Market reports

What we're hearing from galleries, auction houses and museums across the country

Carey L. Vose
Gallery Director
Vose Galleries

As the sixth generation of our family firm, I’m honored to carry on the tradition of specializing in American realist paintings from the 18th to 20th centuries, as well as representing a select group of contemporary (realist) New England painters and sculptors.

In general, I would say that paintings with more activity, color and dramatic light generally fare better than more subtle, tonalist scenes in the current market. Prize-winning works that were exhibited during an artist’s lifetime are also typically more sought after, as are artists that were affiliated with a number of respected arts clubs and organizations. I’m also very pleased with the resurgence of interest from museum curators in acquiring examples by notable women artists of the early 20th century; in just the past year we have placed several important paintings in major permanent collections. We expect this trend to continue. Our exhibition of...women painters...features rare examples by artists such as Mary Lizzie Macomber, Elizabeth Nourse, Elizabeth Wentworth Roberts and Mary Bradish Titcomb.

Also this fall, we’re thrilled that the family of American impressionist Theodore Wendel has entrusted us with nearly 30 French and New England landscapes and figural paintings comprising the first exhibition in decades in which the artist’s talent can be observed and appreciated. For generations, Vose Galleries has welcomed the opportunity to shine a light on the work of “unsung artists,” and in the sphere of American impressionism there is perhaps no artist more deserving of this attention than Theodore Wendel (1857-1932). As part of the first wave of Americans to visit Giverny in the summer of 1887…Wendel became one of the earliest painters to apply impressionist principles to his plein air interpretations of the French countryside. Those on both sides of the Atlantic applauded his work—Claude Monet, who limited his interactions with the Americans, thought highly of his output according to several sources…Wendel found his own personal Giverny in the coastal Massachusetts town of Ipswich, yet maintained an active exhibition schedule, with shows at the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Corcoran Gallery, the Society of American Artists and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, which awarded him the prestigious Jennie Sesnan Gold Prize for ‘Winter at Ipswich’ in 1908.

With Bringing to Light: Theodore Wendel, we are grateful to take on the role of steward of his paintings, the majority of which have never before been offered for sale. We hope discerning collectors of American impressionism will embrace the opportunity to restore Theodore Wendel to his rightful place among his contemporaries.

Vose Galleries 238 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116 www.vosegalleries.com