SKINNER TO HOST AUCTION OF
PAINTINGS & PRINTS SEPTEMBER 15TH
BOSTON, Mass. - August 29, 2006
-
www.skinnerinc.com - Skinner, Inc., one of the nation's leading auction houses for antiques and fine art, will host an auction of American and European Paintings and Prints on Friday, September 15, 2006 in its Boston gallery. Because of the large number of offerings, nearly 900 lots, the sale will begin with prints at 12:00 noon, followed by paintings and sculpture at 4:00 p.m. Leading selections include Thomas Crawford's marble sculpture Adam and Eve, a recently discovered Winslow Homer drawing, a strong group of American landscapes, two garden views by Daniel Ridgeway Knight, a strong selection of modern material, and a fine offering of prints, among other highlights.
Prints
The auction features a selection of prints by major 20th century artists, including Andy Warhol's Mao (lot 244, est. $15/25,000) and his Image from HAMMER AND SICKLE (lot 245, est. $3/5000). Also offered are Pablo Picasso's Sculpteur, Modele et Sculture Assise Plate Forty from LA SUITE VOLLARD, 1933 (lot 188, est. $10/15,000), and three works by Joan Miro: Les Deux Amis and an untitled work (lots 169 and 168 respectively, est. $8/12,000 each) and Image from FUSEES (lot 167, est. $2/4,000).
Additional highlights in prints include a good group of sporting prints, including Hunters by Frank Weston Benson (lot 22, est. $2/3,000), Snipe by Aiden Lassell Ripley (lot 202, est. $5/700), and After Grouse by Ripley (lot 203, est. $7/900). Also featured is lot 69, Design For First Federal "Duck Stamp" - 1934 by Jay N. ("Ding") Darling, an etching on paper framed together with the duck stamp itself. Ducks stamps, which are officially called "Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps," are pictorial stamps produced by the U.S. Postal Service for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Originally, these stamps were created as the federal licenses required for hunting migratory waterfowl. Duck Stamps and their associated products, such as their original prints, have been and continue to be widely collected. The early designers of these popular stamps include Ding Darling, Frank Benson, Lynn Bogue Hunt, and Aiden Lassell Ripley. Additional sporting subjects in the sale include watercolors by Aiden Lassell Ripley, offered in the second session, led by Setting Decoys (lot 454, est. $30/50,000).
The first session closes with selected photography, including Philippe Halsman's Marilyn/A Portfolio of Ten Images, published in 1984, an edition of 250 plus proofs. Each is matted, stamped on the reverse, and identified on the colophon page, and the group is presented in the original portfolio box (lot 283, est. $3/5,000). Other photographs include Berenice Abbott's Beams of Light (Prism) and The Pendulum (lots 275 and 276, est. $1/1,500 each).
Paintings
Thomas Crawford's Adam and Eve (lot 686, est. $75/150,000), from a private Mid-western collection, has already attracted interest. Signed and inscribed "CRAWFORD, FECIT, ROME 1856" on the back, the piece stands 55 1/2 inches in height. Crawford, arguably the most important American neoclassical sculptor, is best known for his figural works executed in marble. Born in New York City 1813, Crawford received his initial training in the business when he worked for the (John) Frazee and (Robert E.) Launitz stone-cutting firm. The experience he acquired from working with these masters greatly influenced his work and style. One of those at the firm, John Launitz, served as Crawford's connection to his teacher and mentor, the well-known Danish sculptor, Bertel Thorwaldsen. Crawford left New York in 1835 to study with Thorwaldsen in Rome. As the years went on, Crawford produced a variety of sculpture, ranging from portrait busts of political figures, to more idealized, thematic works, to public monuments. Although other American artists of Crawford's time represented Eve, Adam and Eve is unusual in that it is one of only a few nineteenth-century American depictions of Adam. The only other known marble version of this sculpture, which stands 54 1/2 inches tall and is dated 1855, is in the collection of the Boston Athenaeum. Other remarkable sculpture offered in the sale includes Diego Giacometti's bronze Chat Maitre d'Hotel (Version au Plat Creux) (lot 729, est. $60/80,000); Harriet Whitney Frishmuth's bronze, The Hunt (lot 747, est. $10/15,000), one of the 29 sculptures in Frishmuth's 1928 solo exhibition at Grand Central Art Galleries); and Thomas Ball's marble relief Ophelia/A Relief (lot 685, est. $15/25,000).
