Auction Report

Dallas, Milford, Santa Fe, Thomaston

Frank Hoffman (1888-1958), The Camp Visitor. Oil on canvas, 27 x 41 in. Courtesy Brian Lebel’s Old West Events and Morphy Auctions. Estimate: $25/35,000 SOLD: $18,450Santa Fe, NM
Brian Lebel’s Old West Events and Morphy Auctions
June 22
Brian Lebel’s 34th Annual Santa Fe Old West Show & Auction
$2.2 million

This summer Brian Lebel’s Old West Events and Morphy Auctions teamed up to host the auction portion of Brian Lebel’s 34th Annual Santa Fe Old West Show & Auction. The live auction took place on June 22 at 5 p.m. at Santa Fe Community Convention Center, bringing in more than $2.2 million in overall sales. Over 100 of the top Western art dealers from across the country flocked to Santa Fe to offer Western enthusiasts the chance to vie for a wide array of art, antiques, Native American artifacts, firearms, cowboy apparel, jewelry, home decor and more.

Major highlights from the June sale include Grant Speed’s bronze During the Chilly Hours of the Dawn (est. $4/6,000) that sold for $10,455; Frank Hoffman’s The Camp Visitor (est. $25/35,000) that sold for $18,450; as well as Fred Fellow Caa’s Taking a Closer Look, which tripled its high estimate when it sold for $27,060.

Luigi Lucioni (1900-1988), The Birches, 1968. Watercolor on paper, 17 x 15 in. Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers. Estimate: $2.5/3,500 SOLD: $35,560

Milford, CT
Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers
June 13
Online Fine Art Auction
Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers hosted an online auction of fine art this past June, featuring original paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture. With nearly 200 lots available, the sale offered appealing price points, averaging just over $1,000 per lot.

A painting by Italian/American artist Luigi Lucioni, The Birches, set a new record price for works on paper by the artist. The watercolor demolished its $3,500 high estimate when it sold for $35,560, cementing itself as the top lot in the sale. Another highlight was Aaron Bohrod’s 1962 oil Sunflowers, which attracted significant interest from private collectors and museums. The piece sold for $19,050, more than tripling its $6,000 high estimate. A small Edward Redfield oil, Stuck in Snow (est. $3/5,000) sold for $13,970.

Emil Carlsen 1853 -1932), Beechwoods. Oil on canvas, OS: 44½ x 39 ½ in., SS: 38 x 33 in., signed lower right, an impressionist rendering in a pastel palette, titled on old typed label verso, along with a fragment of a label that reads ‘Paintings by American Artists’. Housed in the original Arts & Crafts carved water gilt matched corner frame. Courtesy Thomaston Place Auction Galleries. Estimate: $8/12,000 SOLD: $31,250

Thomaston, ME
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries
June 28-30
Splendor
$1.2 million

Thomaston Place Auction Galleries’ Splendor sale generated just under $1.2 million, with many post-auction offers arriving since the sale ended.

The sale’s top lot was an impressionistic oil on canvas painting by Emil Carlsen titled Beechwoods, which achieved $31,250 against a presale estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. Additional highlights of historic American art include a portrait of a young woman by William Merritt Chase that generated $15,000; a scenic oil painting by Albert Bierstadt depicting the Grand Tetons at dawn that sold for $11,250; and Thomas Elliot’s The Battle of the Mona Passage, 19 April, 1782, an oil on canvas work depicting a naval skirmish between Britain and France that brought in $10,000 against an estimate of $7,000 to $9,000.

The summer sale was also marked by significant interest in an important collection of ceramics by Brother Thomas Bezanson and items from the Deer Isle, Maine, estate of singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg.

Aldro Thompson Hibbard (1886-1972), Icy Gorge. Oil on canvas, 40 x 36 in. Property from the Nelkin Collection. Courtesy Heritage Auctions. Estimate: $8/12,000 SOLD: $26,250

Dallas, TX
Heritage Auctions
July 2
American Art Within Reach

Heritage Auctions’ mid-season online sale, American Art Within Reach, took place on July 2. An online-only auction, the sale offered American paintings, drawings and sculpture at generally more affordable price points, demonstrating a healthy and robust market for both traditional and modernist American artworks.

Top lots in the sale were diverse in style and subject matter. Icy Gorge, a striking snow scene by Aldro Thompson Hibbard, achieved $26,250 against a presale estimate of $8,000 to $12,000. An oil study for Palace Gate: Udaipur, India, an important work by Colin Campbell Cooper, sold for $17,500 against an estimate of $5,000 to $7,000. In addition, March Avery’s bold and colorful 1973 painting Orange Flowers, Blue Leaves (est. $4/6,000) sold for $10,312, proving that mid-century modernism continues to be in demand.