Almost $5 Million Worth of American Art Sold

Freeman’s, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Photos courtesy Freeman’s

It has happened before. Technical difficulties have caused auctions to delay the start of bidding or pause in the middle of a sale. Freeman’s June 7 American art and Pennsylvania Impressionists sale, scheduled to begin a 1 p.m., had a ten-minute delay. When it finally began, there was no live streaming. Instead, bidding numbers appeared for those bidding on Freeman’s Live, and if the bidder was on Invaluable or Live Auctioneers, it was noted. The word “room” meant there was a bid left with the auctioneer. There were only a few bidders in the salesroom. After 17 lots the sale was paused for nearly an hour. The problem was fixed, and a live auctioneer called the sale.

Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), Sunburst Crow Reservation, sold for $320,000, well above its presale estimate of $120,000/180,000 in the Western and wildlife art sale. The 20¼" x 30¼" oil on canvas, signed “J H Sharp” lower right, was the top lot of the day.

The technical glitch did not seem to affect prices. Competitive bidding and reasonable estimates resulted in some strong prices. The market for American paintings is alive. Of the 126 lots offered, 113 sold for $2,646,000 (including buyers’ premiums); 89% of the lots sold. The total was at the top end of presale estimates ($1,738,000/2,663,000).
The second sale of the day, Western and wildlife art, including contemporary Native American art, scheduled to begin at three o’clock began at five. That delay did not deter bidders, and 86 of the 100 lots sold for a total of $2,315,000 for an 86% sell-through rate. The presale estimate for that sale was $1,189,000/1,862,500. Joseph Henry Sharp’s oil on canvas painting Sunburst Crow Reservation from an Indiana collection was the top lot of the day. It sold for $320,000, well above its estimate of $120,000/180,000.

Hermon Atkins MacNeil (1866-1947), The Moqui Prayer for Rain (The Returning of the Snakes), modeled 1895-96; cast circa 1897, bronze with brown patina, inscribed on the base “H.A. MacNeil Sc,” “Fond. Nelli Roma,” “The Returning of the Snakes,” and “The Moqui / Prayer·For·Rain,” 22½" high, sold for $230,400 (est. $80,000/120,000). At the Wolf sale at Sotheby’s on April 20, 2023, it sold for $152,400. The artist submitted it to the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900 where it won a silver medal. Another bronze by MacNeil, Chief of the Multnomah Tribe (not shown), sold for $128,000 (est. $50,000/80,000).

Western bronzes also performed well. Hermon Atkins MacNeil (1866-1947) bronze The Moqui Prayer for Rain (The Returning of the Snakes), modeled 1895-96; cast circa 1897, with a deep brown patina sold for $230,400 (est. $80,00/120,000). It was part of the Wolf collection sold at Sotheby’s in April 2023 where it brought $152,400.

Henry M. Shrady (1871-1922), Bull Moose, 1900, bronze with brown patina, inscribed “H.M. Shrady,” “Roman Bronze Works N-Y-,” and “Copyright by / T.B. Starr,” 20¼" high, with a Kennedy Gallery provenance, sold for $166,400 (est. $80,000/120,000). At Christie’s on May 23, 1990, consigned by the Art Institute of Chicago, it sold for $15,400. At Heritage Auctions on May 2, 2015, it sold for $68,750.

Henry Shardy’s 20¼" high Bull Moose, 1900, one of Shrady’s first sculptures sold for $166,400 (est. $80,000/120,000). At Heritage Auctions in May 2015, it brought $68,750. It is one of the casts sold by art dealer Theodore B. Starr, who bought the copyright of the model and began selling casts in 1900. Freeman’s American art specialist Adam Veil wrote in the catalog that Karl Bitter, the director of sculpture for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, asked Schrady to create life-size versions of Bull Moose and Monarch of the Plains to decorate the grounds.

Childe Hassam (1859-1935), The Bather (The Bather I), 1904, oil on canvas, signed and dated with the artist’s crescent device, 45" x 52", sold for $179,200 (est. $100,000/150,000). It is part of a cycle of four paintings that Hassam completed in 1904 for the library of Charles Erskine Scott Wood’s home in Portland, Oregon. Freeman’s offered it a year ago with a higher estimate and it failed to sell.

Freeman’s reoffered several works that failed at earlier sales, this time with lower estimates. They all found buyers. Childe Hassam’s The Bather, a large painting measuring 45" x 52", sold for $179,200 (est. $100,000/150,000). Bathers is part of a cycle of four allegorical paintings that Childe Hassam completed in 1904 for the library of Charles Erskine Scott Wood’s home in Portland, Oregon.

The Bather was one of just two paintings that sold for more than $100,000. The other was Edward Redfield’s Overlooking Soho, Pittsburgh, a gray picture of the tenements, painted when Redfield lived in Pittsburgh in 1918, that captures the pollution of the urban scene sold for $166,400 (est. $100,000/150,000). A Redfield snow scene about the same size, 25" x 32", with the same estimate, failed to sell, because of condition problems.

