More Than A Dozen Six-Figure Sales Of Major Artists Push Heritage Auctions American Art Event Past $6 Million
Rockwell, Remington, Terpning Highlight Sale
August 14, 2020
A tour de force by Howard A. Terpning sold for $585,000 to become one of 15 lots to post six-figure results and lead Heritage Auctions July 1 American Art event to its $6,030,625 total. Terpnings Against the Cold Maker, 1992, which came from a Texas collection and once was exhibited at the National Academy of Western Art in Oklahoma City, Okla., led a strong selection of offerings. Despite having started his artistic career as an illustrator, Terpning is considered by many to be the greatest Western painter working today. It was thrilling for us to watch feverish competitive bidding, the likes of which we have not seen in certain categories for quite some time, said Heritage Auctions Vice President and Director of American Art Aviva Lehmann. There was so much bidding that we only got through about 30 lots in the first hour. The market demand for Hudson River School, Illustration and Western Art is voracious, and we are so happy that we could deliver a quality auction that catered perfectly to our clients needs and wants. Norman Rockwells Grandfather and Grandson, 1929, came from the Dixon Ticonderoga collection and found a new home at $447,000. By arguably the most popular American artist of all time, Grandfather and Grandson is another in the line of Rockwell paintings that brings out the heart of the American family, including the interaction between generations. The first lot to cross the auction block in the event, Frederic Remingtons Water!, ca. 1890, nearly tripled its pre-auction estimate when it brought $300,000. Initially featured in the November 1890 issue of The Century Magazine, the work accompanied an article titled The First Emigrant Train to California by General John Bidwell. One fascinating story emerged when the result for Joseph Christian Leyendeckers New Years Baby Hitching to War, The Saturday Evening Post unpublished cover, 1943, climbed to $275,000, nearly 4.5 times the low pre-auction estimate and the fifth-highest amount ever paid for a work by the artist. The image was supposed to be Joseph Christian Leyendeckers final cover for The Saturday Evening Post, but it never reached the magazine, or public view. Of particular note is that the consignor, who had received the painting as a gift by the family of E. Huber Ulrich, chairman and CEO of Curtis Publishing Co., The Saturday Evening Posts parent, will keep just a fraction of a fraction of the money made, opting to re-route the majority of it to Wilkinsons family. John Ford Clymer The Lewis Crossing also fared exceptionally well, nearly tripling its low pre-auction estimate when it closed at $225,000. The painting was once exhibited in the Whitney Gallery of Western Art at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo. The artist is known for intense research of the area he intended to paint, followed by trips to the locations to study the area, a process that led to a high level of detail and historical accuracy that can be seen in this painting. Nine collectors pursued Leyendeckers Yule (Musical Jester), The Saturday Evening Post cover, Dec. 26, 1931, until it drew a winning bid of $212,500. Leyendecker was one of the most popular and successful artists from the Golden Age of Illustration, thanks in large part to the design and style he often used in his images for magazine covers, including the offered lot. For more information, visit www.HA.com.
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