“Argo” by Jacob Kainen (1909-2001), 1991, oil on canvas, 50 by 60 inches framed, signed lower right, led the sale at $12,200 ($5/7,000).

Review by Kiersten Busch

CHEVY CHASE, MD. — On June 27, Sloans & Kenyon conducted its June Estate Catalog auction. The sale comprised of a large single-owner collection offering myriad antiquities, ethnographica and artisan items, as well as paintings, sculpture, jewelry and furniture, among others.

Leading the sale was “Argo,” an oil on canvas painting by American painter and printmaker Jacob Kainen. “Argo” was completed in 1991 and was signed on the lower right-hand corner. The painting had two gallery labels on the back; one from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Art, which was undated, and one from the Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., for the artist’s retrospective, which spanned from January 21 to March 27, 1994. It found a new home for $12,200, more than doubling its low estimate.

Earning $8,255, the second-best price of the sale, was Edward Willis Redfield’s (American, 1869-1965) “Early Spring,” oil on canvas, 26 by 32 inches framed, signed lower right ($1/2,000).

Other paintings were also very popular with bidders. “Early Spring,” an oil on canvas by Edward Willis Redfield realized $8,255, more than four times its estimate of $1/2,000. Redfield was an American Impressionist landscape painter who was a member of the art colony in New Hope, Penn., and the landscape typified his oeuvre.

Closing out the top three best-selling lots of the auction was “Cabeza de Niño Mexicano (Head of a Mexican Boy)” by Gustavo Montoya (Mexican, 1905-2003). It crossed the block for $6,985 ($7/9,000).

Gustavo Montoya (Mexican, 1905-2003), a late adherent to the Mexican School for Painting, who was most often associated with Mexican muralism, was represented in the sale by “Cabeza de Niño Mexicano (Head of a Mexican Boy).” It had provenance to a Washington, DC, collector who acquired the piece from Galeria, Arte de Coleccionistas (Art Collector’s Gallery) in Mexico City, Mexico, in 1991. The painting crossed the block for $6,985.

“Tattooed Woman” by Sergei Isupov (Russian/American, b 1963), hand-painted figural vase, settled at $5,398 ($500-700).

“Tattooed Woman,” a hand-painted figural ceramic vase by Sergei Isupov sat pretty for $5,398, flying past its $500/700 estimate by nearly eight times. The 15-inch-high vase was also signed by the artist. Originally born in Stavropol, Russia, Isupov, a contemporary ceramist who comes from a family full of artists, now alternately resides in Cummington, Mass., and Estonia, where he has studios. In nearly 30 years, Isupov has done 27 solo exhibitions in the US and Europe, as well as countless group exhibitions.

Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.sloansandkenyon.com or 301-634-2330.