The Market Responds

Sotheby’s notes successful results from its Art of America sale during the auction’s weeklong Visions of America event

Sotheby’s has a lot to boast about as they wrap up another successful season of Visions of America—bringing New York City a rich array of historic American art and objects in several sales and events. Kayla Carlsen, Sotheby’s head of American art, shares that 231 bidders vied for the American art offerings across several sales during Visions of America including Art of America; Western Art and Design from Bar Cross Ranch, Wyoming; and The Hudson River School in Focus: Property from the Friedman Collection.

Edmonia Lewis’s (1845-1907) Hiawatha’s Marriage, 1868. White marble, height: 29½ in., signed ‘Edmonia Lewis’ and dated ‘Fecit A Roma 1868’ on the base; also inscribed ‘Hiawatha’s Marriage’ on two-inch base (probably not original). Estimate: $250/350,000 SOLD: $1,633,000

The Art of America sale in particular, held on January 20, left Sotheby’s very pleased as the sale achieved a total close to $6.5 million with a sell through rate close to 80 percent. The auction house “experienced outstanding sell-through rates for single-owner collections due in part to the integration of previews and experiential elements,” says Carlsen. “The market responded accordingly to the structure of the week, namely to the refreshed branding and activations spanning three floors of gallery space. It was exciting to welcome so many new bidders and buyers to celebrate the breadth of Americana and American art at Sotheby’s.”

Of the 74 lots of paintings, drawings and scultpure offered in Art of America, two pieces tied for highest sale at a resounding $1,633,000. These include Edmonia Lewis’s white marble sculpture Hiawatha’s Marriage, 1868, and Charles Wilson Peale’s portrait of George Washington, circa 1795. However, the Lewis soared over its estimate of $250,000 to $350,000, while the Peale sold just under its much higher estimate ($2/3,000,000).

Charles Willson Peale (1741- 1827), George Washington, c. 1795. Oil on canvas, 29 x 23¾ in. Estimate: $2/3,000,000 SOLD: $1,633,000

“The Edmonia Lewis is special and probably takes the lead on the narrative primarily because she was a female African American of mixed African American and Native American heritage, who worked in Italy in the 19th century, in what was very much a male space,” says Carlsen. “She has been on the wish list of many museums looking to broaden female artists and artists of color, and there was strong intention to get it into a public space.”

Carlsen adds that bidding activity was made up entirely of museums as a museum-quality work of this caliber by Edmonia Lewis hadn’t come up in nearly 15 years. “The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts acquired the piece and announced the acquisition immediately following the sale,” she says. “The sale shattered the previous record for Edmonia Lewis held by Sotheby’s—previously, a work of this caliber (The Marriage of Hiawatha) sold for $314,500 in 2009 at Sotheby’s.”

Winslow Homer (1836-1910), Looking Over the Cliff, 1882. Watercolor and graphite on paper, 21 x 14 in. Estimate: $800/1,200,000 SOLD: $762,000

Additional top lots include Winslow Homer’s watercolor with two figures in Looking Over the Cliff, 1882, selling just under its estimate at $762,000; James Edward Buttersworth’s maritime scene Picking Up the Pilot - Isle of Shoals, New Hampshire, circa 1870, reached a sale of $215,900, just over its low-end estimate of $200,000; and John Frederick Kensett’s landscape Near Newport, selling a hair under its low estimate at $190,500.