Palm Desert Gallery Walkthrough – 2023/2024 Season

PUBLISHED IN: Gallery Tours

Take a look at our winter season preview showcasing our new exhibition now on view in our Palm Desert, California. Featuring Impressionist masters, including Sisley, Pissarro, and Frieseke, Modern groundbreakers, such as Picasso and O’Keeffe, and Post-War and Contemporary creators including Indiana, De Kooning, Richter, and more.

We are pleased to announce our winter hours at our Palm Desert location at 45188 Portola Avenue: Monday through Saturday from 9:00 – 5:00.

ARTWORK CURRENTLY ON VIEW AT HEATHER JAMES PALM DESERT

<div>Claude Monet’s <em>Le bassin d’Argenteuil</em> (1875) is a luminous example from one of the most pivotal periods of his career, painted in the late spring or summer of 1875, just one year after the groundbreaking first Impressionist exhibition. Set along the Seine at Argenteuil, the composition captures a quiet basin animated by small boats, figures, and reflections, rendered with loose, expressive brushwork that conveys the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere. The gentle diffusion of water and sky creates a shimmering surface, perfectly suited to Monet’s plein air practice and his desire to record perception in the moment. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Argenteuil was central to the crystallization of Impressionism, marking a time when its ideas, subject matter, and collaborative spirit fully coalesced. Between 1871 and 1878, Monet’s presence there drew fellow artists including Renoir, Manet, Sisley, and Caillebotte, fostering an environment of shared experimentation and innovation. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>The painting’s early provenance further enhances its significance. It was owned by Oscar A. H. Schmitz, the German writer and intellectual known for his writings on Jungian psychology and his discerning collection of 19th-century art. Following Schmitz’s unexpected death in 1933, the collection was sent to the Kunstmuseum Basel. In 1936, the art dealer Wildenstein & Co. took over 62 works from the collection and organized a major exhibition and sale in Paris and New York.<em> Le bassin d’Argenteuil</em> is included in the Daniel Wildenstein catalogue raisonné (1996), vol. II, p. 153, as no. 371, and is published in eight books. </div>

CLAUDE MONET

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color="#191919"><em>Argenteuil, l’Hospice</em> from 1872 belongs to one of the most formative chapters in Claude Monet’s career, painted during his early years in Argenteuil where he created nearly one hundred eighty canvases between 1871 and 1878. First owned by Paul Durand Ruel, Monet’s dealer and the most important champion of the Impressionists, the painting is included in the Wildenstein catalogue and was featured in the National Gallery London’s landmark exhibition <em>Monet and Architecture </em>in 2018. Created in the same year as his breakthrough <em>Impression, Sunrise</em>, the work reflects the moment when Monet’s vision for modern landscape took shape and laid the foundation for the movement that would soon be known as Impressionism.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color="#191919">Monet settled in Argenteuil in late 1871, determined to renew his artistic direction after the upheavals of war and exile. The town offered an enticing blend of historical architecture, modern industry, rustic gardens, and the ever-shifting Seine, all within easy reach of Paris. The Aubrey House, where Monet lived, became a gathering place for Renoir, Manet, Sisley, Caillebotte, and later Pissarro, a setting that fostered both artistic exchange and the planning of the first Impressionist exhibition of 1874. As scholar Paul Hayes Tucker has noted, Argenteuil offered Monet a rare diversity of motifs that he encountered daily, ranging from the charmingly old to the strikingly new.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color="#191919">In this painting Monet set his easel on rue Pierre Guienne, with his back to the Aubrey House, and painted the seventeenth century building that served at the time as the hospice of the Porte Saint Denis. The structure appears at right, viewed from the Seine, rendered with a quiet clarity that captures the atmosphere of an early spring day. The palette reflects both a reverence for the site’s history and an appreciation for Eugène Boudin, the friend and mentor who had encouraged Monet to paint the play of air and light years earlier and who joined him for a housewarming at Argenteuil on January 2, 1872. The hospice later became the Musée du Vieil Argenteuil, further reinforcing the historical resonance of the site.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color="#191919"><em>Argenteuil, l’Hospice</em> stands as one of Monet’s earliest paintings from this crucial period and offers a faithful, atmospheric interpretation of a place deeply intertwined with the origins of Impressionism. Its blend of gentle tonalities, soft spring light, and direct observation reveals the artist’s growing confidence in painting the world as he perceived it, moment by moment, as a new vision for modern landscape art emerged.</font></div>

CLAUDE MONET

<div>Paul Signac’s "Pilote de la Meuse" (1924) is a refined late masterpiece that unites his devotion to color theory with his lifelong love of sailing. The composition is rigorously constructed around a highly structured framework of verticals and horizontals—the horizon line, the river’s surface, and the upright masts establish a sense of order and clarity. This geometry is gently softened by subtle diagonals: the angled masts, the slanted smokestack of a distant tugboat, and the wind-filled sails introduce movement and visual counterpoint without disrupting the overall balance.</div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Executed in predominantly blue and green tones, the painting exemplifies Signac’s evolved Neo-Impressionist technique. While he and Georges Seurat pioneered pointillism as a scientific, color-theory-driven alternative to Impressionism, Signac’s later works from the 1910s and 1920s mark a decisive shift. Here, the earlier tight dots give way to broader, rectangular “mosaic strokes,” allowing color to carry greater physical presence and expressive freedom. The water in the foreground becomes a vibrant checkerboard of shifting hues, conveying turbulent weather, moving light, and wind-driven currents.</div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>A single prominent sailboat dominates the scene, accompanied by a few smaller vessels and the tugboat in the distance, whose swirling smoke animates the sky. This restrained yet dynamic marine subject reflects Signac’s deep personal connection to sailing—he owned 32 boats and traveled extensively by water.</div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Similar maritime scenes from this mature period are held in major institutional collections, including the Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Musée d’Orsay, underscoring the significance of this composition within Signac’s final artistic phase.</div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>The painting is accompanied by exceptional archival material: nine typed onion skins by Edmond Sussfeld; three autograph letters signed by Paul Signac; two autograph letters and the original invoice from the merchant Léon Marseille; and a certificate of authenticity from Mrs. Marina Ferretti-Bocquillon, providing outstanding historical context and provenance.</div>

