SELECTIONS V
B RO C K & C O .
SELECTIONS V
B RO C K & C O . P.O. BOX 593 CARLISLE, MASSACHUSETTS 01741 TEL ⁽ 978 ⁾ 287- 6004 FAX ⁽ 978 ⁾ 287- 0673 mark@brockandco.com www.brockandco.com
©2 0 0 7
B RO C K & C O . ISBN 978-0-9760721-4-0
Foreword I am pleased to present this year’s catalogue, the foundation of which is built on a selection of works from an important collection of nineteenth-century American landscape and marine paintings. I am pleased that the owner has entrusted me with offering these pieces. Among the works in this group is Indian Falls, an exceptional, early example by David Johnson. This rare oil, dated 1853, shows Johnson’s capable, detailed brushwork, luminist tendencies, and a Ruskinian approach to the rendering of all aspects of its composition. Another highlight is Martin Johnson Heade’s well documented Two Hunters in a Landscape, 1862, formerly in the collection of noted industrialist and art collector Baron Thyssen Bornemisza. Significant works dating from later chapters in the development of American art history are also reproduced and described. Promenade Along the Beach, Nice, a 1909 oil on panel by Charles Sheeler, evokes the mood of a Japanese woodblock print and also illustrates the impact of William Merritt Chase on his early style. An additional standout is Walt Kuhn’s 1946 canvas, Golden and Blue Bolero. Late in his life, Kuhn produced a body of distinctive, successful portraits of vaudeville and circus performers. Considered highly important examples of American Modernism, these depictions are the most sought after and valuable images of his oeuvre. Over the past fifteen years I have derived immense enjoyment from the acquisition, research, and placement of exceptional examples of American and European paintings, works on paper and sculpture. This provides an engaging and rewarding opportunity to develop lasting relationships with my clients and associates. Through understanding, integrity, and diligence, I assist individuals and institutions in achieving their vision of a successful collection. There are few professions in which earning confidence and trust is as vital, and, for me, certainly none more pleasing. I encourage you to visit us either by appointment in Carlisle, Massachusetts, or on our website, www.brockandco.com, where you will find an ever-changing inventory of works available for sale. Member
Mark L. Brock Carlisle, Massachusetts
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Omnia Vincit Veritas
Charles Octavius Cole (1817 ‒ 1858) Boy with Dog, Portland, Maine 1850 Oil on canvas laid on board 48 x 36 inches Inscribed on reverse: Painted by Charles O. Cole Portland 1850 Sully style frame PROVENANCE Old Dartmouth Historical Society EXHIBITED Old Dartmouth Historical Society, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Images of Childhood: An Exhibition of Pictures and Objects from Nineteenth-Century New Bedford held at the Old Dartmouth Historical Society, December 17, 1976 – April 2, 1977, no. 16, as Boy with Dog. L I T E R AT U R E Old Dartmouth Historical Society, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Images of Childhood: An Exhibition of Pictures and Objects from Nineteenth-Century New Bedford held at the Old Dartmouth Historical Society, New Bedford, MA: Trustees of the Old Dartmouth Historical Society, 1976, page 12, no. 16, illustrated.
