By Carter B. Horsley This auction of American Paintings at Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg is highlighted by several important early Western works by such artists as Peter Rindisbacher (1806-1834), Seth Eastman (1808-1875), and Alfred Jacob Miller (1810-1874).
Other highlights include good works by Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), John James Audubon (1875-1851), Victor de Grailly (1804-1889), Homer Dodge Martin (1836-1897), Francis Augustus Silva (1835-1886), Ralph Albert Blakelock (1847-1919), Elliot Dangerfield (1859-1932), Joseph Decker (1853-1924), John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), Robert Henri (1865-1929) and Emil Carlsen (1853-1932)
Other interesting works in the auction are by Joseph Otis Minnot (d. 1909) and Alfred Kappes (1850-1894).
Works by Rindisbacher are very rare on the auction market and Lot 64, shown above, is a fine example of his work. Entitled "Buffalo Hunt," it is a pen, black ink and watercolor on paper that measures 8 1/4 by 16 7/8 inches. Executed circa 1822-4, it has a conservative estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It failed to sell and was "bought in" for $75,000. Its provenance includes Harry Webb of Shelburne, Vt., and the Gerald Peters Gallery of Santa Fe.
Rindisbacher settled in the Earl of Selkirk's Red River colony near what is now Winnipeg in 1821. Other versions of this scene are in the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa, the United States Military Academy Museum at West Point and the Hudson's Bay Company in Winnipeg. "As later artists' depictions of the western frontier attest," the catalogue noted, "the theme of the buffalo hunt was to become endemic throughout 19th Century American art. None, however, would depict the majesty of the buffalo and the vision of the West which it represented more poignantly than Rindisbacher. The Buffalo Hunt services as one of the earliest documents of the white man's exploration of this frontier.
Lot 65, "Worship of the Sun, Dakota Dancers," is a 6-by-9-inch watercolor, shown above, by Seth Eastman that is dated 1852 and has a conservative estimate of $80,000 to $120,000. It sold for $120,000, not including the buyer's premium.
Eastman studied drawing while at West Point before being assigned to Fort Crawford on the Mississippi River where for four years he documented tribal gatherings and in 1830 he was transferred to Fort Snelling in Minnesota, now Minneapolis, and then served from 1831-3 as the artist for a topographical reconnaissance mission of frontier forts. From 1841 to 1848, he returned to Fort Snelling and sketched both Dakota and Chippewa subjects. The Sun Dance depicted in this lot was performed by two young men who would dance with whistles in their mouths for several days while fasting.
The catalogue provides the additional following commentary:
"Works such as these in Eastman's collections were received with great acclaim by artists' circles. In 1848 he exhibited a number of them at the National Academy of Design and Cincinnati's Western Art Union. A critic from the St. Louis Republican noted 'Since we have known something of Eastman's pictures, and of Indians, we have ranked him as out of sight the best painter of Indian life the country has produced; a superior artist to Catlin - he has lived and painted for years among the Indians, where Catlin has spent months; his gallery now, is far more complete in all that relates to Indian character, than is Catlin's; and there is in the latter, an effort at effect, as apparent as in the truth of Eastman, to any one who has really seen Indians.' As a result of Eastman's success and the positive reception of his work, he and his family were moved to Washington, D.C., in 1851 to work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He had been chosen as the official illustrator for a five-year, Congress-approved publication to record all of the Indian tribes of the United States, authored by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. The result was the six-volume Historical and Statistical Information Respecting the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States (1851-1857). The illustrations for these volumes were etchings based upon original works executed by Eastman while at Fort Snelling. Published on November 30, 1852, Worship of the Sun, Dakota Dancers appears as an engraving executed by R. Hinshelwood in volume III as plate 27."
Lot 66, "Mirage on the Prairie," is a 8 3/4-by-13 1/2-inch watercolor on paper by Alfred Jacob Miller, shown above. Painted circa 1840, it has an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. It sold for $180,000, not including the buyer's premium. The work has been widely exhibited and published.
