This July 18th at Clars we are highlighting works by a variety of artists working in different periods, styles, and mediums, including Edmund Henry Osthaus, Albert Bierstadt, Diane Arbus.

Firstly, we have an oil on canvas by German American artist Edmund Osthaus (1858–1928) that depicts three setters eagerly scouting the autumn countryside for game. Osthaus immigrated to the United States in 1883, settling in northern Ohio and becoming the director of the Toledo Academy of Fine Arts. In the Midwest, Osthaus immersed himself in the raising and showing of gundogs, specifically setters and pointers, the likes of which became his most well-known subject. Osthaus’ true-to-life portrayals of these elegant hunting dogs garnered much demand in the late nineteenth century, attracting patrons in high-profile families including the Morgans and Vanderbilts. The piece in our July auction is exemplary of Osthaus’ work, showing the expert rendering of the dogs’ coats and faces against and idyllic but somewhat foreboding landscape. This painting by Edmund Osthaus is estimated at $20,000-–$40,000.

A second German American painter who made his mark in the United States is Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902), who is known for his dramatic landscapes showing the American West. Bierstadt’s depictions of Yosemite Valley, the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific Northwest coast are the result of his travels with land surveyor Frederick W. Lander and memoirist Fitz Hugh Ludlow, who each brought Bierstadt from his home in the Hudson River Valley of New York through the rugged terrain of the less-explored West. As a member of the Hudson River School, the influence of Romanticism in Bierstadt’s work is apparent, and his style is often described as Luminism, as it gave a great deal of focus to natural light in his scenes. The oil on canvas in our July auction depicts an unknown landscape of rolling hills with a lake in the foreground under clouds dissipating into a peach-colored sunset. This piece is estimated at $10,000–$15,000.

Jumping forward to the mid-twentieth century, we are featuring a gelatin silver print by groundbreaking American photographer Diane Arbus (1923–1971). Arbus is known for her unvarnished approach to portraiture, often choosing subjects who were considered unusual or out of the mainstream and presenting them in a straightforward yet surreal way. Arbus’ work is now celebrated as helping to expand representation of marginalized people in art as well as being an undeniable influence on photographers who succeeded her. The photograph in our sale this month is titled Russian Midget Friends in a Living Room on 100th St. New York City, 1963, and depicts two women and a man seated in a room dimly lit by natural light, surrounded by their furnishings, with varied expressions on each of their faces. Each of the subjects touches one another in a comforting way, implying familial closeness, and a sense of pride at being photographed is reflected. This piece is estimated at $8,000–$12,000.

Alongside these highlights we are also featuring paintings by John Marshall Gamble, Franz Bischoff, Edward Mitchell Bannister and Peter Max, prints by Sam Francis and Mel Ramos, and much more.

The Fine Art department at Clars will present a strong selection of works by acclaimed California and American artists like Maynard Dixon, Percy Gray, Thomas Hill, Karl Schmidt and much more on June 20th.

Among the highlights in California and American Impressionism is Arizona Landscape, a 1944 oil on board by Western master Maynard Dixon (American, 1875–1946), estimated at $15,000–$20,000. Another featured piece is Eucalyptus Trees with Field of Irises, a graceful watercolor by Percy Gray (American, 1869–1952), estimated at $6,000–$9,000. This piece is one of two works by Gray in the sale, including Oaks in a Field, a 1920 watercolor estimated at $4,000–$6,000.

Another important landscape is Hetch Hetchy (California) by Thomas Hill (American, 1829–1908), an oil on board also estimated at $6,000–$9,000. Additional highlights include View from Salmon Creek, an oil on canvas by Emmy Lou Packard (American, 1914–1998), estimated at $5,000–$7,000, and Near the Mouth, an evocative coastal scene by Theodore Wores (American, 1859–1939), estimated at $4,000–$6,000.

The sale also features a strong group of early 20th-century California works, including Cliff and Sunset, both circa 1920 by Karl Schmidt (American, 1890–1962). These vertical oil on linen paintings, each measuring 28 x 13 inches, are estimated at $2,000–$4,000. Additional offerings include Untitled (Landscape with Lake) by Carl Jonnevold (American, 1856–1955), estimated at $600–$900; Untitled (Cows on a Hillside) by Alexis Matthew Podchernikoff (American/Russian, 1886–1933), estimated at $800–$1,200; Desert Landscape by Carl Sammons (American, 1883–1968), estimated at $600–$900; and Untitled (Native Americans by a River) by A.D.M. Cooper (American, 1856–1924), painted in 1916 and estimated at $700–$1,000.

This March 21st at Clars Auctions, we will be featuring a curated assortment of artwork from a wide range of periods and locales.