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David Johnson (1827 ‒ 1908) Indian Falls 1853 Oil on canvas 20½ x 16½ inches Initialed and dated at lower center: D. J. / 1853 Initialed and dated at lower left (on rocks): D. J. / 1853 Signed, dated and inscribed verso: Study — Indian Falls — Cold Spring David Johnson, 1853. Original frame PROVENANCE Private Collection, Ohio [Menconi & Schoelkopf Fine Art, LLC, New York, New York] [BROCK & CO., Carlisle, Massachusetts, as agent, 2002] Private Collection
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Martin Johnson Heade (1819‒ 1904) Two Hunters in a Landscape 1862 Oil on canvas 12 x 24 inches Signed and dated at lower right: M. J. Heade ‘62 Period frame PROVENANCE Dr. and Mrs. Alick Osofsky, Hewlett Bay Park, New York [Victor Spark, New York] Private Collection [Ira Spanierman, New York, 1982] Foundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid [Sotheby’s, New York, December 4, 2002, Lot 113] [BROCK & CO., Carlisle, Massachusetts, as agent] Private Collection EXHIBITED David Warren, et al. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection of Nineteenth-Century American Landscapes. Exhibition catalogue. Houston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1982, cat. 19, pp. 52 – 53, illustrated. Bilder aus der Neuen Welt: Amerikanische Malerei des 18. und 19. Jahrhundts. Exhibition catalogue. Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1988, p. 55, cat. 26, illustrated L I T E R AT U R E Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., The Life and Works of Martin Johnson Heade, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1975, p. 46, fig. 19, no. 48, illustrated. Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., The Life and Works of Martin Johnson Heade: A Critical Analysis and Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2000, p. 224, no. 96, illustrated. 8
Thomas Worthington Whittredge (1820 ‒ 1910) Landscape with Hay Wain 1863 Oil on canvas 24 x 36 inches Signed and dated at lower right: W. Whittredge / 1863 19th Century style frame PROVENANCE Private Collection, Westchester, New York [Sotheby's, New York, May 24, 2001, Lot 152] Questroyal Fine Art, New York, New York [D. Wigmore Fine Art, New York, New York] [BROCK & CO., Carlisle, Massachusetts, as agent, 2004] Private Collection EXHIBITED J. B. Speed Museum of Art, Louisville, Kentucky, as The Hayfield
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George Cochran Lambdin (1830‒ 1896) In the Ear 1865 Oil on canvas 22 x 27 inches Signed and dated at lower right (on fence rail): Geo. C. Lambdin. 1865. Inscribed on reverse (on stretcher panel): “In the Ear” / Geo. C. Lambdin / 1865 Period frame PROVENANCE Victor D. Spark, New York, New York Knoedler, New York Vose Galleries of Boston, Inventory #24446 Private Collection, New Hampshire, until 2007 EXHIBITED Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1867, no. 80 (Loan) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Victor D. Spark, T.L. 4827
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Martin Johnson Heade (1819‒ 1904) Sailing by Moonlight c. 1870 ‒ 75 Oil on canvas 14 x 22 inches Signed at lower left: M. J. Heade Period frame PROVENANCE [Sotheby’s, New York, November 28, 2001, Lot 54] [BROCK & CO., Carlisle, Massachusetts, as agent] Private Collection EXHIBITED Charles S. and Isabella V. McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. In A Perfect World: Bermuda in the Context of American Landscape Painting. May 16 – September 15, 2002, no. 18, as Sailing by Moonlight. L I T E R AT U R E Judith Bookbinder. In A Perfect World: Bermuda in the Context of American Landscape Painting, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts: McMullen Museum of Art, 2002, p. 48, illustrated.
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Francis Augustus Silva (1835‒ 1886) Rocks of Gloucester Coast c. 1870 ‒ 75 Oil on canvas 9 x 18 inches Signed at lower left: F. A. SILVA Period frame PROVENANCE Private Collection, c. 1940s Private Collection, Santa Barbara, California, by descent [Christie’s, New York, December 4, 2003, Lot 12] [BROCK & CO., Carlisle, Massachusetts, as agent] Private Collection
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Richard William Hubbard (1817 ‒ 1888) Lake George 1874 Oil on canvas 14 x 24 inches Signed with conjoined initials and dated at lower right: RWHLXXIV Period frame PROVENANCE By descent in the artist’s family [Richard York Gallery, New York, New York] Private Collection, New York [Christie’s, New York, September 27, 2004, Lot 6] [BROCK & CO., Carlisle, Massachusetts, as agent] Private Collection EXHIBITED New York, New York, National Academy of Design, 1874, no. 149, as Landscape, Lake George. Huntington, New York, Heckscher Museum of Art, The Collector’s Eye: American Landscape Paintings from Long Island Collectors, October 12 – December 1, 1996.
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George Inness (1825 ‒ 1894) Landscape c. 1877 Oil on canvas laid down on cardboard 5¾ x 8⅝ inches Signed at lower right: G. Inness Period Barbizon frame PROVENANCE Estate Auction, Montclair, New Jersey John F. Stout, by early 1970s [Sotheby’s, New York, March 25, 1997, Lot 18] Jordan-Volpe Gallery, Inc., New York, New York, 1997 BROCK & CO., Carlisle, Massachusetts, 2001 Private Collection L I T E R AT U R E Michael Quick, George Inness: A Catalogue Raisonné, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press 2007, Vol. 1, p. 520, no. 598, illustrated. Michael Quick comments that “this small painting has a tack hole in each corner, a characteristic of some of Inness’s field sketches. Although the color is richer, because of the sunset subject, the amount of black and the way the trees are painted fits into the group of Pompton sketches. Somewhat unusual is what appears to be the use of a palette knife in the sky and to inscribe a line separating the two ridges. The rest of the landscape appears to be painted wet into wet. The sunset sky is the main focus, which also influences colors in the landscape.”
