California & American Paintings & Sculpture
Tuesday, November 19
Starts at 1pm, 6pm PT

Preview Date
Los Angeles November 8-10, 10-5 PT
San Francisco November 15-17, 10-5 PT
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This auction will be held in the Butterfields San Francisco Gallery, simulcast to the Los Angeles Gallery and the Internet.

A message from Scot Levitt, Director, California and American Paintings & Sculpture

This auction comprises fine examples of Western, California and American art. Included is a spectacular selection of California artists such as Granville Redmond, John Marshall Gamble, Benjamin Brown, Anna Hills and Edgar Payne among many others. Also included is a wonderful scene by Alfred Jacob Miller depicting Native American riders and their horses along a river bank, a 1933 view of Nevada by Maynard Dixon and a collection of western-themed sculptures by Earl Bascomb. Butterfields’ sale also brings to auction a fine group of highly collectible paintings by members of the Society of Six, including Selden Connor Gile, August Gay, William Clapp and rarely offered watercolors by Bernard von Eichman.

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Butterfields’ Tuesday, November 19th auction of more than 350-lots of California & American paintings and sculpture includes superb works featuring important iconic images and material fresh to market. Property previews open in Los Angeles November 8-10 and in San Francisco November 15-17. The online illustrated catalog is accessible for review and purchase at www.butterfields.com.

Within the sale’s American session are multiple highlights. Bidders will vie for fanciful scenes by illustrator Maxfield Parrish featuring the illustrator’s Sing a Song of Sixpence, a study for one of a series of fairy tale-inspired murals, this work commissioned for the Sherman House, Chicago (est. $150/200,000). A colorful view of a town from the New Hope artist Fern Coppedge will be offered as will landscapes by Edward Volkert, Robert Wood and George Gardner Symons. A lovely 1924 portrait of a young lady by Hovsep Pushman is anticipated to sell for $60,000 to $70,000. The oil on canvas was used as the cover illustration for a 1927 issue of Arts & Decoration magazine and is offered with a copy of the magazine.

An important work is The Spirit of ’76, an iconic American image by Archibald McNeal Willard. In addition to this historic lot, there are at least nine other known versions of Spirit in varying sizes incorporating different elements. The oil on canvas, depicting a pair of drummers and a fife player leading a military parade and a 13-star American flag, has also been known as “Yankee Doodle” and should sell for $200,000 to $300,000.

The Fall auction, scheduled a bit earlier than in previous years, also comprises fine examples of Western and California art. A wonderful scene by Alfred Jacob Miller depicting Native American riders and their horses along a river bank could bring as much as $60,000 and a three-lot collection of western-themed sculptures by Earl Bascomb should attract bidder attention with estimates between $8,000 and $15,000 each. Other Western themed works include a portrait of frontiersman Pawnee Bill painted by Kathryn Woodman Leighton, a pair of oil on masonite paintings from a private Beverly Hills collection by Charlie Dye and Maynard Dixon’s inspired and colorful view of the Nevada country-side Abandoned Homestead (No. 488), 1933 (est. $350/450,000). In 1933, Dixon, his wife photographer Dorothea Lange and their sons spent the summer traveling throughout Nevada and Utah.

A spectacular selection of California artists includes works by Granville Redmond, John Marshall Gamble, Benjamin Brown, Anna Hills and Edgar Payne, among many others. The Redmond, a 1914 oil on canvas depicting the San Mateo hills with the bay and Oakland hills beyond, is estimated at $40,000 to $60,000. Fresh to market is Hanson Puthuff’s A California Mountain Landscape, an oil on canvas estimated at $20,000 to $25,000. Several additional Puthuff lots are on offer, depicting both coastal views as well as mountainscapes. Edgar Payne’s Dana Point displays waves crashing ashore (est. $40/60,000) while a pair of Payne oil on canvas paintings of fishing boats are expected to bring bids as high as $35,000 (each offered separately).

Highlights include a wonderful Guy Rose oil on canvas Twin Lakes, the Eastern Sierras Near Bridgeport, a circa 1917 work to be included in the upcoming Guy Rose catalogue raisonné, this painting estimated at $250,000 to $350,000. A pair of Armin Hansen works will be offered, with the artist’s oil on canvas After Dinner expected to bring as much as $150,000. From a private Palm Springs collection comes a view of downtown Los Angeles circa 1930. Frank Coburn’s oil A Wet Night, Sixth & Hill, Los Angeles, c. 1930 depicts the old Paramount Theater near Pershing Square (est. $40/50,000).

Butterfields’ sale also brings to auction a fine group of highly collectible paintings by members of the Society of Six, including Selden Connor Gile, August Gay, William Clapp and rarely offered watercolors by Bernard von Eichman. The auction will also include landscapes by William Keith and Thomas Hill, California mission scenes by Will Sparks, as well as watercolors by Percy Gray and Christian Jorgensen.

Our staff of specialists are happy to provide condition reports upon request. Buyers may also bid using eBay's Live auction technology. This state-of the-art service, which allows pre-registered clients to bid in real-time from their computer terminal, can be accessed through either the Butterfields.com or eBay.com site.