Top-lot status was awarded to “Watermelon and Berries” by Sterling Strauser (American, 1907-1995), 1994, 11¾ by 16 inches unframed, for this oil on board still life, which earned a delicious $2,313 ($800-$1,200).
Review by Kiersten Busch
PHILADELPHIA — The Fine Art Specialist conducted its 166-lot Elevated | Art, Objects & Décor auction on June 25, which featured a diverse selection of original artwork and rare finds, resulting in a sale total of $37,594.
The highest price of the day was awarded to “Watermelon and Berries” by Sterling Strauser, a still life oil on board completed in 1994, one year before the artist’s death. Signed and dated, the unframed work earned a sweet $2,313, besting its $800-$1,200 estimate. Three additional works by Strauser sold, attracting solid prices based on their estimates. “Nude,” a 1985 oil on Masonite figure painting, made $531; “Self Portrait,” another oil on Masonite done in 1970, realized $469; and the oil on board “Trotter Race” galloped to $375.
Landscapes and cityscapes populated much of the highest earning lots, led by Carl Wuermer’s oil on canvas “Autumn Landscape,” which changed hands for $2,250. “California Hills” by Arion Putnam also did well, landing just under its $1,250 low estimate at $1,000. The oil on canvas work was cataloged as a Post-Impressionist, plein air landscape, and was completed some time in the early Twentieth Century.
Glen Cooper Henshaw’s (born Arthur Glenn Hinshaw) “The Chrysler Building Cityscape” was built to new heights at $1,938. The pastel cityscape, done in Manhattan, was housed in a Stanford-White-style 23K gold frame with a natural silk beveled mat.
Measuring 30 by 29 inches in its Stanford-White-style 23K gold frame was “The Chrysler Building Cityscape” by Glen Cooper Henshaw (born Arthur Glenn Hinshaw, 1880-1946), pastel drawing on paper, which towered at $1,938 ($3/4,000).
Bodies of water as a subject attracted bidders, with several paintings from different eras earning top prices. Richard Hayley Lever’s signed oil on board of “Boats at Gloucester Harbor, Massachusetts” led the charge, docking at $2,000. “Boulogne” by Edmond Marie Petitjean followed, rushing to $1,875. The French oil on canvas landscape was signed lower left and dated “1888.”
A selection of landscapes incorporating animals found new owners, including an Old Master landscape with a shepherd by Philipp Peter Roos, otherwise known as Rosa di Tivoli. The European Baroque painting was done in oil on canvas and the central shepherd was surrounded by sheep, a dog, a goat, a bull and a cow. Although it fell short of its estimate, the work earned $2,250, the third-highest price of the sale. It was followed by an untitled equestrian pastoral landscape attributed to Wilhelm Alexander Wolfgang von Kobell, which galloped to $875. The oil on wood panel depicted a boy with his pinto horse and dog standing on a hill.
Portraiture spanned several genres and mediums, with the leading piece, “Woman By Antio Polo #32, 461” by Howard Finster, crossing the block for $625. The cut-out profile portrait was done in mixed media and glitter on plywood and was dated “1994.” It was consigned from a private collection, which had acquired the work directly from the artist. A more “traditional” portrait was found in that of the oil on board “Self Portrait” by Ebbitt Abraham “Jack” Levitz (1896-1964), a “Lithuanian-American artist who created works in the New York Social Realist and Ashcan School traditions,” catalog notes explained. His work surpassed its $100/200 estimate achieving $406.
This European Baroque Old Master oil on canvas work depicting a shepherd and animals was by Philipp Peter Roos, otherwise known as Rosa di Tivoli (German/Italian, 1655/57-1706), 35¼ by 42¼ inches on stretcher, and crossed the block for $2,250 ($6/9,000).
A first slate artist’s proof etching on paper portrait by Benny Andrews also performed well, sitting pretty for $469. Titled “Woman,” the signed and dated etching had provenance to the Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia, as shown by the gallery’s label attached to the back of the work’s frame. Also a print, this example a colored lithograph on paper, was “Magdalene” by Benton Murdoch Spruance (1904-1967), which realized $406. It was dated “1956” and was from an edition of 35.
Chinese pottery also graced the category, led by a six-piece Chinese snuff bottle collection made from mixed materials, including porcelain, hardstone and glass, which surpassed its $150/300 estimate at $438. A grouping of three Chinese vases sold together for $375, landing in the middle of the $250/500 estimate. The lot included one blanc-de-chine vase with a mythical beast motif measuring 11½ inches tall, and a pair of clair-de-lune glazed bottle vases with dragons, each 7½ inches tall.
Other out-of-the-box finds included a Bijan (New York/Beverly Hills) black briefcase with an alligator skin pattern ($688), a lot of eight Chinese necklaces made from various materials ($438) and a pair of French Louis XVI-style Parisian gilt-bronze wall sconces after Henry Dasson ($344). The latter each had a lyre-shaped backplate topped by a mask of Mercury, as well as ribbon-tied flowering branches and tassels, and the candle arms were cast with berried laurel.
Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.fineartspecialist.com or 215-287-0409.