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George Inness (1825 ‒ 1894) River Landscape c. 1878 Oil on canvas 10 x 14 inches Signed at lower right: G. Inness Period frame PROVENANCE Mrs. E. M. Snelling, Nantucket, Massachusetts [Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts, 1928] Mr. George P. Douglas, Minneapolis, Minnesota,1928 [Denver Art Galleries, Denver, Colorado, 1972] The Charsky Collection, 1972 [Christie’s, New York, December 4, 2003, Lot 3] [BROCK & CO., Carlisle, Massachusetts, as agent] Private Collection L I T E R AT U R E Michael Quick, George Inness: A Catalogue Raisonné, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press 2007, Vol. 1, p. 568, no. 670, illustrated. Michael Quick states that “in preparing for this painting, Inness used a surviving compositional study, Woodland Scene (cat. 669), which he followed in almost all details, although he omitted the two large trees at the far left in the study and he added the boat...Inness indicated in a letter of October 1878 that he was working on landscapes of the dimensions of this one, paintings with a strong sentiment, as here. This painting also has the very fine execution of others of that group.”
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Edward Mitchell Bannister (1828 ‒ 1901) Seascape 1886 Oil on panel 9¼ x 13 inches Signed and dated at lower left: E. M. Bannister . 86 . Period gilded oak frame PROVENANCE Private Collection, Connecticut [Roger King Fine Art, Newport, Rhode Island, 2005] Private Collection, New York BROCK & CO., Carlisle, Massachusetts
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Jasper F. Cropsey (1823‒ 1900) Autumn View, Greenwood Lake 1888 Oil on canvas 24 x 20 inches Signed and dated at lower right: J. F. Cropsey / 1888 Original frame PROVENANCE Private Collection, New York Vance Jordan Fine Art, New York, New York [BROCK & CO., Carlisle, Massachusetts, as agent, 2001] Private Collection This painting will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue RaisonnÊ on the work of Jasper Cropsey, currently in preparation by The Newington-Cropsey Foundation, Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.
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J(ohn) Francis Murphy (1853 ‒ 1921) November Day 1890 Watercolor on paper 13¾ x 18⅝ inches Signed and dated at lower left: J. Francis Murphy – ‘90 Original frame PROVENANCE [Skinner, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, March 12, 1999, Lot 270] Thomas Colville Fine Art, New Haven, Connecticut [BROCK & CO., Carlisle, Massachusetts, as agent, 2001] Private Collection
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Dwight W. Tryon (1849‒1925) Moonlight 1906 Oil on board 9½ x 11 inches Signed and dated at lower left: D. W. TRYON 1906 Inscribed on reverse (in pencil): Moonlight / painted by / Tryon Stanford White style frame PROVENANCE Mrs. J. W. Fobes EXHIBITED Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, Syracuse, New York, n.d.
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Charles Sheeler (1883 ‒ 1965) Promenade Along the Beach, Nice 1909 Oil on panel 5⅛ x 8½ inches Signed and dated at lower right: C. R. Sheeler / Nice 1909 Arts & Crafts style frame PROVENANCE Descended in the family of the artist Private collection, Philadelphia [Beacon Hill Fine Art, New York, New York] Private collection, New York EXHIBITED (possibly) McClees Gallery, Philadelphia, before 1918. New York, New York, Debra Force Fine Art, Inc., Images de la France: American Artists in Paris 1880 – 1925, Nov. 1 – Dec. 21, 2002, p. 29, illus. This painting will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of the works of Charles Sheeler by Carol Troyen, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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Augustus Koopman (1869 ‒ 1914) Figures on the Beach 1912 Oil on canvas 26 x 32 inches Signed and dated at lower right: Augustus Koopman / 1912 Carrig-Rohane style frame PROVENANCE Jacob Kiefer Newman, New York, New York Melvin Spencer Newman, Columbus, Ohio, his son, by gift, 1940s By descent in the family, until 2006
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Alfred Henry Maurer (1868‒ 1932) Tabletop Still Life c. 1919 Oil on board 22 x 18⅛ inches Signed on reverse: A. H. Maurer 19th Century Dutch frame PROVENANCE Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, New York Private collection, New York
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Jane Peterson (1876 ‒ 1965) Niles Pond, Gloucester c. 1920 Oil on canvas 18 x 24 inches Signed at lower left: JANE PETERSON Arts & Crafts style frame PROVENANCE Private collection, Massachusetts
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Thomas Hart Benton (1889‒ 1975) Chilmark Pond, Herring Creek at Gay Head, Martha’s Vineyard c. 1925 Oil on paper mounted on board 6½ x 5⅛ inches Signed at lower left: Benton Benton style frame PROVENANCE The Artist Private Collection [Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, New York, New York, as agent] Owings-Dewey Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico Private Collection, Massachusetts EXHIBITED Smith Kramer Art Connections, Kansas City, Missouri, Thomas Hart Benton, Chronicler of American Folk History, no. 72.
