BRANFORD, CONN. – A portrait of American artist William Trost Richards (1870-1952) painted by his daughter, Anna Richards Brewster, sold for $175,000, including buyer’s premium, nearly 70 times its estimated high value, on the first day of Fred Giampietro’s New Haven Auctions’ back-to-back sales June 26-27. Dated 1904 and signed lower left, the 9-3/16 by 11-15/16-inch canvas depicts Richards at work painting Lake Placid, N.Y. The landscape was from the collection of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr, of Los Angeles. The first day offered fine art, Oriental carpets, period European and American furnishings, Americana, Asian antiques and more, while the second day, led by an abstract watercolor on paper, presumably Russian judging by a stamp on the back, focused on pop culture, folk, funk, cowboy culture and fun. The abstract art was lifted by 42 bids from a $100/200 estimate to $5,000 with premium. A full recap of the sale will follow later.