PAUL SIGNAC

<div>When forty rural Sacramento Delta landscapes by Wayne Thiebaud were unveiled at a San Francisco gallery opening in November 1997, attendees were amazed by paintings they never anticipated. This new frontier betrayed neither Thiebaud’s mastery of confectionary-shop colors nor his impeccable eye for formal relationships. Rather, his admirers were shocked to learn that all but seven of these forty interpretations had been completed in just two years. As his son Paul recalled, “the refinements of my father’s artistic process were ever changing in a chameleon-like frenzy.” The new direction had proved an exhilarating experience, each painting an affirmation of Wayne Thiebaud’s impassioned response to the fields and levees of the local environment he dearly loved.   </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Viewed from the perspective of a bird or a plane, "The Riverhouse" is an agrarian tapestry conceived with a kaleidoscopic range of shapes and simple forms; fields striped with furrows or striated fans, deliriously colored parallelograms and trapezoids, an orchard garnished pizza-shaped wedge, and a boldly limned river, the lifeline of a thirsty California central valley largely dependent upon transported water. "The Riverhouse" is a painting that ‘moves’ between seamlessly shifting planes of aerial mapping that recalls Richard Diebenkorn’s stroke of insight when he took his first commercial flight the spring of 1951, and those partitions engaging a more standard vanishing point perspective. Thiebaud explained his process as “orchestrating with as much variety and tempo as I can.” Brightly lit with a fauve-like intensity, "The Riverhouse" is a heady concoction of vibrant pigment and rich impasto, one that recalls his indebtedness to Pierre Bonnard whose color Thiebaud referred to as “a bucket full of hot coals and ice cubes.” Among his many other influences, the insertion of objects — often tiny — that defy a rational sense of scale that reflects his interest in Chinese landscape painting.  As always, his mastery as a painter recalls his titular pies and cakes with their bewitching rainbow-like halos and side-by-side colors of equal intensity but differing in hues to create the vibratory effect of an aura, what Thiebaud explained “denotes an attempt to develop as much energy and light and visual power as you can.” </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Thiebaud’s Sacramento Delta landscapes are an integral and important part of his oeuvre. Paintings such as "The Riverhouse" rival the best abstract art of the twentieth century. His good friend, Willem de Kooning thought so, too.</div>

WAYNE THIEBAUD

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color="#191919">As the idea of using drawings, whether in pencil or pastel to prepare a painting was at odds with Monet’s publicised creative process, he tended to downplay its importance in his work. However, after his death eight folios containing over four hundred drawings came to light as well as many pastels. This convenient and lightweight medium allowed him to experiment with composition and colour and develop ideas for his oil paintings at speed. He also used pastel to produce finished pictures, as in this example.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color="#191919"> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color="#191919">During the 1880s Monet returned to the Normandy coast. He found inspiration in the sparkling light and famous limestone cliffs, as had Delacroix and Courbet. As well as working directly in oils, he followed Boudin’s example and used black chalk and pastel to study the effects of light and colour on the sky, sea and land.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color="#191919"> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color="#191919">In this seascape at Etretat, twenty miles round the coast to the north of Le Havre, Monet has chosen an unusual composition, dividing the landscape down the centre with the vertiginous cliffs; the left half of the picture composed of earthy greens and browns, the right half a sun dappled sea that dissolves into the sky, the horizon only suggested by the lightest touch of charcoal. This picture has a marked difference in atmosphere to another pastel of the nearby Porte d’Aval, dateable to the same period, whose late afternoon sky shows the range of expression that could be achieved with pastel. By the summer of 1885 the year he made this pastel Monet had largely abandoned urban subjects, and was more drawn towards natural phenomena. He painted many views along the coast under different light conditions. As noted in the catalogue raisonné on Monet, this pastel is not a preparatory study for an oil painting, but a wholly original composition. It demonstrates how well the painter understood and enjoyed the versatility of the medium when trying to capture such variable weather.</font></div>

CLAUDE MONET

<div>Alfred Sisley’s Cavalier en lisière de forêt (Horseman on the Edge of the Forest), from 1875, is a luminous painting depicting a tranquil road near Marly-le-Roi, where Sisley found creative renewal after moving from Paris’s Batignolles quarter. This work, included in the 2021 catalogue raisonné of the work of Alfred Sisley prepared by Francois Daulte with Galerie Brame & Lorenceau and the Comité Alfred Sisley as no.196, showcases his unrivaled commitment to plein-air painting, even compared to Impressionist peers like Monet and Pissarro. Likely executed entirely outdoors, it captures the immediacy of a summer morning with feathery brushstrokes of muted greens, ochres, and blues, rendering a path winding into a forest, a lone horseman, and two figures—one with a parasol. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Sisley’s move to Marly-le-Roi, driven by a love for greenery and the need to support his young family amid financial strain post-Franco-Prussian War, shaped this work. Painted after the 1874 Impressionist exhibition’s disappointing sales, it reflects resilience. The diffused light and geometric composition—path and trees anchoring a vast sky—evoke the region’s gentle haze. Camille Pissarro, a close colleague, hailed Sisley as “a great and beautiful artist, in my opinion he is a master equal to the greatest” (Pissarro, quoted in C. Lloyd, ‘Alfred Sisley and the Purity of Vision’, pp. 5-33, M. Stevens (ed.), Alfred Sisley, exh. cat., New Haven and London, 1992, p. 8). The 2021 Brame and Lorenceau catalogue notes 360 of Sisley’s 1,013 oil paintings reside in museums, affirming his legacy. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>This concise yet evocative piece offers collectors a rare glimpse into Sisley’s mastery, blending nature’s beauty with Impressionist innovation. </div>

ALFRED SISLEY

<div>Pierre Bonnard’s <em>La robe de chambre rouge (Marthe Bonnard)</em> (1912) is a richly intimate portrait of the artist’s lifelong muse and wife, Marthe de Meligny, painted at a moment when Bonnard was redefining modern interior painting through color, memory, and psychological nuance. Seated and absorbed in a private moment, Marthe is enveloped by a saturated red ground that presses close to the picture plane, dissolving traditional depth in favor of chromatic intensity. Her patterned robe and softly modeled face emerge through Bonnard’s layered brushwork, where color functions less as description than as emotional atmosphere. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Painted in 1912, the work was exhibited extensively from the year of its creation, appearing in seven exhibitions across Paris, Rotterdam, and Munich, signaling its immediate recognition within Bonnard’s circle and the broader European avant-garde. The painting also boasts a distinguished provenance, having passed through the collections of notable French Jewish collector Alphonse Kahn; Eugène Blot, the influential gallerist, collector, and sculpture castor; and Jacques Dupont, the celebrated Olympic cyclist. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><em>La robe de chambre rouge</em> is published seven times, including Bonnard’s 1968 catalogue raisonné, where it is listed as no. 674. The artist’s portraits of Marthe occupy a central place in his oeuvre. Closely related examples are held in the permanent collections of major institutions such as the Tate, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, underscoring the enduring significance of these deeply personal yet formally radical compositions. </div>

PIERRE BONNARD

<div><font face=Lato size=3>Widely recognized as one of the most consequential artists of our time, Gerhard Richters career now rivals that of Picasso's in terms of productivity and genius. The multi-faceted subject matter, ranging from slightly out-of-focus photographic oil paintings to Kelly-esque grid paintings to his "squeegee" works, Richter never settles for repeating the same thought- but is constantly evolving his vision. Richter has been honored by significant retrospective exhibitions, including the pivotal 2002 show,  "Gerhard Richter: Forty Years of Painting," at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.    "Abstraktes Bild 758-2" (1992) comes from a purely abstract period in Richter's work- where the message is conveyed using a truly physical painting style, where applied paint layers are distorted with a wooden "Squeegee" tool. Essentially, Richter is sculpting the layers of paint, revealing the underlayers and their unique color combinations; there is a degree of "art by chance". If the painting does not work, Richter will move on- a method pioneered by Jackson Pollock decades earlier.    Richter is included in prominent museums and collections worldwide, including the Tate, London, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among many others.</font></div>

