The top lot of the auction was this 1923 oil on board of a Rocky Mountains landscape by Birger Sandzén, “Pines by the Lake, Estes Park.” It sold over its high estimate to attain $76,700.
Review by Andrea Valluzzo
LONE JACK, MO. — Fine art auctions take place at Soulis Auctions about every other month, but the firm’s most recent edition was both a milestone event and a real crowd pleaser. Soulis’ 20th Annual Winter Art Auction, conducted on February 22, realized nearly $2 million in sales together with its kickoff event the previous day that saw the John Adair collection of antique tribal rugs and Post-War Modern art offered.
Auctioneer Dirk Soulis was more than satisfied with the results. “I was very pleased with how my marketing performed. I had some fine works by artists whose work was significant but required some intuition to gauge because they’re rarely seen. I was particularly happy with how those works were received.”
As is typical at auctions these days, the audience was everywhere, but Soulis said they also had a very competitive in-house crowd bidding live in the sale room.
Leading the auction overall was a Birger Sandzén painting, part of a group of works by the artist comprising six paintings and four lithographs that attracted much interest and fierce competition. The top three selling paintings came from the same consignor, but all went to different buyers, although in some cases, one determined bidder was a serious player for several lots but went home with only one. Topping the group was a 1923 oil on board titled “Pines by the Lake, Estes Park,” which sold over its high estimate to attain $76,600. Depicting a Rocky Mountains landscape with wind-worn pines beside a sub-alpine lake in Estes Park, the painting was a fine example of what art scholars have defined as the artist’s golden era, the Middle Years (1910-1929). The painting also boasted fine provenance as it was sold from the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery collection before 1993 and acquired by Kansas philanthropists Jack and Joann Goldstein, around 1998. It and two other Sandzén paintings were consigned from the Goldstein estate, including “Mary’s Lake Estes Park, Colo.” The 1927 oil on board achieved $59,000 and was another desirable Middle period work. Dated slightly later but equally desirable was a rare 1933 plein air painting of pink peonies that made $44,840. Of the nearly 320 Sandzén paintings archived on Artprice.com and the more than 400 recorded on AskArt.com, fewer than 15 depict floral subjects. “This work is unique among his known floral compositions, presented as an en plein air study captured under a summer sky rather than a studio arrangement,” according to the catalog note.
Chicago modernist Anthony Angarola was represented in the sale with his 1928 view of Jacob Loose Park-The Old Country Club Golf Park (Kansas City) that made $49,200.
Paintings by Chicago modernist Anthony Angarola (1893-1929) are scarce and, according to Soulis’ research, fewer than 15 oil paintings by the Italian-American artist have hit the auction block in the last four decades. Angarola’s 1928 view of Jacob Loose Park-The Old Country Club Golf Park (Kansas City) sold for $49,200. Asked about the desirability of this work, Soulis said, “I can’t be certain why they’re rare. He died very young, so this could be the reason, but from my research using reports of the day, it appears he was fairly prolific. Perhaps his paintings are closely held. My personal opinion is that it was clearly a fine work and an interesting example of 1920s American Modernism and a prime example of that Midwestern brand that ran counter to what was going on elsewhere.”
Artwork crossing the block spanned the decades and among the auction’s top ten was a large Fritz Scholder self portrait from 2001, measuring 60 by 57 inches, that took $47,200 as well as a 1937 Werner Drewes oil on canvas titled “Counterbalance,” which brought $27,060. An untitled Chicago cityscape by Belle Goldschlager Baranceanu (1905-1988) from the mid to late 1920s sold for $13,530 and achieved a new auction record price for the artist.
Quite a few artworks on offer went well over their estimates, such as Alice Geneva “Gene” Kloss’ large watercolor of a mountain landscape, an unusual medium for the prolific printmaker. Buyers liked what they saw and drove the image past its $5/7,000 estimate to $23,600. Also overperforming its $6/8,000 estimate was a Philip Campbell Curtis oil on board from 1960, “The Bugler,” at $23,370.
Alice Geneva “Gene” Kloss was a prolific printmaker, so her watercolors are rare. This large watercolor of a mountain landscape soared past its $5/7,000 estimate to peak at $23,600.
The February 21 session also presented art from well-known names, starting with the first lot to cross the block, a 1976 proof portfolio by Alexander Calder that attained $17,220.
However, fine Oriental rugs were the main attraction in this session that offered more standouts from the estate of John Adair, Jr, who was a discerning collector of antique Caucasian and southwest Persian rugs. Highlights included a fine Marsali prayer rug, third quarter Nineteenth Century, that doubled high estimate to bring $9,840, and an Akstafa long rug, circa 1880, going out at $7,380.
Soulis Auctions’ next event, to be conducted April 25-26, will feature additional selections from the collection of John Adair, Jr.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.soulisauctions.com or 816-697-3830.
