Market report

What we’re hearing from galleries and auction houses across the country.

Jennifer C. Krieger
Managing Partner Hawthorne Fine Art
I think the market for traditional American Art is experiencing renewed strength for works of quality and rareness. I see the works of artists who have been previously marginalized in higher demand as both private and institutional collectors look to retell, through their collections, the story of American art in a more inclusive manner. We are meeting new collectors who are just beginning to acquire works and feel more comfortable purchasing at the lower price points offered by artists who are not so well known. We are also seeing more experienced collectors purchasing works by rediscovered artists as they are looking to round out their collections with works and subjects by a more diverse array of painters.

Our gallery has always specialized in the work of historic female artists, but we are currently seeing an increase in demand for their work. We have seen it particularly in works by women artists of the Hudson River School. It is exciting to see the myth of the founding fathers of the Hudson River School being challenged by this talented and enterprising group of female artists. In many cases, for the first time, their work is shown in collections and hung in museum galleries alongside examples by the better-known male talents of the time, and more than holding their own.

Collectors should learn more about the late 19th-century/early 20th-century talents of Rhoda Holmes Nicholls (1854-1930), Anna Fisher (1873-1942), Adelaide Deming (1864-1956) and Emma Lampert Cooper (1855-1920). They underwent extensive training at institutions such as The Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, the Art Students League and Cooper Union in Manhattan, and abroad at French and Italian ateliers and academies. Several of them also studied under William Merritt Chase and later taught for him. They went on to receive numerous medals and honors at exhibitions, and were admitted as members and leaders of some of the most prominent art clubs of their day. In addition, they taught extensively at the same institutions that originally taught them and simultaneously propelled the women’s suffrage movement forward.

Hawthorne Fine Art
575 5th Avenue, 14th Floor
New York, NY 10017
By appointment only
www.hawthornefineart.com