Quinn’s auction Galleries of Falls Church, Va., will offer an outstanding Taos school artwork on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009. Painted by Bert Geer Phillips (American, 1868-1956), it is an oil-on-canvas depiction of a Native-American brave in a wooded setting.
Titled Voices of the Woods, the 35-inch by 48-inch (framed) artwork’s provenance includes being exhibited in 1911 at the City Art Museum of St. Louis, at the 15th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Western Artists.
“Bert Phillips was a Taos artist of great importance and a founder of the Taos Artists Society. We’re very honored that Quinn’s was chosen to handle this painting,” said Quinn’s partner Matthew Quinn. “Voices of the Woods is documented and referenced in the Taos Valley News of Nov. 25, 1911 in the column titled Artists Colony Corner. It states that the painting was sold to ‘Mr. Trewin of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.’” More correctly, the buyer was Senator James H. Trewin. The Estate of Martha Trewin Sandy is the consignor of the artwork, which carries a presale estimate of $300,000-$400,000.
The Phillips painting is one of several carefully chosen additions to a 300 to 400-lot sale of heirlooms, important artworks and historical jewelry from one of Europe’s most distinguished noble families. “This will be a tremendous sale,” said Quinn. “The items to be auctioned are from old Hungarian aristocracy, the combined Teleki and Mikes (pronounced Me-kesh) families, which would be akin to a merger of the Kennedy family and one of the royal families of Europe.”
Auction info 703-532-5632 or visit www.quinnsauction.com.