GERHARD RICHTER

Tom Wesselmann was a leader of the Pop Art movement. He is best remembered for large-scale works, including his Great American Nude series, in which Wesselmann combined sensual imagery with everyday objects depicted in bold and vibrant colors. As he developed in his practice, Wesselmann grew beyond the traditional canvas format and began creating shaped canvases and aluminum cut-outs that often functioned as sculptural drawings. Continuing his interest in playing with scale, Wesselmann began focusing more closely on the body parts that make up his nudes. He created his Mouth series and his Bedroom series in which particular elements, rather than the entire sitter, become the focus. <br>  <br>Bedroom Breast (2004) combines these techniques, using vivid hues painted on cut-out aluminum. The work was a special commission for a private collector's residence, and the idea of a bedroom breast piece in oil on 3-D cut-out aluminum was one Wesselmann had been working with for many years prior to this work's creation. The current owner of the piece believed in Wesselmann's vision and loved the idea of bringing the subject to his home. <br> <br>It's one of, if not the last, piece Wesselmann completed before he passed away. The present work is the only piece of its kind - there has never been an oil on aluminum in 3D at this scale or of this iconography.  

TOM WESSELMANN

The frame of reference for Irish American Sean Scully’s signature blocks and stripes is vast. From Malevich’s central premise that geometry can provide the means for universal understanding to Rothko’s impassioned approach to color and rendering of the dramatic sublime, Scully learned how to condense the splendor of the natural world into simple modes of color, light, and composition. Born in Dublin in 1945 and London-raised, Scully was well-schooled in figurative drawing when he decided to catch the spirit of his lodestar, Henri Matisse, by visiting Morocco in 1969. He was captivated by the dazzling tessellated mosaics and richly dyed fabrics and began to paint grids and stipes of color. Subsequent adventures provided further inspiration as the play of intense light on the reflective surfaces of Mayan ruins and the ancient slabs of stone at Stonehenge brought the sensation of light, space, and geometric movement to Scully’s paintings. The ability to trace the impact of Scully’s travels throughout his paintings reaffirms the value of abstract art as a touchstone for real-life experience. <br> <br> <br>Painted in rich, deep hues and layered, nuanced surfaces, Grey Red is both poetic and full of muscular formalism. Scully appropriately refers to these elemental forms as ‘bricks,’ suggesting the formal calculations of an architect. As he explained, “these relationships that I see in the street doorways, in windows between buildings, and in the traces of structures that were once full of life, I take for my work. I use these colors and forms and put them together in a way that perhaps reminds you of something, though you’re not sure of that” (David Carrier, Sean Scully, 2004, pg. 98). His approach is organic, less formulaic; intuitive painter’s choices are layering one color upon another so that contrasting hues and colors vibrate with subliminal energy. Diebenkorn comes to mind in his pursuit of radiant light. But here, the radiant bands of terracotta red, gray, taupe, and black of Grey Red resonate with deep, smoldering energy and evoke far more affecting passion than you would think it could impart. As his good friend, Bono wrote, “Sean approaches the canvas like a kickboxer, a plasterer, a builder. The quality of painting screams of a life being lived.”

SEAN SCULLY

<div><font face=Lato size=3>Painted during John Singer Sargent's trip to the Austrian Tyrol in the summer of 1914, this work captures a moment of profound historical tension as Austria declared war on Serbia that July, placing Sargent at the threshold of the First World War. The painting offers a strikingly intimate and unexpected view of the Alpine landscape, framed from within a sheep pen with the mountain itself largely cropped from sight. This choice of vantage point shifts the viewers focus to the meeting point of the valley and the rising slope, where deep verdant greens anchor the composition and an overcast sky suggests a subtle sense of unease beyond the tranquil pastoral foreground.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3>The work is included in the Sargent catalogue raisonne by Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray, confirming its secure place within the artists documented production. Sargent created several related works during his 1914 stay in the Tyrol across both oil and watercolor, including <em>Tyrolese Interior </em>at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, <em>Woodsheds Tyrol</em> at the Art Institute of Chicago, and <em>Trout Stream</em> <em>in the Tyrol</em> at the de Young Museum. Together these works demonstrate Sargent's sustained engagement with the region and its distinctive light, atmosphere, and rural architecture during this pivotal year.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3>This painting also carries distinguished provenance, having been previously held in the collection of Henry Clay Frick, the American industrialist and founder of the Frick Collection, before being given as a gift to his friend and lawyer Louis Cass Ledyard, who also served as counsel to J P Morgan. Its rarity within Sargents mature Tyrolean subjects is further underscored by the small number of comparable works that have reached the market, with only one closely related painting from this period, A Tyrolese Crucifix from 1915, having appeared at auction in recent decades.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3>Sargents work continues to receive major institutional recognition, including the forthcoming exhibition Sargent Dazzling Paris at the Musee d Orsay in 2025 to 2026, reaffirming the ongoing relevance of his mature European landscapes within the broader narrative of early twentieth century art.</font></div>

JOHN SINGER SARGENT

Tom Wesselmann will undoubtedly be remembered for associating his erotic themes with the colors of the American flag. But Wesselmann had considerable gifts as a draftsman, and the line was his principal preoccupation, first as a cartoonist and later as an ardent admirer of Matisse. That he also pioneered a method of turning drawings into laser-cut steel wall reliefs proved a revelation. He began to focus ever more on drawing for the sake of drawing, enchanted that the new medium could be lifted and held: “It really is like being able to pick up a delicate line drawing from the paper.” <br> <br>The Steel Drawings caused both excitement and confusion in the art world. After acquiring one of the ground-breaking works in 1985, the Whitney Museum of American Art wrote Wesselmann wondering if it should be cataloged as a drawing or a sculpture. The work had caused such a stir that when Eric Fischl visited Wesselmann at his studio and saw steel-cut works for the first time, he remembered feeling jealous. He wanted to try it but dared not. It was clear: ‘Tom owned the technique completely.’ <br> <br>Wesselmann owed much of that technique to his year-long collaboration with metalwork fabricator Alfred Lippincott. Together, in 1984 they honed a method for cutting the steel with a laser that provided the precision he needed to show the spontaneity of his sketches. Wesselmann called it ‘the best year of my life’, elated at the results that he never fully achieved with aluminum that required each shape be hand-cut. “I anticipated how exciting it would be for me to get a drawing back in steel. I could hold it in my hands. I could pick it up by the lines…it was so exciting…a kind of near ecstasy, anyway, but there’s really been something about the new work that grabbed me.” <br> <br>Bedroom Brunette with Irises is a Steel Drawing masterwork that despite its uber-generous scale, utilizes tight cropping to provide an unimposing intimacy while maintaining a free and spontaneous quality. The figure’s outstretched arms and limbs and body intertwine with the petals and the interior elements providing a flowing investigative foray of black lines and white ‘drop out’ shapes provided by the wall. It recalls Matisse and any number of his reclining odalisque paintings. Wesselmann often tested monochromatic values to discover the extent to which color would transform his hybrid objects into newly developed Steel Drawing works and, in this case, continued with a color steel-cut version of the composition Bedroom Blonde with Irises (1987) and later still, in 1993 with a large-scale drawing in charcoal and pastel on paper.

