Harbor scenes, autumn leaves, peaceful landscapes, coastal views of sunlight dancing on crashing waves—Christie’s American Art Online sale was certainly preparing bidders for the coming shift to fall. The works, warm and inviting, must have enticed bidders. The auction, which ended August 7, achieved nearly $4 million in sales with a 75 percent sell-through rate. 
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), Two Little Sisters, 1901-02. Oil on canvas, 13 x 16¼ in., signed lower right: ‘Mary Cassatt’. Estimate: $400/600,000 SOLD: $519,000
“Christie’s August American Art Online sale saw strong results for American Impressionists and 19th-century artists including Childe Hassam, Willard Leroy Metcalf, Winslow Homer and James Abbott McNeill Whistler,” says Caroline Seabolt, American art specialist at Christie’s. “The sale was led by Mary Cassatt’s superb oil painting Two Little Sisters, which achieved $519,000. The sale also saw strong results for two important Nicolai Fechin paintings that had been in the same private collection for nearly 65 years.”
Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955), Amoset (Amesette), ca. 1932. Oil on canvas, 32 x 24 in., signed lower right: ‘N. Fechin’; signed again and inscribed with title on the reverse. Estimate: $150/250,000 SOLD: $175,000
Childe Hassam (1859-1935), The Red Mill, Cos Cob, 1896. Oil on canvas, 16¾ x 24 in., signed, dated and inscribed lower right with artist’s crescent device: ‘Childe Hassam 1896/Cos Cob’. Estimate: $200/300,000
SOLD: $212,500
The Cassatt piece, an oil showing two sisters cheek to cheek amid lightly applied paint, was estimated at $400,000 to $600,000 and came in within estimates after consistent bidding. The back-to-back Fechin lots were Amoset (Amesette), an autumn scene of a mountain cabin with a man working in the foreground, and Abuelo, a portrait of an older man with a beard and a wide-brimmed hat. Amoset fell within estimates at $175,000, but Abuelo soared well above its $180,000 high estimate when it sold for $250,000.
Willard Leroy Metcalf (1858-1925), Green Idleness, ca. 1911. Oil on canvas, 26 x 29 in., signed lower right: ‘W.L. Metcalf’. Estimate: $200/300,000 SOLD: $237,500
Elsewhere in the sale were two sculptural works from Elie Nadelman, Kneeling Dancer (Dancing Figure) (est. $350/550,000) that sold for $250,000 and Head of a Woman (est. $200/300,000) that sold for $212,500, and Willard Leroy Metcalf’s beautiful landscape scene Green Idleness (est. $200/300,000) that closed at $237,500. 
Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), Prevailing Wind, 1951. Watercolor and pencil on paper, 215/8 x 29¾ in., signed lower left: ‘Andrew Wyeth’. Estimate: $50/70,000 SOLD: $93,750
Early in the sale were two Wyeth Family works: Andrew Wyeth’s Prevailing Wind (est. $50/70,000) selling for $93,750 and Jamie Wyeth’s Open Sea (est. $70/100,000) that sold for $68,750.
Other artists with high performing pieces were Childe Hassam, Jonas Lie, Albert Bierstadt and Norman Rockwell. —
Top 10 sales
Christie’s, American Art Online, July 23, 2020 (including buyer’s premium)
Artist Title Low/High ESt. SOLD
Mary Cassatt Two Little Sisters $400/600,000 $519,000
Elie Nadelman Kneeling Dancer (Dancing Figure) $350/550,000 $250,000
Nicolai Fechin Abuelo $120/180,000 $250,000
Willard Leroy Metcalf Green Idleness $200/300,000 $237,500
Childe Hassam The Red Mill, Cos Cob $200/300,000 $212,500
Elie Nadelman Head of a Woman $200/300,000 $212,500
Nicolai Fechin Amoset (Amesette) $150/250,000 $175,000
James Abbott McNeill Whistler St. Ives: The Beach $80/120,000 $175,000
Norman Rockwell Study for ‘Orange Nip Boy’ $20/30,000 $118,750
Severin Roesen Nature’s Bounty $70/100,000 $118,750
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