Recent Arrivals

Insights into historic American artwork newly available from galleries and dealers around the country

Debra Force Fine Art, Portrait of Anna Pierce (Mrs. Joseph Barrell, 1744-1771), ca. 1762-1764. Pastel on paper laid down on linen, 23 x 17 in., by John Singleton Copley (1738-1815).

John Singleton Copley (1738-1815)
Portrait of Anna Pierce (Mrs. Joseph Barrell, 1744-1771)

John Singleton Copley’s reputation as the finest artist to emerge from Colonial America derives from the portraits he created of Boston’s social elite between the mid-1750s and 1774. The current example depicting Anna Pierce Barrell (1744-1771) was commissioned by her husband, the wealthy Boston merchant Joseph Barrell (1739-1804). She comes across as a real person, both pensive and self-aware, while Copley portrayed her as stylish, fashionably dressed and coiffed. This pastel descended in the Barrell family until recently and has an extensive early exhibition history.

Debra Force Fine Art
13 E. 69th Street, Suite 4F • New York, NY 10021
(212) 734-3636 • www.debraforce.com

Helicline Fine Art, Bathers, ca 1930. Watercolor and pencil on paper, 12 x 10 in., signed lower left, by Charles Demuth (1883-1935).

Charles Demuth (1883-1935)
Bathers

A larger-than-life figure who is remembered nearly as often for his wit as he is for his paintings, the bold and insatiably curious Charles Demuth wasn’t just a product of America’s transformative early-20th century—he was one of its icons. One of America’s prominent modernists, he challenged the boundaries of race, class, sexuality and artistic tradition; he digested the shifting social landscape around him, and left behind an astonishing body of work that defies categorization.

In Bathers, created in the 1930s, Demuth demonstrates his adapted stylistic practice—shape, color and line. The central figure is clearly male, and the three figures in the background are also likely men. It is a dynamic work that instantly reads “Demuth”.

Helicline Fine Art
By Appointment • New York, NY • (212) 204-8833 www.heliclinefineart.com

Thomas Colville Fine Art, Indian Summer on the Hudson (View near Peekskill), 1896. Watercolor on paper, signed and dated lower center, 177/8 x 27 in., by Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823-1900).

Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823-1900)
Indian Summer on the Hudson (View near Peekskill)

Born on Staten Island in New York, Jasper Francis Cropsey became a nationally known luminist landscape painter whose work reflects his interest in architecture, which he almost chose as his profession, and the seasonal progression. He was especially known for his autumnal scene awash with the warm glow and ethereal hues of fall. Toward the end of his career, beginning in the 1880s, Cropsey turned his focus to watercolors. Although the Hudson River style was out of fashion and Tonalism was popular he completed and exhibited some of his most highly finished works in this medium, this example being perhaps his most ambitious watercolor composition both in size and detail.

Indian Summer on the Hudson (View near Peekskill) will be presented by Thomas Colville Fine Art at The Winter Show, taking place in New York from January 19 though January 28.

Thomas Colville Fine Art
111 Old Quarry Road • Guilford, CT 06437 • (203) 453-2449 tlc@thomascolville.com www.thomascolville.com

Hawthorne Fine Art, Terns Diving along the Sea Shore. Watercolor on paper, 17 x 291/8 in., by Fidelia Bridges (1834-1923).

Fidelia Bridges (1834-1923)
Terns Diving along the Sea Shore

Fidelia Bridges became known for her detailed, lyrical watercolors of the flora and avifauna of her natural surroundings during an era when watercolor was becoming increasingly respected.

Sriking in scale, as well as in its discovery, Terns Diving along the Sea Shore was found underneath Blossoming Beach-Plum (another work recently acquired at auction by Hawthorne Fine Art) during conservation to remove the work from a canvas adhered to the original stretcher. Bridges may have intended to exhibit Terns Diving along the Sea Shore at the National Academy but upon completing Blossoming Beach-Plum found it to be the worthier painting. She then reused the stretcher and covered up Terns Diving along the Sea Shore in the process. Together, the works provide fascinating insight into Bridges’ artistic practice.

Hawthorne Fine Art
By Appointment • New York, NY • (212) 731-0550
www.hawthornefineart.com