Bonhams Skinner, Marlborough, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Bonhams Skinner
Bonhams Skinner often features smaller live sales of around 80 lots that are supported by larger online sales. Nineteenth-century and early 20th-century American art sold September 10 at the Marlborough, Massachusetts, gallery while a ten-day online-only American art sale of 107 lots ran from September 1 to 11. Paintings were drawn from estates and longtime collections.
Studio Interior by Joseph Solman (1909-2008), oil on board, 17¾" x 24", brought $11,520 (est. $4000/6000) in the online sale. It is signed “J S” lower left and is titled, signed, and inscribed on the reverse “Studio Interior / Joseph Solman / 40 Monroe St. N.Y.C.”
Employment Agency by Joseph LiMarzi (1907-2000), tempera and oil on masonite, signed, dated “38,” and inscribed on the reverse “Joseph LiMarzi / New York N.Y.,” brought $21,760 (including buyer’s premium) and was a highlight from the online sale.
Sculptor Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (1880-1980) signed this bronze titled Slavonic Dancer “Harriet W Frishmuth © 1921.” With a dark brown patina and bearing the foundry mark “Roman Bronze Works N-Y-” it sold for $38,400 (est. $10,000/20,000). Another example was published in the 2006 book Captured Motion: The Sculpture of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth: A Catalogue of Works by Janis Conner, Leah Rosenblatt Lehmbeck, Thayer Tolles, and Frank L. Hohmann III. Yet another example was in American Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Volume II: A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born Between 1865 and 1885. Based on a model of the dancer Léon Barté, this sculpture was cast in an edition of eleven, four of which are in major museum collections.
Each of this pair of bronzes by New York City artist Malvina Cornell Hoffman (1885-1966) titled The Offering is inscribed “M. Hoffman / ©1919” and bears the Roman Bronze Works foundry mark in its base. At 11½" high and with a green patina, each is attached to a black stone plinth. Part of a group of bronzes from one collection, the pair brought $23,040 (est. $7000/9000).
A group of sculptures came from a single collection. Two bronzes titled The Offering by New York City artist Malvina Cornell Hoffman (1885-1966) were each inscribed “M. Hoffman / ©1919” and bore the Roman Bronze Works foundry mark on their bases. Each of the 11½" high works with a green patina was attached to a black stone plinth. The pair brought $23,040 (est. $7000/9000). Slavonic Dancer by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth sold for $38,400 (est. $10,000/20,000).
For more information, visit the website (http://bonhamsskinner.com) or call (508) 970-3000.
Employment Agency by Joseph LiMarzi (1907-2000) is signed, dated “38,” and inscribed on the reverse “Joseph LiMarzi / New York N.Y.” The tempera and oil on masonite, 22" x 25 1/8", brought $21,760 and was a highlight from the online sale.
British/American artist John George Brown (1831-1913) immigrated in 1853 to New York, where his portraits of street children became highly sought after. The Shoe-Shine Boy, a sweet scene of a boy and his dog, is dated and signed “Copyright 1903 / J. G. Brown N.A.” The oil on canvas, 24" x 17¼", sold for $20,480 (est. $12,000/20,000).
Navajo Shepherdess by William Robinson Leigh (1866-1955) is signed and dated lower left “W. R. Leigh / 1916” and sold for $11,520 (est. $7000/9000). The oil on canvas mounted to board, 7 7/8" x 10", is identified on a presentation plaque and on an undated label from the Salmagundi Club. The West Virginia-born artist was known as one of the foremost artists of the American West.
Mantle is signed and dated by the artist “LeRoy Neiman, 69.” Neiman (1921-2012) is known for his paintings of athletes, musicians, and sporting events. The 11¼" x 6" acrylic on board retains the artist’s stamp and a label from Hammer Galleries, New York City. It brought $10,880 in the online sale.
Shoreline View by Alfred Thompson Bricher (1837-1908), watercolor and gouache, 8 3/8" x 19½", signed “A. T. Bricher” lower right, is a scene with figures on the beach and sailing craft offshore. The twin lights in the distance on Thacher Island were built in Massachusetts by the British in 1771 and identify the site as off Rockport on Cape Ann. The painting sold for $8320 in the online sale.
Towering Pintails by Frank Weston Benson (1862-1951), watercolor on paper, 14¼" x 20¾", is signed lower left and titled on a label on the backing board. It was examined and authenticated by Faith Andrews Bedford and brought $21,760 (est. $5000/7000).
