LONE JACK, Mo. – Pride in homegrown artists who’ve achieved success on a much larger stage has spurred the meteoric rise of interest in Regionalist art. The American Midwest, home to Soulis Auctions, is the focus of its Saturday, October 14 320-lot October Gallery Auction. The catalog is now available for bidding on LiveAuctioneers.
The sale is highlighted by original works of Midwest Regionalist and Kansas City art, including examples from those dubbed “The Big Three”: Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry and Grant Wood.
The sale’s top lot comes from Birger Sandzen (Swedish and American, 1871-1964). Sandzen viewed his paintings as “nature studies” and, as he wrote in a letter to his brother, he strived for “the simplest possible means of expression.” Golden Aspens, from 1929, is from the artist’s desirable Middle Period. It previously resided in the public library of Lindsborg, Kansas, having been acquired directly from the artist, and now comes to market with an $80,000-$120,000 estimate.
America’s heartland is where painter, muralist, printmaker and art educator Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) was born and spent most of his life. Benton was a champion of Realism whose initial opposition to the Modernist movement seemed untenable, but in the early 1920s, Benton reconsidered and opted to explore the new style.
That sea change in Benton’s career is embodied in an associated pair of artworks to be auctioned on October 14 as one lot. His mixed-media painting on board, executed circa 1922, is titled Benton Family on South Beach. The 13.75 by 9.5in work served as the study for a much larger (53 by 33in) textile which he envisioned his wife, Rita, embellishing with needlework. The linen panel was never fully stitched, thus leaving much of Benton’s original composition visible. It has an estimate of $60,000-$90,000.
Grant Wood (1891-1942) is an enduring representative for Regionalism, having created American Gothic in 1930, one of the most recognized paintings of rural America. The sale includes a number of Wood-signed lithographs, topped by Seed Time and Harvest, dating to 1937. It is estimated at $2,500-$3,500.
With a swirling tornado behind him as he summons support from his fellow abolitionists, John Brown is a striking example of the work of John Steuart Curry (1897-1946). The pencil-signed lithograph from 1939 is estimated at $3,000-$5,000.
