Collectors can expect the usual at Bonhams’ upcoming American art sale—and that’s nothing to be disappointed about. The prominent New York auction house will offer an expansive array of offerings spanning 19th- and 20th- century art across a diversity of art movements and a variety of price points, from three to six figures, according to American art director Jennifer Jacobsen. Included in the sale will be works in modernism from artists like Charles Burchfield and John Marin; impressionism from Childe Hassam, Jane Peterson and William J. Glackens; landscapes by Albert Bierstadt; maritime art by Antonio Jacobsen and James E. Buttersworth; and even a few surrealist works by John Atherton.
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), Mount St. Helens, Columbia River, Oregon, ca. 1889. Oil on canvas, 18 x 32½ in., signed lower left with conjoined initials: ‘ABierstadt’. Estimate: $250/350,000
Most of these pieces come from private collections says Jacobsen. “The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco has consigned five deaccessioned works, including a very impressive large-scale, multi-figural work by Henry Varnum Poor,” she adds. In addition, the day before the sale Laurie Norton Moffatt, executive director and CEO of the Norman Rockwell Museum, will give a talk titled: Illustration Art: Then and Now. “We’re thrilled to have Laurie coming,” says Jacobsen.
William J. Glackens (1870-1938), Tulips, ca. 1915. Oil on canvas, 24 x 19½ in. Estimate: $60/80,000
Fern Isabel Coppedge (1888-1951), Coastal Scene. Oil on canvas, 24 x 301/8 in., signed lower left: ‘F. Coppedge’. Estimate: $20/30,000
While the auction is filled to the brim with superb lots, Jacobsen helps break down a few of the standouts. Bierstadt’s circa 1889 oil Mount St. Helens, Columbia River, Oregon (est. $250/350,000) comes from the L.D. “Brink” Brinkman Collection of Kerrville, Texas, from which Bonhams sold its major collection of Western art earlier this year. “Albert Bierstadt visited the Pacific Northwest twice in his career in 1863 and 1889. This work was likely inspired by the latter trip,” says Jacobsen. “It’s a lovely composition incorporating a vibrant palette with fall foliage and deer in the foreground with the expansive, majestic vista beyond. The title of this work has historically attributed this scene to depict Mount St. Helens, and the painting has been requested for the February 8 to May 17 exhibition Volcano! Mount St. Helens in Art organized by the Portland Art Museum.”
Wolf Kahn (b. 1927), The Clark Farm III, 1976. Oil on canvas, 52½ x 60¼ in., signed lower right: ‘W. Kahn’; signed again lower left; inscribed with title on stretcher; on verso: ‘#9 1976’. Estimate: $30/50,000
Fresh to the market is Glackens’ impressionist piece Tulips, which features a colorful arrangement of flowers in “full of energetic brush strokes and a vibrant color palette,” says Jacobsen. The oil, which has been in a significant private collection for 25 years, is estimated to sell between $60,000 and $80,000. 
James E. Buttersworth (1817-1894), The USS Ohio Battling Through a Storm. Oil on canvas, 36 x 50 in., signed lower right: ‘J.E. Buttersworth’. Estimate: $120/180,000
A major consignment from a private corporate collection in New York includes modern works from Wolf Kahn, Sally Michel Avery and March Avery. “Wolf Kahn is highly regarded as a colorist and has devoted decades of his career to painting the American landscape in his bold yet atmospheric style. His fascination with barns as a subject began in 1966 and continued through the 1970s and ‘80s,” says Jacobsen. Kahn’s 1976 oil The Clark Farm III has an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. Another major lot in the sale by Sally Michel Avery is Feline Family, depicting a woman in bright orange cradling a black-and-white cat (est. $10/15,000).
Sally Michel Avery (1902-2003), Feline Family, 1980. Oil on canvas, 52 x 40 in., inscribed with title and signed on verso: ‘FELINE FAMILY / Sally Michel’. Estimate: $10/15,000
Buttersworth’s The USS Ohio Battling Through a Storm (est. $120/180,000) is expected to generate significant interest as well. “The USS Ohio was an American naval ship designed by Henry Eckford that first launched in 1820. The ship defended American interests in many international engagements around the world and is here seen navigating rough seas under a dramatic stormy sky,” Jacobsen says of the piece. “The painting exhibits incredible detail with about 100 sailors depicted onboard the ship.” The large-scale piece, measuring 50 inches across, has been in the same private collection for more than 20 years. —
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