“Mother and Child in an Autumn Landscape” by William Trost Richards, 1876, oil on canvas, panel backed, 24¼ by 20¼ inches, earned top-lot honors with a $300,000 result ($150/250,000).

Review by Madelia Hickman Ring

MILFORD, CONN. — Shannon’s fourth and final sale of the calendar year — its fall Fine Art Auction on October 30 — was more than 150 lots strong and had a success rate of 82 percent gaveling down from the podium. With bidders from more than 25 states and at least seven countries, the auction tallied $2.1 million.

“We have worked hard to foster relationships with both our buyers and sellers for decades now. This has paid off with fresh-to-the-market consignments and private buyers who trust our expertise and are excited to bid with us. The sale was a success with notable prices achieved for Nineteenth Century art, proving this market is still active for quality works. We are looking forward to continued success in 2026,” Shannon’s owner, Sandra Germain, told us.

The dominant genre of this sale was landscapes, with all three of the top lots falling into that category. A masterpiece-quality autumnal scene by William Trost Richards (American, 1833-1905) that was on the cover of the auction catalog led the day and surpassed its $250,000 high estimate with a $300,000 return. The catalog’s note pointed out the figures of a mother and child lent the composition a sense of majestic scale while the skillful rendering of the fall colors and atmospheric twilight were emblematic of Richards’ style and skill. Among its provenance were two collections, including that of the Whitney family, as well as New York City gallery Questroyal Fine Art. A private collector won the competitive bidding war.

“Autumn at Greenwood Lake” by Jasper Francis Cropsey, 1871, oil on canvas, 14 by 24 inches, sold within expectations, for $100,000 ($80/120,000).

Another fall picture — “Autumn at Greenwood Lake” by Jasper Francis Cropsey — sold within its expectations to a New England buyer. It was published in volume two of the Jasper F. Cropsey: Catalogue Raisonné (Hastings on Hudson, N.Y., 2019) and had been on the market previously, as well as in four galleries and three private collections.

Sailing to a second-place finish at $106,250 was “The White Sloop (Peconic Bay)” by Irving Ramsay Wiles (American, 1861-1948), which also exceeded expectations. Considered a “quintessential example of Wiles’s skill as an artist,” the painting showcased his “mastery of light and his deep connection to the coastal New York landscape.” The setting — Peconic, Long Island, N.Y. — also held significance for the artist; it was where he and his father established an art school in 1895 and where Wiles spent summers.

Continuing the waterfront theme, Walter Launt Palmer’s (American, 1854-1932) “Off the Public Gardens (Venice)” nearly tripled its $25,000 high estimate with a $68,750 finish. Inclusion in an 1882 exhibition at the National Academy of Design (New York City) and Maybelle Mann’s Walter Launt Palmer: Poetic Reality (East Exton, Penn., 1984) added to its desirability, and a private collector in the Midwest prevailed over their competitors.

Walter Launt Palmer’s “Off the Public Gardens (Venice),” 1882, oil on canvas, 24½ by 34½ inches, with a late Nineteenth Century exhibition, publication history and previous market exposure, added up to a $68,750 finish ($15/25,000).

Acknowledged in the catalog to be a turning point in the career of John Folinsbee (American, 1892-1972), “Perseverance Mill” pushed the boundaries of Impressionism and embraced “a more modernist approach.” Exhibited at the Salmagundi Club (1926), Philadelphia’s Sesquicentennial International Exposition (1926) and the Phillips Mill Community Association in New Hope, Penn. (1930), the painting traded hands for $37,500, won by a private collector.

“Levi Wells Prentice’s ‘Raquette Lake – The Start of Autumn’ sold for $34,375, which was a pleasant surprise. We were able to put a low estimate on it ($4/6,000); we find the lower the estimate, the higher the activity level,” Germain told us.

Other landscapes of note that sold were “Grist Mill” by George Henry Durrie ($43,750), John Williamson’s “Passing Shower, Upper Valley of the Connecticut River” ($37,500) and the $34,375 realized by both “Winter at Madison Square” by Guy Carleton Wiggins and “Autumn in Pennsylvania” by Eric Sloane.

The still life category reached its apex with “The Argus” by William Harnett (American, 1848-1892). Described as emblematic of the artist’s style, with “a simple tabletop arrangement of objects associated with leisure, including a pipe, a large mug, a newspaper and a tobacco box. By meticulously rendering the texture of the stoneware mug, the grain of the wooden pipe and the creases of the newspaper, Harnett creates a compelling sense of realism,” which is also known as trompe l’oeil (fool the eye). The popularity Harnett instilled in his audience at the time was echoed in the Shannon’s audience, and it brought $82,550, from a private collector in Connecticut.

“The Argus” by William Harnett, 1878, oil on canvas, 12¼ by 10¼ inches, led the still life selection with a $82,550 finish ($40/60,000).

Luigi Lucioni’s “The Syrian Jug” was made nearly 100 years after Harnett’s still life but also resonated with Shannon’s bidders. A conscientious attention to detail and compositional balance characterized the work, which was exhibited at the National Academy in 1962, a year after it was painted. Estimated at $20/30,000, it brought $53,975 from a private collector in England.

Hovsep Pushman’s (American, 1877-1966) “Sultanabad Plate,” discovered in a Massachusetts private collection, will be included in the artist’s forthcoming Virtual Catalogue Raisonné and sold for $13,970. Already recorded in Marcel Dyf’s (French, 1899-1985) archives was “Fleurs au pot de céladon,” which brought $11,050.

Portrait collectors had a variety of choices when it came to style, medium and price point. Leading the category at $43,750 was Alfredo Ramos Martinez’s (Mexican, 1871-1946) “Meditation,” a mixed media on card composition that is under consideration by the Alfredo Ramos Martinez Research Project. A California private collector had the prevailing bid.

A bust of Eve, done in marble in 1871 by Thomas Ball (American, 1819-1911), was the only sculpture in that medium in the sale, and it significantly outpaced its $10/15,000 estimate with a $37,500 finish. Bronzes were more plentiful, including “Sweet Grapes” by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth ($13,750), “The Spirit of American Labor” by Max Kalish ($10,160), Doris Caesar’s “Seated Woman” ($6,875) and an untitled abstracted figure by Allan Houser ($6,032).

Thomas Ball’s bust of Eve, 1871, marble, came from a Vermont private collection and stood 28¾ inches tall, on a 40½-inch-tall plinth. Interest took it to $37,500 ($10/15,000).

Pegeen Vail Guggenheim (Swiss American, 1925-1967), the daughter of art collector and socialite Peggy Guggenheim, was represented by “Interior,” which the catalog noted was painted at the “artistic peak in [her] career.” Described as “embracing elements of both surrealism and naive art,” the colorful composition earned $63,000 from a New York City buyer, exceeding expectations.

“Blue Angel,” Emily Mason’s (American, 1932-2019) 1995 oil on canvas, was also done at the peak of the artist’s career and featured bold colors and confident, gestural brushstrokes. It was most recently sold at auction in 2016. This time around, it flew to $56,250 following interest online, on the phone and from absentee bids; a phone bidder beat out their competition.

A new world auction record was set for Winfred Rembert, Jr (b 1976), the son of Winfred Rembert (1945-2021), who is continuing his father’s legacy with his own twist but working in the same hand-dyed tooled leather medium. “Big Grits” traded at $21,590.

“I talk to people all the time; in American art, there aren’t a lot of people paying attention, but we’ve been able to maintain a clientele for historic American paintings, which is what I like,” Germain concluded.
Shannon’s next catalog sale will be April 30.

Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For additional information, 203-877-1711 or www.shannons.com.