Ralph E. Cahoon Jr. (1910-1982), A View of Provincetown, Mass. Oil on Masonite, 24 x 30 in., signed lower right: ‘R. Cahoon’. Courtesy Eldred’s Auction Gallery, from The Summer Sale. Estimate: $40/60,000 SOLD: $50,000
East Dennis, MA
Eldred’s Auction Gallery
July 30-31
The Summer Sale
The two-day Summer Sale hosted by Eldred’s Auction Gallery on July 30 and 31, brought to collectors a sample of fine American paintings. Many of the pieces were from artists associated with the Cape Cod area, where the auction house is located. Among the standouts was Ralph E. Cahoon Jr.’s A View of Provincetown, Mass., a painting of the city located on the outermost tip of the Cape, but in the artist’s fantastical style. The work, which had an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000, sold squarely inside its estimate at $50,000. A second painting from The Summer Sale that sold right in its estimate, at $25,000, was John George Brown’s scene of shoeshine boys and dogs. The work was estimated for $20,000 to $30,000.
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Granville Redmond (1871-1935), Poppies and Lupine, 1914. Oil on canvas, 20 x 30 in., signed and dated lower left: ‘Granville Redmond 1914-’. Courtesy Bonhams. Estimate: $100/150,000 SOLD: $212,575
Los Angeles, CA
Bonhams
August 4
California & Western Art
$2.17 million
On August 4, Bonhams held its most recent California & Western Art sale to a solid total of $2,168,753 with 91 percent sold by value. The sale also achieved five new world auction records for Robert Eskridge, William Alexander Griffith, John Hayes, Henrietta Berk and Si Chen Yuan. The painting by Eskridge, Waikiki, was a beach scene with surfers and other swimsuit-clad figures. It sold for $43,825.
The top lot from the sale came from the California artist category: Poppies and Lupine, by Granville Redmond. The work, estimated at $100,000 to $150,000, more than doubled its low presale estimate when it achieved $212,575. Painted in 1914, Poppies and Lupine was a quintessential Redmond, as it depicted the wildflowers of the region.
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William Bradford (1823-1892), Clipper Golden West of Boston, Outward Bound, Circa 1852. Oil on canvas, 32 x 48 in., signed and indistinctly dated lower right: “Wm. Bradford Fairhaven Mass 1st Month 1853’; label verso marked: ‘Golden Wave, So. Fla. A.G. Estate, GPH-12/27’. Courtesy Eldred’s Auction Gallery, from The Marine Sale. Estimate: $60/80,000 SOLD: $59,375
East Dennis, MA
Eldred’s Auction Gallery
August 13
The Marine Sale
During Eldred’s Auction Gallery’s Marine Sale on August 13, the Kelton Collection of Marine Art & Artifacts hit the market with a number of scrimshaws, paintings and other ephemera available to collectors. While the most robust segment of the sale was businessman Richard Kelton’s scrimshaws, his paintings were of note in the auction as well. The top seller in that grouping was a portrait of the clipper Golden West by William Bradford, which sold just shy of its low estimate of $60,000 when it achieved $59,375.
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Asher B. Durand (1796-1886), Franconia Range from the South with Village of South Woodstock, New Hampshire, 1857. Oil on canvas, 36 x 54 in., signed and dated lower left: ‘A.B. Durand/1857’. Courtesy Brunk Auctions. Estimate: $300/500,000 SOLD: $516,600
Asheville, NC
Brunk Auctions
September 12
The Estate of William N. Banks, Jr. – Newnan, Georgia
$4.7 million
On September 12 Brunk Auctions hosted the 328-lot sale dedicated to the estate of William N. Banks Jr. of Newnan, Georgia. Banks, who passed away at age 95 last November, was a scholar, collector, historian and playwright. His collection included American paintings, furnishing and more that attracted the attention of bidders around the world. According to Brunk CEO and president, Andrew Brunk, there were buyers from the U.S., Asia and the U.K. who participated in the sale and helped push its total to around $4.7 million.
The top lot was John Frederick Kensett’s Beacon Rock, Newport, which achieved a robust $664,200 against a presale estimate of $250,000 to $350,000. Two other highlights were Franconia Range from the South with Village of South Woodstock, New Hampshire, an 1857 work by Asher B. Durand that topped its presale estimate at $516,600, and Sanford Robinson Gifford’s 1856 painting Mt. Washington from the Saco River, which sold for $369,000.
“There’s no question that there was a profound ‘Banks factor’ in play in the keen interest and success of the sale,” says Brunk.
