but it provides us with a timeless portrayal of a historical landscape, deepening our understanding of Charleston’s cultural heritage.” The inspiration behind the piece stems from the artist’s three-week trip to the charming city…

The last large-scale Mary Cassatt exhibition in the United States was in 1998 when the Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the National Gallery of Art mounted Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman. While Cassatt has not faded into obscurity by any means, her works are now widely dispersed among museums and private collections. And because the bulk of her oeuvre is on paper, much of it in pastel, it is light-sensitive and delicate, and rarely brought out for public display. The Philadelphia Museum of Art has is offering that rare opportunity with Mary Cassatt at Work, which draws from the museum’s extensive holdings, among them some of Cassatt’s most celebrated paintings and prints, as well as loans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago,…

The word “landscape,” which comes from the Dutch T “landschap,” was first used in the context of a specific art genre in the early 17th century. When the Dutch Republic declared independence from Spain in 1588, the growth of capitalism and the country’s wealth revolutionized painting and ushered in a new era now called the Dutch Golden Age, which lasted until 1672. It was during this time that the genre was flourishing in the Netherlands, where pure landscape paintings were appreciated and accepted as fine art, centuries before the rest of theWestern art world would follow suit. In other parts of Europe, until the 19th century, landscapes served as the backdrop for narrative paintings—often religious or mythical in nature and in which figures were the main subject. These types of…

Many knowWinslow Homer for his dramatic marine paintings capturing sailors and fisherman on stormy waters or rocky coastlines pummeled by crashing waves. They also might know the 19th -century painter for his bucolic landscapes. Regarded as one of the most prominent and influential artists of the 19th century, Homer was also known for his illustrative work, particularly as a freelance commercial illustrator designing wood engravings on paper. “The wood engravings Homer created for popular pictorial magazines [like] Harper’s Weekly, Ballou’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion and Appleton’s Journal were the works that first brought him national attention and helped established his reputation as an artist and illustrator,” says Kim Spence, the senior director of collections and curator of works on paper at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. Beginning this August, the…

This year marks a special, and unique anniversary for the many French painters that rebelled against tradition at the renowned 1874 Paris Salon—displaying works in a “looser” style that we’ve come to know as impressionism. This date is not lost on institutions like Connecticut’s Florence Griswold Museum, honoring and celebrating this pivotal artistic movement that eventually reached American soil. “Impressionism 150: From Paris to Connecticut and Beyond commemorates the French artists’ break with the past and spread modern alternatives by tracing the impact of their advances on artists who translated impressionism to the United States,” explains museum curator Amy Kurtz Lansing. “As the historic site of the Lyme Art Colony, considered the home of American impressionism, the [Florence Griswold Museum] holds a collection that illustrates how American artists, particularly those who…

On July 2, Heritage Auctions will present the online-only American Art Within Reach Showcase Auction, which will feature American artworks at lower estimates that should appeal to all kinds of collectors. “These are pieces that are generally going to be under $3,000. We care about helping people build collections, and not everyone can enter the market at that high level of our regular American art sales,” says Aviva Lehmann, Heritage’s senior vice president in the American art department. “These online sales are a great place for collectors to get their feet wet within the arena of fine art.” The online component adds to the accessibility of the sale, Lehmann says. “About 10 years ago, we watched as an Edward Hopper sold sight unseen for $10 million online. I knew we…

ASHEVILLE, NC BRUNK AUCTIONS MAY 9 An American Panorama $1,247,185 million Brunk Auctions presented An American Panorama North, South, East and West on May 9 and, with an 86 percent sell-through rate (183/215 lots) achieved a total of $1,247,185 with buyer’s premium. A wide range of important fine art from every corner of the country—Thomas Moran in East Hampton, Wolf Kahn in Vermont, Julian Onderdonk in Texas, to name a few—was represented in the sale. Works by artists William Trost Richards, Emanuel Leutze, Norton Bush, Granville Redmond, John F. Kensett, William Keith, ElihuVedder, William Harnett were on offer as well as Native American pottery, parfleches, katsinam and baskets; antique Southern and New England furniture; and decorative and folk arts. The top lot of the sale was the 1916 painting Sunlight…

ONGOING Winslow Homer: American Storyteller SPEED ART MUSEUM • LOUISVILLE, KY Featured at the Speed Art Museum is an exhibition that explores Winslow Homer’s illustrative wood engravings, with works on loan from the collection of Ellen Weinstein. www.speedmuseum.org ONGOING Mary Cassatt at Work PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART • PHILADELPHIA, PA This exhibition draws from the museum’s extensive holdings, among them some of Cassatt’s most celebrated paintings and prints, as well as loans from other esteemed institutions. www.philamuseum.org ONGOING Good Impressions: Portraits Across Three Centuries from Reynolda and Wake Forest REYNOLDA HOUSE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART • WINSTON-SALEM, NC Reynolda House features its impressive portraiture collection for a retrospective of works from the last three centuries. www.reynolda.org ONGOING Andy Warhol: small is beautiful BRUCE MUSEUM • GREENWICH, CT This exhibition presents…

