FRANKLIN, Mass. – A stunning autumn Luminist-style landscape painting attributed to the renowned Hudson River School artist Jasper F. Cropsey (American, 1823-1900), sold for $38,400 in Woodshed Art Auctions’ internet-only Private Collection Discoveries auction held Dec. 28. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
The untitled (Autumn Sunset) oil on canvas work (above) was presented in a later frame and was signed lower right and dated 1878. It was a large work – 45 inches by 51 inches – and a prime example of Cropsey’s mature work. Mesmerizing and beautiful, it showcased his standard elements from the period: tall nearly bare trees, tranquil blue water, a radiant sunset and warm billowing clouds.
The 133 lots in the auction included Impressionist and Modern Master drawings and paintings from European, South American and North American private collections and estates.
“This auction had an almost equal number of fine quality 19th- and 20th-century works, but the majority of bids went to older, more conservative pieces,” said Bruce Wood of Woodshed Art Auctions.
The artists in the sale was like a who’s who in fine art: Claude Monet, Edward Moran, Guy Carleton Wiggins, James Buttersworth, Marc Chagall, Massimo Campigli, Leonard T. Foujita, Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dali, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and even Tim Burton, whose sketch of Jack Skellington from his movie The Nightmare Before Christmas changed hands for $1,200.
Following are additional highlights from the auction. All prices quoted include the buyer’s premium.
The runner-up top lot was an oil on wood panel attributed to Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926), titled Les Nymphaes (Water Lilies). The 6 ¾-inch-by-11 ¾-inch signed work (below), still housed in its original wooden frame, went for $16,200 to a LiveAuctioneers bidder. The painting bore the stamp of color man Emilio Mokelin of Venice, Italy, as well as a handwritten note in German, dated Vienna, Sept. 5, 1912.
Other Monets in the sale included an oil and gouache with pencil indications on paper with the same subject matter and title as the abovementioned work, this one artist signed, unframed and measuring 8 ¼ inches by 11 inches ($6,000); and an unframed tempera on paper, also with no frame, titled Tuileries, artist signed and 8 inches by 11 inches ($3,437). Both were attributions.
Several drawings attributed to the Dutch Master himself, Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), also came up for bid. These included a pen and brown ink drawing on laid paper titled Landscape with Haystacks ($3,000); an unframed charcoal on buff-tone paper titled Tree Trunks ($3,000); and a graphite on paper titled Peasant Stooping ($2,400). All three were artist signed “Vincent.”
A gorgeous pair of marine renderings both fared well. The oil on canvas painting A Shipwreck, by the unequaled painter of the sea Edward Moran (British/American, 1829-1901), signed and dated 1860 and in a period frame, brought $12,000.
An oil on panel attributed to the British maritime master James Buttersworth (1817-1894) titled Sailboats at the Sandy Hook Lightship hit $4,800, selling to a bidder through LiveAuctioneers.
An oil on canvas painting by an artist synonymous with snowy New York streetscapes, Guy Carleton Wiggins (American, 1883-1962), titled The Cotton Club, signed front and back, 22 inches by 28 inches in a new frame, realized $8,100.
Also, an oil and tempera on paper study attributed to Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841-1919), titled Vase of Flowers, signed lower left, rose to $1,500.
A gouache on paper done in the manner of Marc Chagall (Russian/French, 1887-1985), titled Circus Acrobats, relating to Chagall’s 1950 painting The Blue Circus, signed lower right, gaveled for $6,600; and a graphite drawing of an elephant with elongated legs attributed to Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989), signed lower left and back, 11 ¼ inches by 8 ¼ inches, unframed, hit $1,920.
A watercolor and India ink on paper by Leonard T. Foujita (Japanese/French, 1886-1968), titled simply Cat, depicting a cat and signed and dated lower left with a Japanese inscription, nicely framed, sold for $4,375.
An oil on paper adhered to illustration board by Massimo Campigli (Italian, 1895-1971), titled Three Women Descending a Staircase, artist signed lower left, measuring 23 ¼ inches by 10 ½ inches in the frame, topped out at $3,600. The work was created on three sheets of paper. Before he was an artist, Campigli was a journalist in Italy and was taken a prisoner of war during World War I.
For details contact Bruce Wood at 508-533-6277 or bruce@woodshedartauctions.com.
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