On the Hunt

Copley Fine Art’s Winter Sale 2021 features a wide selection of fine decoy and sporting art

February 19-20, 2021

Copley Fine Art Auctions
170 Lockwood Boulevard
t: 617.536.0030
e: Email Gallery
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Accommodating the numerous single-owner estates, which include several of the nation’s top decoy and sporting art collections, Copley Fine Art will hold a two-day virtual sale from February 19 to 20. The Winter Sale 2021 includes paintings and other works on paper capturing the genre of sporting art, with scenes of hunting dogs catching fowl, fishermen on calm and tumultuous waters, and portraits of the game itself, primarily waterfowl and trout.Ogden M. Pleissner (1905-1983), Jimmy’s Pool on the Restigouche. Oil on canvas, 24¼ x 36¼ in. Estimate: $60/90,000

Edmund H. Osthaus (1858-1928), Pointer with Quail. Oil on canvas, 27 x 36 in. Estimate: $150/250,000

“This sale represents a deep dive into some of America’s greatest sporting works. We have A+ paintings by A.F. Tait, Albert Bierstadt, Frank W. Benson, Edmund Osthaus, Ogden Pleissner, Bob Kuhn, among others. There are also some masterworks by Emile Gruppe and Anthony Thieme,” says Copley Fine Art principal Stephen B. O’Brien Jr. “The sale represents one of the best painting line-ups we have ever brought to market. It will be an opportunity to acquire some major works that almost never see the light of day. I am very excited for our clients to receive the two catalogs which will contain over 400 pages.”Frank W. Benson (1862-1951), Redheads in Flight. Oil on canvas, 36¼ x 45 in. Estimate: $250/450,000

Gruppe’s oil On Fish is full of drama as a group of fishermen battle an angry sea in their attempts to secure the day’s catch. “The Gruppe is as good as it gets, and of the hundreds I have examined, this is my favorite,” says O’Brien. Another eye-catching piece in the sale is Pointer with Quail, by Osthaus, depicting a gorgeous copper-bespeckled canine during a fall hunt. The piece is expected to fetch between $150,000 and $250,000.

Bob F. Kuhn (1920-2007), Young Buck with Doe. Acrylic on Masonite, 22 x 33 in. Estimate: $80/120,000

In the realm of decoy art, the Winter Sale will include a number of gorgeous carvings. “Our decoy section is epic this year,” says O’Brien. “We will be offering Session II of the Dr. Peter J. Muller Jr. Collection, The William K. du Pont Collection and The Walter L. Bush Collection, that is being deaccessioned from a New York City museum. The top makers,” he adds, “[are] Crowell, Ward, Cobb, Hudson, Lincoln, Bunn, Dudley, Verity, just to name a few.”

The auction begins at 10 a.m. both days. —