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Artist
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Title | Thumbnail |
Notes old |
Media |
Signature status |
| Adam Emory Albright |
Little Sister |
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This watercolor was featured in our weekly email on 9/19/14 along with the following gallery comments:
Adam Emory Albright resided in Warrenville, IL (about 30 miles west of the Chicago loop, now very much in the Western Suburbs) and frequently painted in Brown County. It was a natural setting for his work which was extremely sympathetic and generally featured ragamuffin children partaking in timeless activities – fishing, playing in the stream, marching through the field, on the shore, etc. Models often included his own boys – one of whom, Ivan became a leading Chicago artist of his generation. Albright worked mostly in oil, his pieces are very impressionistic and have a wonderfully airy effect. Little Sister comes to us as an outlier -- likely a study of an oil of the same title. The piece is unsigned, with annotation, verso indicating the title and the Albright attribution. I have no issue with authenticity – it’s right out of the Albright playbook. Little Sister has gone through paper conservation and is totally pristine. The work is housed in the cutest original frame ever… A very fun and somewhat rare Albright study set in a marvelous package.
-Curt Churchman |
Watercolor on Paper |
Attribution, verso |
| John (Jan) Zwara |
White River Summer Landscape |
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Oil on Board |
Signed Lower Left |
| C. Curry Bohm |
Creakside Cabin |
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Oil on Board |
Signed Lower Right |
| Gustave Baumann |
Courthouse Yard |
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Edition 100
This Baumann woodcut was featured in our weekly email on 11/07/13 along with the following gallery comments:
Gustave Bauman’s Courthouse Yard was among twelve pieces produced in 1910 that were sold individually and grouped together in what was known as ‘The Portfolio’. The collection, among the earliest works that he produced while in Nashville, IN, depicts life of the day in Brown County. Among the other titles were The Old Print Shop, the Rug Maker, Mathis Alley, etc. Entire portfolios (intact and together) are rare these days but individual prints do come to market. Courthouse Yard features the iconic Nashville Courthouse and reflects Baumann’s love for the simplicity of small town life. These earlier works trade for less than his later Brown County period pieces (1915-16) and would make a great addition to any Indiana art collection and also offers a relatively inexpensive way to own artwork by America’s woodblock master – Gustave Baumann.
–Curt Churchman, Fine Estate Art |
Color Woodcut on Japan Paper |
Signed Lower Right |
| Carolyn G. Bradley |
Gloucester |
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Watercolor on Paper |
Signed Lower Left |
| John (Jan) Zwara |
White River Meridian Street Bridge |
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This Zwara Gouache was featured in our weekly email on 11/21/13 along with the following gallery comments:
If you follow us at all, you know we love Jan Zwara. He was vastly prolific, literally painting to live. And It’s always fun having random Zwaras, ne’er before seen, find their way to my inbox. This piece from 1934, is local Indy and features the White River bridge at Meridian St. (around 6400 N. Meridian). The bridge was constructed in 1933 and thus would have been brand new when Zwara sat down to paint it. The bridge was recently (and substantially) rebuilt and expanded in a multi-year project. The piece is a classic Zwara gouache – the White River, a bridge, reflections on the water, tonalist background. All to good effect and the bonus of semi-prominent Indianapolis subject matter.
–Curt Churchman, Fine Estate Art |
Gouache on Paper |
Signed Lower Right |
| William McKendree Snyder |
Michigan Summer Landscape with Sheep |
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This Snyder watercolor was featured in our weekly email on 12/12/13 along with the following gallery comments:
William McKendree Snyder is indelibly associated with Madison, Indiana where he spent most of his life painting realistic and detailed landscapes of the local beech forests. Think Hudson River school. He did travel and one of his destinations was Michigan where it is believed Michigan Summer Landscape with Sheep was painted. An interesting departure for Snyder in terms of media and technique -- the painting was probably done as a study. Nicely presented in an antique reproduction frame, glare free light and all conservation matting and backing (photos available).
–Curt Churchman, Fine Estate Art |
Watercolor on Paper |
Signed Lower Right |
| Randolph LaSalle Coats |
Retired Rum Runner |
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SOLD
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Exhibited:
-1920 33rd Annnual Art Institute of Chicago's Oil Paintings and Sculpture Exhibition
-1924 John Herron Art Institute 17th annual Artists Exhibition
This Coats painting was featured in our weekly email on 12/19/13 along with the following gallery comments:
This Randolph Coats painting comes to us with interesting records. Two tags are affixed verso while the artist-provided title, Rum Runner, is written on the canvas itself.
The first exhibit tag is from the 33rd Annual Oil Paintings and Sculpture Exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1920 on which the painting is titled Portuguese Villa, Cape Cod. The tag also notes the painting being on loan from the Art Academy of Cincinnati.