On a Sunday afternoon in June, Freeman’s sold nearly $5 million worth of American art offered at a pair of sales. Freeman’s, as usual, followed with an online sale of lower priced works the following week, on June 17, combined with European art on a long sale of more than 300 lots. An oil on board 17" x 17" portrait by Emma Fordyce MacRae, The Brown Hat, 1930, sold for $21,769 (est. $3000/5000), the highest price of that sale. MacRae was part of the Philadelphia Ten, an all-women group of artists who worked and exhibited together from 1917 to 1945.Freeman’s has created the market for MacRae’s work, which is sent from the U.K. to be sold in Philadelphia.

For more information, contact Freeman’s at (312) 280-1212 or check the website (www.freemansauction.com).

Cecilia Beaux (1855-1942), The Biddle Child, 1881, oil on a porcelain plate, signed and dated, inscribed “#4381 / Biddle” on label affixed to the reverse, 12¾" diameter, sold to a phone bidder for $16,640 (est. $8000/12,000). It depicts a five-year-old boy in his velvet suit. According to an essay in the catalog, Beaux took lessons in china painting from Camille Piton, who taught the craft at the National Art Training School at Tenth and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia and wrote a book on china painting. Later, the artist dismissed her portraits on china and only six including this one survive. There are two at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and three are privately owned.

Levi Prentice (1851-1935), Blue Mountain Lake, oil on canvas of a popular vacation destination, signed “L.W. Prentice” lower left, 12" x 20", with a Jordan-Volpe Gallery, New York City provenance, sold on the phone for $35,200 (est. $5000/8000).

Asher Brown Durand (1796-1886), View of the Dover Plains, New York, circa 1860s, oil on canvas, signed and dated indistinctly, 11" x 16¼", sold for $32,000 (est. $20,000/30,000). The provenance includes Altman/Burke Fine Art, New York City and Spanierman Gallery, New York City, and it was exhibited at Vose Galleries in Boston in 2012. It was consigned from a private Massachusetts collection.

Charles Sheeler (1883-1965), Zinnias, 1918, gouache and pencil on paper, signed and dated, 15" x 10", sold for $51,200 (est. $40,000/60,000). It last sold at Christie’s on December 7, 1984, for $17,600.

Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932), Adirondacks, 1874, oil on paper, signed, titled, and dated, 9 5/8" x 14", with a Debra Force Fine Art, New York City provenance, sold for $25,600 (est. $2000/3000). The bidding got to $4250 when technical difficulties paused the sale for 45 minutes giving bidders plenty of time to think.

Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932), “Coastal Hues, California, 1909”, oil on board mounted on board, signed and dated, inscribed “Beach, Santa Barbara” and dated on the reverse, 9¾" x 14 1/8", with a Richard York, New York City and Debra Force Fine Art, New York City provenance, sold for $11,520 (est. $3000/5000).

Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851-1938), The Music Lesson, 1921, oil on canvas, signed, 16 1/8" x 14", sold for $140,800 (est. $150,000/250,000). It was also offered before with a higher estimate.

Emma Fordyce MacRae (1887-1974), Ruth, 1942, oil on board, signed and dated, 40" x 32", sold for $64,000 (est. $6000/8000). It was exhibited at the National Academy of Design in April 1942, the National Association of Women Artists, April 1944, and the Cape Ann Museum in 2008. It is noted in American Art Review, April 2008, p. 68. Proceeds from MacRae’s paintings sales go directly to Alzheimer’s Research UK, Britain’s leading dementia research charity, and will help fund research on Alzheimer’s disease and other causes of dementia. The record for a MacRae painting is $69,000 paid in 2022.

Jane Peterson (1876-1965), The Purple Bouquet, oil on canvas, signed lower right, 24 1/8" x 24 1/8", sold for $20,480 (est. $10,000/15,000). It was property from a Florida estate.

Vaughn Flannery (1898-1955), Last Horse Back, Greentree Stable Entrance, Aiken, South Carolina, oil on masonite, signed and inscribed “Vaughn Flannery AIKEN, S.C.,” 20" x 28", sold for $19,200 (est. $4000/6000). The artist was known for his paintings of race horses. He worked as an art director at advertising firms. Then, until 1940, he co-owned a large advertising agency. He retired to his Maryland farm to devote his time to painting.

This small Martha Walter (1875-1976), Crowded Beach, oil on board, signed lower left, inscribed with title on the reverse, 14" x 18", sold for $57,600 (est. $20,000/30,000). It has an impressive provenance including David David Gallery, Philadelphia; John H. Surovek, Palm Beach, Florida; John J. McDonough, Massachusetts; Dr. Alfred Ziviello, and Thomas Colville Fine Art, New York City. It previously sold at Christie’s on December 4, 1992, for $24,200.

