Bonhams Skinner’s upcoming sale of American art on September 10 will include an array of noteworthy paintings, drawings and sculpture from the late 19th to early 20th century. “A group of works descended in the family of New England painter Dwight Blaney features watercolors by John Singer Sargent and Blaney, an oil painting by Blaney and a lovely still life by Adelaide Cole Chase,” notes Kathleen Leland, interim director of American & European Works of Art at Bonhams Skinner.
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), The Old Wharf, Ironbound. Watercolor on paper, 15½ x 20½ in., signed and inscribed lower left: ‘to my friend Blaney / John S. Sargent’; identified on multiple labels from the MFA, Boston, and the Copley Society of Boston (affixed to the backing paper). Estimate: $70/100,000
The Old Wharf, Ironbound, by Sargent, is expected to fetch between $70,000 and $100,000. “John Singer Sargent visited Dwight Blaney’s summer home on Ironbound Island in Maine several times in the early 1920s,” Leland explains. “Both artists painted a watercolor version of the old island pier, and those works are included together in the September 10 auction. Painted from slightly different perspectives and with different palettes, the works demonstrate the friendship between the artists. Sargent’s painting displays the virtuosity and creativity he brought to his work in watercolor.”
Willard Leroy Metcalf (1858-1925), Mountain Pastures, Vermont. Oil on canvas, 24 x 24 in., signed and dated lower left: ‘W. L. Metcalf 1924’; titled, signed and dated on the reverse. Estimate: $70/120,000
Adelaide Cole Chase (1868-1944), Still Life with Geishas. Oil on artist board, 38 x 44 in., signed upper left: ‘Adelaide Chase’; with an exhibition label from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and a photograph of the artist (both affixed to the frame backing). Estimate: $7/10,000
Among other major highlights in the sale are a dynamic bronze by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth titled Slavonic Dancer (est. $10/20,000); a genre scene by John George Brown called The Shoe-Shine Boy (est. $12/20,000); as well as an important mountain landscape by Willard Leroy Metcalf titled Mountain Pastures, Vermont, which has a presale estimate of $70,000 to $120,000.
John George Brown (1831-1913), The Shoe-Shine Boy, 1903. Oil on canvas, 24 x 17¼ in., signed and dated lower left: ‘copyright 1903 / J.G. Brown N.A.’ Estimate: $12/20,000
“Willard Leroy Metcalf painted Mountain Pastures, Vermont, at the height of his career. Though he traveled extensively through the United States, Europe and Africa, Metcalf repeatedly returned to painting the landscape of his native New England,” says Leland. “This work exemplifies the American impressionist style with its echoes of French impressionist paint handling and color made uniquely American by Metcalf’s focus on the monumentality of the American landscape and the brilliant blue and yellow palette.”
The September 10 American Art sale will begin at noon EST.
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