COMPLIMENTARY COPY TM
The Most Widely Read Collector's Newspaper In The East Published Weekly By Joel Sater Publications www.antiquesandauctionnews.net
VOL. 45, NO. 13 FRIDAY MARCH 28, 2014
A Rare Time Capsule Of Fine Art: The George D. Horst Collection To Be Sold At Freeman’s n Sunday, March 30, Freeman’s will sell a private collection of fine American and European paintings that have remained virtually unseen for almost a century. The 64 paintings, most in their original frames, were amassed by Reading, Pennsylvania, business tycoon George D. Horst from 1911 to 1929 and have been hanging in his custom-built Tudor-style gallery since 1929. Celebrated painters such as Frank Weston Benson, Edward Willis Redfield, Childe Hassam, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Eugène Boudin, and Charles François Daubigny are represented in the collection, with most works purchased soon after their completion from galleries, auction houses and selling exhibitions from fine art institutions such as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. “This type of collection is an auctioneer’s perfect storm. The paintings are in excellent condition with a great provenance and have been hanging undisturbed in Horst’s gallery for decades. As we say in the UK, ‘it’s been preserved in aspic,’” said Freeman’s vice chairman and fine art division head Alasdair Nichol. Highlights from collection include the following: •Childe Hassam (American 1859-1935) “The Norwegian Cottage” est. $200,000-$300,000. •Daniel Garber (American 1880-1953) “Glen Cuttalossa” est. $200,000-$300,000. •Edward Willis Redfield (American 1869-1965) “Winter Sunlight” est. $200,000-$300,000. •Frank Weston Benson (American 1862-1951) “Marshes of Long Point” est. $200,000-$300,000. •Emil Carlsen (American 1853-1932) “Copper and Porcelain” est. $100,000-$150,000. •Jean Baptiste Camille Corot (French 1796-1875) “Garden Gate” est. $60,000-$80,000.
O
Edward Willis Redfield’s (American 1869-1965) “Winter Sunlight” is estimated at $200,000-$300,000. It was acquired on March 8, 1929, at the “One Hundred and Twenty Fourth Annual Exhibition” at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Daniel Garber’s (American 1880-1953) “Glen Cuttalossa” is estimated at $200,000-$300,000. It was acquired on March 15, 1926, at the “One Hundred and Twenty First Annual Exhibition” at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. It is in a Newcomb-Macklin frame.
George D. Horst began to collect paintings in 1911. A founding partner of the profitable Berks County hosiery firm, Nolde & Horst, he was also a patron of the arts and in the 1910s, a primary donor of the fledgling Reading Public Museum, located on the third floor of a school administration
(Continued on page 2) An immigrant from Germany, the American and European paintings in the collection reflect George Horst’s dual identity. A major source of American art for Horst was the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), the oldest art school and museum in the U.S. Known for producing many talented and influential American artists, PAFA’s annual exhibitions provided students and graduates with the opportunity to present the best examples of their work, which in turn, drew collectors like Horst. Daniel Garber’s painting titled “Glen Cuttaloosa” was acquired by Horst during the 1926 exhibition, one year after it was completed. Horst was also partial to Pennsylvania Impressionists such as Fred Wagner, Edward Willis Redfield, and William Lathrop as well as American artists known as “The Ten” such as Childe Hassam and Frank Weston Benson. Among the European painters in the collection, well-known predecessors of Impressionism like Barbizon artists Eugène Boudin and Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, as well as Henri Harpignies, Charles-François Daubigny and Diaz de la Pena, are represented. “An extraordinary quality about the Horst Collection is its impeccable provenance. In fact, both Horst and the Narcisse Virgile Diaz De La Pena’s (French 1808-1876) Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased Corot paintings, “Autumn” is estimated at $4,000-$6,000. once owned by Charles H. Senff, at an auction in 1928,” said Nichol.
Frank Weston Benson’s (American 1862-1951) “Marshes of Long Point” is estimated at $200,000-$300,000.
George Loftus Noyes’ (American/Canadian 1864-1954) “Joyous Island” is estimated at $10,000-$15,000. It was acquired at the “One Hundred and Fifteenth Annual Exhibition” at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia on April 2, 1920. An American Impressionist, George Loftus Noyes’ plein air paintings were highly respected, particularly in Boston. Mass., where he kept a studio. He exhibited regularly at the Boston Arts Club before going into teaching at the turn of the century, when he taught N.C. Wyeth. The vibrancy of his palette in “Joyous Island” gives the Childe Hassam’s (American 1859-1935) “The Norwegian Cottage” is estimated at $200,000-$300,000. It was acquired at Emil Carlsen’s (American 1853-1932) “Copper and painting an otherworldly, fantastic quality. Much of Noyes’ life’s work was destroyed in a fire in 1939. The Halow Studio in Reading, Pa., on Jan. 9, 1917. Porcelain” is estimated at $100,000-$150,000.