Our American Art auction on 25 January at Bonhams Skinner, Marlborough, features a wonderful array of works illustrating the richness and beauty of this diverse category. The auction is led by standout American artists including Edward Potthast, John Koch, and Mary Elizabeth Price, among others.
Here, Robin Starr, VP and Director of American & European Works of Art at Bonhams Skinner, shares her favorite lots coming under the hammer.
Lot 56 Edward Henry Potthast, Ring Around the Rosie
Ring Around the Rosie highlights Edward Potthast’s mastery of Impressionist color and brushwork. The subject of children at play is typical for him, although the setting away from the beach and in a grassy spring field makes it special. The present work is joyful and exuberant, and perhaps even more so when seeing it featured in a January auction. It can’t help but make the viewer consider the cycle of the seasons. Although the ground may be currently covered in snow, this will soon melt and give way to the warmth and splendor of spring that Potthast so beautifully expresses.
Lot 75 John Koch, Manuscript I
John Koch is known for his works depicting the elite circles of New York society. While he sometimes painted portraits, his most intriguing works show figures in elegant interiors with distinctly narrative subjects that are both compelling and elusive. The closely cropped composition of Manuscript draws the viewer into the scene, and yet we are simultaneously excluded by the placement of the sofa and the figure in the foreground whose back is to us. The deep shadows and the second figure lounging in bed heightens the sense that we have walked into a space where we do not belong. The moment seems intimate and private, and yet we are compelled to discern what is happening. The dual nature of the composition—drawing us in while excluding us—makes the work psychologically magnetic.
Lot 58 Mary Elizabeth Price, Nantucket Flowers
Although she was born in West Virginia, Mary Elizabeth Price is largely associated with Bucks County in Pennsylvania. Her most prized works are her floral still life paintings, which depict bouquets of flowers in a slightly flattened space on a background of silver or gold leaf. The effect is similar to that of Japanese screens; however, Price’s inspiration came not from Japan but from the early Renaissance panel paintings of Siena and Florence. Despite foreign influences, Price’s resulting technique is distinctly American and most aligned with the Arts and Crafts movement. The diminutive size—at less than 15 inches square—invites close, intimate inspection making the viewer even more aware of the technique. The flowers, purposefully made with only a hint of modeling, create a nearly stencil-like effect.
Lot 13 Worthington Whittredge, Study of Sumacs and Immortals, Autumn
Worthington Whittredge is counted among the second generation of Hudson River School painters. Whittredge remained faithful to depicting the accurate details of the landscapes he painted, but did so with a slightly looser brushstroke. Although the precise location depicted in Study of Sumacs and Immortals, Autumn, is unclear from the composition, the specific details of rock and foliage place the scene in the Northeast.
Whittredge’s brushwork defines each leaf of the sumacs in their fiery red fall finery. The same is true of the texture of the immortals. With this work, ‘immortals’ does not refer to Greek gods or a video game, but to the native flower amaranth, which maintains its form and color even when cut and dried. In the Catskills and White Mountains, where Whittredge often painted, the flower is more compact as indicated by his quick strokes of white paint in the foreground, rather than the draping catkins it is better known for in the south.
