Bonhams will present its live American Art sale on November 3 in New York at its U.S. flagship galleries, 111 West 57th Street. Spanning 107 lots, the fall sale traces the breadth of American art, from important 19th century Hudson River School paintings to celebrated examples of the Ashcan School and Modernism. Notable artists featured within the sale include John Frederick Kensett (1816–1872), Newell Convers Wyeth (1882–1945), John Sloan (1871–1951), John Marin (1870–1953), Milton Avery (1885–1965), and Mary Cassatt (1844–1926) among others.
Leading the sale is Scene Near Greeley, Colorado, a rare and monumental Western landscape painted circa 1870-72 by John Frederick Kensett (1816–1872), one of the foremost painters of the Hudson River School. Estimated at $120,000 – 180,000, the painting returns to the market for the first time in nearly two decades and belongs to a small but significant group of paintings inspired by Kensett's travels in the American West. Distinguished by its exceptional scale, the painting depicts the sweeping plains near Greeley, Colorado, with the Rocky Mountains stretching across the horizon, rendered with Kensett's signature luminosity and serene sense of space.
Another notable work this season is Newell Convers Wyeth's (1882–1945) fresh-to-market painting, The Vigil. Estimated at $100,000 – 150,000, the present work was created for the Scribner's edition of author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' (1896–1953) Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Yearling and depicts one of the book's most poignant moments. As one of thirteen illustrations commissioned for the publication, the work exemplifies Wyeth's remarkable gift for visual storytelling and carries exceptional provenance.
Also featured in the sale is Landscape Sketch and Brunette Nude, Striped Blanket: A Double-Sided Work by John Sloan (1871–1951), a rare double-sided canvas that brings together two compositions from distinct chapters in Sloan's oeuvre. Estimated at $70,000 – 100,000, the work pairs a Gloucester landscape painted in 1917 with a female nude executed more than a decade later, circa 1928–30. Uniting these otherwise disparate moments on a single canvas, the painting offers a unique record of Sloan's stylistic development and is further distinguished by its exhibition history at the Brooklyn Museum and the National Gallery of Art.
Further highlights rounding out the sale include John Marin's (1870–1953) Village, Maine, an accomplished 1923 watercolour executed during the artist's celebrated Maine period, estimated at $60,000 – 80,000; Milton Avery's (1885–1965) Nude with Upraised Arms, a striking late-career work exemplifying the artist's celebrated use of bold colour and simplified form, estimated at $60,000 – 80,000;
and Mary Cassatt's (1844–1926) Baby Charles: Head and Arms, a sensitive study reflecting the renowned American Impressionist's enduring fascination with themes of childhood and intimacy, estimated at $40,000 – 60,000.