Hermann Herzog was a German American artist who was among the early members of the Hudson River School. This piece, which fetched $60,500, is from his travels to Florida, among the most highly sought-after subjects of his work.
Review by Tom O’Hara, Additional Photos Courtesy Sarasota Estate Auction
SARASOTA, FLA. – Andrew Ford and his crew at Sarasota Estate Auction continued their success with their April 10-11 weekend sale of more than 1,400 lots, featuring fine art of the last several centuries, art glass, antique furniture and accessories, silver and jewelry. Ford has built his business on the sale of fine art, from Old Masters right up to the most popular Twentieth Century artists, and this sale was an endorsement of his efforts, totaling more than $800,000. Sarasota Estate Auction’s reputation has grown rapidly due to both the quality of its offerings and success for the consignors. In this sale, there were more than 1,100 registered bidders.
This sale’s leading lot was “Florida Palms” by German American artist Hermann Herzog (1832-1932). The painting, relined, hit the high number for this sale at $60,500. Another popular piece was an ethereal oil on canvas landscape with diffused light and softly defined forms signed George Inness (American, 1825-1894). Inness was a prominent American landscape painter of the Nineteenth Century who was influenced by the Old Masters and the Hudson River School. The work fetched $12,100.
A colorful Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976) litho in his trademark primary colors, numbered 15/99 and signed “Calder” in the margin, reached $3,630 quickly. Although best known for his mobiles, the artist was also an avid printmaker at the end of his career.
March Avery, daughter of Milton Avery, was represented by a large oil on canvas landscape painting that brought $16,380.
A Peter Max mixed-media acrylic color lithograph on paper, signed and titled “Angel with Heart,” sold for $2,178. Three others from him ranged from $482 to $1,815.
Attributed to Seventeenth Century Italian artist Alessandro Turchi, an oil on canvas titled “Lot and His Daughters” yielded $7,260. Turchi was active mainly in Verona, moving late in life to Rome.
The father and son artists in furniture, Philip and Kelvin LaVerne, were again represented with a table featuring acid etching and patinated brass banded circular top with arabesque design on a pewter and wood cylindrical base. Unmarked but circa 1960, a Modernist design with no breaks or repairs, it sold for $4,538.
Several Nineteenth Century sculptures in the classical style of Greece and Rome received active bidding with final sale prices ranging from $2,780 to $5,750.
Important clocks changed hands over the weekend. A Winterhalder & Hofmeier shelf clock from the Black Forest reached $1,029. This was followed by an early French Empire bronze figural mantel clock with variegated marble base, a bronze cupid supporting a bow. In working order and recently cleaned, it chimed in at $3,650.
An ethereal oil on canvas landscape with diffused light and softly defined forms signed George Inness (American, 1825-1894) was bid to $12,100.
Titled “Calm Morning, Rockaway Inlet,” an oil on canvas by Fred W. Kost featuring a Diego Salazar gold-leaf frame sailed off at $2,662.
“Petit Mari,” an oil on canvas, signed and dated by Graciela Rodo Boulanger (Bolivian, b 1935), depicted stylized joyful scenes of childhood in a childlike way. Her simple, graceful lines and lyrical colors have made her compositions as rhythmic, rigorous and spontaneous as the round-faced child-like figures she paints, and it found a new home for $6,050. Another of her works, “Petite Femme,” oil on canvas, signed and dated, went off at $3,630.
Hendrik-Dirk Kruseman Van Elten’s,(1829-1904) “The Ausable River, American Adirondack,” a Hudson River School oil on canvas, showed a rocky stream in a forest setting and floated away at $10,285.
Art glass, both Czech and American, was selling well on both days. A cast, painted glass, cut and laminated and signed piece by Pavel Hlava, titled “Bird” and dated 2002, hit $6,050. Another piece by Hlava, signed and titled “Object,” 1997, with a weight of 20.6 pounds, sold for $2,299.
Ford had more than 400 paintings, most from listed artists in America and Europe. March Avery, daughter of Milton Avery, was represented by a large oil on canvas landscape painting. Paintings by C.H. Gifford, the New England artist best known for his oils of marine scenes, were among the offerings. Two Gifford oils sold for $2,510 and $4,235, each one a small American scene. The George Inness pastoral scene more than doubled the estimate at $12,100.
Hendrik-Dirk Kruseman Van Elten’s (1829-1904) “The Ausable River, American Adirondack,” earned $10,285.
Several Erte bronzes were on the block. “Ecstasy,” numbered 90/500, sold at $2,420; “Madame Butterfly,” 2/500, was $2,510; and “The Mystic,” numbered 30/500, went for $3,328.
There were about 50 lots of Steuben, which sold very well. For example, a perfume decanter with an 18K gold stopper, originally sold by and marketed by Tiffany & Co., went for $605; a ribbed art glass vase opened at $200 but quickly jumped high, ending at $1,573.
While there were a great many remarkable pieces sold at this auction, Ford also had many great values for the careful buyer. For example, a Delaware Valley cherry corner cupboard, circa 1800, sold for $484; a Massachusetts Pembroke table, circa 1750, was $121, and a similar drop leaf table went out at $182. Many oil on canvas paintings sold for under $1,000, proving that the sale was not just for the high-end buyers but offered something for all shoppers.
Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. Sarasota Estate Auction is now in the pattern of having a two-day sale every two months with the next one scheduled for June 12-13. For information, 941-359-8700 or www.sarasotaestateauction.com.
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