GEORGINA WINTHROP President and Fine Art Director Grogan & Company The market is selective but strong. There is a new generation of homeowners and collectors buying for themselves at auction. These buyers are tech savvy, and judicious in what they bid aggressively for. They are comfortable buying works sight unseen, and are more likely to bid via our live stream than in person. Broadly speaking, this new generation is drawn to artists whose secondary markets are still developing, and to works that are “statement pieces” —either in scale, color or composition. Although we have seen a softening in demand for the more traditional collecting genres, the demand for modern and contemporary works is very strong. Within this category, we see particular strength in the market for 20th and 21st -century…

What event (gallery show, museum exhibit, etc.) in the next few months are you looking forward to, and why? John Steuart Curry: Weathering the Storm, is the first major Curry exhibition in over two decades and brings new insights into this iconic artist. Organized by the Muskegon Museum of Art with guest art historian Patricia Junker, the show examines the struggles and tragedies that shaped Curry’s masterpiece paintings. We also take a dive into The Tornado (Tornado Over Kansas), examining how our painting became synonymous with the Midwest in popular media and educational texts around the world. The MMA team has combined their talents to create a striking summer 2024 show I’m excited to share. What are you reading? It’s soccer season and practices have given me extra reading time,…

Today, impressionistic landscape paintings are among the most widely known and appreciated works of art ever created. However, just before the birth of impressionism in France, there was an important shift toward the acceptance of landscape as a subject in and of itself. Grand, large-scale realist landscapes, by a group of respected naturalist artists, were finally becoming accepted as a worthwhile painting subject. Painted in meticulous realism, with the revolutionary new focus on the changing times of day and the effects of light on the landscape, these highly accomplished tonalist works, and the group of artists who created them, would later become known as the Barbizon School of painters. What occurred in the 1820s to 1860s in the Forest of Fontainebleau and the charming village of Barbizon, just south of…

The Palmer Museum of Art, now located within the Arboretum at Pennsylvania State University, has a lot to celebrate with the opening of a new 73,000-square foot facility. In tandem with the opening, and honoring the building’s nature-inspired design elements, are three exciting exhibitions. Made in PA on Paper is one such exhibition that features prints, drawings and watercolors. “In this inaugural presentation of the new building, we are so pleased to share with the public these 27 works by both artists of renown and artists deserving greater attention and study,” says Adam Thomas, curator of American art. “The history of art in Pennsylvania—much like the history of the state generally—is complicated and fascinating. Several of the works in the show have not been on view for quite some time…

EAST DENNIS, MA ELDRED’S AUGUST 8-9 Marine Sale This August 8 and 9, Eldred’s Auction Gallery will be hosting its Marine Sale, one of the only dedicated auctions of marine art in North America. The sale takes place at the auction house’s headquarters in a historic sea captain’s house in East Dennis, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. A major piece in the upcoming sale is Fisherman at Sunset off White Island Light byWilliam R. Davis. The oil on canvas, which captures a series of sailboats on calm waters against a warm sunset, has a presale estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. Other notable lots include a pair of scrimshaw whale’s teeth by Manuel Enos, a rare cased half hull model of a sailing vessel, a Chinese School view ofWhampoa and works by…

Multiple artists achieved world auction records during Christie’s Modern American Art sale held on April 18. Among these were Florine Stettheimer’s oil Tulips Under a Canopy, which skyrocketed past its $300,000 high estimate when it sold for $1.03 million, as well as IdaTen Eyck O’Keeffe’s Flowers (Gardenias in a Pitcher), which achieved $302,000, shattering its high estimate of $35,000. The top lot in the sale was a landscape piece featuring a white horse by Thomas Hart Benton. Aptly titled White Horse, the oil on canvas achieved an astonishing $2.2 million. In total, the Modern American Art auction achieved a staggering $13.2 million, selling for 98 percent by low estimate and 82 percent by lot. “It’s wonderful to once again achieve recordbreaking results for women artists at Christie’s,” says Paige Kestenman,…

Presenting approximately 40 English and American dealers of vintage and antique fine art, fashion, jewelry and furniture, The Newport Show is a high point of the summer social season for fine art and fashion aficionados. As the main fundraiser for its two beneficiaries, the Newport Historical Society and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County, the show has cumulatively raised more than $3 million dollars supporting the city’s rich past and its vibrant future. Among the exhibitors are David Brooker Fine Art, Gladwell Patterson, Arader Galleries, Glen A. Leroux, Schorr & Dobinsky, Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge, Inc., Roger D. Winter, Ltd., G. Sergeant Antiques, William Cook Antiques, Diana H. Bittel, Find Weatherly, Georgian Manor Antiques, Carolle Thibaut-Pomerantz, Francis J. Purcell Antiques, Paul Madden Antiques, Ann Parke Collection, Leighton…