Also offered in the evening session is a recently discovered drawing by Winslow Homer, Girl Sitting on a Plow, signed and dated "Winslow Homer 1879" (lot 377, est. $30/50,000), which comes to auction from the artist to Frederick Taylor Rundlet, at Gloucester, Massachusetts, circa 1879, and then by descent to the present owner. The drawing will be included in the forthcoming third volume of the Spanierman Gallery/CUNY/Goodrich/Whitney catalogue raisonne of Winslow Homer. Additional highlights include Daniel Ridgeway Knight's In the Garden/A Young Woman with a Scythe and After the Day's Chores/A Young Woman Leaning Against the Garden Wall (lots 690 and 694, est. $60/80,000 each), both from a private southern collection; and Jan's Garden, alternatively titled California Flowers (lot 679, est. $30/50,000), by Louis Aston Knight, son of Daniel Ridgeway Knight.
The strong group of American landscapes includes Florida views by Hermann Herzog and Frank Henry Shapleigh. Herzog immigrated to the United States in 1869 and traveled extensively throughout the country over the course of his career. He is best known for his realist landscapes that reflect the rich variety of American terrain. He began visiting Florida in the 1880s and his landscapes capture the vibrant color and bright, atmospheric light of the area. Featured in this sale is Herzog's Fishing in the Everglades (lot 391, est. $25/35,000), with a tape inscribed "765" affixed to the reverse, indicating that it was probably included on an inventory list of the artist's studio done at the time of his death. Shapleigh's The Plaza Basin, St. Augustine Florida (lot 390, est. $7/9,000) also will be offered.
Additional Highlights
Additional highlights include three ink and watercolor illustrations by Arthur Rackam (British, 1867-1939), which come to auction through a private Southern collection (est. $8/12,000 each). These include Clerk Colvill and the Mermaid for British Ballads (lot 830), Underwater Scene with Nobleman and Mermaids (lot 831), and King Arthur "A Maying" (lot 832). The auction also features a strong selection of modern works by artists including Kahlil Gibran, George Aarons, Alexander Calder, Paul Sample, Lawrence Kupferman, Jack Levine, Leo J. Meissner, Calvin Burnett, Agnes Anne Abbot, Frank Vining Smith, John Whorf, and David Park, among others.
Also featured are works deaccessioned from the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Fuller Craft Museum (once the Fuller Museum of Art), including examples by Mabel May Woodward, Gerrit Albertus Beneker, Robert Hale Ives, Conger Metcalf, and Yutaka Ohashi, among others. Rounding out the highlights in the second session of the auction are Robert Henry Logan's Merralan Street Scene (lot 501), as well as a collection of Robert Henry Logan paintings (lots 494-507), and the works of two contemporary artists from Vinalhaven, Maine: Edward and Daveda Movitz (lots 542-555).
Special Event
On Thursday, September 14, 2006, Skinner will host an evening reception and slide lecture beginning at 5:30 p.m. The lecture, entitled "How Boston Came to Embrace 'The Flung and Buttered Massacre of Modernism' and its provocation by the Boston Society of Independent Artists", will be presented by Theresa Dickason Cederholm, former Curator of the Fine Arts, Coordinator of Art and Architecture at the Boston Public Library, subsequent Director of Museums for Historic New England, and author of the book "The Battle to Bring Modernism to New England.." This illustrated talk relates the colorful saga of the Boston Society of Independent Artists, its Brahmin rampage upon its own conservative art culture, and its delightfully quirky solution to the struggles of under-exhibited, unheralded artists, giving them visibility within, and in spite of, the exclusionary establishments of their cultural environment and times. All those interested in attending should R.S.V.P. to 617.350.5400.
Catalogue and Preview Information
Previews for the auction will be 12 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, September 13th, 12 to 7 p.m. Thursday, September 14th, and 9 to 11 a.m. Friday, September 15th. Illustrated catalogue #2329 is available by mail for $32 ($39 for foreign requests) from the subscription department at 978-779-6241 x240. It is also available at the gallery for $29. Prices realized will be available at www.skinnerinc.com during and after the sale. For more information, visit www.skinnerinc.com. Skinner's site also allows users to view all lots in the auctions, leave bids, and order catalogues online.
###
About Skinner
Skinner, Inc. is one of the nation's leading auction houses for antiques and fine art and the only major auction house headquartered in New England. With expertise in over 20 specialty collecting areas, Skinner draws the interest of buyers from all over the world and its auctions regularly achieve world record prices. Skinner provides a broad range of auction and appraisal services, and it is widely regarded as one of the most trusted names in the auction business. Skinner's appraisal experts regularly appear on the PBS-TV series, Antiques Roadshow, and its specialty departments include American Furniture & Decorative Arts, Paintings & Prints, English & Continental Furniture & Decorations, Fine Ceramics, Jewelry, Couture, 20th Century Furniture & Decorative Arts, Fine Musical Instruments, Asian Art, Fine Judaica, Toys, Dolls & Collectibles, Science & Technology, Oriental Rugs & Carpets, American Indian & Ethnographic Art, and Discovery. Skinner galleries are located in Boston and Bolton, Mass. For more information on upcoming auctions and events, visit Skinner's web site
www.skinnerinc.com.
