Setting a new world auction record for the artist, Alfred Thompson Bricher’s (American, 1837-1908) 1871 “Morning at Narragansett – The Turn of the Tide,” 29 by 49 inches framed, sold to a private collector for $337,500 ($150/200,000).
Review by Carly Timpson
MILFORD, CONN. — Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers conducted its Fall Fine Art Auction on October 24, featuring 183 lots of paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture. With 80 percent of the lots successfully changing hands, the auction realized more than $3 million, driven mainly by American Impressionist works. Shannon’s owner Sandra Germain said, “We have spent several years working to create trusting relationships with our clients and are always excited to bring high-quality, fresh-to-the-market works to auction. The results were encouraging for us but also for the market more broadly and we are thrilled with the results.”
After being bid well beyond its $200,000 high estimate, a new world auction record was set for Alfred Thompson Bricher when “Morning at Narragansett – The Turn of the Tide” sold for $337,500 over the phone to a private Rhode Island collector. The 1871 oil on canvas had extensive exhibition history, including the National Academy of Design’s “Annual Exhibition” in 1872 and in “Alfred Thompson Bricher: 1837-1908” at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1973 and George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum (Springfield, Mass.) in 1974. It is also possible that the work was exhibited at the Chicago Interstate Industrial Exposition, Illinois, 1875, and the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, Pennsylvania, 1876.
“Newport Beach, Rhode Island” by Thomas Worthington Whittredge (American, 1820-1910), oil on canvas, 21½ by 29 inches framed, achieved $112,500 ($50/75,000).
Another Rhode Island beach scene finished at $112,500, selling to the same collector as the Bricher. “Newport Beach, Rhode Island” by Thomas Worthington Whittredge showed the hazy shoreline from a distant vantage point with wooded land and a horse-drawn carriage in the foreground. The oil on canvas was in very good condition and came with some marked provenance, including Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York City and the collection of Arthur and Nancy Manella.
Earning the second-highest price of the sale was another beach scene — Edward Henry Potthast’s vibrant oil painting, “Children at Play on the Beach.” The bright colors in this Impressionist work capture the children’s glee as they splash about in the shallow water as adults look on from the shore. Signed to the lower left, the painting was exhibited in “Impressionism Reflected: American Art 1890-1920” at the Saint Louis Art Museum (St Louis, Mo.) in 1982. Its notable provenance includes David Findlay, New York City; Sy Lieberman, New York City; and R.H. Love Galleries, Chicago. It sold in this sale for $187,500 — more than double its $80,000 high estimate.
“Boathouse, Winter, Harlem River” by Ernest Lawson (American, 1873-1939), 1918, oil on canvas, 33¾ by 38½ inches framed, earned $125,000 ($100/150,000).
In contrast, a snowy depiction of a boathouse on the Harlem River was bid to $125,000. Ernest Lawson’s 1918 “Boathouse, Winter, Harlem River” was signed and dated to the lower right and has extensive provenance and exhibition history, and it has been featured in several publications. Those publications include Henry and Sidney Berry-Hill’s Ernest Lawson: An American Impressionist (New York City, 1968), “Acquisitions of Modern Art by Museums” in Burlington Magazine (May 1973), the Saint Louis Art Museum’s The St Louis Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (St Louis, Mo.: Saint Louis Art Museum, 1975) as well as the Saint Louis Art Museum’s exhibition catalog for “Impressionism Reflected: American Art 1890-1920” (St Louis, Mo: Saint Louis Art Museum, 1982).
“Cromwell’s Bridge,” an 1875 oil on canvas by George Inness exceeded its $60,000 high estimate to achieve $101,600. The painting, depicting a stone bridge in a lush, wooded landscape was shown in several exhibitions, including Rochester Art Center’s (Rochester, Minn.) “Minnesota Art Sources,” 1963; Yellowstone Art Center’s (Billings, Mont.) “Inaugural Exhibition,” 1964; Minneapolis Museum of Arts’ (Minneapolis, Minn.) “Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition,” 1966; Borghi and Company’s (New York City) “George Inness: The Spiritual Landscape,” 1991; and the State University of New York (Albany, N.Y.) “Democratic Vistas: 150 Years of American Art from Regional Collections,” in 1994.
“Cromwell’s Bridge” by George Inness (American, 1825-1894), 1875, oil on canvas, 32¾ by 42¾ inches framed, made $101,600 ($40/60,000).
Three works crossed the block for $100,000. The first to do so was Arthur Wesley Dow’s Modernist “Verge Of The Abyss.” This hill-top scene overlooking red canyons in the distance, executed in 1911-12, was exhibited in Montross Gallery’s (New York City) 1913 “The Color of the Grand Canyon of Arizona: Exhibition of Pictures by Arthur Wesley Dow” and was signed to the lower left “Arthur W Dow.”
Also achieving $100,000 was “The Road That Leads Home” by Connecticut Impressionist Willard Leroy Metcalf. The auction catalog noted, “This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné being coordinated by Betty Krulik and the Willard Leroy Metcalf Catalogue Raisonné Project, Inc.” The work was illustrated in Robert Michael Austin’s Artists of the Litchfield Hills (Waterbury, Conn.: in association with the Mattatuck Historical Society, 2003). Signed to both lower corners, “The Road That Leads Home” was an Impressionistic view of a country road with a white house to the left.
“The Road That Leads Home” by Willard Leroy Metcalf (American, 1858-1925), oil on canvas, 37 by 39¾ inches framed, went out at $100,000 ($80/120,000).
The only non-landscape to finish among the top lots — also at $100,000 — was “The Rose Gown” by Frederick Carl Frieseke. This 1915 French School Impressionist portrait featured a seated young woman wearing a light pink gown and will be featured in the Frieseke catalogue raisonné being compiled by Nicholas Kilmer, according to the auction catalog. Previously the work had been exhibited in shows in Texas, New York, New Jersey and North Carolina and its provenance includes the artist’s estate; the artist’s daughter Frances Frieseke Kilmer then it further descended through the family; Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York City; Shirley Hoff of Palo Alto, Calif.; and a private collection in Illinois.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For additional information, 203-877-1711 or www.shannons.com.
