FRASER’S "THE END OF THE TRAIL" SELLS FOR $277,500 AT SKINNER
Boston, MA – A bronze sculpture of "The End of the Trail" by James Earle Fraser took top honors at Skinner’s auction of American and European Paintings and Prints on Friday, September 25, selling for an impressive $277,500. Cast at the Roman Bronze Works during the artist’s lifetime, this is one of Fraser’s most well-known compositions, second only to the Buffalo nickel. This particular piece (ht. 44½ inches) was cast number four and had been held in a private collection for decades.
"The End of the Trail" was originally modeled in 1894. The Seneca Chief John Big Tree was the model for the figure, which represents the fate of the Native Americans. Fraser exhibited a small rendition of the work in Paris at the Salon of 1898, where it was awarded the American Artists Association John Wanamaker Prize. An 18-foot version in plaster (presently residing in the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) was commissioned for the Panama-Pacific Exhibition in San Francisco in 1915, where it won the Gold Medal. In 1918, after the success of the San Francisco Exhibition, the piece was cast in bronze. Fraser ultimately created the work in bronze in numerous sizes, two of which were monumental in scale.
Additional highlights in the auction represented a wide range of subjects and artists. Examples included a fine illustration by N.C. Wyeth, Maine Sea Captain’s Daughter (1850), which easily achieved $85,000. Figures by Trenton Falls by David Johnson sold for $47,150, After the Snowstorm by Anna Mary Robertston ("Grandma") Moses for $41,400, The Letter by Mary Brewster Hazelton for $34,500, and Rolling Surf, Sunset by William Trost Richards for $33,350. Figures on a Road Auvers-sur-Oise by Frederick Childe Hassam reached $31,050; and Deer Beside a Woodland Stream by Hermann Herzog and Figures by a Woodland Shack in Autumn by Jervis McEntee each realized $27,600. Also selling for $27,600 was J. Hagny’s Summer’s Bounty/An Elaborate Still Life with Fruits and Vines, a wonderful still life attracting tremendous interest that took bidding far beyond expectations. William Bliss Baker’s Cattle Grazing Near a Stream Through the Pasture also sold high, fetching $23,000. Two marine scenes, Drying Nets by Dennis Miller Bunker and Gloucester Harbor by Charles Sheeler, each sold for $18,400, and two floral still lifes by Paul de Longpré sold for $18,400 and $14,950. In addition to the Fraser, sculpture in the auction included Diana by Frederick William MacMonnies, notable for its unusually large size (30 5/8 inches), which sold for $20,700.
Highlights in prints also proved varied. Two works by Gustave Baumann, Woodland Meadows and Sequoia Forest, sold for $3,450 and $2,990 respectively; and two prints by Grant Wood, Fertility and March, realized $3,680 each. Works by modern masters included Cup 4 Picasso by Jasper Johns that sold for $6,325, L’atelier by George Braque for $5,175, and a selection of prints by Andy Warhol led by In the Bottom of My Garden, a suite of twenty prints offered with documentation regarding their provenance, that sold for $8,625.
Skinner’s next auction of American and European paintings will be in Boston on November 13. Illustrated catalogue #1889 is available for $29.00 ($35.00 for foreign requests) from the subscription department at Skinner/Bolton. For further information, telephone 978/779-6241, or fax 978/779-5144.