American impressionism, modernism, abstracted figurative, Golden Age illustration and the Hudson River School are just a small sampling of the artwork that crossed the block during Sotheby’s spring American art sale May 19 in New York City. 
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), Baby Charles Looking Over His Mother’s Shoulder (No. 3), 1900. Oil on canvas, 26¾ x 20¾ in., signed lower left: ‘Mary Cassatt’. Estimate: $1/1.5 million SOLD: $1,593,000
The sale, which was just $6,000 shy of $15 million, kicked off with an early set of fireworks, including a Gertrude Abercrombie work that sold at more than $365,000 on a high estimate of $15,000. The second lot, a work by Orville Bulman, also soared, selling at $126,000, many times over its $35,000 high estimate.
The top lot was Mary Cassatt’s Baby Charles Looking Over His Mother’s Shoulder (No. 3). The work, estimated at $1 million to $1.5 million, has a long and distinguished exhibition history and has appeared in many books on Cassatt. The work sold above estimate for $1.59 million.
Childe Hassam (1859-1935), Piazza di Spagna, 1897. Oil on canvas laid down on board, 29 x 23¼ in., signed and dated lower right: ‘Childe Hassam’ and ‘1897’. Estimate: $500/700,000 SOLD: $1,230,000
“Cassatt created three pastel studies in preparation for Baby Charles Looking Over His Mother’s Shoulder (No. 3). While the pastels all exhibit the more vigorous brushwork we associate with an impressionist style, the manner of execution of the present work is typical of this period in Cassatt’s career, during which she transitioned towards a more restrained application of her medium,” Sotheby’s notes. “This stylistic change is most fully on display in the careful modeling she adopts to render the form of her primary subject, effortlessly capturing the physical traits specific to babyhood. Yet the scene Cassatt has so carefully composed nonetheless creates the idea that the artist has caught mother and child in a natural state. By allowing the viewer a glimpse into the subject’s—and therefore her own—private world, Cassatt imbues her composition with an arresting sense of intimacy and blurs the distinction between the private and public spheres.”
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986), Green Oak Leaves, 1923. Oil on canvasboard, 12 x 9 in. Estimate: $500/700,000 SOLD: $1,169,500
Childe Hassam had two noteworthy lots: Piazza di Spagna (est. $500/700,000), which sold at $1.23 million, and Woman Cutting Roses in a Garden (est. $1/1.5 million), which sold for $988,000. Other lots include Georgia O’Keeffe’s Green Oak Leaves (est. $500/700,000) that sold for $1.1 million, Milton Avery’s Blue Gulls – Blue Sea (est. $500/700,000) that sold for $806,500, and two Norman Rockwell studies that sold for $625,000 each. Elsewhere in the sale were two Nicolai Fechin works that sold for $478,800 each, both well above estimate. 
Thomas Cole (1801-1848), The Arch of Nero, 1846. Oil on canvas, 60¼ x 48¼ in., signed lower right: ‘Thomas Cole’. Estimate: $500/700,000 SOLD: $988,000
Finally, Thomas Cole’s The Arch of Nero (est. $500/700,000) sold for $988,000. The work, which came from the Newark Museum of Art, became a hot topic before the sale after scholars protested its deaccession from the museum collection. —
Top 10 sales
Sotheby’s, American Art, May 19, 2021 (including buyer’s premium)
Artist Title Low/High ESt. SOLD
Mary Cassatt Baby Charles Looking Over… $1/1.5 million $1,593,000
Childe Hassam Piazza di Spagna $500/700,000 $1,230,000
Georgia O’Keeffe Green Oak Leaves $500/700,000 $1,169,500
Thomas Cole The Arch of Nero $500/700,000 $988,000
Childe Hassam Woman Cutting Roses in a Garden $1/1.5 million $988,000
Milton Avery Blue Gulls - Blue Sea $500/700,000 $806,500
Norman Rockwell Study for ‘Saying Grace’ $600/800,000 $625,000
Norman Rockwell Study for ‘Freedom of Worship’ $250/350,000 $625,000
Nicolai Fechin Still Life of Daisies, Calla Lillies… $120/180,000 $478,800
Nicolai Fechin Portrait of Anna May Wong $200/300,000 $478,800
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