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SELECTIONS VI
B RO C K & C O .
SELECTIONS VI
B RO C K & C O . 84A COM MON W E A LT H AV ENU E CONCOR D, M A SSACHUSET TS 01742 tel ⁽ 978 ⁾ 369-1358 fa x ⁽ 978 ⁾ 369-1359 ma rk@brock a ndco.com w w w.brock a ndco.com
©2 0 0 8
B RO C K & C O . ISBN 978-0-9760721-5-7
Foreword In Selections VI, our latest annual review, I have chosen twenty-two exceptional works from current inventory to illustrate the depth and breadth of paintings and sculpture available at BROCK & CO. This is only a small sample of available works from our constantly changing inventory. There are examples by nationally and internationally recognizable names, as well as by lesser known regional artists. Willard Leroy Metcalf’s Old Lyme, Connecticut, painted in 1906, is a prime example of American Impressionism. Metcalf used brilliant impasto to convey the play of light and shadow in this springtime landscape. The influence of a Japanese aesthetic is evident in the use of flattened space, a quality enhanced by the fully rendered shadow of a newly-leafed tree that juts into the center of the composition. Charles Adams Platt’s atmospheric Winter in Cornish is a masterful depiction of the snow covered ground and distant hills in the artist’s home town. Platt was renowned as an architect, designing both the Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in Connecticut. His training as an architect is most evident in the consummately skillful use of space in this peaceful landscape. As many of you know, I feel that American sculpture is one of the last collecting frontiers with significant pieces that are both available and affordable. For example, Fast Ball by Albert Wein captures a pitcher with his arm and weight thrown back, a moment of balance, focus, and anticipation before the ball is released to a waiting batter. Wein merges a classical approach to form and proportion with a modernist sensibility in this striking bronze. I am pleased to announce the opening of my new gallery in the town of West Concord, Massachusetts, at 84A Commonwealth Avenue. The addition of a gallery space allows for a significant expansion of services and a more tailored approach. I welcome your visit. It is with great pleasure that I introduce Anne Hargrave as Gallery Director. With eleven years of experience in the field of American and European paintings, works on paper, and the art market, Anne brings a wealth of knowledge to the gallery and shares my commitment to personalized art advisory. In addition to buying and selling art, BROCK & CO. also provides a broad range of services to collectors of American and European art. Private dealing and personalized curatorial services will remain, as always, the cornerstone of my business. However, we freely share our expertise on conservation, framing, and installation of art work, and advise collectors seeking to upgrade, sell, or add to their collections. We also provide appraisals for estate, tax, or insurance purposes, particularly important in the current environment of intense competition for prime works of art. For a full list of artists in inventory and images of works for sale, updated monthly, please visit our website: www.brockandco.com. Member
Mark L. Brock Concord, Massachusetts Omnia Vincit Veritas
Alvan Fisher (1792 – 1863) View from the East End of Bear Island, Mt. Desert 1851 Oil on canvas 18 x 24 inches Monogrammed and dated at lower right: AF / 1851 Period frame Provenance Private Collection, Maine [Young Fine Arts, North Berwick, Maine, 1999] Peter Sawyer, Exeter, New Hampshire Private Collection, New Hampshire, until present
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Charles Henry Gifford (1839 – 1904) Sketch from Nature, Frenchman’s Bay, Mt. Desert c. 1880 Oil on canvas 4 x 17½ inches Signed at lower right: Sketch C. H. Gifford Inscribed on original support: Frenchman Bay. Mt. Desert. / Study from nature C. H. Gifford Gifford style frame Provenance Private Collection, Massachusetts
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Edward M. Bannister (1828 – 1901) Moonlight Marine (Rhode Island) 1885 Oil on canvas 22 x 30 inches Signed and dated at lower left: E. M. Bannister ‘85 Period gilded oak frame Provenance Private collection, Andover, Massachusetts Roger King Fine Art, Newport, Rhode Island Private collection, Massachusetts Exhibited Spanierman Gallery, LLC, New York, American Marine Paintings 1830–1930, October 4–December 1, 2007.
