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| Lot 226 Edgar Alwin Payne Boats in a Harbor 25" x 30" |
Whenever I see an auction listed as "American Paintings," I tend to cringe. Usually the work the auction houses tend to highlight in these sales disappoint me, such as Lot 31 in the upcoming Sotheby's auction, Jacob Lawrence's Psychiatric Therapy (1949), which is expected to fetch between $50,000 and $70,000. Such pieces do not appeal to me, and the expectation of a sale filled with such work dissuades me from visiting the preview gallery.
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| Jacob Lawrence Psychiatric Therapy 18.25" x 23.25" |
Sotheby's American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture auction later this month, however, contains a more varied selection of American work, with the main emphasis being representational art. Pieces included in this preview are by such famous artists as Edgar Payne, Emile Gruppe, George Inness, William Trost Richards, Emil Carlsen, Norman Rockwell, Joseph Henry Sharp, William McGregor Paxton, Thomas Eakins, Howard Pyle, and Albert Bierstadt, to name but a few. Unfortunately, it appears that many of these lots are being sold to benefit the Hecksher Museum of Art in Huntington, New York; this is, I believe, is a polite way of saying the museum is deaccensioning the art. It is sad that I find myself hoping that the works are being sold just to keep the museum's doors open; the alternative, that they are raising money to purchase more work like the above Psychiatric Therapy, is unthinkable to me.
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| Lot 130 William McGregor Paxton Glitter (1930) 45" x 36" |
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| Lot 140 Philip Leslie Hale The Red Necklace 36" x 30" |
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| Lot 243 Daniel Gerhartz Pure 40" x 30" |
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| Lot 122 Charles Courtney Curran A Comfortable Corner 9.25" x 12" |
The paintings in the sale are on preview at Sotheby's New York location at 1334 York Avenue, and are, as always, open free to the public. This is a great opportunity to see these works before they enter private collections. The exhibit is open Saturday the 25th (10:00 AM - 5:00 PM), Sunday the 26th (1:00 PM - 5:00 PM), Monday the 27th (10:00 AM - 5:00 PM), and Tuesday the 28th (10:00 AM to 1:00 PM). The actual sale will take place on the 29th at 10:00 AM.
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| Lot 98 George Inness Medfield, Massachusetts 10.5" x 14.5" |
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| Lot 242 Peter Ellenshaw Lough Brin, County Kerry 42" x 78" |
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| Lot 210 Clyde Aspevig Banks of the Missouri 36" x 50" |
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| Lot 94 Homer Dodge Martin Toward the Adirondacks 31.5" x 26" |
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| Lot 148 Emile Gruppe Cleaning the Nets 25" x 30" |
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| Lot 92 Arthur Parton A Stream Through the Meadow 20" x 26" |
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| Lot 235 Mort Künstler Morning Mist 30" x 40" |
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| Lot 241 Gordon Snidow Flea Bitten but Free 35.25" x 21.375" |
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| Lot 111 Hovsep Pushman Songs of the Night 26.75" x 20" |
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| Lot 107 Augustus Saint-Gaudens Diana of the Tower 7.5" Tall |
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| Lot 200 Anton Otto Fischer Furling Sails 24" x 18" |
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| Lot 124 Walter Launt Palmer Cedars at Twilight 17.25" x 13" |
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| Lot 190 Howard Pyle Old New York Taverns 14" x 20" |
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| Lot 197 Eric Sloane Autumn in New England 30" x 22" |
3 comments:
Great post! I totally agree with you. Those are some wonderful paintings you chose.
These are awesome! Thanks for posting them. I especially love the Daniel Gerhartz and the Edgar Alwin Payne. They're so moving...
Love the post. Since the start of time man painted what he saw in his world. In our world people believe that if it hurts their eyes it must be great art. Love your work and blog.
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