New York, NY – Sotheby’s spring sale of American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture includes works by prominent American artists from the 19th and early 20th centuries, many of which come from distinguished Estates. The 215 works are estimated to sell for $52,615,000/77,205,000* and will be exhibited on the 10th floor galleries at Sotheby’s New York from May 17 to 21. The sale will take place at 10am and 2pm on May 22.
Highlighting the sale is a masterpiece of American 19th century painting, The Peaceable Kingdom with the Leopard of Serenity, by the most celebrated American folk art artist, Edward Hicks. Arguably one of the most important and beautifully preserved examples of the more than sixty-two versions of this profound subject painted by the artist, this iconic work, circa 1846-1848 (lot 60), is estimated to sell for $6/8 million. (Please see separate dedicated press release)
Property from the Collection of Gilbert A. and Anne B. Harrison
Sotheby’s is proud to offer Property from the Collection of Gilbert A. and Anne B.
Harrison. This Washington, D.C. couple shared a passion for American Art and began purchasing works for their collection in the 1950’s. Highlights from the thirteen paintings to be offered include Paris, Winter Day by Childe Hassam (lot 51, est. $2.5/3.5 million). This work from 1887 signifies a turning point in Hassam’s career, as he begins to challenge the academic conventions by painting impressionistic scenes of contemporary urban life.
Also from the Harrison Estate comes I Think I Am Ready Now (The Mirror, The Pink Dress) by William Merritt Chase, circa 1883 (lot 48, est. $1.5/2.5 million). This work captures a pretty young woman casually adjusting her hair while gazing into a mirror. It is a celebration of technique and the tonal possibilities of a single color, as seen in the lush folds of fabric in her pink dress and its long, flowing train. Another highlight from the Estate is The Model by Thomas Eakins (lot 53, est. $700/900,000), depicting a female model in the studio. At the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Eakins insisted on the progressive method of teaching from human figures rather than casts of antique statues in order to understand the anatomical movement and form of the body.
Property of an American Collector Being Sold to Benefit a Charitable Foundation
A group of ten bronze sculptures, including eight by Frederic Remington, are being offered by an American Collector Being Sold to Benefit a Charitable Foundation. Featured in this collection is The Wounded Bunkie (lot 171, est. $3/5 million), which is cast Letter G. Only fourteen casts were completed, and of these, seven are in museum collections today. Another highlight, The Outlaw (lot 167, est. $2/3 million), is number one of fifteen lifetime casts and exhibits all of the detailed elements that set early casts apart: most importantly, the horse’s muscular structure, the fluid folds of the cowboy’s clothes and the modeling of his expressive face. Other Remington bronzes highlighting the same collection include Trooper of the Plains, cast no. 2 (lot 171, est. $600/800,000); The Mountain Man, cast no. 21 (lot 158, est. $400/600,000); and The Scalp, cast no. 10 (lot 179, est. $250/350,000).
Property from the Estate of Mr. and Mrs. George Fenimore Johnson
Mr. and Mrs. George Fenimore Johnson were prominent collectors who lived at Shell Point on the Chester River in Chestertown, Maryland. George Fenimore Johnson was a graduate of the University of Wyoming and never lost his love for the history and beauty of the American West. The Fenimore Johnson’s collected works that spanned two centuries and all themes of Western Art. From their collection, Charles Russell’s Roping a Wolf (lot 161, est. $700/900,000), a watercolor and gouache on paper, is offered. Also by Russell is The Battle at Belly River (lot 168, est. $400/600,000) from 1905, depicting the historic battle between the Cree Nation and the Blackfoot Indian Confederacy in Canada. The Foul Rope (lot 162, est. $300/500,000) by William Robinson Leigh, is an action-packed portrayal of a cowboy astride an angry bucking bronco that has been caught in a rope attached to a nearby steer.
The Collection of R. Michael Kammerer, Jr.
The Western Art offerings also include works from The Collection of R. Michael Kammerer, Jr, a New York advertising executive and entrepreneur of the independent television networks ITN who held a great affinity for the American Southwest. Highlighting this collection is Gift from Cochiti, 1936, by Joseph Henry Sharp (lot 190, est. $900,000/1.2 million). Sharp was an American painter credited with influencing the creation of the Taos, New Mexico Society of Artists. The Kammerer collection includes selections of works by Joseph Henry Sharp and E. Irving Couse. In addition, work by Contemporary Western artists include Roy Andersen’s The Telling of His Coups, lot 204; Andersen’s The Bear and the Buffalo, lot 205 (est. $40/60,000 each); and Howard A. Terpning’s War Stories, from 1999 (lot 206, est. $300/500,000).