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Charles Adams Platt (1861 – 1933) Winter in Cornish, New Hampshire c. 1890 Oil on canvas 18 x 26 inches Signed at lower right: C. A. Platt Period Foster Brothers gilded oak frame Provenance Charles Godwin, Pepperell, Massachusetts, 1990 The Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Connecticut Private Collection, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Connecticut Private Collection, Connecticut [The Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Connecticut] Private Dealer, New York, New York, 2007
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Alexander Theobald Van Laer (1857 – 1920) Rainy Day, Canal Street, New York City c. 1890s Oil on canvas 32 x 27 inches Signed at lower right: A. T. Van Laer Titled on label on reverse Stanford White style frame Provenance Private Collection, Massachusetts
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Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859 – 1937) The Walls of Jerusalem 1898 Oil on panel 9½ x 13 inches Inscribed, signed and dated at lower left: To my good friend / F. V. DuMond / H. O. Tanner / 1898 Period Watts frame Provenance Gift of the artist to Frank Vincent Dumond, 1898 Helen Savier Dumond, his wife, by inheritance, 1951 Private Collection, Lyme, Connecticut, 1968 The Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, Connecticut, 2006 Private Dealer, New York, New York, until present A Letter of Authenticity by Dr. Dewey F. Mosby accompanies the painting.
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William Merritt Chase (1849 – 1916) Dorothy c. 1900 Oil on panel 16 x 14 inches Signed and inscribed at upper left: To Virginia with Love / Will 17th Century Spanish style frame Provenance Mr. and Mrs. David R. Wintermann, Wintermann Collection of American Art The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, by gift of the above, 1985 Exhibited Chapellier Galleries, New York, New York, William Merritt Chase: 1849 to 1916, April 1969. L i t e r at u r e Chapellier Galleries, New York, William Merritt Chase: 1849 to 1916, no. 34, illustrated. Ronald G. Pisano, Completed by Carolyn K. Lane and D. Frederick Baker. William Merritt Chase Portraits in Oil: The Complete Catalogue of Known and Documented Work by William Merritt Chase (1849–1916), Vol. 2 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2006), page 157, illustrated. According to Ronald G. Pisano, “this painting depicts Chase’s daughter Dorothy Brémond Chase (1891–1953). Chase gave this painting of his daughter to his sister-in-law Virginia Gerson. It descended in the Chase family until 1969, and was then exhibited at the Chapellier Gallery. It was not exhibited during the artist’s lifetime.”
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Willard Leroy Metcalf (1858 – 1925) Old Lyme, Connecticut 1906 Oil on canvas 26 x 29 inches Signed and dated at lower left: W. L. Metcalf 1906 Carrig-Rohane style frame Provenance Martin Withington Clement, Ithan, Pennsylvania By bequest to his granddaughter, 1965 By descent to her husband, Alexandria, Virginia, 1971
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Charles Alfred Meurer (1865 – 1955) Still Life with Money, Pipe and Letters 1914 Oil on canvas 11 x 14 inches Signed and dated at lower right: CA Meurer / 1914 Period frame Provenance [Christie’s, New York, March 11, 2004, Lot 11] Private Collection, Virginia Beach, Virginia, until present
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Theresa Bernstein (1890 – 2002) Bathers on the Beach, Coney Island c. 1915 Oil on board 8⅛ x 11⅛ inches Signed at lower right (3 times): Bernstein Period “Vose” frame Provenance Acquired directly from the artist Private Collection, Gloucester, Massachusetts
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Isaac Henry Caliga (1857 – 1934) The Pink Kimono c. 1915 ‒ 20 Oil on canvas 34½ x 25½ inches Signed at lower right: IHCaliga Titled on exhibition label attached to the reverse Period Foster Brothers frame Exhibited Salmagundi Club, New York, New York, Annual Oil Exhibition, n.d., as The Pink Kimono. The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 116th Annual Exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, February 6–March 27, 1921, no. 202, as The Pink Kimono.
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Elizabeth Vaughan Okie Paxton (1877 – 1971) Floral Still Life 1920 Oil on board 20 x 16 inches Signed and inscribed at lower left: Elizabeth Paxton / Provincetown, 1920 Foster Brothers style frame Provenance Private Collection, California Private Dealer, Massachusetts
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Thomas Hart Benton (1889 – 1975) Still-Life, Flower c. 1920s Oil on paper mounted on board 8⅜ x 4½ inches Unsigned 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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William McGregor Paxton (1869 – 1941) Hannah c. 1925 Oil on canvas 24 x 20 inches Signed at upper right: PAXTON Period Carrig-Rohane frame Provenance William McGregor Paxton R. H. Ives Gammell Robert Cormier Private Dealer, Massachusetts
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Anton Refregier (1905 – 1979) The Park Bench 1930 Oil on canvas 22 x 30½ inches Signed and dated at upper right: a. Refregier 1930 Original frame Provenance Collection of the artist [ACA Gallery, New York, New York, 1966] Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Lichenstein, Montvale, New Jersey, until present Exhibited ACA Gallery, New York, New York, Protest Paintings – U.S.A., April 4–23, 1966, no. 22, as The Park Bench.
