Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874-1939), Lady Trying on Hat, 1909. oil on canvas, signed and dated, 63¾ x 51 in. Estimate: $250/350,000 SOLD: $450,000
The top lot was a 64-by-51-inch painting by American impressionist Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874-1939). Created in 1909, Lady Trying on a Hat was consigned by the Art Institute of Chicago and sold to a private Florida collection for $450,000, $100,000 more than its high estimated value. The life-size painting was executed in soft pastel tones, reminiscent of French Impressionism and is among the artist’s masterpieces from the early 20th century. Frieseke spent every summer after 1905 in Giverny, France, where he became known for his impressionist palette and his portraits of women. Although influenced by Renoir and Monet, Frieseke developed his own unique style that echoed post-impressionist masters as well.
Thomas Cole (1801-1848), Mount Chocorua, White Mountains, ca. 1827. Oil on panel, unsigned, 9¾ x 14¾ in. Estimate: $100/150,000 SOLD: $150,000
The auction also included a rare painting by Thomas Cole, a founder of the Hudson River School. Mount Chocorua, White Mountains, created in 1927, sold at the high estimate of $150,000 to a private collector. The small-scale, jewel-like painting features pink-hued clouds dancing above a glowing mountain scene and the lush lake scene at its base.
A piece by one of the foremost luminist artists, Alfred Thompson Bricher, (1837-1908) sold for $68,750, soaring past its upper estimate of $30,000. A New England seascape of mystical, shimmering depth, Morning at Narragansett from 1872, had been in a private collection for 20 years. Another bucolic painting by Bricher of Lake George in Upstate New York sold for $27,500, surpassing the high estimate. Examples of these rare-to-market, early landscapes by Bricher are highly sought after by seasoned collectors.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), When Youth is Beautiful. Oil on canvas, initialed, 32 x 25 in. Estimate: $100/150,000 SOLD: $125,000
Illustration art saw strong results in the sale led by a Norman Rockwell oil painting of a couple headed out for a night on the town that sold for $125,000. Another Rockwell oil, Study of Will Rogers left the block for $20,000, while Jessie Wilcox Smith’s Madonna and Child, created for the cover of the 1927 issue of Good Housekeeping, sold for $22,500.
Shannon’s noted that, in line with market trends, many of the top lots in the auction were in the modern and contemporary category. Leading this was a group of paintings by New York-based contemporary artist Scott Kahn, whose pieces have seen an exponential rise in prices over the past two years. The top lot of the eight paintings, Circular Driveway, sold for $175,000, while Full Moon Over the Channel, sold for $93,750. With a growing interest in female artists also trending, a rare painting by mid-century modernist and abstract expressionist Alice Baber (1928-1982) sold for $68,750 against lively bidding both online and via phones. Two works by magical realist artist Priscilla W. Roberts (1916-2001) sold during the auction, one of which, Memory Quilt, soared past its estimate, achieving $32,500 and setting a new world record price for the artist.
Alice Baber (1928-1982), The Blue Bow of the Jaguar, 1981. Oil on canvas, signed and dated, 30¼ x 50¼ in. Estimate: $15/25,000 SOLD: $68,750
“We had more people than ever participating live online,” says Shannon’s managing partner, Sandra Germain. “It was exciting to watch our viewer count during the sale and encouraging to see how many new registrations we had ahead of the auction.”
There were many other highlights of the sale: Winfred Rembert’s Reading Stories sold to an institutional collection; Wolf Kahn’s Near Deer Isle Village tripled the high estimate selling for $38,100; Aldro T. Hibbard’s Winter in the Hills sold for $32,020; Edward Barnard’s Mid-Day from 1892 sold for $30,000; and a rare and early New York City painting by Guy C. Wiggins sold for $30,000.
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