Property from the Estate of Barbara Bingham Moore
Property from the Estate of Barbara Bingham Moore, an esteemed Washington, D.C. collector, will include fine examples of landscapes and still life paintings by 19th and 20th century artists including Martin Johnson Heade, George Henry Durrie, Henry Farny, Jasper Francis Cropsey and Fitz Henry Lane. A landscape by Fitz Henry Lane from 1848 is entitled The Old Mill at Goose Cove, Annisquam, Gloucester (lot 7, est. $400/600,000). Martin Johnson Heade’s Two “Thorn-Tails” (Langsdorffs Thorn-Tail, Brazil), circa 1864-1865 (lot 5, est. $300/500,000), is a Romantic portrayal of both the male and female black-bellied variety of hummingbirds in a mountainous environment. George Caleb Bingham’s Landscape: Rural Scenery, from 1845 (lot 17, est. $200/300,000), was one of two paintings that the artist submitted to the American Art-Union in order to earn recognition in New York. Also highlighting this Estate is a selection of still life paintings by the distinguished Peale family of artists from Philadelphia.
Property from the Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection
Sotheby’s is proud to offer Property from the Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection.
The Nashers, distinguished collectors and philanthropists from Dallas, Texas, assembled an extraordinary collection numbering more than 1,000 works of art over the course of their lives. The offerings of American Paintings from their collection will include three works by American Modernist Stuart Davis.
Rialto, 1962, lot 111, is estimated to sell for $500/700,000. Also by Davis are Fortap, 1933 (lot 115, est. $400/600,000) and Composition with Winch, 1932 (lot 123, est. $300/500,000). A single-owner sale of Impressionist and Modern Art, Contemporary Art and Prints from the Nasher Collection will be held on May 9th. (A separate press release for this sale is available upon request)
The Estate of J. Welles Henderson
Sotheby’s is proud to offer works from The Estate of J. Welles Henderson, a respected Philadelphia attorney and collector of maritime art who founded the Philadelphia Maritime Museum. Highlighting the Henderson Estate is Thomas Eakins’ Rear Admiral Charles Dwight Sigsbee (lot 38, est. $700/900,000), from 1903. The subject is best known for the heroic and courageous measures he took to save the lives of his fellow officers as Captain of the U.S.S. Maine battleship when she exploded in Havana harbor in February of 1898; this attack was later identified as one of the major catalysts of the Spanish- American war. Offerings from the Henderson collection include three works by Thomas Birch, including USS United States vs. HMS Macedonian (lot 35, est. $125/175,000), circa 1813, which hung in the Oval Office of the White House next to President John F. Kennedy’s desk during his tenure as President.
Additional Highlights
Another work by Thomas Eakins from a Distinguished Private Collection is The Timer
(Study for “Between Rounds”), circa 1898 (lot 26, est. $700,000/1 million), an example of the meticulous studies the artist made before painting the finished oil of the same title, which is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The Ramblers, by William Sidney Mount, Property from the Ruth Mason Shunk Trust (lot 71, est. $2/3 million), from 1847, has remained in private hands since 1847, the year it was painted. Mount devoted his career to painting scenes of the country life he knew from his boyhood in Stony Brook, New York, the rural town on Long Island where he was raised.
A selection of watercolor paintings from a Distinguished Private Collection is highlighted by Flower Garden, Isles of Shoals, from 1893 (lot 30, est. $1.5/2.5 million) by Childe Hassam. Other watercolors being offered include John Lafarge’s Roses in a Blue Crackle Glass Pitcher, from 1879 (lot 25, est. $250/350,000), and In Vaudeville, Two Dancers, dated 1920, by Charles Demuth (lot 29, est. $300/500,000), which shows one of Demuth’s favorite subjects-the spirited dance acts that were mainstays of the raucous theater scene of the time.
In addition to the full sale catalog, three separate catalogs are dedicated to specific offerings: Edward Hicks’ The Peaceable Kingdom with the Leopard of Serenity; Property from the Collection of Gilbert A. and Anne B. Harrison; and the fine selection of Western bronzes, the majority by Frederic Remington, from Property of an American Collector Being Sold to Benefit a Charitable Foundation.
*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium.
