Following the success of Freeman’s American Art sale in December 2021, which broke multiple records, the auction house is prepared to roll out the highly anticipated American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists sale. Approximately 100 lots will be featured, including 19th-century Hudson River School works, illustration art, impressionism and the New Hope School, a category that is well known at Freeman’s. Raphaël Chatroux, Freeman’s fine art specialist, notes that “many works from the 1930s will hit the block, thus giving a new modern, sometimes Art Deco and Aesthetic Movement look to the event.”Fern Isabel Coppedge (1883-1951), Winter Decoration, ca. 1936. Oil on canvas, 38 x 40 in., signed bottom right.  Estimate: $100/150,000

Chatroux continues: “The market is healthy at the moment, as showed by the impressive results garnered by our last sale. We find more private collectors who are eager to start or complete their collection. In the realm of Pennsylvania Impressionists especially, we notice a healthy and prosperous ground, made of an avid community which is ever growing, as it is not entirely local anymore—a sign that ‘regional’ schools can touch collectors on the other side of the country.”Roy Cleveland Nuse (1885-1975), Neshaminy: Winter Morning. Oil on canvas, 29¼ x 35¼, signed with artist’s monogram bottom left.  Estimate: $25/40,000  

Beginning with the sale’s American art highlights, the top lot, estimated between $100,000 and $150,000, is Fern Isabel Coppedge’s oil painting, Winter Decoration, circa 1936. “The work is a quintessential piece since it depicts a view of Lambertville as seen from New Hope (in Bucks County),” says Chatroux. “The locale is clearly identifiable via the canal in the foreground, parallel to the Delaware River in the middle ground and the iconic steeple of the Presbyterian church of Lambertville in the background. It is a scene Coppedge painted multiple times throughout her career, and which is often associated with her. It is very iconic and touches on a ‘postcard effect’ for the New Hope School.”Arthur Beecher Carles (1882-1952), Two Female Nudes. Oil on canvas, 25 x 30 in. Estimate: $15/25,000

Benton Murdoch Spruance (1904-1967), Color Study for Riders of the Apocalypse. Black and red ink with highlights of gouache on paper, 163/8 x 225/8 in., signed with the artist’s initials ‘BS’ bottom left; also inscribed with artist name, date ‘43’ and the initials ‘PBS’ with the artist’s initialed stamp ‘BS’ in the margin bottom right; also titled in the margin bottom center. Estimate: $15/25,000

Chatroux further notes that the piece is important for a plethora of reasons. One, it’s the first time on the market, kept in the same family since the late 1980s, when it was then brought to a Philadelphia gallery. It’s also the largest canvas Coppedge is ever known to have worked on. “Such large formats are rare on the market,” Chatroux explains. In addition, the piece has a rich history.

“Deemed an important work,” Chatroux adds, “the canvas was indeed shown at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1936 (which is rare for Fern Coppedge, who used to exhibit her canvases locally in her studio in Bucks County and did not feel the need to go into the city anymore toward the end of her career). Coppedge also went on to show Winter Decoration at the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors in the winter of 1937. It was finally exhibited at the Trenton High School in April 1937. More recently, the canvas was reproduced in the first monograph dedicated to the Philadelphia Ten, a group of women artists active in both oil and watercolor in Philadelphia during the 1920s and 1930s.”Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Character Study. Oil on canvas, 16¼ x 18¼ in., signed bottom right: ‘Norman/Rockwell’; also dedicated verso: ‘My very best wishes/to/Sir Jay Chernis/Cordially/Norman Rockwell/November 3rd/1975’. Estimate: $30/50,000  

Other highlights in the American art segment include a newly discovered Roy Cleveland Nuse piece titled Neshaminy: Winter Morning (est. $25/40,000), depicting a rare winter landscape of Neshaminy Creek. The sale marks its first public appearance. Another rarity in the sale is the lithograph by Benton Murdoch Spruance, Color Study for Riders of the Apocalypse (est. $15/25,000). “[It’s] interesting as it reveals the artist’s thought process and points at major differences/variations between the study and the final composition,” says Chatroux. “The artist seemed to already have the general idea in mind (dramatic lines descending like beams) but disregards certain details of the aircrafts (logo, serial number) and instead focuses on the general ambiance and mood of the scene…[one element being] a fascinating blood full moon—the only real color of the composition meant as both an omen and a warning in light of World War II unraveling at the time of the creation of the piece.”Margaretta Angelica Peale (1795-1882), Still Life with Strawberries in a Porcelain Cup with Cherries on a Tabletop. Oil on canvas, 9 x 12 in., inscribed verso: ‘Painted by Miss M.A. Peale’. Estimate: $25/40,000

Also in the sale, collectors will find treasures by artists like Arthur B. Carles, Hugh Breckenridge and Henry B. McCarter. “The section will be led by Carles’ (1882-1952) important Two Female Nudes (est. $15/25,000), which reveals the artist’s interest in color play, and inspiration from Matisse and the French Fauves,” Chatroux remarks. “The work comes straight from a private local collection, [and] was originally kept in the artist’s studio and passed down to his second wife, Caroline Robinson.” 

The sale will conclude with works by Walter Elmer Schofield, Edward Willis Redfield, William Harnett and Bessie Potter Vonnoh. Freemans anticipates another highly successful sale with such rare, significant finds. —

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