Immense Views

Works by landscape masters will be offered at Sotheby’s Art of the Americas sale in New York

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On January 18, Sotheby’s will be presenting to bidders the Art of the Americas sale in New York City. The sale will feature works from many categories, but landscape fans will be thrilled at the selection of major pieces from some of the most iconic artists to paint in North America.

Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904), Sunset Landscape, Cattle Drinking, ca. 1876-82. Oil on canvas, 12¼ x 26 in. Estimate: $300/500,000

“This exciting sale series will present examples of 19th and early-20th century paintings, drawings and sculpture by prominent American artists from Thomas Sully to Frederic Remington,” the auction house notes. “The auction will be led by Property from a Distinguished Canadian Private Collection which includes Asher B. Durand’s monumental canvas Lake Hamlet (Passing Showers) (est. $400/600,000) as well as works by Albert Bierstadt, Alfred Bricher, William Trost Richards and David Johnson. In addition, Sotheby’s will be offering Property from a Distinguished Private Collection presenting important historical paintings by John James Audubon, Jasper Francis Cropsey, Fitz Henry Lane, Robert Salmon and many more.”

Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), California Coast. Oil on paper laid down on canvas, 22½ x 30¼ in. Estimate: $300/500,000

Early highlights from the sale include Martin Johnson Heade’s magnificent Sunset Landscape, Cattle Drinking, painted around 1876 to 1882. The image, with its delicate light and miniature cow subjects that seem to take notice of the viewer, should charm bidders with its beautiful view and glorious light. The painting is estimated at $300,000 to $500,000.

Fitz Henry Lane (1804-1865), View of Indian Bar Cove, Brooksville, Maine. Oil on canvas, 11½ x 18½ in. Estimate: $200/300,000

A work that bears a resemblance to the Heade painting, although still very different, is Watching the Stream by Jasper Francis Cropsey. Like the Heade work, the orange and yellow light sets the mood in the painting, and there are also cows that feature prominently in the picture. The work is estimated at $250,000 to $350,000.

Another top landscape is Bierstadt’s California Coast, showing three windswept cypress trees that stand guard over a terrific view out over the Pacific Ocean. The work is estimated at $300,000 to $500,000.

Jasper Francis Cropsey (1826-1900), Watching the Stream. Oil on canvas, 24 x 44 in. Estimate: $250/350,000

Other works in the sale include Joseph Rusling Meeker’s Bayou Landscape (est. $20/30,000), Robert Salmon’s A Departing Brig off Maryport Harbor (est. $60/80,000) and a major Fitz Henry Lane painting, View of Indian Bar Cove, Brooksville, Maine (est. $200/300,000).