Howard Pyle (1853-1911), Villon–The Singer Fate Fashioned to Her Liking, 1904, oil on canvas, signed, inscribed “In Necessity’s Mortar / Francois Villon” on the reverse, 25½" x 16¼", an illustration of a short story by James Branch Cabell in Harper’s Monthly, October 1904, sold for $44,800 (est. $10,000/15,000). It sold at Sotheby’s on May 21, 2003, for $24,000.

Emma Fordyce MacRae, Linda, oil on canvas mounted to board, signed, 17 1/8" x 14 1/8", with a Debra Force Fine Art provenance, sold for $41,600 (est. $5000/8000).

Emma Fordyce MacRae (1887-1974), Pink Lillies [sic] with Japanese Print, 1943, oil on canvas mounted to board, signed, stamped The Estate of Emma Fordyce MacRae, 25" x 30", sold for $12,800 (est. $4000/6000) unframed. A framed MacRae still life Foxgloves in Two-Handled Pot (not shown), oil on canvas mounted to board, 26" x 18", sold for $14,080 (est. $3000/5000). Freeman’s offered more of her work in the online-only Collect American and European Art sale held June 17.

William Glackens (1870-1938), The Yellow Dress, oil on canvas, 32" x 26", sold for $57,600 (est. $40,000/60,000).

William Glackens (1870-1938), Bathers, Walker’s Pond (New Hampshire), circa 1922, oil on canvas laid to board, posthumously stamp signed “W.G. by E.G.” on the reverse, also titled, located, and dated in pencil on the reverse, 12" x 16", sold for $42,880 (est. $10,000/15,000) after failing to sell with a higher estimate in September 2024.

Sarah S. Stilwell Weber (1878-1939), Children’s May Day Parade, 1914, oil on board, signed, 21¾" x 17¾", sold for $60,800 (est. $25,000/40,000). It was a Saturday Evening Post cover in May 1914.

Clarence Raymond Johnson (1894-1981), Lambertville in Spring, oil on canvas, 28" x 30", sold for $16,640 (est. $5000/7000). It was accompanied by a letter of opinion from John E. Ollman, director of the Janet Fleisher Gallery in Philadelphia, which represents the estate of Clarence Johnson, a New Hope school painter active from 1917-1935. Johnson gave up painting completely by the mid-1930s. After that time, he went into the antiques business, selling American period furniture and accessories from a shop in Lahaska, a village midway between New Hope and Doylestown. He refused to allow any of his paintings to be sold until after his death. After his death in 1981, the Janet Fleisher Gallery exhibited his entire body of work which had not been seen for 20 years.

Jamie Wyeth (b. 1946), Raven Pair - Portrait, 1998, mixed media on board, signed, 15 7/8" x 20 1/8", sold for $70,400 (est. $60,000/100,000). The ravens were inspired by the 1998 snowstorm in Maine.

Lynne Drexler (1928-1999), Blue Swirl, 1991, oil on canvas, signed, titled, and dated on the reverse, 30" x 20", sold for $60,800 (est. $20,000/30,000).

Orville Bulman (1904-1978), Tiene, 1973, oil on canvas, signed “Bulman,” also signed, titled, and dated, with Hammer Galleries, New York City, stamp and inventory number on the reverse and stretcher, 16" x 30", sold for $64,000 (est. ($15,000/25,000).

Edward Willis Redfield (1869-1965), Overlooking Soho, Pittsburgh, “1918,” oil on canvas, signed “E.W. Redfield” lower right, also titled, signed, and dated on the upper stretcher, 26" x 32", sold for $166,400 (est. $100,000/150,000). Redfield lived in Pittsburgh in 1918 and turned his attention to the squalid conditions of urban tenements, a sharp contrast to the Bucks County countryside.

Rae Sloan Bredin (1881-1933), Girl With White Fan, circa 1915, oil on canvas, signed “R.S. Bredin” lower right, also signed and inscribed with title on the stretcher, 30" x 25", sold for $20,480 (est. $12,000/18,000).

Peter Blume (1906-1992), Recollection of the Flood, 1967-69, oil on canvas, signed and dated, also signed, titled, dated, and inscribed on the reverse, 48" x 54", sold for $51,200 (est. $ 30,000/50,000). Blume was a magic realist starting in the 1930s. This large narrative work was painted late in Blume’s career. The title refers to the Arno flood in Florence in 1966, and the restoration of a mural. Blume had painted murals for the WPA. His weird, technically dazzling paintings in the manner of the old masters was embraced in the 1930s and then his allegorical paintings fell from favor. His disquieting dreamlike works have found a new audience.

Mary Elizabeth Price (1877-1965), Pattern of Flower and Leaf, oil with silver leaf mounted to board, signed “M. Elizabeth Price,” also signed and titled on label on the reverse, 19" x 24", sold for $23,040 (est. $20,000/30,000).