TOM WESSELMANN

TOM WESSELMANN - 1962 Plus 35 Nude Sketch II - alkyd oil on canvas - 43 x 58 5/8 in.

TOM WESSELMANN

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Marc Chagall’s <em>Sur la table</em> is a radiant celebration of color, memory, and imagination. Bathed in a deep blue palette, the painting brings together several of the artist’s most beloved motifs: a rooster, violinist, goat, and exuberant bouquet. The composition is animated with Chagall’s signature sense of movement and dreamlike harmony, creating a world where everyday life, folklore, and love coexist in vibrant equilibrium.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Painted in a richly productive period just after Chagall’s return to his homeland in the early 1970s, <em>Sur la table</em> reflects the renewed emotional and visual energy that came from reconnecting with his roots in Vitebsk, represented here by the white domed church in the distance. The expansive bouquet, one of Chagall’s enduring symbols of love for his first wife, Bella, dominates the foreground and infuses the work with emotional warmth and vitality.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>The painting remained in Chagall’s own collection and estate until after his death in 1985, underscoring its personal significance. Authenticated by the Comité Marc Chagall, <em>Sur la table</em> belongs to a lineage of floral and symbolic compositions that define his mature work.</font></div>

MARC CHAGALL

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Hans Hofmann's <em>The Zoo</em> (1944) brims with playful energy, its abstract forms suggesting a whimsical exploration of animalistic shapes and gestures. Dominated by a vivid blue field punctuated by bold strokes of red, green, and yellow, the formal elements and composition provide a lively interplay of color. While the title invites the viewer to seek out zoo-like references, the forms are ambiguous yet evocative: sweeping red arcs might suggest the curve of a tail, while the triangular green shape evokes the profile of an enclosure or a cage. The painting captures not the literal essence of a zoo but the dynamism and movement one might associate with such a space.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Heavily influenced by Surrealist automatism and the biomorphic forms of Joan Miró, the organic shapes and bold colors seem to pulse with life, blurring the boundary between abstraction and figuration. Yet, unlike Miró's delicate dreamscapes, Hofmann's brushwork carries a muscular energy, grounding the composition in his signature gestural style.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black><em>The Zoo</em> reflects Hofmann's ability to balance spontaneity with deliberate compositional choices. The result is a vibrant, joy-filled work that celebrates the world's visual complexity and the boundless creative freedom of abstraction during this pivotal phase of his career.</font></div>

HANS HOFMANN

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Kenneth Noland’s <em>Gray Reflection</em> (1978) comes from the late 1970s, when the artist was deeply engaged with shaped canvases and the refinement of surface and form. The cool slate ground is animated by faint tonal shifts and angled color bands that cut across the polygonal field, creating both balance and quiet momentum.<br> <br></font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>This period was far less prolific than his celebrated 1960s circle paintings, making works such as <em>Gray Reflection </em>comparatively rare. While not part of a named series, it resonates with other late-1970s explorations like <em>Burnt Beige </em>at the Cranbrook Art Museum.<br> <br></font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Noland, a central figure of post-painterly abstraction alongside Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler, is represented in major museum collections including MoMA, Tate, and the National Gallery of Art.</font></div>

KENNETH NOLAND

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black><em>Afternoon</em> is a rare early painting by George Inness, created when the artist was only twenty one and actively shaping the foundations of his career. Although largely self-taught, Inness was immersed in a transformative period during the mid-eighteen forties, studying at the National Academy of Design in New York where he closely observed the work of Hudson River School painters such as Thomas Cole and Asher Durand. This moment marked his first public exhibitions at the Academy in 1844, followed by the opening of his own studio in 1848, placing <em>Afternoon</em> squarely within the formative years in which his artistic voice began to emerge.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>The painting also reflects the subtle influence of French landscaper Regis Francois Gignoux, under whom the young Inness studied before making his first trip to Europe in 1851. This early training helped shape the atmospheric sensitivity and poetic naturalism that would later define his mature style.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black><em>Afternoon</em> carries distinguished provenance, having passed through the collections of several important nineteenth and early twentieth century New Yorkers, including politician Cornelius Gardiner, financier and philanthropist Emerson McMillian, and later the philanthropist Agnes Ladson Dana. This lineage, combined with the paintings exceptional early date, makes it an especially significant example from the beginning of Innesss enduring contribution to American landscape painting.</font></div>

GEORGE INNESS

HERB ALPERT - Arrowhead - bronze - 201 x 48 x 48 in.

HERB ALPERT

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Standing at an impressive 103 inches, this elegantly spare “Sonambient” sculpture by Harry Bertoia allows us to marvel at one of the finest artisans of his generation. This piece, the tallest in the series currently available here at Heather James Fine Art, features a precise arrangement of 36 slender tines in a 6 x 6 grid. This arrangement's uniformity and symmetry are visually captivating and crucial for the sculpture's acoustic properties. The rods, austere and uncapped by finials, have an aged patina with copper undertones, suggesting Bertoia's use of copper or a similar alloy known for its resonant qualities and distinctive coloration. Given the outstanding length of these rods, the attachment method is particularly noteworthy. Bertoia meticulously inserted each rod into individual holes in the base plate using precision drilling and securing techniques such as welding that ensured the rods were firmly anchored and stable, maintaining the structural integrity essential for consistent acoustic performance.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Beyond his uncompromising nature, Bertoia's work draws significant inspiration from natural elements. This sculpture's tall, slender rods evoke images of reeds or tall grasses swaying gently in the wind. This dynamic interaction between the sculpture and its environment mirrors the movement of plants, creating an immersive, naturalistic experience. Yet when activated or moved by air currents, the rods of this monumental work initiate metallic undertones that confirm its materiality without betraying its profound connection to the natural world.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Integrating technical precision and natural inspiration depends on exacting construction that ensures durability and acoustic consistency, while its kinetic and auditory nature imbues the piece with a sense of vitality. This fusion invites viewers to engage with the sculpture on multiple sensory levels, appreciating its robust craftsmanship and evocative, naturalistic qualities. Bertoia's ability to blend these elements results in a work that is both a technical marvel and a tribute to the beauty of the natural world.</font></div>

