Fresh to Market
Heritage Auctions’ November 8 sale features a number of paintings with provenance tracing to the artists and arriving at market for the first time
Heritage Auctions’ November 8 sale features a number of paintings with provenance tracing to the artists and arriving at market for the first time
November 8
Heritage Auctions Design District Showroom 1518 Slocum Street
Dallas, TX 75207 t: (214) 528-3500 www.ha.com
As a record setter in the illustration and western art markets, heritage Auctions’ sales of American art are often robust in both categories. Its upcoming November 8 sale, featuring approximately 180 lots expected to sell in excess of $3.5 million total, is no exception with there being examples from some of the most recognized names crossing the block.
In the illustration category, standouts include eight works by Norman Rockwell, a Saturday Evening Post cover by J.C. Leyendecker and two interior Scribner’s Magazine illustrations by Jessie Wilcox Smith titled Among the Poppies, the Child in a Garden (est. $60/80,000) and Five O’clocktea, the Child in a Garden (est. $60/80,000).
Among the Rockwells is a stunning advertisement for Elgin Watches titled
She Said It for a Lifetime (Man Receiving a Gift Watch) that was painted in 1926.The work, which has a presale estimate of $350,000 to $500,000, comes from the collection of Bradley and Susan
Schuchat, who have had the piece in their collection for decades. “done in 1926, the work shows a mother with her son, almost holding her while staring at
a pocket watch that she gifted to him,” says Aviva Lehmann, director of American art at Heritage.“i find it really striking, for Rockwell and in 1926, that they were trying to target an audience of women, which I thought was cutting edge for the 1920s.”
A study for Rockwell’s iconic
Saturday Evening Post cover Girl with Black Eye (The Shiner) should also capture the attention of buyers.“it’s adorable and is a study for one of his best-known works,” says Lehmann of the piece that has an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000.“Even if people aren’t familiar with Rockwell they know this image.
It’s a typical Rockwell, touching on childhood and its innocence.” Heritage holds the auction record for Leyendecker at $365,000 for one of his Thanksgiving-themed Saturday Evening Post covers, depicting a football player and a pilgrim. During the November 8 sale, the cover study for the November 10, 1910, Saturday Evening Post, aptly titled Thanksgiving and featuring a young boy excitedly carving into a turkey leg, will arrive at auction.“it’s been in one family from Newyork,” says Lehmann, “and it’s a cheeky work showing a boy digging into his turkey with pilgrim shoes on. It has a very attractive estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.”
Western lots will include G.
Harvey’s 1993 painting When Cowboys Don’t Change (est. $400/600,000); a standout piece by Frank Tenney Johnson titled A Light in the Night
(est. $80/120,000); and Taos Society of Artists works, such as Walter Ufer’s At Ease (est. $60/80,000) and Joseph Henry Sharp’s painting The Bow and Arrow Makers (est. $80/120,000). “A lot of the Western art is so fresh to the market to the point where the provenance is tracing back to the artist and they’ve stayed in the family,” elaborates Alissa Ford, director of Western art at Heritage.
The auction will also feature a fine sampling of Hudson River School pieces—a category that Heritage has seen growth in over the past few sales. “We’re noticing there’s a lot of renewed
interest in Hudson River School,” says Lehmann.“in our last auction [in May] we set a record for John S. Jameson, who was a very rare Hudson River painter. He died young, having served in the Civil War and dying in battle. It sold for $250,000.”
Lehmann continues,“we saw competitive bidding in that arena from seasoned collectors and new collectors, with collectors in their 20s and 30s bidding on that work.that touched upon something for me about the renewed interest in the classics of American art… it’s exciting for me to see bidding from all over the country and age groups interested in Hudson River School again.” In this sale, a painting of the Atlantic Ocean by William Trost Richards titled Seascape near Atlantic City, 1871, will cross the block.“from the 1870s, it’s the prime period of this body of work,” Lehmann shares.“coming from a private Newyork City collector, at the price point of $50,000 to $70,000, we’ll see interest from various demographics.” Also in the category is John Frederick Kensett’s England Landscape, painted around 1844 to 1845, that Lehmann says comes from a private Newyork collection and almost looks like a Barbizon scene.“it’s an early work, and what makes it attractive to me is that it’s beautifully painted,” she explains of the piece, which has an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000. “There’s good attention to the luminosity of clouds, classic details of the branches and it’s a large pastoral scene, but because the subject is England it has an attractive estimate.” Other highlights include regional modernist works by Rockwell Kent; a grouping by Dale Nichols from a private collector in Alaska who commissioned the artist; and pieces by Everett Shinn, Ralston Crawford and more.