NEW YORK—An impressive selection of paintings and drawings by some of the leading artists from the 19th and early 20th centuries will be offered at Bonhams on Wednesday, July 13, in London, England.
The aristocrats, everyday people, wildlife, homes, architecture, and scenery from Europe and other exotic locations the artists traveled to are depicted in the works of art.
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Artists such as Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir John Everett Millais, Victorian watercolorist Helen Allingham, well-known poet and prolific artist Edward Lear (1812–1888), master of British ornithological art Archibald Thorburn (1860–1935), and French academic master William Adolphe Bouguereau (French, 1825–1905), lead the biannual sale of the era.
There will also be a strong collection of Dutch artists and landscapes for sale.
Descriptions From Bonhams
The following are selected items from the auction.
Alfred Stevens (Belgian, 1823–1906). “La Fillette au Canard,” 1881, is expected to sell for an estimated $320,000 to $480,000.
Alfred Stevens is best known for his paintings depicting elegant society women, but he also particularly enjoyed painting scenes from everyday life. His house and garden at 65 Rue des Martyrs was a haven of green in the heart of Paris, where he enjoyed entertaining his friends and contemporary art lovers.
Around the corner of the house, there was a wooded path leading to a duck pond where children loved to play and where he probably painted this scene.
Barend Cornelis Koekkoek (Dutch, 1803–1862). “Winter,” dated 1846, shows a breathtaking view of a wintry river valley and is a wonderful example of Koekkoek’s virtuosity. It contains all the key elements for which he is best known.
The tiny figures clearly emphasize the majesty of the landscape while a line of ancient oak trees along the path symbolize the divine power of creation.
The view of the frozen river on the right gives way to a dimly lit view of hills in the far distance, strengthening the concept of the vastness of the landscape. It is expected to sell for an estimated $400,000 to $560,000.
Koekkoek was the most celebrated artist of his generation and regarded as the founding father of Dutch Romantic landscape painting. During his lifetime, he was known as the “Prince of Landscape Painting,” and his reputation remains unchallenged to this day.
Vittorio Matteo Corcos (Italian, 1859–1933). “Neapolitan Beauties,” by Corcos, is expected to fetch an estimated $160,000 to $250,000.
“Neapolitan Beauties” was painted in 1885 during Vittorio Matteo Corcos’s crucial years in Paris from 1880–1886. The artist had been encouraged to travel to Paris by his tutor in Naples, Domenico Morelli.
Upon his arrival in the French capital, he worked exclusively with the prominent art dealer Adolphe Goupil.
He quickly gained renown with his works featuring graceful ladies immersed in the height of fashionable Parisian life, at the Opera, or along the boulevards.
Corcos returned to Italy in 1886 with his reputation established. By the turn of the 20th century, he was one of Italy’s and indeed Europe’s pre-eminent portrait painters.
In 1904, he painted portraits of Wilhelm II, the Empress, and latterly portraits of Queen Amelia of Portugal and Margherita of Savoy.
Archibald Thorburn (Scottish, 1860–1935). An outstanding private collection of 15 works by Archibald Thorburn will be featured in the sale, with the Thorburn expecting an estimated total of $640,000.
The highlight in the collection is the magnificent “Peacock and Peacock Butterfly,” which is estimated to fetch $130,000 to $200,000. At 87.5 centimeters x 111.5 centimeters, it is one of the largest of Thorburn’s paintings.
Hugh Gladstone wrote in Thorburn’s obituary in the Scottish Naturalist, January 1936: “Of all his pictures ... the most daring was a gigantic one ... of a peacock in full display in front of a red rhododendron in full bloom, a gorgeous sunset and woodland as the background. ... I remember the whole as a riot of color ... both magnificent and accurate.”
Thorburn later recalled how he had nightmares of endlessly painting the “eyes” on the peacock tail feathers.
Franz Richard Unterberger (Austrian, 1838–1902). The “Grande Canal, Venise,” by Unterberger, is estimated to sell for between $100,000 and $130,000.
The Venetian cityscape exemplifies Unterberger’s most famous and important credo, “il puro vero,” the “pure truth,” which aimed to show daily life in large vistas contrasting the magnificent and the ordinary.
Source: Bonhams
