Freeman’s latest edition of its American Art & Pennsylvania Impressionists sale will be held live in Philadelphia on December 8, featuring about 125 lots comprising early landscape painting, American and Pennsylvania impressionism, Golden Age Illustration and 20th-century modernism.
The most anticipated lot of the sale is Edward Willis Redfield’s oil Winter Afternoon, from around 1917. The 50-by-56-inch composition is expected to bring in between $250,000 and $400,000. “The ice-choked river, the pale winter light on the far cliffs and the last gold leaves are all laid in with confident, direct strokes. The estimate reflects both the picture’s scale and its quality, as well as the demand we’ve seen recently for Redfield’s best winter scenes,” says Adam Veil, Freeman’s head of American art.
Edward Willis Redfield (1869-1965), Winter Afternoon, ca. 1917. Oil on canvas, 50 x 56 in. Estimate: $250/400,000
Veil also references a 1948 oil by Luigi Lucioni titled Portrait of Gladys Swarthout, of a woman in a black dress with a fur coat draped over her shoulders with crimson drapes as the backdrop.
“Lucioni is best known for the crystalline precision of his landscapes and still lifes, and here he applies the same discipline to a society portrait. The crimson drapery, the fur stole, the black lace glove and the amethyst jewelry are all rendered with almost enamel-like clarity,” Veil says. “The sitter was a leading mezzo-soprano at the Metropolitan Opera, which imbues the work with cultural resonance and a sense of glamour that is very much of its moment.” The painting has a presale estimate of $50,000 to $70,000.
Luigi Lucioni (1900-1988), Portrait of Gladys Swarthout, 1948. Oil on canvas, 34¼ x 28¼ in. Estimate: $50/70,000
Childe Hassam (1859-1935), Looking Up The Side of a Mountain, Harney, 1902. Oil on canvas, 16 x 21½ in. Estimate: $50/80,000
Additionally, Howard Pyle’s 1904 oil Poet and the King (est. $40/60,000) is another lot to keep an eye out for. “Pyle’s The Poet and the King shows why the market for Brandywine School illustration remains buoyant,” Veil adds. “A lean, ragged poet bends toward a fur-trimmed king on a carved Gothic throne, while figures crowd the shadows behind them. Pyle stages the exchange with the economy of a stage director, and it’s easy to see why his students, N.C. Wyeth among them, took his sense of narrative so seriously. At $40,000 to $60,000, it’s an accessible entry point to the artist who founded that tradition.”
Other notable lots include Looking Up the Side of a Mountain, Harney, a 1902 piece by Childe Hassam estimated at $50,000 to $80,000; The Yellow Room by Frederick Carl Frieseke, also estimated to fetch $50,000 to $80,000; and an 1877 William Merritt Chase painting titled Portrait of a Young Lady (Portrait of Piloty’s Daughter).
Howard Pyle (1853-1911), Poet and the King (“The King Himself Hauled me out of Gaol”), 1904. Oil on canvas, 25 x 16¾ in. Estimate: $40/60,000
“Demand for regional painting is strong and steady. Fresh-to-market material is performing well, and high-quality examples with compelling stories and clear provenance continue to attract both new and seasoned buyers,” Veil says. “Collectors are also looking across categories rather than staying in one lane, so a Western bronze, a New Hope landscape and a modernist canvas can all find strong bidding within the same sale. Freeman’s last few American Art auctions, and I suspect the December iteration as well, reflect that range: Pennsylvania Impressionists alongside Ashcan painters, Brandywine illustrators and 20th-century modernists, all enjoying their moment.” —
Powered by Froala Editor
