“The interest overall is thick,” commented Gene Shannon prior to the April 30 paintings auction conducted by Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers. “There is an enthusiasm that we didn’t see in October,” he said, comparing his most recent sale with the auction he conducted at the end of 2008. “People know where they stand now. There is plenty of money and not a lot of places to put it,” he said in response to the influx of collectors either entering or reentering the art market.
“They are a very particular, very sophisticated, very serious and an educated group of collectors and they are active at all price levels,” stated Shannon. Although pleased with the results, Shannon’s also found the crowd to be very selective, with a sold rate of just under 70 percent seen at the auction. Most of the major works sold that night, and a host of others found buyers in the days after the sale. Shannon reported the gross for the auction coming in just under $2.2 million.
An active crowd made its way through the preview and interest was widespread, according to the auctioneer. Shannon commented that several in the crowd made comments that “at least I’ll enjoy the investment and it will hang on my wall no matter what happens to the economy.”
The auction house reported that many of the buyers were first-timers, not only at Shannon’s, but often making their first art purchases. At least two record prices paid at auction were established during the sale.
The sale seemed to get off to a slow start with the first two lots, oils by Johann Berthelsen, both estimated at $7/10,000, being passed. Lot three, however, another Berthelsen, an oil on canvas titled “Brooklyn Bridge,” exceeded the $4/6,000 presale estimates, bringing $7,200.
A few lots later, yet another Berthelsen crossed the block, an iconic wintry Manhattan scene titled “Blustery Day on Fifth Avenue.” It, too, exceeded expectations as it surpassed the $15/25,000 estimate, selling at $33,600, a record price paid at auction for the artist.
The auction was led by a Martin Johnson Heade still life, “Roses Lying On Gold Velvet,” an oil on canvas measuring 12 by 20 inches. Consigned from a private Greenwich collection, the painting is illustrated in The Life and Work of Martin Johnson Heade by Theodore Stebbins Jr. Estimated at $100/150,000, the captivating oil was actively bid, selling at $132,000.
Alfred Thompson Bricher was well represented in the sale with three impressive works. “Oyster Boats on the Creek, Patchogue, Long Island” is a nice oil on canvas executed in a luminist style. Depicting two working vessels beached on the shoreline and several others under sail in the harbor under an early evening sky, the painting was estimated at $100/150,000 and sold for $120,000.
A more classical picture for Bricher, “Boating in the Afternoon, Newburyport, Massachusetts,” circa 1884, depicts two ladies in gowns setting out in a small skiff with an infant. This painting also sold in the middle of its estimate, bringing $84,000. Another Bricher sold was a seascape, “Evening After a Stormy Day, that went out at $48,000.
A record price paid at auction was established for Daniel Celantano, who, reportedly, at 12 years of age became the first to study under Thomas Hart Benton. A classic painting clearly exhibiting Benton’s influence and a strong WPA flavor, “Cultivating,” an oil on canvas measuring 24 by 27 inches, soared past the $12/18,000 estimate as it hammered down at $50,900.
An unusual Albert Bierstadt oil titled “In The Alban Hills” listed a provenance of the Kennedy Galleries and the Eberstat Collection. The painting, executed in a loose style, circa 1856, sold for $43,200.
An attractive mountainous scene titled “Elk Overlooking A River” by Herman Herzog, 18 by 26 inches, also did well, selling at $40,800.
A small and moody Charles Henry Gifford oil on canvas, “Morning on the Hudson,” measuring 10 by 17 inches, hammered down at $38,400, as did a still life by Russian artist Konstantin Alexeievitch Korovin.
A watercolor by William Louis Sonntag Jr, “St Paul’s Chapel, New York,” circa 1880, attracted quite a bit of interest. The scene depicts a crowd of well-dressed people in their Victorian finery outside of the Lower Manhattan chapel, which still stands today. Close to Ground Zero, it escaped damage during 9/11. Active bidding on the lot saw it knocked down at $36,000.
Other works of interest included a Luigi Lucioni still life titled “Browns and Greens” that sold at $30,000, David Burliuk’s oil “White Flowers,” which went out at $28,800, and a selection of paintings by Charles Warren Eaton, John Frederick Peto and D.W. Tryon, all sold at $22,800.
An Edouard Cortes Parisian scene titled “Porte St Denis” did well at $30,000, Roberto Matta’s pencil and crayon drawing “Les Vacheadors” sold for $28,800, an A.E. Othon Friesz Impressionist oil titled “Landscape With Family” brought $24,000 and Albert Roosenboom’s classical image of a family titled “Puppet Show” realized $16,800.
A Dwight William Tryon oil from the 1890s, “A Spring Morning,” attracted the attention of bidders, exceeding estimates at $22,800, as did a Charles Warren Eaton oil titled “September Sunlight” that depicts an opening in a grove of pine trees.
Also selling above estimate was a Rolph Scarlett oil on Masonite titled “Abstract Composition,” which brought $21,600.
All prices include the buyer’s premium charged. For further information, 203-877-1711 or www.shannons.com .
This article was amended on 12-11-09.