John Singer Sargent’s 1917 charcoal image of his cousin Mrs. Richard W. Hale (Mary Newbold Patterson, 1856-1925), the mother of Richard Walden Hale Jr., 24 5/8" x 18½", sold for $15,360 (est. $20,000/30,000).
This 1917 portrait of Richard Walden Hale Jr. (1909-1976) by John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), 24 5/8" x 18½", brought $35,840 against the $20,000/30,000 estimate. The charcoal on paper image is inscribed “to Mary Hale / John S. Sargent Xmas 1917” and is further identified by two loan labels from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, one from the summer of 1931 and the other from the summer of 1932. The sitter was the son of eminent Boston lawyer Richard Walden Hale (1871-1943).
Bonnie the Squirrel by German/American artist Joseph Decker (1853-1924) is an up-close and personal view of the artist’s pet squirrel Bonnie having lunch. Decker immigrated to America in 1867 and worked as a house and sign painter in Brooklyn. He later returned to Germany and studied with Wilhelm Linderschmidt, who introduced him to the Munich school. The oil on canvas, 15 1/8" x 28", is one of several images of Bonnie, one of which is in the collection of the Terra Foundation. It sold for $20,480 (est. $30,000/50,000).
Brook through Conway Meadows, with Mount Chocorua in the Distance and Moat Mountain on the Right by Benjamin Champney (1817-1907) is signed and dated “1871.” Figures and livestock are seen in the middle of the New Hampshire image. The oil on canvas, 15 1/8" x 24¼", was estimated at $6000/8000 and sold for $23,040.
A Woman in a Colonial Dress by Newell Convers Wyeth (1882-1945), oil on canvas mounted to masonite, 11¾" x 4¼", realized $7040 (est. $6000/8000). The painting was made around 1901-02. Provenance includes the Aldrich family of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is included in N. C. Wyeth: Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, published in 2008 by The Brandywine Museum of Art, the Wyeth Foundation for American Art, and Scala Publishers.
Sunrise over Niagara Falls by Charles Christian Eisele (1854-1919) is signed “C. Eisele” lower right and inscribed “Niagara Falls” on the reverse. The oil on canvas, 30" x 50", brought $11,520 (est. $6000/8000). The German-born artist immigrated to the U.S. in 1869 and worked and traveled throughout the Midwest, Utah, and Florida.
Water Story by Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), 20" x 18", tempera and oil on board, is a study for the artist’s 1930 mural The History of Water. It sold for $32,000 (est. $30,000/40,000). Commissioned for a Washington, D.C., drugstore, The History of Water related to one of Benton’s most renowned murals, America Today, made for the New School for Social Research. Many figures in Water Story also relate to his 1932 commission for the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Arts of Life in America.
Two paintings by artist Bob Ross (1942-1995) that came from a private collection had previously been in a Fairbanks, Alaska, collection. Alaskan Landscape (right) is signed and dated “Ross / 78” lower right and bears his stamp in three places on the back. The oil on canvas, 16" x 20", brought $32,000 (est. $7000/9000). Beginning in the 1960s Ross served 20 years in the Air Force, during which time he took an art class at the Anchorage USO club. He was then on his way to a flourishing career as an artist and as star of the Public Broadcasting Service show The Joy of Painting.
A Misty Mountain Below Snow-Capped Peaks by Bob Ross is signed and dated “Ross / 78” lower right and retains his stamp on the reverse. The oil on canvas, 18" x 24", was estimated at $10,000/15,000 and brought $51,200.
Reaching Jaguar by Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973), 9¼" tall, a bronze of the animal ready to pounce, is signed by the artist and marked “Gorham Co. Foundry / QVW.” It realized $6400 (est. $5000/7000).
Most New Englanders love to see the back of winter, and for them Departing Winter by Guy Carleton Wiggins (1882-1962) was a highlight. The oil on canvas, 20" x 24 5/16", is signed and dated “Guy Wiggins / 1922” lower left and on the reverse is inscribed “Departing Winter / Guy Wiggins / 1922.” Estimated at $4000/6000, it brought $11,520. The painting was accompanied by a letter of authentication from Noel Wiggins, a grandson of the artist.
Originally published in the December 2024 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2024 Maine Antique Digest
