Lively bidding and strong results drive Shannon's fall fine art auction held October 24th

MILFORD, CT. – It was an exciting night at Shannon’s last Thursday, October 24th. At 6 o’clock with a full room of bidders, a bank of twenty telephone bidders and participation from online bidding platforms, Shannon’s kicked off a robust auction that resulted in $2.3 million dollars in sales with over 76% of lots sold.
Auctioneer Peter Coccoluto kept the pace up wrapping up the 266-lot sale in just under 4 hours. The activity stayed buoyant throughout the sale with active international and online participation in many of the later lots.

The top lot in the sale, a rare hunting scene by Percival Leonard Rosseau, sold for $100,000 after a lively round of bidding from the telephone bank. The painting, probably a depiction of Percy Rockefeller’s hunting grounds at Overhills, North Carolina, attracted dog lovers, Sporting Art collectors and collectors of the American South.
Maintaining their reputation for leading results of exceptional 19th century works, Shannon’s achieved a remarkable $87,500 for their cover lot John George Brown’s the Flower Girl from 1878. All four lots by Brown sold well, including the smallest Ready for Biz an 8 x 6-inch portrait of a shoe-shine boy that sold for $7,500 against its $3,000-5,000 estimate.
19th century American landscape paintings did well for the “right stuff.” Managing partner, Sandra Germain, commented, “We see it again and again, clients are still buying 19th century landscapes and Hudson River School paintings if the works are by leading artists, of good subjects, in good condition and with provenance.” Alfred T. Bricher’s Grand Manan, Maine sold for $68,750, Hugh Bolton Jones’ Early Spring, Near Sheffield, Massachusetts sold for $32,500, Edmund Coates View Along the Hudson sold for $17,500, Ferdinand Richard American Falls at Niagara sold for $15,000 and Edward Moran’s Clam Diggers sold for $20,000 among other notable results in this category.
There were impressive sales in American Impressionism. Pennsylvania Impressionism had a strong night with Fern Coppedge’s Winter in Bucks County selling for $81,250 doubling the low estimate. Other noteworthy sales results were achieved for Frederick Mulhaupt whose Evening Glow – Gloucester Harbor sold for $42,500 and February Morning in New Hampshire sold for $32,500. An Emile Gruppe of Winter, Meredith, New Hampshire, which many commented was among the artist’s best works, sold for $21,250.
One of the most exciting lots in the sale was a sculpture by Abastenia St. Leger Eberle, Windy Doorstep. Loosely associated with the Ashcan School, Eberle worked in New York City and in Woodstock. In 1910 Windy Doorstep won the esteemed Helen Foster Barnett Prize at the National Academy of Design. Of the 20 castings, four were purchased by museums in 1910 and by 1917, fifteen were sold. Competitive bidding resulted in a $68,750 purchase price, the highest price achieved for the artist since 2006, and the third highest price overall. The buyer, a private collector, also purchased the subsequent lot, With Her Favorite Sculpture, a portrait by Ivan Olinsky featuring Windy Doorstep in the foreground (sold for $21,250).
A full bank of phone bidders stood for lot 16 an apparent sleeper in the sale, A View over Soho, Lower Manhattan, by Philip Pearlstein. Intense competition on the phones and in the room helped the price soar above its $3,000-5,000 estimate, hammering down at $26,000, the highest price for a non-figurative work by the artist. Other views of New York City performed well including A View of Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge by Johann Berthelsen that sold for $16,250 and a 62 x 62 inch of Lady Liberty by contemporary artist Bruce Braithwaite that sold for $15,000.
A vibrant and colorful Jane Peterson, Venice, led the works on paper category selling for $42,500 to a museum. Another watercolor and gouache on paper View of St. Mark’s, Venice by Walter L. Palmer sold for $8,750—also to a museum.
Op Art led the Contemporary and Modern offerings with Richard Anuszkiewicz’ The Well at the End of the World, an early work by the artist selling for $45,000. It was followed by a Peter Beard photograph titled I’ll Write Whenever I Can that sold for $35,000.
Bidders around the world stayed up late to participate in Thursday night’s auction. Two works by Filipino master Fernando Amorsolo sold well; Bathing in the River, 1957 brought $57,500 and Bathing, 1957 sold for $50,000. A Henri Hayden, Post-Impressionist landscape sold for $52,500, four times the low estimate, to a European buyer.
For the full results of the October 24th auction, visit www.shannons.com. Shannon’s produces an extensive color catalog, which is available for sale on their website (shannons.com) or by calling 203.877.1711. If you would like to join the Shannon’s mailing list, you can sign up on the website or email the gallery at info@shannons.com.
Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers is always accepting quality consignments for future auctions. The next auction will be an Online Fine Art Auction in January 2020 followed by another cataloged Fine Art Auction in April 2020. To consign a single piece of artwork, an estate or a collection, you may call them at (203) 877-1711; or, e-mail at info@shannons.com. To learn more about Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers, please visit www.shannons.com. Updates are posted frequently.