HARRY BERTOIA

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black><em>Houghton Farms (Girls Strolling in an Orchard)</em> belongs to a pivotal moment in Winslow Homers career, created during the late 1870s as he transitioned from the wartime subjects that first brought him acclaim to the watercolor medium and domestic pastoral themes that would secure his place in the American canon. This period marked Homers sustained engagement with Houghton Farm in Mountainville in the Hudson Valley, where he spent extended time with his childhood friend and patron Lawson Valentine. Over these visits Homer produced approximately fifty watercolors, forming one of the most important bodies of early work in the medium. The significance of this output was later celebrated in the 2009 exhibition at Syracuse Art Galleries, <em>Winslow Homers Empire State: Houghton Farm and Beyond</em>.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>This watercolor is included in the artists catalogue raisonne and relates closely to other early examples from Houghton Farm, including <em>Fresh Air</em> from 1878 in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum. Its serene orchard scene, rendered with a soft and muted palette, reflects the themes of nostalgia, calm, and peace that define Homer's Restoration period. The transparency of the watercolor medium allows Homer to create a delicate, atmospheric impression of a misty morning, animated by touches of bright color in the figures dress patterns, the bow on a hat, a headwrap, and the bluebird perched on a branch.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>The continued importance of Homer's watercolor practice is affirmed by the current exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, <em>Of Light and Air: Winslow Homer in Watercolor</em>, which underscores the enduring resonance of works from this transformative period. <em>Houghton Farms (Girls Strolling in an Orchard)</em> stands as a beautifully preserved example from the moment when Homer embraced watercolor as his primary mode of expression, illuminating the quiet lyricism that came to define his mature art.</font></div>

WINSLOW HOMER

<div>Camille Pissarro’s<em> Paysannes assises </em>(c. 1880) is a richly colored, large-scale pastel that distills the artist’s humanism and modernity into an intimate, everyday encounter. Two peasant women sit in quiet conversation, their bodies described with confident contour and softened planes of color that feel both immediate and tender. The warm tone of the paper becomes an active field, allowing passages of blue, green, and rose to breathe around the figures, while Pissarro’s unmistakably painterly strokes—alternately feathered and emphatic—give the scene texture, light, and lived presence. Bright yet restrained, the work is iconically Pissarro: direct, unsentimental, and deeply attentive to rural life. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Often called the backbone of Impressionism, Pissarro was the movement’s most consistent, experimental, and unifying force. He was the only artist to exhibit in all eight Impressionist exhibitions from 1874 to 1886, and his generosity as a mentor shaped the next generation—Cézanne, Gauguin, Seurat, and Signac among them. In pastel, a medium prized for its speed and chromatic intensity, Pissarro found an especially apt vehicle for capturing fleeting effects and the immediacy of observation, without sacrificing structure or psychological nuance. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>The enduring importance of his work is underscored by recent museum attention, including the Denver Art Museum’s major exhibition positioning him as “the first Impressionist” (<em>The Honest Eye: Camille Pissarro's Impressionism</em>, October 26, 2025 – February 8, 2026), the first significant U.S. survey of the artist in four decades. <em>Paysannes assises</em> also resonates with closely related figure studies in major collections, such as examples at LACMA and The Morgan Library, affirming the centrality of these pastoral subjects within Pissarro’s practice and within Impressionism itself. </div>

CAMILLE PISSARRO

IRVING NORMAN - How Come - oil on canvas - 90 x 60 in.

IRVING NORMAN

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Lee Krasner’s "<em>Water No. 5</em>" channels water's fluid, ever-changing energy into a luminous abstraction, demonstrating her deep sensitivity to the natural world and unparalleled skill in transforming it into art. As part of her "Water" series of some twenty works, "<em>No. 5"</em> reflects Krasner's fascination with the rhythms of nature, inspired by her life on Long Island's East End. Living along the shoreline, she experienced its tidal flows, reflective light, and the expansive motion of water—elements that found their way into this series' fluid brushstrokes and layered washes.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Cataloged as "gouache on paper," the patent transparency in works like “<em>Water No. 5</em>” suggests Krasner used traditional watercolor techniques to create the denser, opaque effects often associated with gouache. Artists can achieve such opacity in watercolor by increasing the pigment-to-water ratio, layering translucent washes for depth, or using pigments naturally prone to granulation and saturation. Krasner's choice of Howell paper, known for its medium-to-rough "tooth," also enhanced these effects, as its texture scatters light to give pigments a more solid appearance. These techniques demonstrate Krasner's mastery of her materials and her intuitive, practical approach to experimentation, allowing her to expand the expressive possibilities of watercolor without relying solely on gouache. </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Krasner was not alone in finding inspiration in the Long Island landscape. Her neighbor, Willem de Kooning, similarly responded to the shoreline's vitality, translating its undulating rhythms into his work of the 1960s. For Krasner, however, the "Water" series lacks figurative references, resting solely on her ability to capture nature’s transformative energy through abstraction. With "<em>Water No. 5",</em> Krasner achieved a profound synthesis of technique and vision, merging the meditative power of her surroundings with the dynamic energy of her artistic practice, underscoring her position as a pioneering force in postwar American art.</font></div>

LEE KRASNER

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black><em>Dancing Girl</em> dates from 1881 to 1882, a dynamic and exploratory moment in William Merritt Chase’s career when he was actively engaging with European subjects and broadening the expressive range of American painting. The work is included in the Chase catalogue raisonne and reflects the artists fascination with Spanish themes, which many American painters of the period encountered firsthand while studying the masters in the Prado and absorbing the culture, costume, and movement of Spain. Although the painting was later mislabeled by an early owner as an Italian street scene, Chase was in Spain during the summer when this work was created, firmly situating it within his Spanish period.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>The animated single figure captures a woman in motion, a subject that is notably rare within Chases oeuvre and distinct from the more contemplative female figures that dominate his most valuable works. His auction record painting, <em>I Think I Am Ready Now</em> from around 1883, shares the focus on a single female figure from the same period, underscoring the importance of this moment in his artistic development. The present work also relates closely to important institutional examples, including <em>Carmencita</em> from 1885 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and <em>A Tambourine Player</em> in the Montclair Art Museum, both of which highlight Chases sustained interest in dancers and Spanish costume.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>The painting was held on long term loan to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston from 1906 to 1922, affirming its early institutional recognition. Chase’s Spanish works should be viewed in dialogue with those of John Singer Sargent, whom he met in 1881 while Sargent was developing studies for <em>El Jaleo</em>, as both artists looked to Velázquez for inspiration. <em>Dancing Girl</em> stands as a spirited and uncommon example of Chase portraying a woman at play, capturing movement, rhythm, and cultural immediacy at the height of his European engagement.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div>

WILLIAM MERRITT CHASE

CHARLES JOSEPH FREDERIC SOULACROIX - Afternoon Tea - oil on canvas - 34 x 25 3/4 in.

