NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana Bayou scene by Nineteenth Century Norwegian-American artist William Henry Buck was the top lot at New Orleans Auction Galleries’ October 14-15 sale as it garnered a swath of attention, selling after a heated bidding battle for $272,000. The scene was labeled as “probably Bayou Teche, Oaklawn Plantation, now Oaklawn Manor, Franklin, Louisiana,” dating to 1878 and measuring 18 ¼ by 30 inches.

The catalog description noted a review from the “Art Notes” column of the Times-Picayune and the Daily Democrat from 1877-1878, reading, “Critics often compared his handling of the live oak to Walt Whitman’s poetic metaphor of it for the sublime – for spiritual contemplation on the nature of isolation, and the art columnist aptly portended that through Buck’s deft handling of majestic oaks, ‘he is perfecting his manner of tropical scenes, that he will win a lasting reputation we have no doubt.’”

In a poem titled “I Saw in Louisiana a Live-Oak Growing” from Calamus, Walt Whitman wrote, “All alone stood it and the moss hung down from the branches, Without any contemplation it grew there uttering joyous leaves of dark green.”

A full review will appear in a future issue. For more information, www.neworleansauction.com or 504-566-1849.