Over the years, Heritage Auctions has garnered a solid reputation for its offerings in Golden Age illustration and Western art, having set a number of world auction records and consistently filling their sales with lots from both categories. Its next American Art Signature Auction on July 1 is no different, with the majority of the top items being from both categories. However, this year’s sale will also shine a light on segments of the market such as portraiture and Hudson River School. With approximately 150 lots crossing the block during the day’s event, collectors are sure to find something that suits their needs.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Mother Tucking Child into Bed (Mother’s Little Angels), Literary Digest cover, January 29, 1921. Oil on canvas, 28½ x 24½ in. Estimate: $1.8/2.4 million
The top piece for the auction is a charming and recognizable work by Golden Age great Norman Rockwell titled Mother Tucking Children into Bed (Mother’s Little Angels), which was one of the 47 pieces he made for covers of Literary Digest. Aviva Lehmann, director of American art at Heritage, says, “What’s very special about this is it’s sort of the holy grail of Literary Digest covers…It’s probably the best-known cover. You’ll see hundreds of websites with the image, and it’s widely produced to this day. It’s so sweet and nostalgic of this mother tucking her children into bed. The model in the work is Rockwell’s first wife, Irene O’Connor.”
The work, which is estimated to sell between $1.8 million and $2.4 million, arrives at market from the family of Rudolph E. Leppert, who was an editor at Literary Digest and was gifted the piece in 1921. 
Winslow Homer (1836-1910), Upland Cotton, 1879-95. Oil on canvas, 49¾ x 30 in. Estimate: $100/150,000
Rockwell is represented by another noteworthy work in the sale, Grandfather and Grandson (est. $500/700,000), which was commissioned in 1929 by Dixon Ticonderoga. The work shows a grandfather teaching his grandson how to sharpen a pencil, but not just any pencil, a yellow No. 2 Dixon Ticonderoga that the company is best known for. The work arrives at auction directly from the Dixon Ticonderoga Collection along with three other pieces in the sale.
George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925), Jackie, 1914. Oil on panel, 24½ x 24¾ in. Estimate: $70/90,000
Also coming from the company is Harvey Dunn’s Dawn, Dawn, Dawn, which depicts a key moment in American history—colonial soldiers rushing toward victory at Fort Ticonderoga. The work, commissioned in 1932, is expected to sell between $80,000 and $120,000. Describing the painting Lehmann says, “It’s got the swashbuckling feel of action, because Dunn trained under Howard Pyle of the Brandywine School, with a central fighter and swooping trees and action. Really it’s a tour de force for Dunn.” Another historical scene by the artist was commissioned from the company in 1936 and is also featured in the sale: Ethan Allen Plotting the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga (est. $15/25,000).
Robert Henri (1865-1929), Blond Bridget Lavelle, 1928. Oil on canvas, 28 x 20 in. Estimate: $300/500,000
Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823-1880), The Darent River, Kent, England, 1856. Oil on canvas, 18¼ x 15¼ in. Estimate: $15/25,000
The fourth piece from Dixon Ticonderoga is the Revolutionary War scene The Nobel Train of Artillery, by Tom Lovell, which was commissioned in 1932 by the company. “This is also a tour de force for Lovell,” Lehmann explains. “He served in the [Marine Corps Reserve in World War II] and was out in the fields. This is why the vantage point is sort of cropped right up against the picture plane. It makes you feel like you’re in the scene and in the moment.”
Other illustrations in the auction include J.C. Leyendecker’s Yule (est. $150/250,000), which was painted as the December 26, 1931, cover of The Saturday Evening Post; and Maxfield Parrish’s Life cover A Dark Futurist (est. $150/250,000), which is one of several works from this series that the artist painted almost as an indirect self-portrait.
Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966), A Dark Futurist, Life cover, March 1, 1923. Oil on paper laid on panel, 14 x 111/8 in. Estimate: $150/250,000
J.C. Leyendecker (1874-1952), Yule, The Saturday Evening Post cover, December 26, 1931. Oil on canvas, 30 x 22¼ in. Estimate: $150/250,000From a distinguished Southern collection is Upland Cotton, by Winslow Homer, which he began working on in 1879 and went back to tweak in 1895. It is estimated to sell between $100,000 and $150,000. There are two important portraits also hitting the market in the sale, Robert Henri’s Blond Bridget Lavelle (est. $300/500,000), depicting one of his most iconic subjects and carries a provenance that traces backto the artist, and George Wesley Bellows’ 1914 painting Jackie (est. $70/90,000), which also can be traced back to the artist.
John Ford Clymer (1907-1989), The Lewis Crossing. Oil on board, 24 x 40 in. Estimate: $80/120,000
Among the Hudson River School works in the sale are two European scenes that are noteworthy: Worthington Whittredge’s Sunrise, View from Drachenfels from Rolandseck and Sanford Robinson Gifford’s The Darent River, Kent England, which was painted around 1856. Both works have presale estimates of $15,000 to $25,000. —
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