CHARLES JOSEPH FREDERIC SOULACROIX

<div><font face=Lato size=3>Leon Polk Smith’s "Constellation Blue Violet Green Red" (1968) is a striking example of the artist’s radical exploration of form and color in postwar abstraction. Executed in acrylic on canvas, the work consists of four rounded-square panels arranged in a diamond formation. Each panel bears a crisp division of color: black at the outer edge, paired with one of four luminous hues—blue, violet, green, and red—creating a rhythmic interplay of symmetry and variation. </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3>Smith was a central figure in the development of hard-edge painting and geometric abstraction, aligned with contemporaries such as Ellsworth Kelly and Carmen Herrera. His "Constellation" series, begun in the 1960s, was groundbreaking for its use of multiple shaped canvases installed directly on the wall, eschewing traditional frames in favor of compositions that expand dynamically into surrounding space. </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3>While Smith was highly prolific in both works on paper and monumental single-panel paintings, multi-panel "Constellation" works remain less common within his oeuvre. Today, his paintings are represented in major institutions including The Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Brooklyn Museum. In "Constellation Blue Violet Green Red", the clarity of Smith’s vision is on full display—color and geometry united in a constellation that feels both precise and expansive, disciplined yet alive with visual energy. </font></div>

LEON POLK SMITH

<div><font face=Lato size=3>Maurice de Vlaminck’s <em>Le Viaduc de Saint-Germain-en-Laye</em> (circa 1910-1911), an arresting oil on canvas framed in ornate gold, captures the industrial elegance of a viaduct west of Paris. This work, set to be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné by the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, reflects Vlaminck’s fascination with the Saint-Germain area. Known for painting its urban landscapes and Seine-side scenes, he infused this particular scene with angular Cubist elements gaining traction in early 20th-century art. The viaduct, built in the 1880s to carry the Paris-Saint-Germain railway line, looms with golden arches against a turbulent gray sky, its unyielding structure juxtaposed with the fractured rooflines of quaint village houses. </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3>Vlaminck’s bold brushstrokes and muted palette create a textured, almost sculptural effect, with trees and rooftops rendered in dynamic, faceted shapes. The overcast sky enhances the scene’s ambient intensity, while the viaduct’s arches dominate, symbolizing modernity amid rural charm. This work exemplifies his early Fauvist roots evolving into Cubist influences, showcasing a pioneering style. </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3>A resident of the region, Vlaminck frequently depicted its evolving landscape, blending tradition with innovation. "Le Viaduc de Saint-Germain-en-Laye" offers collectors a rare glimpse into his transformative period. Its striking composition and historical context make it a compelling addition to any collection, celebrating Vlaminck’s contribution to modern art’s development. </font></div>

MAURICE DE VLAMINCK

"A drawing is simply a line going for a walk." <br>-Paul Klee <br> <br>A significant draftsman, Paul Klee's works on paper rival his works on canvas in their technical proficiency and attention to his modern aesthetic. As an early teacher at the Bauhaus school, Klee traveled extensively and inspired a generation of 20th Century Artists. <br> <br>Klee transcended a particular style, instead creating his own unique visual vocabulary. In Klee's work, we see a return to basic, geometric forms and a removal of artistic embellishment. "Der Hafen von Plit" was once owned by Alfred H. Barr, Jr., the First Director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

PAUL KLEE

<div>Maurice de Vlaminck’s <em>Bouquet de Pivoines dans un Vase Bleu</em> (1913–14) is a prime-period still life that channels the artist’s Fauvist audacity into an image of exuberant, painterly force. A dense spray of peonies—painted as spiraling bursts of pinks, reds, and creamy whites—pushes outward from a deep blue vase, its rounded form anchoring the composition. With vigorous, directional brushstrokes, Vlaminck animates petals and foliage into a rhythmic surge, turning a traditional tabletop motif into a study of movement, texture, and chromatic intensity. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>As one of the core founders of Fauvism, Vlaminck was celebrated for his radical, non-naturalistic use of color, and this work retains that avant-garde approach. Cool blues and sea-greens collide with hot, saturated reds, while the background drapery and angled planes are simplified into sweeping passages that heighten contrast and speed. The paint surface remains boldly worked, emphasizing the physicality of oil on canvas and the immediacy of the artist’s hand. A prominent signature reinforces the picture’s assertive presence and its sense of completed statement. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>The painting will be included in the forthcoming critical catalogue of Maurice de Vlaminck’s works, currently being prepared by Maïté Vallès-Bled and Godeliève de Vlaminck under the auspices of the Wildenstein Institute. Renewed international attention to Vlaminck’s achievements—including a recent retrospective at Museum Barberini in Potsdam, the first in nearly a century—has reaffirmed his vital role in the development of modern painting. <em>Bouquet de Pivoines dans un Vase Bleu </em>captures that legacy: unapologetically modern and powered by color as expression. </div>

MAURICE DE VLAMINCK

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black><em>Girl in White (Seated Figure)</em> from 1896 is an elegant example of Frank Bensons gift for intimate portraiture, rendered with a refined palette and a masterful command of light and texture. The painting was originally a personal gift from Benson to his friend and fellow American artist Frederick P. Vinton, remaining in the Vinton family before later entering the distinguished collection of Paul Magriel, a renowned collector and scholar of American art. This early provenance underscores the works longstanding appreciation among artists and connoisseurs alike.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>The portrait relates closely to similar half-figure studies held in major institutional collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Farnsworth Art Museum, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., all of which highlight Bensons importance within the American Impressionist tradition. In this work, the sitter is shown in profile against a simple, reduced background that allows the subtleties of color and drapery to command full attention. The warm, luminous modeling of the skin and the delicate, gossamer like fabric of the dress are heightened by Benson's economical use of tone, creating a sense of quiet focus and graceful restraint.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Together, these qualities reveal the depth of Bensons skill during the 1890s and affirm <em>Girl in White (Seated Figure)</em> as a beautifully preserved and emotionally resonant example of his portrait practice.</font></div>

FRANK WESTON BENSON

Manuel Neri was a central figure in the Bay Area Figurative Movement in the 1960s. Instead of abstract forms, the group emphasized emotion through the power of the human form. The present work, "Untitled" (1982), explores the female form on a life-sized scale. Neri preferred to work with just one model throughout his 60-year career, Maria Julia Klimenko. The absence of a face in many of the sculptures adds an element of mystery and ambiguity. The focus of the composition in "Untitled" is the structure and form of the figure. Manuel Neri is represented in numerous museum collections worldwide, including the Addison Gallery/Phillips Academy; Anderson Collection at Stanford University; Art Institute of Chicago; Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University; Cincinnati Art Museum; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Denver Art Museum, the El Paso Museum of Art, Texas; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Harvard University Art Museums; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Honolulu Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

MANUEL NERI

ROLAND PETERSEN - Waiting Figure - oil on canvas - 68 x 56 in.

