Impactful Canvases

Four June sales by Freeman’s realize more than $7 million with the help of a strong N.C. Wyeth painting

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It was a busy summer for Freeman’s in Philadelphia after the auction house presented four sales in what it was calling American Week. The four sales realized a combined $7 million, of which $2.45 million came from the sale of one N.C. Wyeth piece.

N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), Jetty Tree (Port Clyde, Maine). Oil on canvas, 48¼ x 40 in. Estimate: $200/300,000 SOLD: $2,450,000

The four sales were two single-owner sales featuring works from the Sydney F. Martin estate on June 4 and 6, a literature and history sale on June 8 and, the anchor for the week, the June 4 American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists sale, which featured the Wyeth painting, Jetty Tree (Port Clyde, Maine).

The Wyeth was estimated at $200,000 to $300,000, but the painting and its passionate bidders had other plans—it closed after furious bidding at $2.45 million, more than eight times over its high estimate. Not only is the piece the fourth-highest-selling auction piece by N.C. Wyeth, it is also the second-highest for the entire auction house. It is also the highest price ever paid at auction for a non-illustration work by the artist. The painting, which shows a landscape depicting the Maine coast where the Wyeth family summered, was on long-term loan to the Brandywine Museum of Art before arriving at Freeman’s as part of the “Works like Jetty Tree were important to Wyeth as they provided him the opportunity to transcend the constraints of commercial work to create personally meaningful compositions,” says Freeman’s chairman Alasdair Nichol. “Clearly, this work and its subject matter resonated with collectors. We’re honored to bring impactful canvases like this to market, and delighted that it far exceeded expectations.”

Carl Rungius (1869-1959), After the Storm (Tundra). Oil on canvas, 30 x 40 in. Estimate: $150/250,000 SOLD: $453,600

Henriette Wyeth (1907-1997), Portrait of Peter Hurd. Oil on canvas, 45 x 40 in. Estimate: $40/60,000 SOLD: $138,600

Another Wyeth in the sale was Henriette Wyeth’s Portrait of Peter Hurd (est. $40/60,000) which sold for $138,600. Henriette was the eldest daughter of N.C., and brother to Andrew Wyeth. She married painter Peter Hurd in 1929 and later moved to the Southwest, where her work continued.

Elsewhere in the American sale was wildlife painter Carl Rungius’ After the Storm (Tundra), which came to bidders with a high estimate of $250,000. It soared past that number and landed at $453,000. Rungius is often considered the most important wildlife painter of North America.

Robert Spencer (1879-1931), The Silk Mill. Oil on canvas, 30 x 36 in. Estimate: $60/100,000 SOLD: $163,800

Also in the sale was Robert Spencer’s The Silk Mill (est. $60/100,000), which sold for $163,000, and Fern Isabel Coppedge’s The Mill at Bowman’s Hill (October) (est. $50/80,000), which sold for $138,000.