The catalogue contains an extensive quotation from Miller's notes of his 1837 expedition with Captain William Drummond Stewart for the American Fur Company that documents the "mirage" depicted in this lot. "In itself," the catalogue entry observes, Mirage on the Prairie is a beautiful and romantic document of expedition life depicting the caravan of men, horses and supplies in the midst of the prairie. Wagons and mules laden with supplies, and men on horseback and on foot, all converge and proceed out into the wide expanse of the western plains. The vivid foreground colors of pristine white in the covered wagon, and the brilliant red of the front man on horseback, coupled with the movement away from the viewer, entices one to travel with the group out into the expanse. This and similar watercolors convey an intense and immediate experience of miler's trip, whose beauty, but harsh reality, is brought to attention by Miller's narrative relating to the image."
Rindisbacher, Eastman and Miller were, along with Catlin and Karl Bodmer, the first generation of fine artists who documented the early forays by whites of the West.
The second generation of great artists of the West included Thomas Moran and Albert Bierstadt and Lot 69, "Mount Hood, Oregon," an 11-by-20-inch oil on paper laid down on canvas is a fine example of his majestic vistas. It is dated 1863 and has a conservative estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. It sold for $140,000 not including the buyer's premium. "Bierstadt's genius," the catalogue noted, "was his ability to summarize the spirit of Manifest Destiny in such spectacular and rich lands of the West as seen in Mount Hood, Oregon."
Lot 6, "White Breasted Hawk," is a rare pastel, pencil and chalk on paper by John James Audubon. It measures 20 1/4 by 16 1/2 inches and has a conservative estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $230,000 not including the buyer's premium. Between 1827 and 1838, Audubon published his four-volume "Birds of America" that contained 1,055 life-sized birds printed and hand-colored on 435 elephant folio sheets, of which White Breasted Hawk is one. "It is a fine example of Audubon's ability to observe delicate nuances of color and form while giving life to the bird he delineates," the catalogue observed.
The auction includes some fine Eastern landscapes.
Lot 21, "Majestic View at Day's End - view of Lake Winnipesaukee from Red Hill, New Hampshire," is a good oil on canvas laid down on board, 26 1/2 by 35 7/8 inches, painted circa 1850s by Victor de Grailly. The artist achieved wide acclaim for his painted versions of engravings by William Henry Bartlett that were published in American Scenery in 1840. This work is based on an 1837 Bartlett engraving and has a conservative estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. It sold for $9,000 not including the buyer's premium.
Lot 22 is a beautiful view of "Silver Lake" with streaks of sunlight breaking through the clouds above a mountain by Homer Dodge Martin. The 24 1/2-by-40 1/4-inch oil on canvas has a conservative estimate of $10,000 to $15,000 and was once in the collection of Newhouse Galleries in New York. It sold for $20,000 not including the buyer's premium.
Lot 30 is a strong work notable for its reddish hues by Francis Augustus Silva, entitled "Sunset, New York Harbor." The 9-by-18-inch oil on canvas was painted circa 1876 and was once in the collection of Alexander Galleries in New York. It has a conservative estimate of $60,000 to $80,000. It was "passed" at $55,000. The catalogue notes that Silva was a leading force along with Fitz Hugh Lane (1804-1865) and Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904) of the Luminist movement and that "it was under Silva that the Luminist's serene and fluid treatment of light reached its apex," adding that this work is "a brilliant evocation of atmosphere."
Lot 49, "Schroon Lake, New York (Five Figures in a Landscape)," is a very nice oil on canvas, 17 by 31 inches, by Ralph Albert Blakelock. The painting was executed circa 1875 to 1880 and has an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. It was "passed" at $75,000. Blakelock is best known for his moonlit night scenes of forests and Indian encampments that are very painterly and poetic and were quite different from his earlier "Hudson River School style" landscapes of which this is a fine example.
An artist who stylistically was influenced by Blakelock was Elliott Daingerfield and Lot 54, "Bringing Home Firewood," a 20 1/8-by-14 1/8-inch oil on canvas, is a superb and vibrant impressionist work by him. Dated 1890, it has an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It was "passed" at $17,000.
