This untitled abstract oil on canvas by Lynne Mapp Drexler was the star of the sale. Seven phone bidders competed, with one eventually paying $82,350.
Review and Onsite Photos by Rick Russack, Additional Photos Courtesy Barridoff Auctions
PORTLAND, MAINE – Barridoff Auctions, one of Maine’s oldest fine arts auctioneers, conducted its sale on August 20, offering a wide selection of paintings and other fine arts. The day drew an audience of about 40 to the live sale, with much of the bidding coming in from internet platforms and phone bidders. Numerous absentee bids had been left. The offerings included photographs, bronzes and multimedia works, along with paintings by established American, European and Caribbean artists. The company dates back to the 1970s when it was an art and antiques gallery and by the end of that decade, it was focusing solely on fine art auctions. In 2017, the current owners, Bill Milliken, Deirdre Nice, Glenn Morin and Jeremy Fogg, long-time employees of the founders, Rob and Annette Elowitch, bought the company and the business has been steadily growing. Fogg is also a well-respected painting conservator.
Seven phone lines competed for the top lot of the day, a 1961 untitled abstract work by American painter Lynne Mapp Drexler (1928-1999). Signed and dated, it realized $82,350. In the 1950s, Drexler studied under Robert Motherwell in New York, developing her interest in abstract subject matter, and she had her first solo show in 1961. She later settled on Maine’s Monhegan Island. Works of hers are in several museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery and the Farnsworth in Rockland, Maine.
“Somewhere in France” by Childe Hassam (1859-1935) earned the second highest price of the day, $42,750. It was signed and dated 1910. It will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Hassam’s work in preparation by Stuart P. Feld and Kathleen M. Burnside. There were three works by Walt Kuhn (1877-1949). One, a 1924 oil on canvas of Maine interest, “Ogunquit Beach,” realized $33,550. Two small watercolors each brought $732.
The second highest price of the day, $42,750 was realized by Childe Hassam’s “Somewhere in France.”
There were three oil paintings concerning Ellen Emmet Rand (1875-1941). Rand was a well-respected portrait painter who completed more than 500 portraits, including three of Franklin Roosevelt, as well as Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Pablo Casals and many other luminaries of her day. She also worked as an illustrator for Vogue and Harper’s Weekly. Her works are in the collections of the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. Her portrait “Grenville with Baseball Bat” sold for $9,760, and her painting of a young child with a cat sold for $5,490. A portrait of Rand by her friend Mary Foote (1872-1968) sold for $28,060, the fourth highest price in the sale. She, too, was a prominent portrait painter of the day, with commissions from many in the art world. She exhibited at the landmark 1913 Armory Show.
Works by Maine artists are always a feature of Barridoff sales. Bidders were especially attracted to “Winter Chores, Monhegan, Maine” by Andrew Winter (1893-1958). It brought $17,080. “Blues Among Greys Monhegan,” signed and dated 1960 by abstract impressionist Michael Loew (1907-1985) brought $15,850. Three Monhegan watercolors included Monhegan Island, depicting fishing boats and shacks by William J. McKee (1922-2007), which sold for $732, and “Cathedral Woods, Monhegan” by Henry Kallem (1912-1985) went out for $976.
Barridoff has sold assemblages by Bernard Langlais (1921-1977) over the years and likes his work well enough to display a very large example covering nearly a whole exterior wall of the gallery. He was born in Old Town, Maine, and was a painter early in his career. In 1956, while renovating his summer cottage in Cushing, Maine, Langlais began working with scraps of wood, which he arranged to create a mosaic-like wall composition. He termed the process “painting with wood.” Many of his large works were displayed outdoors, around his home and many of those were donated to Colby College after his death. His wood reliefs caught the attention of the New York art world and were featured in several exhibitions, including the Whitney Museum’s 1962 “Drawing and Sculpture Annual.” This sale included two of his works, “Feeding Time,” depicting two large birds set against a blue “barnboard” background, which earned $7,320, and “Through the Barn Window,” which depicted several farm animals in a barn. It earned $3,355.
Three frames were cataloged and sold for the value of the frames. They were made by Frederick Harer, who died in 1949. He was a painter, sculptor and etcher, but achieved fame for his frames, many of which were produced for the Pennsylvania Impressionists. According to Wikipedia, “Today, having a Harer frame on a Pennsylvania Impressionist painting adds significantly to its value.” A silver-leaf frame, 31 by 26 inches, earned $3,050; a gold-leaf frame, 18 by 24 inches, earned $2,440; and a gilded frame, about the same size, earned $1,098; each inscribed “Harer.”
Mary Foote’s portrait of her friend and fellow portrait painter Ellen Emmet Rand sold for $28,060, the fourth highest price of the sale.
There were three colorful oils by Serbian artist Martin Jonas (1924-1996). One depicted two llamas and a colorful peasant cart with a seated peasant. It reached $1,098, while another, depicting two horses, a cart and a peasant with his dog at work, sold for $732. The third, which brought the same price, was an interior scene dominated by a large sewing basket and a woman. Another very colorful work had been done by Bahamian Outsider artist Amos Ferguson (1920-2009). It was an enamel on paper board, titled “Baskets and Bags.” Ferguson was a house painter by trade, until, as the story goes, a nephew told him that Jesus had arisen from the sea and said that Amos was wasting his time painting houses. So, in his forties, he began painting bible stories in the Caribbean manner. He always signed his paintings with the phrase “Paint by Mr Amos Ferguson.” This painting sold for $14,640, while another of his works, a large leaf of plaster, steel, enamel and glitter, sold for $854.
A few days after the sale, Jeremy Fogg said, “We had some nice surprises with mid-market paintings that did better than we expected. The Charles Dana Gibson ink drawing was one of those nice surprises. Ipcar did well and so did the Ferguson. Maine things, like the Walt Kuhn beach scene at Ogunquit, always do well for us. We finished above $850,000, so we’re all pleased. A couple of good things came in just after our deadline, so our next major sale, in March, will be interesting.”
All prices include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. For more information, www.barridoff.com or 207-772-5011.