The second tag is a record from the 17th annual Artist’s Exhibition at the John Herron Art Institute (Indianapolis) held in 1924. The painting is titled Retired Rum Runner on the Herron tag.
After some searching, I stumbled upon a story of an infamous Provincetown character named Manuel Zora. “Captain Manny” was a Portuguese fisherman from Cape Cod and revered as one of the best rum runners during Prohibition. His incredible ability to captain his vessel The Mary Ellen in high seas to avoid capture earned him the moniker “Sea Fox”.
Beyond the business of rum running, Provincetown was a successful art colony where nearly 300 artists and six schools of art existed by 1916. The more colorful title Retired Rum Runner (from the Herron exhibit) was given to the painting as Prohibition was in place. Did Coats paint Captain Manny’s boat? We don’t know! One of the great joys of working with historic art is uncovering the stories that surround these pieces as we dust them off.
–Michael Sinon, Fine Estate Art |
Oil on Canvas |
Signed Lower Right |
| Louis Oscar (L.O.) Griffith |
Brown County Bridge |
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Etching on Paper |
Signed Lower Right |
| Karl C. Brandner |
Winter Stream |
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SOLD
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This Brandner painting was featured in our weekly email on 1/10/13 along with the following gallery comments:
Inasmuch as we’ve handled a few Karl Brandner pieces, we really don’t know much about the artist. Piecing together some details, he was born in Oak Park and he’s associated with Chicago-area artists of the first half of the twentieth century. Like so many of his Chicago contemporaries, he traveled to Brown County for occasional painting trips as well as executing pieces in and around Northern Illinois. Beyond painting he was also a printmaker – we had a fantastic etching (since sold) which establishes that fact. Winter Stream is one of pair of 18x20 oils we recently acquired (the companion piece sold…to my father). Based on a positive date of 1931 appearing on the companion piece, we must assume Winter Stream was painted at the same time. The titling is ours and as with the artist, we can only infer aspects of this painting. Being on board, the 1931 date makes sense and the subject matter is surely not Brown County. It could be Illinois but based on the overall flora represented, we reason it might be Wisconsin. Fine Estate also offers medium and fortune telling services and we consult on gambling strategies. A’hem… A nice, winter landscape from a ‘crossover’ Chicago artist. Clean and housed in a new reproduction frame. Would proudly hang in any house with a chimney!
– Curt Churchman, Fine Estate Art |
Oil on Board |
Signed Lower Left |
| Karl C. Brandner |
Winter Landscape |
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SOLD
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This work was featured in our 2nd Annual Curated Sale of Historic Indiana Art, April 8th, 2018 at the Indianapolis Art Center.
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Oil on Board |
Signed Lower Left |
| Adolph Robert Shulz |
Early Spring Landscape |
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|
Oil on Board |
Signed Lower Right |
| Georges LaChance |
Tending the Team |
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Oil on Canvas |
Signed Lower Left |
| Theodore Clement (T.C.) Steele |
Kirkwood Observatory, Indiana University |
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Oil on Canvas |
Signed Lower Right |
| Martha Hinkle Mosier |
Pioneer Cabin, Martinsville |
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SOLD
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This Mosier painting was featured in our weekly email on 11/27/13 along with the following gallery comments:
We’ve seen very little work by Martha Hinkle Mosier and I regret this because there is a context void regarding how this piece squares with her overall output. The few other recorded examples are relatively uninspired and do not contain the ‘finished’ quality of Pioneer Cabin, Martinsville. Hinkle Mosier studied under Adolph Shulz and knowing that this piece was exhibited (Indiana University Art Exhibit, year unknown, original tag verso), I’ve always romanced the notion that Shulz was over her shoulder, providing guidance for a piece that was envisioned as a show entrant. Who knows the real story but it’s a wonderful example -- bright, full of detail and representing a bold, painterly vision. The painting has been conserved, contains no re-touch and the original, lovingly re-leafed frame marries with it perfectly. Possibly the best darn Hinkle Mosier in existence here for your consideration.
–Curt Churchman, Fine Estate Art
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Oil on Canvas |
Signed Lower Right |
| Floyd D. Hopper |
Untitled |
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Watercolor on Paper |
Signed Lower Right |
| Floyd D. Hopper |
Ducks Landing |
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SOLD |
Watercolor on Paper |
Signed Lower Right |
| Gustave Baumann |
Grandma Battin's Garden |
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SOLD
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edition 36/125
This Baumann woodblock print was featured in our weekly email on 9/26/13 along with the following gallery comments:
Always the most popular image from Baumann’s Brown County period (and possibly of his entire output), Grandma Battin’s Garden was actually created in 1926, after Baumann had relocated to Sante Fe. This particular ‘pull’ is noted as “RC I” indicating it was from a new edition of the print that Baumann initiated in 1956. Housed in the original Baumann-made frame. A singularly iconic example from America’s master woodblock artist.
- Curt Churchman, