The American Art Fair celebrates its 16th year from May 13 to 16, once again bringing the very best historic American art on the market and the prestigious galleries who specialize in it to Bohemian National Hall in New York City.
Charles Biederman (1906-2004), Untitled, 1936. Oil on canvas, 393/8 x 32 in., signed, inscribed and dated lower left: ‘C. Biederman/Paris/12/36’. Exhibitor: D. Wigmore Fine Art
This year’s fair features nearly 400 works of American 19th- and 20th-century paintings and sculptures exhibited by 17 premier gallerists in an elegant museum setting. The fair only invites vetted exhibitors who have decades worth of knowledge and expertise in the field, some of whom are among the country’s oldest galleries and have been participating in the fair since its inception.
Milton Avery (1885-1965), Horses Grazing, ca. 1936. Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 in. Signed lower left: ‘Milton Avery’. Exhibitor: Debra Force Fine Art
Returning exhibitors include Alexandre Gallery, Avery Galleries, Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts, D. Wigmore Fine Art, Debra Force Fine Art, Graham Shay 1857, Keny Galleries, Forum Gallery, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Kraushaar Galleries, Questroyal Fine Art, Thomas Colville Fine Art and Vose Galleries. New to the fair are Addison Rowe Gallery, David A. Schorsch-Eileen M. Smiles, Dolan/Maxwell and Vallarino Fine Art.
While upholding the tradition of showcasing established galleries with a focus on historic American art and their scholar-owners, the fair is also introducing some new components. For one, this is the first year the fair will showcase a gallery, Philadelphia’s Dolan/Maxwell, that specializes in fine prints and works on paper.
Werner Drewes (1899-1985), The Black Cube, 1941. Oil on canvas, 30 x 21 in., dated and inscribed with the artist’s peace sign symbol lower right, ‘41’; signed, dated, and inscribed with the artists peace sign symbol on the reverse: ‘Drewes/c. 259/The Black Cube/41’ . Exhibitor: Thomas Colville Fine Art
Also new to this year’s fair is the first exhibitor to specialize in folk art paintings, broadening not only the genres represented but the time period as well. David A. Schorsch-Eileen M. Smiles will be showing one of six portraits, circa 1835, attributed to American folk artist William Matthew Prior, depicting an unknown African American sitter.
“The American Art Fair is a really good example of how a traditional area, in terms of collector interest, changes over time but also can retain the most top quality works. One can see the best examples of this at the fair,” says American Art Fair director Catherine Sweeney Singer.
Francis Augustus Silva (1835-1886), New York Coast. Oil on canvas, 18 x 30 in., signed lower left: ‘F.A. Silva’. Exhibitor: Vose Galleries
In addition to drawings and paintings, New York’s Graham Shay 1857 will bring as many as 12 sculptures, both large format and smaller bronzes.
Other highlights include Horses Grazing, circa 1936, by Milton Avery, showcased by exhibitor Debra Force Fine Art; an Italian facade by John Singer Sargent brought to the fair by Keny Galleries; a splendid Werner Drewes from Thomas Colville Fine Art; and a pool hall scene by the now-coveted Ernie Barnes, presented by first-time exhibitor Vallarino Fine Art.
Ernie Barnes (1938-2009), Pool Hall. Oil on canvas, 24 x 48 in., signed lower right. Exhibitor: Vallarino Fine Art
Collectors will also find important paintings by all of the top Hudson River School artists. “To find a terrific Thomas Moran or Sanford Robinson Gifford is very rare,” says Sweeney Singer. “They rarely come on the market—most remain in personal collections or more likely in museums or other institutions.”
Those interested in an overview of what is on the market across a range of nonliving American artists will find it at the American Art Fair. There will also be works of American impressionism and a number of the exhibitors specialize in American geometric abstractions. Other highlights include several works by Transcendental Painting Group artists Emil Bisttram and Ray Jonson, exhibited by Addison Rowe Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Attributed to William Matthew Prior (b. 1873), Young African-American Gentleman, possibly Cambridge, Massachusetts, ca. 1835. Oil on artist board, 141/8 x 101/8 in. Exhibitor: David A. Schorsch-Eileen M. Smiles
“Each year the exhibitors bring their best material that hasn’t been on the market,” says Sweeney SInger. “It really does represent the whole gamut of historical American painting. People may consider it a boutique fair, but that is a positive. The point is the quality. While many of the galleries specialize in 19th- and 20th-century art, they are bringing now-coveted works by artists who were undiscovered or lesser-known in their own day, which of course includes women.”
Emil Bisttram (1895-1984), Projection No. 4, 1973. Oil on canvas, 48 x 39½ in., signed and dated lower right. Exhibitor: Addison Rowe Gallery
Continuing the fair’s tradition, four leading American art scholars will present lectures tied to a current exhibition or new published work that they have contributed to. Among them is a “Variations on a Theme: Joseph Stella’s Visionary Nature,” led by Stephanie Heydt, co-curator of a now-touring exhibit of Stella’s work that originated at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. Herbert Hartel, adjunct associate professor at Queens College, CUNY, will present a lecture on Raymond Jonson, which is especially relevant given the pieces by Jonson that will be at the fair. Scholar Annette Blaugrund, former director of the National Academy Museum and School of Art and presently a professor at Columbia University, will present “Omissions from the Canon: Artistic Representations of Industry Along the Hudson River.” Open and free to the public, as is the fair, seating is first-come first-served and lectures often fill to standing-room only.
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), Facade of a Palazzo, Girgenti, Sicily, ca. 1901. Watercolor, 10 x 7 in., inscribed lower right: ‘Girgenti’. Exhibitor: Keny Galleries
A full schedule of events and a comprehensive catalog of works can be viewed online at www.theamericanartfair.com.
Lecture Schedule
May 13, 2 p.m.
Some Old Curiosity Shops: Whistler, Commerce, And The Art Of Urban Change
Speaker: David Park Curry, Independent Scholar; former Curator of American Art at the Freer Gallery of Art, The Denver Art Museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Baltimore Museum of Art
May 13, 4 p.m.
Variations On A Theme: Joseph Stella’s Visionary Nature
Speaker: Stephanie Heydt, Margaret and Terry Stent Curator of American Art High Museum of Art, Atlanta
May 14, 2 p.m.
The Painting Of Raymond Jonson: American Modernism From Chicago To Santa Fe
Speaker: Herbert R. Hartel, Jr., Adjunct Associate Professor, Queens College, CUNY
May 14, 4 p.m.
Omissions From The Canon: Artistic Representations Of Industry Along The Hudson River
Speaker: Annette Blaugrund, Former Director, National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts; former Andrew W. Mellon Senior Curator at New-York
Historical Society; former curator at the Brooklyn Museum and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Admission to lectures is complimentary; seating is on a first-come basis; lectures are held in the theater on the ground floor of Bohemian National Hall.
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