Going-Strong

The recent American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists auction at Freeman’s indicates a healthy market for the genre

By Alyssa Tidwell

The June edition of Freeman’s American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists sale brought in a solid $2.6 million in total sales, besting its presale estimate of $1.7 million, while selling 90 percent of all lots.

Leading the summer sale was a 1904 oil by Childe Hassam titled The Bather (The Bather I), which beat its $150,000 high estimate when it sold for $179,200. A 1918 townscape by Edward Willis Redfield, titled Overlooking Soho, Pittsburgh, also bested its $150,000 high estimate, ultimately selling for $166,400.

Childe Hassam (1859-1935), The Bather (The Bather I), 1904. Oil on canvas, 45 x 52 in. Estimate: $100/150,000 SOLD: $179,200

“The market for Pennsylvania Impressionism is healthy,” says Adam Veil, Freeman’s vice president and head of American art. “Attractive works with regional resonance—particularly by mainstays like Edward Redfield and Walter Emerson Baum—continue to outperform their estimates and command strong prices. The $76,800 result for Baum’s Late Afternoon is the artist’s second highest price and the highest in nearly 20 years. Regional landscapes like Redfield’s Overlooking Soho, Pittsburgh are holding their own alongside Hassam, Dewing and other titans of American art, proving that Pennsylvania Impressionism remains a buoyant, highly collectible segment of market.”

Edward Willis Redfield (1869-1965), Overlooking Soho, Pittsburgh, 1918. Oil on canvas, 26 x 32 in. Estimate: $100/150,000 SOLD: $166,400

Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851-1938), The Music Lesson, 1921. Oil on canvas, 161⁄8 x 14 in. SOLD: $140,800

Veil adds that they also saw strong results for Emma Fordyce MacRae’s Ruth, which shattered its $6,000 to $8,000 estimate when it sold for $64,000, as well as Martha Walter, Howard Pyle, Sarah Stilwell Weber, William Glackens and Edward Henry Potthast, whose Picnic on the Beach sold for $56,960, a record price for a Potthast work on paper. In addition, there was robust interest in 19th-century landscape painting from artists like Hovsep Pushman, Lee Lufkin Kaula and Walt Kuhn. “Early-20th century modernism, [like] Morgan Russell [and] John Storrs, lent balance to the day and encouragement to reassess what were believed to be soft or softening markets. Well-performing examples by Orville Bulman, Doris Lee and Lynne Drexler are helping to redefine the parameters of American art sales,” says Veil. “The June 7 auction saw strong results overall, reflecting the market’s appetite for historic American art and artists.”

Emma Fordyce MacRae (1887-1974), Ruth, 1942. Oil on board, 40 x 32 in. SOLD: $64,000

Freeman’s held its Western and Wildlife Art sale that same day, which also achieved noteworthy results at $2.3 million in total sales. The next American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists auction is set for December 8 in Philadelphia. —