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Benton Murdoch Spruance (1904 – 1967) The Bridge from Race Street 1939 Tempera on paper 21 x 11ž inches (sight) Initialed at lower right: BS. Art Deco style frame Provenance Art Market, 1980 Private Collection, Boston, Massachusetts, until 2007
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Paul Starrett Sample (1896 – 1974) Life Line of Freedom – The Merchant Marine 1942 Oil on canvas 36 x 48 inches Signed and dated at lower right: Paul Sample 42 American Modernist style frame Provenance Private Collection, California According to Paula F. Glick, this work was used in 1942 as the artwork for a Merchant Marine poster.
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Virginia Berresford (1902 – 1995) Shoals 1947 Oil on canvas 24 x 36 inches Signed at lower left: Virginia Berresford Titled and dated on stretcher bar American Modernist style frame Provenance Estate of the artist, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts Private Collection, New York, New York
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Charles Sheeler (1883 – 1965) Tree and Landscape 1947 Tempera on paper on board 15⅝ x 13½ inches Signed and dated at lower right: Sheeler – 1947 American Modernist style frame Provenance The Artist Musya Sheeler, the artist’s widow, 1965 Sid Deutsch Gallery, New York, New York, 1981 The SBC Collection, Texas, 1985 to present
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Edmund Lewandowski (1914 – 1998) Pride of Algoma II 1949 Watercolor on paper 17 x 23 inches Signed and dated at lower right: E. D. LEWANDOWSKI 1949 William Thon style frame Provenance Estate of the Artist Franklin Riehlman, Bronx, New York BROCK & CO., Carlisle, Massachusetts Exhibited H. V. Allison Galleries, New York, New York, and Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, South Carolina, 1990, Edmund Lewandowski, Fifty Years of Painting, no. 3, illustrated. West Bend Art Museum, Wisconsin, 1998, Edmund Lewandowski Memorial Exhibition, nn. According to Franklin Riehlman, Lewandowski created the present work for himself, as a replacement for the piece he exhibited at the 1939 World’s Fair. The 1939 work was shipped overseas, and is now lost. This work always hung in the Lewandowski dining room until acquired by Mr. Riehlman.
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Jamie Wyeth (born 1946) #18 Andy Warhol – Facing his right – with hand study in upper left 1976 Mixed media on paper 16 x 14 inches Signed at lower right: J. WYETH Titled on reverse Provenance The Artist [Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, New York, 1976] Mr. Jack Tanzer [Adelson Galleries, New York, 2005] Private Collection, Massachusetts E x hibited Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, New York, Andy Warhol & Jamie Wyeth: Portraits of Each Other, June 3–July 9, 1976. Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, Andy Warhol & Jamie Wyeth: Portraits of Each Other, November 26, 1976–January 9, 1977.
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Albert Wein (1915 – 1991) Fast Ball 1979 Bronze 16 x 17Ÿ x 6 inches Signed on base: WEIN SC 1979 9/12 One of an edition of twelve (marked 9/12) Provenance [Childs Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts] Private Collection, Boston Liter atur e D. Roger Howlett, Albert Wein: A Classic Modernist (Pittsfield, Massachusetts: Eagle Printing, n.d.), illustrated on back cover.
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Index page 8
artist Bannister, Edward Mitchell
28
Benton, Thomas Hart
22
Bernstein, Theresa
38
Berresford, Virginia
24
Caliga, Isaac Henry
16
Chase, William Merritt
4
Fisher, Alvan
6
Gifford, Charles Henry
42
Lewandowski, Edmund
18
Metcalf, Willard Leroy
20
Meurer, Charles Adams
26
Paxton, Elizabeth Vaughn Okie
30
Paxton, William McGregor
10
Platt, Charles Adams
32
Refregier, Anton
36
Sample, Paul Starrett
40
Sheeler, Charles
34
Spruance, Benton Murdoch
14
Tanner, Henry Ossawa
12
Van Laer, Alexander Theobald
46
Wein, Albert
44
Wyeth, Jamie
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B RO C K & C O . 84 A COM MON W E A LTH AV EN U E CONCOR D, M A SSACHUSET TS 01742 T EL (978) 369-1358 FA X (978) 369-1359