By Carter B. Horsley
Although smaller in size than many recent "Important American Paintings" auctions, the December 3, 2003 Sotheby's American Paintings auction has a few "blockbusters including a huge painting by Albert Bierstadt, a masterpiece by Arthur Dove, a very strong painting by Marsden Hartley and a glorious watercolor by Winslow Homer.
Mr. and Mrs. Julian Ganz Jr. have consigned some important works to Sotheby's that given their exhibition history will do very well, especially a large painting of Yosemite by Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902).
Lot 27, "Yosemite Valley" by Bierstadt is a 38 ¾-by-61-inch oil signed and dated 1866, his best period. It is a quite fine and beautiful work and has an estimate of $4,500,000 to $6,000,000 which reflects its size, condition and exhibition history. It sold for $7,176,000 including the buyer's premium as do all results mentioned in this article. The price was a world auction record for Bierstadt. The catalogue notes that "The golden serenity of an Edenic vision of wilderness depicted in Yosemite Valley reflects both Bierstadt's ecstatic portrayal of the majestic scenery he encountered and his response to the nation's desire for renewal and a return to peace in the aftermath of the Civil War." This painting was in a major show in 1976 at the Hirschl & Adler Galleries and then in the 1982 exhibition on the Ganz collection that was shown at the National Gallery of Art, the Amon Carter Museum and the Los Angles County Museum of Art, and also in the major Bierstadt show in 1991-2 at the National Gallery of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. The painting's depicted "serenity" was apparently not too evident in the auction gallery and something of a shoving match between two dealers at the fall of the hammer made front-page news in the December 4, 2003 edition of The New York Sun. According to an article by Lindsay Pollock, "according to witnesses" Graham Arader confronted Gavin Spanierman "with verbal threats while attempting to butt chests," adding that "Mr. Spanierman, who is 6'2", was uncowed" and "retailiated by shoving Mr. Arader out of the way" Mr. Spanierman, whose father is Ira Spanierman of the Spanierman Gallery, was the winner bidder.
Another Ganz consignment is Lot 28, a charming and not small view of Niagara Falls by Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823-1900). The arched canvas measures 26 by 25 ½ inches and was painted in 1860. It is not the fiery autumnal masterpieces that are associated with Cropsey but an unusual and very, very nice view of one of the country's great wonders. Arched paintings, by the way, are always of more interest than traditional rectilinear shapes. The work was acquired in 1862 by the Brooklyn Institute (the precursor of the Brooklyn Museum, which has always had an excellent American paintings collection). The Ganzes got it from Hirsch & Adler. This work has been widely exhibited and has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $478,400.
Lot 113 is a very sweet and good 6-by-10-inch oil on canvas by Cropsey that is entitled "Lake Scene with Hikers in Vale." Cropsey is a second-generation Hudson River School artist but one of the very best and this has a conservative estimate of $20,000 to $30,000 and probably will go for $40,000 to $50,000. It sold for $84,000.
The sale total was $31,263,400 with about 81 percent of the offered lots selling, many over their high estimates.
Lot 102, "Scene at Cold Spring, Hudson River," by David Johnson (1827-1908). Johnson is a second-tier Hudson River School artist of very fine and meticulous painterliness and this is a classic Hudson River scene and a nice size, 22 ½ by 34 inches. It was painted in 1857. It has an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It sold for $411,200.
Once again, the finest work to go up at either Sotheby's or Christie's is by Winslow Homer and Lot 18 at Sotheby's, which is also the catalogue's cover illustration, is a magnificent watercolor and gouache on paper, entitled "In the Garden." This is small, only 9 by 6 ¾ inches and has an estimate of $1,500,000 to $2,500,000. It comes from the Arthur Altschul collection. It sold for $1,688,000.
Lot 26 at Sotheby's is a nice Homer watercolor entitled "Boy with Blue Dory" that is 9 by 17 inches. While nowhere as sumptuous and painterly as "In The Garden," it is a a good, stark composition and has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000. It sold for $859,200. Maurice Prendergast (1859-1924) is a highly original American modern whose Cézanne/Fauve/Neo-Impressionist works are lush, abstract and very colorful. His works while not cheap are still undervalued and there are several to choose from this time around.
Lot 34, "Late Afternoon (Moonlight at Marblehead)," is a fine small oil painted 1907-1910. It measures 12 ¼ by 15 ¾ inches and has a modest estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. It is very nice and a classic Prendergast. It sold for $282,400.
Like Homer, Prendergast's watercolors are as great as his oils and Lot 47, "Playtime at Salem Park, Massachusetts," is a very strong composition that is a nice size, 13 ¾ by 19 ½ inches. Executed 1913-5, it has a quite modest estimate of $80,000 to $120,000. It sold for $142,400.
The real stars of this auction are a sensational Arthur Dove (1880-1946) and an extremely strong Marsden Hartley (1878-1943).
Lot 64 is the Dove. Entitled "Snowstorm," it is a classic work by this early abstract painter of organic forms. An oil on canvas, this masterpiece, the finest work of art in this auction, measures 14 by 20 inches, which is not large but then most of his best works are not. It was painted in 1935 and has a modest estimate of $700,000 to $900,000. (See The City Review article on a Dove exhibition.) It sold for $1,240,000, setting a new world auction record for Dove.
The Hartley is Lot 56, "Storm Down Pine Point Way, Old Orchard Beach." Like the Dove, it is a brooding work of very great power. Indeed, Hartley was greatly influenced by Albert Pinkham Ryder, whose moonlight sailboat scenes are abstract masterpieces. This oil on masonite measures 22 by 29 inches and was painted 1941-3, near the end of Hartley's life. Hartley is best known for these Ryderesque seascapes, his German military medal pictures, his American Indian mythological works and for landscapes: he painted in a number of different styles and his reputation is continuing to grow. This work has a quite modest estimate of $700,000 to $900,000. (See The City Review article on a Hartley exhibition.) It sold for $2,360,000.
Lot 68, "Blue Day, Greenland," it is an oil on canvas by Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) that measures 34 by 44 ½ inches and was painted in 1935-7. It has a modest estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It sold $232,000. Kent's stark landscapes, and snowscapes, of which this is a classic example, are very abstract. The painting was once in the collection of James J. Ryan of Virginia and was the cover illustration of Kent's autobiography, "It's Me O Lord," which was published in 1955.
Lot 13, "Trees in Full Summer," is a lovely oil by Emil Carlsen (1853-1932), a major California artist whose works are extremely beautiful. This 25-by-30 ¼-inch painting was executed about 1915 and has an estimate of $60,000 to $80,000. It sold for $96,000. His works are pretty, very pretty and here that is not meant derisively. His works have a very painterly, Tonalist/Impressionist quality that will only appreciate in value.
Lot 111 is a small oil on board by Martin J. Heade (1819-1904) who is acclaimed for his salt marsh Massachusetts landscapes, his flower and hummingbird pictures and his South American and Florida scenes. This 6 ¼-by-12 ¼ inch work is entitled "Palm Trees, Florida." It has a modest estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. It sold for $187,200.
"Bryam Hills," Lot 33, a lovely oil on canvas that measures 42 by 50 by inches, by Daniel Garber (1880-1958) sold for $1,128,000. The painting was the back cover illustration of the catalogue and the price was almost double the high estimate and set a new world auction for Garber.