As spring wraps around New York City, Sotheby’s will mark the month of May with four important sales that will feature American art: the Modern Evening Auction on May 17, the Modern Day Auction on May 18 and two online sales that will close on May 24.
“For the first time, this May Sotheby’s will offer major works of American art from impressionism, regionalism, modernism and illustration in our marquee evening and day sales of modern and contemporary art, showcasing artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Thomas Hart Benton and Maurice Prendergast, alongside Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Mark Rothko and others,” the auction house notes. “The move follows the similar integration of Latin American Art in the marquee sales in 2017, and each provides a more thoughtful and historically accurate reflection of the categories.”
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986), Feather with Bird’s Bone, 1942. Oil on canvas, 20 x 12 in. Estimate: $1.2/1.8 million
One of the early highlights is Milton Avery’s The Letter, an oil executed in 1945. The 34-by-48-inch work is estimated at $2.5 million to $4 million. If it sells at just the high estimate of $4 million, The Letter would be the second-highest auction amount realized by an Avery, not far behind Sotheby’s 2014 auction record of $5.6 million for a smaller piece by the famous artist.
Stuart Davis (1892-1964), Skip Trace, 1962. Oil on board, 12 x 16 in. Estimate: $200/300,000
Fairfield Porter (1907-1975), Portrait of Edith Schloss in Porter’s Southampton Parlor, 1953. Oil on canvas, 44¼ x 30¼ in. Estimate: $250/350,000
Coming out of a Boston collection is O’Keeffe’s 1942 oil Feather with Bird’s Bone, a still life work with two white objects arranged neatly together in a harmonious mixture of texture and density. The work is estimated at $1.2 million to $1.8 million. From the same collection also comes Skip Trace, a Stuart Davis work from 1962 that shows the artist’s intense experimentation with line, form and color. The 12-by-16-inch work is estimated at $200,000 to $300,000.
Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), Ridge Church (Study for Shellback), 2004. Watercolor, gouache and pencil on paper, 23½ x 18 in. Estimate: $150/250,000
George Inness (1825-1894), A Summer Morning, 1882-83. Oil on canvas, 48 5⁄8 x 72 1⁄8 in. Estimate: $400/600,000
Other works from the same collection include Arthur Garfield Dove’s Abstraction No. 6 (est. $70/100,000), an oil completed in 1911; Marsden Hartley’s 1909 oil Songs of Winter (est. $60/80,000); John Marin’s loosely painted Weehawken Sequence (est. $30/50,000) from 1916; and Charles Sheeler’s delicately painted 1913 work Landscape (est. $30/50,000).
Charles Sheeler (1883-1965), Landscape, 1913. Oil on panel, 10 3⁄8 x 13 7⁄8 in. Estimate: $30/50,000
John Marin (1872-1953), Weehawken Sequence, 1916. Oil on canvasboard, 10 x 14 in. Estimate: $30/50,000
Elsewhere in the modern sales is Andrew Wyeth’s Ridge Church (Study for Shellback), a later-period work finished in 2004. Both Andrew and his father, N.C. Wyeth, painted this church, and similar ones, at various times in their career. Two other works in the modern sales include Fairfield Porter’s 1953 painting Portrait of Edith Schloss in Porter’s Southampton Parlor, estimated at $250,000 to $350,000, and Gertrude Abercrombie’s 1937 oil Untitled (Key on Table) (est. $15/25,000).
Marsden Hartley (1877-1943), Songs of Winter, 1909. Oil on board, 9 x 12 in. Estimate: $60/80,000
Within the online portions of Sotheby’s May sale are several other exceptional works including George Inness’ A Summer Morning, a large 72-inch-wide oil completed in 1883. The work, which comes from the Brooklyn Museum and will be sold to support the museum’s collection, is estimated at $400,000 to $600,000. Another highlight is James Edward Buttersworth’s oil Ships Under Full Sail, which was completed over the course of a decade, beginning in 1975 and ending in 1985. It’s estimated at $20,000 to $30,000.
For information about the sale, and updates about the event, visit www.sothebys.com. —
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