There are several states in the country that are known for regional art linked to American art history: New York has the Ashcan School and the Hudson River School, New Mexico has Southwestern Modernism, and Pennsylvania has its own brand of impressionism. California is another state that produced art unique to the state; it’s a genre that is frequently explored by John Moran Auctioneers in Monrovia, California.
On November 17, the auction house will present more than 270 lots to bidders in its fall California & American Art sale. The auction will follow similar sales earlier this year that all saw high numbers.
Armin Hansen (1886-1957), Cowboys and bucking horse at the California Rodeo, Salinas, California. Oil on canvasboard, 16 x 20 in. Estimate: $100/150,000
“The spring sale performed strong across the board. We saw robust numbers then, so we’re optimistic,” says Katherine Halligan, director of fine art at John Moran. “There are some very strong collectors, including young collectors, in these genres, which is what we love to see.”
One of the early highlights of the sale is Armin Hansen’s Cowboys and bucking horse at the California Rodeo, Salinas, California, which is estimated at $100,000 to $150,000. Hansen was primarily known for his harbor and marine scenes, but his rarer rodeo paintings generate quite a buzz among Western and California collectors. “It’s an important subgenre for the artist. The Salinas rodeo was an important subject for Hansen, and we know he attended multiple times. The paintings are dynamic and fun. He’s known for lots of things including the Monterey coastal scenes and fishermen, but these rodeo paintings are very special,” Halligan says. “This one is totally fresh to the market with a great signature. We had it cleaned and it had a dramatic transformation when it returned to us. These incredible colors—these punches of color in pinks and purples—came through after it was cleaned. It looks great.”
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), New England Landscape. Oil on canvas, 137/8 x 22 in. Estimate: $30/50,000
Other works in the sale include Albert Bierstadt’s East Coast painting New England Landscape, estimated at $30,000 to $50,000. “We are pleased to present a New England landscape by 19th-century romanticist painter Albert Bierstadt, a composition focused on a pastoral composition featuring rolling hills dotted with trees in autumnal colors with a heroic mountain vista in the distance,” the auction house writes about the piece. Although the work features New England, Bierstadt worked so prominently in the West that it should entice Western collectors.
Jessie Arms Botke (1883-1971), Black Peacocks. Oil and gold leaf on Masonite, 34 x 26 in. Estimate: $50/70,000
Also available is Jessie Arms Botke’s Black Peacocks, estimated at $50,000 to $70,000, and works by Edgar Payne, Thomas Hill, Franz Bischoff, John Marshall Gamble and many others. —
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