“In Her Garden,” Daniel Ridgway Knight, $105,750.
“Market at Night,” Petrus van Schendel, $160,000.
Skinner was the site of a major American and European painting and prints sale on September 12, opening with a grouping of photography and fine prints.
Early in the sale, a circa 1914 Frank Weston Benson (American, 1862-1951) drypoint on paper print with a plate size of 87/8 by 7 inches was offered. From an edition of only 50 prints, it depicted a rural scene titled “River Drifters.” Estimated at $7/900, it went off the block for $1,880. A Thomas Hart Benton (American 1889-1975) print titled “The Prodigal Son,” dated 1939, from an edition of 250 sold well over the presale estimate of $1,2/1,800, reaching $2,115. Another print by Benton, this one titled “Night Firing,” sold for $2,937.
The big news of this sale came when an oil on canvas measuring 27 by 391/2 inches by French artist Jean Richard Goubie (1842-1899) was offered. Titled “Before the Hunt,” this vivid painting was estimated at $12/18,000. With several phones active, the price advanced quickly, soaring to its selling price of $105,000.
An oil on canvas, “Preparing for the Storm” by American artist William Trost Richards (1833-1905), failed to sell.
A Venetian view by French Artist Felix Ziem (1821-1911) was sold to Vincent Vallarino, a principal of Greenwich Gallery, Greenwich, Conn., who was present at the sale, for $47,000. Vallarino also paid the same price for a 161/4- by 20-inch oil on canvas by Ernest Lawson (American, 1873-1939) titled “The Quiet River.”
A striking ink and brush on chine colle, measuring 175/8 by 123/4 inches, by Japanese artist Tsguhara Foujita (1886-1968), estimated at $6/8,000, went off the block for $22,325.
The painting that graced the cover of the catalog, an oil on canvas by American artist Daniel Ridgway Knight (1839-1924), achieved $105,750 with five phones active. It depicted a young woman in a garden by the water’s edge and measured 321/4 by 26 inches.
A patriotic World War I painting by American artist Jennie Augusta Brownscombe (1850-1936) of “American Troops In France, 1918” sold for $11,750. A charming and appealing Margaret Miles Cooper (American 1874-1965) oil on canvas of “Fall, Hamburg Cove” sold for $2,350. A moody and evocative night scene of New York City’s Central Park, titled “When Night Comes On, Central Park, N.Y.” by American artist Orlando Rouland (1871-1945) sold for $41,125, far surpassing its presale estimate of $12/18,000. The oil on canvas measured 38 by 36 inches.
A spectacular Marsden Hartley (American, 1877-1943) view of the rocky coast of Maine, an oil on board measuring 10 by 14 inches that was found in a private New England collection, sold for $55,812. Late in the sale, a Ralph Cahoon (American, 1910-1982) oil on board depiction of a mermaid, unicorn, pilgrims and sailors in a hot air balloon over the water with ships in the background – typical Cahoon fare – was sold for $47,000.
The early part of the sale, which featured the photography and prints, saw some spectacular surprises. A pair of wood engravings on paper, both Vermont views by American artist Asa Cheffetz (1896-1965), estimated at $3/500, went to an on-site buyer for $2,938. There were a number of works done by American artist Leonard Baskin (1922-2000). Much of the Baskin work was passed, failing to meet reserves.
Prices quoted include a 171/2 percent buyer’s premium.