From our own state of California, we have an oil on canvas by plein air painter Marion Kavanaugh Wachtel (American, 1876–1954). Wachtel was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and studied in Chicago before moving to California, where she studied under Scottish American master landscapist William Keith.

Keith’s influence coupled with her new surroundings inspired Wachtel to move away from portraiture and embrace landscape painting, focusing her attention on the mountains, coasts, and foliage of southern California. The painting in this month’s sale is titled Autumn, Trabuco Mountains, California, (estimate: $8,000–$12,000) and depicts the leaves changing color amidst the peak on the border of Orange and Riverside Counties.

This September 19th, in our Important Fall Fine Art Auction, Clars is thrilled to offer a rare and captivating work by William Merritt Chase — whose interiors are widely celebrated as some of the finest achievements of American Impressionism.

Collector Duncan Philips noted their evocative nature, stating, “Whether it is the sumptuous splendor of a Venetian palace, shades from the summer sun, or just perspective of rooms, in which one would like to live, the charm of a Chase interior is immediate. It is more than a trick of cool light on reflecting surfaces, mahogany tabletops and hardwood floors. It is a hint of once familiar moments, long forgotten, a sentiment of the quiet dignity of a patrician home” (quoted in R. Pisano, William Merritt Chase, New York 1982, p. 64). Works such as A Mother’s Joy, which feature the artist’s family, not only highlight Chase’s remarkable craftsmanship but also his ability to transform familiar domestic scenes into masterpieces of Impressionistic texture, color, and compositional balance.

Chase’s cosmopolitan taste and sophisticated aesthetic drew him to a diverse array of decorative arts and objects, many of which he incorporated into his paintings. D. Frederick Baker, a Chase expert, observes, “The decorative tasseled drapery hanging from the fireplace mantel is similar to that found in photographs of the dining room fireplace mantel in their Greenwich Village home. And what appears to be a small Japanese doll, wearing a red outfit of some sort, on the mantel is similar to those in several Chase still life paintings” (unpublished letter, October 2, 2023). In A Mother’s Joy, Chase skillfully integrates the pink of Alice’s skirt into the mantel, harmonizes tans and taupes throughout the curtain, blouse, and fireplace, and uses signature red accents that he considered crucial for the success of his compositions.

Many scholars have highlighted Chase’s notably warm and engaging personality. A devoted family man, he was often surrounded by his wife, Alice, and their eight children, who appear throughout his oeuvre. Many of Chase’s masterpieces depict family members, friends, students, or models in relaxed, elegant settings, as exemplified by A Mother’s Joy. This recently rediscovered gem captures a tender moment between Chase’s wife and their second daughter, Koto Robertine Chase, born January 5, 1889, likely in the dining room of their West 4th Street home in Greenwich Village. Formerly owned by New Jersey Governor Franklin Murphy, A Mother’s Joy is a rare and exceptional interior scene that celebrates both the Victorian decor of Chase’s home and the intimacy of a cherished family moment.

According to the catalogue raisonné, A Mother’s Joy is part of a series depicting mother-and-child themes, including Mother and Child (The First Portrait) circa 1887, housed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Mother and Child (Mother’s Love) circa 1892, located at the Sheldon Museum of Art in Lincoln, Nebraska. Critics have lauded these works for their engaging subject matter, composition, technique, and color, establishing the mother-and-child motif as one of Chase’s most celebrated themes. A reviewer described Mother and Child (Mother’s Love) as “Intimate and charming is the portrait of the artist’s wife and little daughter. The mother is seated and the child’s arms clasped around her neck. In the woman’s eyes beams the true love light of motherhood” (Chicago Herald Tribune, November 28, 1897). Similarly, A Mother’s Joy captures a profound sense of maternal affection, as Alice gently leans toward Koto, their eyes meeting in a loving gaze. The composition’s circular motif, created by their outstretched arms, symbolizes the infinite and unconditional love between mother and child.

The provenance of A Mother’s Joy includes its acquisition directly from the artist by Franklin Murphy, Governor of New Jersey (1902–1905), at Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, New York, on March 6, 1891, where it was sold by the artist as lot 64. It later entered a private collection in Kentucky. The painting was prominently exhibited at the Annual Exhibition of the Society of American Artists in New York in May 1889, the 17th Annual Chicago Interstate Industrial Exposition in September 1889, and at American Art Galleries, New York, in 1890.

The work is documented in Ronald G. Pisano’s William Merritt Chase: Portraits in Oil, Vol. II (New Haven, Connecticut, 2007, p. 84, no. OP.164). It is accompanied by a letter of authenticity from D. Frederick Baker/Ronald G. Pisano, Inc., dated October 2, 2023.