ROLAND PETERSEN

<div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>Born in 1881, the same year as fellow Spaniard Pablo Picasso, María Blanchard carved her distinct path within modernist art, blending Cubist influences with emotional depth. <em>"La Comida" </em>demonstrates Blanchard's evolution towards a more figurative style while retaining explicit Cubist references. This shift aligns her work with the “<em>Retour à l'ordre”</em> movement, a tendency many fellow artists embraced at the time. Thematically, “<em>La  Comida</em>” recalls van Gogh's early works, particularly "<em>The Potato Eaters</em>" (1885), in both palette and subject matter. Like van Gogh, Blanchard draws attention to the simplicity of rural life, using muted tones of browns, reds, and ochres to convey the grounded, almost austere nature of the figures around the table.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>Blanchard’s work after 1921 progressively bridged the gap between the rigid forms of early Cubism and a more emotive, personal representation of her subjects. Geometric rigors are present, but the scene's naturalistic light and volumetric composition echo Cézanne's influence. The sharp brushstrokes and angular figures evoke a sense of protection, reflecting Blanchard's intention to shield the inner spirit of her characters from the gaze of others. Yet, her sensitive portrayal invites viewers to connect emotionally with her work, engendering a sense of intimacy and quiet communion. Despite the somber palette, there is a subtle warmth, with the figures' inner spirit shielded from judgment, much like those in van Gogh's painting. Yet in synthesizing elements of Cubism, Blanchard added emotional complexity to the rural themes van Gogh explored, making her contribution distinct yet reflective of earlier artistic traditions.</font></div>

MARIA BLANCHARD

<div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>María Blanchard, born in 1881, initially emerged as a committed Cubist painter, heavily influenced by her friendships with Juan Gris and other avant-garde figures. Her work in the 1910s showcased rigorous geometric abstraction, yet by the early 1920s, she began to transition toward a more figurative style. This shift aligned her with the “<em>Retour à l'ordre”</em> movement, in which many artists returned to more classical forms after the upheavals of war and early avant-garde experimentation. Blanchard's increasing focus on emotional depth and human subjects became a defining feature of these later works, culminating in pieces like "<em>Fillette à la pomme</em>."</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>Blanchard's Cubist roots, prominent in the angular treatment of the hands and apple, are softened throughout the girl's modest attire, suggesting a spiritual or religious significance. The model's pious countenance and the muted palette of browns, grays, and blues further reinforce that the painting continues a thread of religious themes, as seen in Picasso's early masterwork, "<em>The First Communion</em>," and Blanchard's own "<em>Girl at her First Communion</em>." The apple held in hand introduces layers of symbolism, often representing knowledge, innocence, or temptation, an association that suggests an emotional transition, bridging childhood and deeper awareness.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>Blanchard's ability to fuse Cubist form with symbolic narrative and emotional complexity makes this painting a poignant reflection of her evolution as an artist. She humanizes the rigid forms of Cubism while imbuing her subjects with depth and inner life.</font></div>

MARIA BLANCHARD

WALEAD BESHTY - Los Caballos en la Conquista - Ceramica Suro slip cast remnants, glaze, and firing plate - 9 1/2 x 32 1/4 x 21 1/2 in.

WALEAD BESHTY

The Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) was a prosperous period that helped shape Chinese history's foundations for future centuries. This era was marked by notable technological and cultural advances, including gunpowder and printing. Among artistic advances during this period was the perfection of the sancai glaze technique, which was a prominent attribute of sculpture during this period. Sancai (tri-colored) glazing used the three glaze-colors were ochre or brown, green and clear. Glazed wares were much more costly to produce than other terracotta wares, and were therefore only reserved for the wealthiest patrons. <br> <br>This Sancai-Glazed Horse would have been an incredible status symbol for its owner and many have been lost to time. This sculpture is comparable to examples held in museum collections worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

CHINESE

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color="#191919"><em>The Road to the Harbor, Gloucester, Massachusetts</em> is a vibrant and characteristically bold example of Jane Peterson’s celebrated views of the Massachusetts coast, a subject that remains among the most sought after in her work. Previously held in the collection of the artist and her estate, the painting reflects the period when Peterson was producing her finest New England scenes, distilling the atmosphere and color of Gloucester with a confident and expressive hand. Gloucester was one of her most beloved subjects, and comparable paintings of the area have exceeded expectations at auction, often more than doubling their high estimates, underscoring both the desirability of the theme and the competitive value of the present work.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color="#191919">This large canvas captures a quiet coastal afternoon, with a dirt road leading toward Gloucester Harbor as suggested by the title. Peterson uses saturated colors and broad, lively brushstrokes to animate the scene, from the touches of blue on the rooftops to the shifting interplay of blue and grey in the retreating sky that suggests a moment just after rainfall. The painting relates closely to other Gloucester works in major museum collections, including <em>Old Road, Gloucester</em> at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color="#191919">Peterson was known for choosing subjects beyond the conventional expectations for women artists of her time, favoring street scenes, travel, public life, and even wartime experience. <em>The Road to the Harbor, Gloucester, Massachusetts </em>embodies this outward looking spirit, revealing her ability to transform everyday coastal paths into scenes of vivid immediacy and enduring charm.</font></div>

JANE PETERSON

WILLIAM MERRITT CHASE - Portrait of the Artist Albert Beck Wenzell - oil on canvas - 20 x 16 in.

WILLIAM MERRITT CHASE

<div>"House in the Countryside," a rare early oil on canvas by Piet Mondrian circa 1898, offers a window into the artist’s pre-abstraction period, likely executed "en plein air." This intimate painting, one of approximately 47 works from this phase across various media, showcases Mondrian’s early dedication to capturing the essence of place. The composition features a modest house set within the landscape, rendered with soft, earthy tones and a delicate interplay of light and shadow, reflecting his youthful passion for naturalistic depiction. Unlike his later abstract works, which began after he turned 40 following the 1911 Picasso exhibition that inspired his Cubist turn, these early pieces reveal a confident realism that laid the groundwork for his iconic style. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>The works from this period, prior to Mondrian’s shift toward coastal scenes, boats, and floral subjects, highlight his penchant for landscape, a theme that subtly persisted in his later abstractions, particularly those inspired by the grid-like layout of New York City, such as "Broadway Boogie Woogie" (1942-43) and “New York City I” (1942). With early landscapes offering a more accessible price point yet holding immense academic importance, they attract museums and savvy, thoughtful collectors. Comparable works reside in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, and The Art Institute of Chicago.  This piece stands as a rare testament to Mondrian’s evolving genius and the foundational role of landscape in his oeuvre. The painting’s most recent owner is Nicholas Fox Weber, the distinguished art historian, scholar, and president of the Josef Albers Foundation. </div>

PIET MONDRIAN

MAURICE DE VLAMINCK - Fleurs dans un vase - oil on canvas - 21 1/4 x 15 in.

MAURICE DE VLAMINCK

ALFRED THOMPSON BRICHER - Esopus Creek - oil on canvas - 20 x 40 in.

ALFRED THOMPSON BRICHER

WILLIAM WENDT - Laguna Hills - oil on canvas - 25 x 30 in.