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George Bellows (1882-1925), Farms and Chickens, Woodstock, October 1922. Oil on panel, 20 x 24 in., signed. Courtesy Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers. Estimate: $50/75,000 SOLD: $106,250
Milford, CT
Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers
September 17
Fall Auction
$3.3 million
Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers’ online Fall Auction saw active participation through the phones, internet and absentee to drive its total to $3.3 million. The abstract expressionist art from the Jeanne and Carroll Berry Collection was the top of the pack with Adolph Gottlieb’s Untitled #30 achieving $162,500, while Jackson Pollock’s Untitled, from 1952 to 1956, brought $112,500.
Outside that segment, a George Bellows painting from when he was in Woodstock, sold for $106,250 after back and forth from five phone bidders. The work, which had an estimate of $50,000 to $75,000, featured a farmer and chickens. Charles E. Burchfield’s Steel Mill Homes also was of note, selling to the Muskegon Museum of Art in Michigan for $75,000. A California institution purchased Charles Ethan Porter’s Peonies—consigned from a local collector whose ancestor purchased the work from the artist—for a strong $55,000 against an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000.
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Thomas Moran (1837–1926), Cascade Falls, Yosemite, 1905. Oil on canvas, 30¼ x 20 in. Courtesy Jackson Hole Art Auction. Estimate: $750/1,250,000 SOLD: $946,000
Jackson Hole, WY
Jackson Hole Art Auction
September 19
$5.2 million
The 14th annual Jackson Hole Art Auction, hosted by Trailside Galleries and Gerald Peters Gallery, saw 90 percent of its 306 offerings find new buyers. The auction, held virtually on September 19, achieved a solid $5.2 million sales with nearly 30 percent of the lots exceeding their high estimates. The day’s standout was the cover lot, Thomas Moran’s Cascade Falls, Yosemite, which sold within estimate at $946,000.
There also was success for G. Harvey’s Good Wage Wranglers, which came in above estimate at $226,100; Oscar E. Berninghaus’ Taos painting The Lookout, which sold for $142,800; and Bob Kuhn’s Red Fox Airborne, which sold double its high estimate at $178,500. Carl Runguis’ A Knight Errant also performed well in the sale, bringing in $148,750.
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Fern Isabel Coppedge (1888-1951), Lumberville in Winter. Oil on canvas, 20 x 18 in., signed lower left: ‘Fern I. Coppedge’; titled in pencil on stretcher. Courtesy Skinner Inc. Estimate: $20/30,000 SOLD: $40,625
Marlborough, MA
Skinner Inc.
September 25
Fine Paintings & Sculpture
Skinner’s live-online Fine Paintings & Sculpture sale on September 25 achieved strong results for several of its historic American items. Among the standouts was the colorful painting Winter in Lumberville by Pennsylvania Impressionist Fern Isabel Coppedge. The work, which had an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000, exceeded expectations when it sold for $40,625. Another landscape in the sale was by St. Louis artist Frederick Oakes Sylvester; the painting sold for $28,750. Andrew Wyeth’s Spruce Timber achieved $57,500, while the top lot of the day was a spiral gouache painting by Alexander Calder titled Osaka that sold for $62,500.
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Edward Muegee “Buck” Schiwetz (1898-1984), Main Street, 1963. Watercolor on paper, 14½ x 25¾ in, signed and dated lower right: ‘EM Schiwetz 63’. Courtesy Heritage Auctions. Estimate: $3/5,000 SOLD: $52,500
Dallas, TX
Heritage Auctions
September 26
Texas Art Signature Auction
$1.28 million
More than 600 bidders participated in Heritage Auctions’ Texas Art Signature Auction on September 26 leading to more than $1.28 million in sales and sell-through rates of more than 96 percent by value and 90 percent by lot. The most notable lot of the auction was contemporary artist David Bates’ Crab Legs, which set a world auction record for the artist at $275,000—a price that was more than five times the presale estimate.
Of the historic items, Edward Muegge “Buck” Schiwetz’s Main Street, 1963, sold for 10 times its high estimate at $52,500 after multiple bidders pursued the piece; and Everett Franklin Spruce’s circa 1945 painting Night on the Boat also sold above estimated at $27,500.
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Neil Welliver (1929-2005), From Zeke, 1974. Oil on canvas, 76 x 96 in., signed lower right: ‘Welliver’. Artist World Auction Record. Courtesy Hindman. Estimate: $15/25,000 SOLD: $81,250
Chicago, IL
Hindman
September 30
American and European Art
$1.8 million
A number of important paintings, many from the Crancer Estate, helped push Hindman’s American and European Art auction to a strong $1.8 million in sales, which was higher than its estimated outcome of $1 million.
Leading the American art category was a 1974 landscape by Neil Welliver titled From Zeke. The painting, which had a presale estimate of $15,000 to $25,000, sold for $81,250 to set a world auction record for the artist. A painting by Daniel Garber depicting the Solesbury, Pennsylvania, store Barrett’s Nook achieved $75,000 against an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. There also was success for works by Marvin Cone, Grant Wood and Dale Nichols among others. —
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