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Childe Hassam (1859 ‒1935) Maidstone Golf Course, East Hampton 1926 Oil on canvas 6½ x 13⅜ inches Signed and dated at lower left: Childe Hassam 1926 Inscribed at lower center: Easthampton Artist’s device and date painted (in orange) on original support Arts & Crafts style frame PROVENANCE Mrs. Gloria Gebest, by gift, Bronxville, New York [Thronja Original Art, Springfield, Massachusetts, by 1981] [Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1981] Private Collection, California [Hoover Gallery, San Francisco, California] Private Collection Adelson Galleries, New York, New York BROCK & CO., Carlisle, Massachusetts This painting will be included in Stuart P. Feld and Kathleen M. Burnside’s forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of the artist’s work.
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William Zorach (1887 ‒ 1966) Tennis Player c. 1930 Bronze 16 inches One of an edition of six (marked 1/6) Signed on the base (script): Zorach Marked (at edge of base): Modern Art Foundry, New York PROVENANCE: Tessim Zorach, Brooklyn, New York, 1985 Private Collection, Boston, Massachusetts, until 2004 Private Collection, Massachusetts
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Walt Kuhn (1877 ‒ 1949) Golden and Blue Bolero 1946 Oil on canvas 24 x 20 inches Signed and dated at center left: Walt Kuhn / 1946 17th century Italian style frame PROVENANCE Kennedy Galleries, New York, New York Dr. and Mrs. Mark S. Kauffman EXHIBITED Kennedy Galleries, New York, New York, 1972, Walt Kuhn, no. 6, illus. University Gallery, University of Florida, Gainesville, 1979, The American Scene Paintings by Twenty Seven Artists of the 20th Century. Mac Nider Museum of Art, Mason City, Iowa, 1979, The American View, p. 36, no. 16, illus. Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida, 1996, The Independents: The Ashcan School and Their Circle from Florida Collections, p. 100, no 76, illus. Selby Gallery, Ringling School of Art and Design, 2003, Sarasotans Collect II. Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida, 2003 – 2004 circulating exhibition, American Modernism: Paintings from the Dr. and Mrs. Mark S. Kauffman Collection, show traveled to the Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota and The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, no. 31. L I T E R AT U R E Philip Rhys Adams, Walt Kuhn, Painter: His Life and Work (1978), p. 274, no. 496. Valerie Ann Leeds, “The Independents: The Ashcan School and Their Circle from Florida Collections” in American Art Review, Vol. VIII, no. 2, May 1996, p. 106, illustrated.
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Index page
artist
24
B ANNISTER , E DWARD M ITCHELL
40
B ENTON , T HOMAS H ART
4
C OLE , C HARLES O CTAVIUS
26
C ROPSEY, J ASPER F.
42
H ASSAM , C HILDE
8, 14 18
H EADE , M ARTIN J OHNSON H UBBARD , R ICHARD W ILLIAM
20, 22
I NNESS , G EORGE
6
J OHNSON , D AVID
34
KOOPMAN , A UGUSTUS
46
K UHN , WALT
12
L AMBDIN , G EORGE C OCHRAN
36
M AURER , A LFRED H ENRY
28
M URPHY, J( OHN ) F RANCIS
38
P ETERSON , J ANE
32
S HEELER , C HARLES
16
S ILVA , F RANCIS A UGUSTUS
30
T RYON , D WIGHHT W.
10
W HITTREDGE , T HOMAS W ORTHINGTON
44
ZORACH , W ILLIAM
B RO C K & C O . P.O. BOX 593 CARLISLE, MASSACHUSETTS 01741 TEL (978) 287- 6004
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