WILLIAM WENDT

<div><font face=Lato size=3>"Study for Three Sisters," a 1954 mixed media drawing by Balthus, offers an intimate glimpse into the artist’s preliminary creative process. Executed in pencil with subtle blue watercolor accents, this sketch captures two figures—a reclining woman and a seated child—arranged with a spontaneous yet deliberate energy on a couch. The loose, expressive lines and minimal detailing reveal the immediacy and personality of the subjects, contrasting with the more formal and structured compositions of his final paintings. As a study for the major work "Three Sisters" within a series of significant canvases by the same name, it provides a window into Balthus’ evolution, showcasing how he refined his subjects over time and approached their portrayal with careful consideration. </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3>Balthus, like many avant-garde artists of the early 20th century such as Paul Gauguin, Edvard Munch, and Pablo Picasso, saw children as vessels of raw, unformed spirit, untouched by societal constraints, and viewed adolescent themes as a potent source of psychological depth and uninhibited expression. This perspective infuses the drawing with a tender yet enigmatic quality. The provenance includes Nicholas Fox Weber, the acclaimed Balthus biographer, adding historical weight to the piece. A related "sister drawing" is held in the Art Institute of Chicago’s permanent collection, further affirming its significance. This work not only highlights Balthus’ mastery of mixed media but also serves as a compelling study of youth and intimacy, inviting viewers to explore the artist’s thoughtful development of his iconic themes. </font></div>

BALTHUS

M. EVELYN MCCORMICK - The Washington Hotel - oil on canvas - 30 x 40 in.

M. EVELYN MCCORMICK

<div><font face=Lato size=3>Andy Warhol’s <em>Campbell’s Soup I: Vegetable Soup</em> (1968) is part of his first screenprint portfolio dedicated to the iconic soup cans, produced in an edition of 250 with additional artist’s proofs. </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3>The speed with which the art world embraced Warhol was remarkable: in July 1962, his thirty-two <em>Campbell’s Soup Cans</em> paintings debuted at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, quickly cementing his reputation. Those early canvases, among his last hand-painted works, appeared almost mechanically produced, but Warhol soon abandoned the brush in favor of silkscreen, a commercial process that allowed for both endless repetition and striking variations of his chosen subjects. </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3><em>Vegetable Soup</em> was one of the original thirty-two varieties and remains a pop culture phenomenon, continually reappearing on everything from plates and mugs to t-shirts, neckties, and even surfboards. Warhol’s transformation of an everyday supermarket staple into an enduring icon underscores his genius for elevating the ordinary into the realm of high art. With its crisp outlines and industrial precision, <em>Vegetable Soup</em> embodies the artist’s most radical contribution: the merging of consumer culture with fine art. </font></div>

ANDY WARHOL

<div>John Marin’s "Sea Movement, Maine" (1937) exemplifies his dynamic approach to watercolor, a medium he transformed into one of the most expressive vehicles of early American modernism. Painted during his mature period, the work captures the restless energy of the Maine coast—a subject Marin returned to repeatedly as a source of inspiration. Quick, gestural strokes convey the surging sea and jagged rocks, while washes of deep blue, gray, and black evoke both immediacy and atmosphere. Marin’s hallmark ability to fuse abstraction with observation is evident here: the composition is at once faithful to the rhythms of the natural world and liberated in its expressive freedom. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>The significance of this work is underscored by its inclusion in Sheldon Reich’s 1970 catalogue raisonné (no. 37.19) and its exhibition history in two museum shows, affirming its place within Marin’s celebrated body of Maine seascapes. "Sea Movement, Maine" stands as a vivid testament to the artist’s lifelong pursuit of translating nature’s vitality into painterly form. </div>

JOHN MARIN

Karl Benjamin and his peers Lorser Feitelson, Frederick Hammersley, and John McLaughlin hold a distinctive place in the history of American abstract art. Known for their precise, geometric forms and clean edges emphasizing flatness, they are California's Hard-edge painters who emerged in the late 1950s. Unlike Ellsworth Kelly, for example, their work reflects a brightness, clarity, and palette that suggests California's natural and built environment rather than the more urban and industrial influences felt on the East Coast. Furthermore, compared to the competitive art scene on the East Coast, the California group was a relatively small and close-knit community of artists with a sense of collaboration and shared exploration that contributed to a cohesive movement with a distinct identity.

KARL BENJAMIN

EDGAR ALWIN PAYNE - Venetian Boats at Sotto Marino - oil on canvas - 23 3/8 x 26 1/4 in.

EDGAR ALWIN PAYNE

Harry Bertoia’s Willow sculpture resonates as an expression of grace and delicacy; qualities that bely the usual associations we have with the intrinsic properties of the alloy of which it is made. This suspended version – the rare version of Willow - seems to have a self-aware presence; one that delights in that contrast of properties. Yet it invites nothing more than existential pleasure in the viewing of it. Think of Willow as a boldly articulated version of Calder if the latter master had a more organic or corporeal evocation in mind. Suspended, it commands its area yet respects its spatial relationship to its surround. Light, form, space – these are conceptual tools of the sculptor. But who else would think to use reflective material more readily associated with inflexibility and tensor strength to create a bouquet of cascading strands of stainless steel, suspended in space, flora-like and so gracefully beautiful?

HARRY BERTOIA

JOANNA POUSETTE-DART - Untitled (Red Desert Study) - acrylic on wood panel - 33 1/2 x 42 x 3/4 in.

JOANNA POUSETTE-DART

LEONID LAMM - State Power - oil on canvas - 68 3/8 x 66 x 1 in.

LEONID LAMM

ROBERT NATKIN - Apollo XL - acrylic on canvas - 88 x 116 1/4 in.

ROBERT NATKIN

HASSEL SMITH - 9000 and 9 Nights - acrylic and graphite on canvas - 68 x 68 1/8 in.

HASSEL SMITH

TOM WESSELMANN - Blonde Vivienne - Mixografia® print on handmade paper - 40 1/2 x 40 1/2 in.

TOM WESSELMANN

JEAN-FRANCOIS RAFFAELLI - Landscape - pastel on cardboard - 17 5/8 x 23 1/2 in.

JEAN-FRANCOIS RAFFAELLI

TOM WESSELMANN - Still Life With Blonde and Goldfish - Mixografia® print on handmade paper - 33 1/4 x 38 3/4 in.

TOM WESSELMANN

JEAN BERAUD - La Parisienne - oil on canvas - 13 3/4 x 9 5/8 in.

JEAN BERAUD

TOM WESSELMANN - Sunset Nude with Yellow Tulips - Mixografia® print on handmade paper - 37 3/4 x 41 3/4 in.

TOM WESSELMANN

EDGAR ALWIN PAYNE - Sierra Nevada Mountains - oil on canvas - 9 3/4 x 13 1/2 in.

EDGAR ALWIN PAYNE

ALFRED STEVENS - The Connoisseur - oil on panel - 8 7/8 x 6 7/8 in.

ALFRED STEVENS

AI WEIWEI - "Fairytale" Chairs - wood - 49 x 45 x 17 1/2 in.

AI WEIWEI

FELIPE CASTANEDA - Mujer con Guitarra - marble - 16 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 10 in.

FELIPE CASTANEDA

LOUIS VALTAT - Allée d'arbres - oil on canvas - 7 5/8 x 9 1/2 in.

LOUIS VALTAT

JEAN MANNHEIM - Turquoise Creek - oil on board - 20 x 24 in.

JEAN MANNHEIM

JAMES MCDOUGAL HART - Landscape 1884 - oil on canvas - 17 x 24 1/8 in.

JAMES MCDOUGAL HART