The top lot at $61,628, Birger Sandzen’s uncharacteristic floral still life composition of blowsy peonies from 1924 was, according to an AskArt survey, one of fewer than 10 floral still life compositions by the Swedish landscape artist out of more than 500 entries.
Review by W.A. Demers; Photos Courtesy Soulis Auctions
LONE JACK, MO. — On February 24, Dirk Soulis presented a selection of fresh-to-the-market paintings, prints, sculpture and objects of art in his firm’s annual winter fine art gallery auction. Also included were antique Oriental rugs and weavings from the Phil Martin estate collection. The sale totaled $437,855 with a sell-through rate of 96 percent. A total of 205 registered bidders were competing for lots, with 65 bidding cards given out in the gallery.
Soulis has made a market in paintings by Birger Sandzen (1871-1954), a Swedish painter best known for his landscapes. This sale was led by three Sandzen paintings, the top lot an uncharacteristic floral still life composition of blowsy peonies from 1924, which finished at $61,628. “A survey of AskArt.com turned up fewer than 10 floral still life compositions by this landscape artist out of more than 500 entries,” said Soulis.
More in Sandzen’s wheelhouse was “Study from the Rocky Mountain National Park,” 1922, which sold for $50,385 to the same buyer as the still life. Sandzen spent nearly every summer in Colorado from 1908 through 1952. The presentation of a Rocky Mountain timberline view underlines Sandzen’s bold approach to painting, adopted in his “middle period,” according to scholars. Catalog notes explain that during this time the artist applied paint in short, singular, confident strokes of thick impasto blended to unique, attractive colors. Works from this Middle Period have been characterized as, “the most dynamic and important of Sandzen’s career.” by the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery in Lindsborg, Kan.
Having surfaced recently in a St Joseph, Miss., the final price of this original charcoal rendering of the 1964 World’s Fair Unisphere, circa 1962, by Hugh Ferriss realized $20,910. Telephone bidders from around the United States and Germany vied for the iconic image.
An example of Sandzen’s pointillist technique was on display in the scene from Rocky Mountain National Park, 1936, a composition of a high altitude lake and towering rock formations below mountain peaks. Fetching $45,600, the painting exemplifies Sandzen’s unique style of combining techniques of impressionism and pointillism to build canvases that created powerful images through hundreds, maybe thousands of individually applied brushstrokes.
Hugh Ferriss’ (1889-1962) original charcoal rendering of the 1964 World’s Fair Unisphere, circa 1962, realized $20,910. Executed on artist’s illustration board and signed Hugh Ferriss in white gouache lower left front, it was emblematic of the American architect and illustrator’s approach to documenting futuristic and modernistic architecture and monuments. This large composition (34 by 43 inches), most likely among the last of Ferriss’ major works, suitablly captured the massive, 140-foot stainless steel armillary sphere representing the earth itself.
Hugh Ferriss was a Missouri native. This lost work was recently discovered in a Missouri home, said Soulis. “It surfaced recently in a St Joseph, Mo., home. Telephone bidders from around the United States and Germany competed.”
Selling for $6,325 and continuing a string of record-breaking prices by Soulis Auctions for this Oklahoma regionalist artist, Charles Banks Wilson’s “Cherokee Farmer aka Citizen,” was an unusual egg tempera painting on Masonite directly related to a rare lithograph Wilson composed in 1938 during his second year of studies at the Chicago Art Institute.
Oklahoma artist Charles Banks Wilson (1918-2013) was represented in the sale by “Cherokee Farmer aka Citizen,” an unusual egg tempera painting on Masonite directly related to a rare lithograph Wilson composed in 1938 during his second year of studies at the Chicago Art Institute. Catalog notes state that Wilson’s very early lithograph, number 1 in David C. Hunt’s catalogue raisonné, The Lithographs of Charles Banks Wilson, is titled “Cherokee Farmer.” Hunt’s catalog has Wilson quoted as saying, “My 1938 version of ‘American Gothic’ voiced a truth I repeated for years to come: Hey, the American Indian no longer rides a Pinto pony and chases buffalo across the prairie!” Selling for $6,325, the painting continued a string of record breaking prices by Soulis Auctions for this regionalist artist. “The previous auction record high was set in 2021, eclipsing the next highest record also from 2021 which broke the previous record set in 2018,” said Soulis.
Stiff competition from phone and internet bidders pushed Aloysius C. O’Kelly’s (1853-1936) late Nineteenth Century Realist scene with two young girls in red, titled “Secrets (Brittany),” to $9,225. Signed lower right and titled verso by period paper label, the canvas measured 36 by 28¾ inches. The Irish artist spent some time in Brittany, according to Soulis. “His works from that area and time period, it turns out, are especially desirable. It sold to a British buyer bidding by telephone.”
“Lot number 109 had previously appeared in our auction rooms back in 2020,” recalled Soulis of a Persian Malayer prayer rug with cypress, circa 1860. “At that time it came to us from the living estate of a friend and mentor named Richard Golder. In 2020 it sold for $10,350. This time around it was consigned by the widow of another friend and mentor named Phil Martin. He, like myself, had seen it hanging in Richard’s home for nearly 40 years, he’d owned longer than that. This time around, it sold for $14,760.”
Two acquatint engravings by Oklahoma and New Mexico artist Doel Reed (1895-1985) were offered. No record of either ever having been offered at auction could be found. “Night in Garcia,” sold for $3,444. A rare aquatint etching, “Chinaberry Trees” went out at $2,337.
The traveling companion of a Louis Vuitton trunk Soulis sold in October 2023 went to an Atlanta buyer at $13,500.
Finally, a large Louis Vuitton traveling wardrobe circa 1920s, was the traveling companion of a Louis Vuitton trunk Soulis sold in October 2023. “Siblings each inherited one from their grandmother,” said Soulis. This one went to an Atlanta buyer at $13,500.
Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. An online sale is currently scheduled for March 27. There will be another fine art sale presented on June 7 and an Americana auction is set for April 6. For information, www.soulisauctions.com or 816-697-3830.
