The winter edition of the American Art & Pennsylvania Impressionism sale at Freeman’s|Hindman, which took place December 8, brought in a total of $4.47 million, with a sell-through rate of 87 percent. The sale featured an exceptional lineup of artwork including Hudson River School landscapes, Civil War-era oils and examples of American impressionism coming from a number of prestigious private and institutional collections.
Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), The Doctor, 1952. Oil on canvas laid to board, 24 x 28 in. Estimate: $200/300,000 SOLD: $355,600
Emerging as the number one lot in the sale was Thomas Hart Benton’s 1952 oil The Doctor, which bested its $300,000 high estimate when it sold for $355,600. “The Doctor had all the ingredients of a first-class Benton,” says Adam Veil, vice president and head of American art at Freeman’s|Hindman. “Executed in 1952, it’s a kind of post-war idyll, American life ‘writ small’ and in the artist’s signature boldly expressive style. With intact provenance to boot, it proved hard to resist.”
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Study for Happy Birthday Miss Jones. Oil on paperboard, 15¾ x 151/8 in. Estimate: $60/100,000 SOLD: $292,100
Norman Rockwell’s illustrative oil Study for Happy Birthday Miss Jones is a painterly sketch of a teacher at the front of a classroom with birthday wishes scrawled by her students on the chalkboard behind her. The piece nearly tripled its $100,000 high estimate, ultimately selling for $292,100. Other top lots in the December sale include the 1911 oil Symphony in Yellow (October Afternoon) by Willard Leroy Metcalf, which sold for $203,200 against a presale estimate of $100,000 to $150,000; Childe Hassam’s circa 1887 September Sunlight (est. $250/400,000) that sold for $228,600; Edward Henry Potthast’s jovial beach scene A Happy Group (On the Sea Shore) (est. $50/80,000) that sold for $114,300; and N.C Wyeth’s 1916 oil “Now, mark me, mine host,” Sir Daniel said…, which topped its $120,000 low estimate when it sold for $127,000.
Willard Leroy Metcalf (1858-1925), Symphony in Yellow (October Afternoon), 1911. Oil on canvas, 26½ x 29 in. Estimate: $100/150,000 SOLD: $203,200
N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), “Now, mark me, mine host,” Sir Daniel said, “follow but mine orders and I shall be your good lord ever”, 1916. Oil on canvas, 40¼ x 321/8 in. Estimate: $120/180,000 SOLD: $127,000
“We’re pleased with the results and what we were able to achieve for our clients…[There is] strength in corners of the American impressionist market [like] Potthast, Ritman and Metcalf, and by artists beloved both within and beyond Philadelphia, like N.C. Wyeth,” says Veil. “We’re also encouraged by what appears to be a noticeable appetite for Western art here on the East Coast.”
For a list of Freeman’s | Hindman’s upcoming sales, visit www.hindmanauctions.com. —
Top 10 LOTS
Freeman’s | Hindman’s American Art & Pennsylvania Impressionism sale, December 8, 2024, (including buyer’s premiums)
Artist, Title, Low/High ESt., SOLD
Thomas Hart Benton The Doctor $200/300,000 $355,600
Norman Rockwell Study for Happy Birthday Miss Jones $60/100,000 $292,100
Childe Hassam September Sunlight $250/400,000 $228,600
Willard Leroy Metcalf Symphony in Yellow (October Afternoon) $100/150,000 $203,200
Milton Avery Edge of Dunes $150/250,000 $146,050
N. C. Wyeth “Now, mark me, mine host,” Sir Daniel said… $120/180,000 $127,000
Edward Henry Potthast A Happy Group (On the Sea Shore) $50/80,000 $114,300
Louis Ritman Girl with a Fan, Giverny $60/80,000 $101,600
John White Alexander Étude… $50/70,000 $101,600
John Singer Sargent Above Lake Garda… $40/60,000 $98,425
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