Lot 52, "Still Life with Grapes and Peaches," is a lush and magnificent work by Joseph Decker that was painted circa 1880-90. One of the artist's largest still lifes, the oil on canvas measures 16 by 29 1/2 inches and has an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000. It was "passed" at $95,000.
Lot 99, "A Spanish Woman (Gigia)," is a 22-by-18-inch oil on canvas by John Singer Sargent that is bold and absorbing. Painted circa 1879-1882, it has an estimate of $700,000 to $900,000. It failed to sell and was "bought in" at $525,000. Sargent studied with Carlos-Duran, the portrait painter, who urged his students to study Velasquez and Sargent traveled to Madrid in 1879 and copied works by the master.
The catalogue provides the following commentary:
"The present work clearly derives its restrained palette from Velasquez's example. Here Sargent has limited himself to velvety blacks, a rich cocoa brown, and a subtle range of gold to describe the sitter's exposed body. A Spanish Woman (Gigia) also shares the radically simplified composition of Velasquez's work, placing a single figure against a shallow, neutral background. Also notable is Sargent's use of tenebristic shadows. Eschewing crisp, linear contours, the artist crates convincing anatomical volume with dramatic patches of dark and light. Although strikingly beautiful, this woman is not idealized. Her distinctive facial features, unkempt hair, and modest, unassuming garments betray a model of common, everyday origins. Indeed, this quality of the present work raises perplexing questions about the sitter's precise identity. Many of Sargent's works from the early 1880s feature Gigia Viani, an Italian woman whom Sargent met while in Venice. She become the artist's favorite model....While the word 'Gigia' is inscribed on the stretcher of the present work, and apparently written in the artist's own hand, the sitter's appearance ultimately renders this identification questionable.Despite her possible anonymity, the sitter of the present work remains a fully conceived individual. Sargent has endowed this portrait with a striking psychological presence. The woman appears rather anxious, as through startled by a movement beyond the picture frame."
Less mysterious and more certain of identity is Lot 102, "Mrs. Harris Whittemore and Baby Helen," a 23-by-19-inch pastel on paper by Mary Cassatt that is the cover illustration of the catalogue and is shown at the top of this article. The very beautiful pastel was executed in 1898 and has an estimate of $2,000,000 to $3,000,000. It failed to sell and was "bought in" at $1,200,000.
Lot 116 is a delightful work by Robert Henri. Entitled "Little Dreamer," it is an oil on board that measures 23 3/4 by 18 3/4 inches and has a conservative estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $26,000 not including the buyer's premium.
Lot 95 is an excellent oil on canvas, 20 by 24 inches, by Emil Carlsen that is luminous and abstract. Entitled "The South Strand, Skagen," it has a conservative estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $31,000 not including the buyer's premium.
Lot 83, "The Launching of the 'Defender," is a very nice watercolor and pencil on paper, 19 1/4 by 26 1/4 inches, by Joseph Otis Minott. Dated 1895, it has a conservative estimate of $6,000 to $8,000. It sold for $7,500 not including the buyer's premium. The Defender was a yacht financed by William K. Vanderbilt, Oliver Iselin and Edwin Morgan and got stuck on some bolts from the ways at its launching and, according to the catalogue, took two days to "unstick." It went own to defeat the British Valkyrie III in the ninth challenge for the America's Cup.
One of the finest works in this auction is Lot 61, "Tattered and Torn," shown above, by Alfred Kappes. Dated 1886, the 40-by-32-inch oil on canvas has an estimate of $75,000 to $100,000 and is in the great tradition of the best paintings by Thomas Eakins. It sold for $75,000 not including the buyer's premium.
"Predominantly a genre painter in New York City in the late 19th century, Alfred Kappes was elected an Associate member of the National Academy of Design in 1887. This same year, he exhibited Tattered and Torn at the Boston Art Club. Kappes was renowned during his career for his sensitive portrayal of the lives of the African-American community, and was recognized as such in art reviews of the day. Kappes was also known for his illustration work, specifically the sketches of the homes and tombs of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison."
Of the 142 offered lots, 42 did not sell.