Going Out with a Bang

Several lots shattered their estimates at Freeman’s American Art & Pennsylvania Impressionists sale, the last to be held at its historic Chestnut Street location

Freeman’s saw another immensely successful run at its American Art & Pennsylvania Impressionists auction, making over $2.4 million in total sales from its more than 150 lots of fine art. Pieces in the sale included paintings, drawings, watercolors and prints by noted American artists like Mary Elizabeth Price, whose Hollyhocks and Delphinium Screen reached $112,500 off a high estimate of $80,000. A number of the top lots in the sale sky-rocketed past their initial estimates, with particularly stellar results in the Pennsylvania Impressionists category. The number one lot went to Daniel Garber’s oil By the River, a prime example of a Pennsylvania Impressionist piece, which sold for $250,000 (est. $200/300,000). Daniel Garber (1880-1958), By the River. Oil on canvas, 281/8 x 301/8 in. in its original frame, signed bottom center: ‘Daniel Garber’. Estimate: $200/300,000 SOLD: $250,000

Romare Bearden (1911-1988), New York Scenes, 1979. Set of 23 watercolors on paper, including some with pencil, collage and mixed media, all pencil signed. Estimate: $20/30,000 SOLD: $156,250“I was delighted with the response to our very last auction of American Art & Pennsylvania Impressionists held in our Chestnut Street location,” says Freeman’s chairman Alasdair Nichol. “It was a packed-to-capacity room with many active bidders during the highly popular Pennsylvania Impressionist section, a field in which Freeman’s continues to lead the market.”Louis Rémy Mignot (1831-1870), Incense Breathing Morn. – Gray’s Elegy. Oil on canvas, 16 x 22 in., signed and dated bottom right: ‘M. | 68’; also with London preparer’s stencil verso and titled on label verso. Estimate: $40/60,000 SOLD: $150,000

Mary Elizabeth Price (1877-1965), Hollyhocks and Delphinium Screen, ca. 1925. Oil with gold and silver leaf on Masonite, 72 x 36 x 15 in., signed in a cartouche bottom right: ‘M. ELIZABETH PRICE’. Estimate: $50/80,000 SOLD: $112,500The work of Romare Bearden also saw superb results—the number two lot of the sale was a set of 23 watercolors, New York Scenes, that demolished its $30,000 high estimate when it sold for $156,250. Bearden’s collage and mixed media piece Sunset (Mysterious Woman) achieved $96,875 (est. $12/18,000). In addition, Winter Along the Delaware Valley by Fern Isabel Coppedge hammered at $81,250 (est. $40/60,000), among other prominent lots by Coppedge. More than doubling its high estimate of $60,000 was Louis Rémy Mignot’s Incense Breathing Morn. – Gray’s Elegy, selling for $150,000.Romare Bearden (1911-1988), Sunset (Mysterious Woman), 1980. Collage and mixed media on fiberboard, 14 x 18 in., titled, signed and dated on verso: ‘1981 Romare Bearden’. Estimate: $12/18,000 SOLD: $96,875

Freeman’s next American Art & Pennsylvania Impressionists sale will take place at the auction house’s new flagship location at 2400 Market Street in Philadelphia. —

Top 10 sales

Freeman’s, American Art & Pennsylvania Impressionists, December 8, 2019 (including buyer’s premium)
Artist Title Low/High ESt. SOLD
Daniel Garber By the River $200/300,000 $250,000
Romare Bearden New York Scenes $20/30,000 $156,250
Louis Rémy Mignot Incense Breathing Morn. – Gray’s Elegy $40/60,000 $150,000
Mary Elizabeth Price Hollyhocks and Delphinium Screen $50/80,000 $112,500
Romare Bearden Sunset (Mysterious Woman) $12/18,000 $96,875
Fern Isabel Coppedge Winter Along the Delaware Valley $40/60,000 $81,250
Norman Rockwell Study for Boy Reading His Sister’s Diary $30/50,000 $68,750
Edward Willis Redfield The Hill Country $50/80,000 $68,750
Romare Bearden Empress of the Blues $20/30,000 $56,250
Fern Isabel Coppedge December Sunshine $30/50,000 $56,250