BOSTON – Skinner Inc. will host an auction of American and European paintings on Friday, Sept. 11 at its Boston gallery, with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com. The prints portion of the sale will commence at noon (Eastern Time), with paintings being offered at 4 p.m. Fittingly, this important specialty auction leads Skinner into the fall’s high auction season.
Prints & Photos:
Notable prints up for bid include a Grant Wood Approaching the Storm (lot 210, est. $3/5,000) edition of 250; and Andy Warhol prints from the ENDANGERED SPECIES series including African Elephant (lot 196, est. $20/30,000); Giant Panda (lot 197, est. $15/25,000); and Bighorn Ram (lot 198, est. $15/25,000), each a total edition of 150 plus proofs.
Harold Eugene Edgerton photos to be featured include Broken Glass of Milk (lot 213, est. $1,5/2,000); Gussie Moran (lot 214, est. $1,5/2,500), which comes to Skinner directly from the artist to the family of the present owner; Sprinkler (lot 215, est. $1/1,500); and a lot of two tennis images (lot 216, est. $3/5,000) also directly from the artist to the family of the present owner. In addition, a collection of John S. Johnston photos will be available including four lots of five yachting images each (lot 219, 220, 221, and 222 est. $7/900, $8/1,200, $7/900, $7/900, respectively).
The Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt:
Skinner will offer the second installment of a two-part collection from the estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (née Braman) Grasso of Essex, Connecticut. Ms. Braman was born in 1929 to Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (née Hall) Braman of New York, namesake and cousin of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt. Ms. Braman was active in the New York art scene and her collection is wide-ranging in medium and style, yet can be characterized as dedicated to avant-garde modernism.
Featured from her collection in this auction is Heavy Weather on Crossing to France, alternatively titled John Paul Jones’ “Ranger” by Jack Lorimer Gray (lot 378, est. $20/30,000); Le Grenadier by François Flameng (lot 317, est. $10/15,000); Henry Moore’s Studies for Sculpture (lot 789, est. $30/50,000); Grand Orchestre by Raoul Dufy (lot 779, est. $75/125,000); and Marc Chagall’s Two Lovers on a Rooster (lot 776, est. $40/60,000), which was one of eight original drawings included in a presentation copy of Souvenirs d’un marchand de tableaux by Ambroise Vollard, published by Éditions Albin Michel in 1937.
Also being offered is Henri Toulouse-Lautrec’s L’Amazone /An Illustration for Chasseur de Chevelures (lot 689, est. $20/40,000) and his Jane Avril print (lot 193, est. $50/70,000), third state of three.
American Paintings:
Highlights from American artists include Canada Geese in the Snow by Frank Weston Benson (lot 445, est. $30/50,000) a student of the Academie Julian, member of “The Ten”, and one of the leading American Impressionist artists; Doe and Fawns in a Landscape by Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait (lot 420, est. $30/50,000), who is best known for realistic, narrative scenes, often featuring animals and huntsmen, using rich natural colors; and Charles Herbert Woodbury’s Spindrift (lot 569, est. $8/12,000); and Bahama Industry by Anthony Thieme (lot 561, est. $15/25,000) best known for his Impressionistic plein-air coastal views and seascapes.
Additional works from American artists to be offered include Duck Hunters by John Whorf (lot 442, est. $7/9,000); Au Bois de Vincennes (At the Forest Vincennes) by Robert Henri (lot 601, est. $10/15,000) a student of the Academie Julian and a leading member of The Eight (or later called Ash Can School); Abbott Fuller Graves’ Portrait of a Young Breton Girl in a Summer Garden (lot 505, est. $15/20,000); and Stylish Mack/Portrait of a Pointer in a Landscape by Percival Leonard Rosseau (lot 441, est. $30/50,000) another student of the Academie Julian who enjoyed a successful career painting hunting dogs.
European Paintings:
Eminent European pieces going on the block include Russian artist Pavel Tchelitchew’s Tete de jeune homme (lot 793, est. $15/25,000); Irishman Aloysius C. O’Kelly’s A Breton Pilgrimage (lot 336, est. $8/12,000); and Chapter Heading from Le Morte Darthur by Aubrey Beardsley (lot 685, est. $15/20,000) – provenance: a collection of Mark Samuels Lasner, then to a private East Coast collection.
Modern Paintings:
The Modern category has exceptional finds highlighted by Xavier Bueno’s Portrait of a Young Girl (lot 804, est. $10/15,000), which comes accompanied by a copy of Xavier Bueno by Salvatore Quasimodo, and Xavier Bueno exhibition pamphlets including Galleria Santacroce, Florence, and Sagittarius Gallery, New York; The First Sin by J. Sultan Ali (lot 805, est.$5/7,000) who was born in Mumbai and studied painting at the venerable Government School of Arts and Crafts, now called the Government College of Fine Arts; Wolf Kahn’s Barn in Summer (lot 513A, est. $12/18,000); an Untitled Landscape with Petrified Boat and Figures by Italian artist Giorgio De Chirico (lot 771, est. $15/25,000), which comes to Skinner from the Hillman Family Collection by descent to Alex Hillman’s private collection c. 1990s; and George Rodrigue’s Cajun Farmer’s Daughters, alternatively titled The Daughters of Francis Robert (lot 757, est. $20/30,000).
Other modern masterpieces up for bid include two works by Diego Rivera: Vendedora de Pozole (lot 767, est. $40/80,000), which relates to a drawing of the same composition in the collection of Rafael Coronel, which is illustrated in Diego Rivera: Catalogo General de Obra de Caballete, no. 1194; and Skyline, Florence, Italy (lot 772, est. $8/12,000) from the collection of Caroline Johnson (Ramsay) Chandler of Wilmington, Delaware, by family descent to private collection, Bristol, Maine. Caroline Ramsay Chandler was the eldest daughter of William Gouverneur Ramsay, a civil engineer and vice president of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. She was a student of the Woodstock Art Colony, an artist in watercolors and oils, as well as an art collector. She traveled to Mexico in the 1930s, and is believed by her family to have acquired art on this trip.
Preview and Special Event:
Previews for the auction will be held from 12 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, September 9; 12 to 7 p.m. Thursday, September 10; and 9 to 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 11. During Thursday’s preview, Skinner will host a fine art gallery walk discussing works at auction at 6 p.m. presented by Skinner Painting Director Pro Tem Robin Starr. The gallery walk follows a brief reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. Interested attendees should call 617-350-5400.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
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ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
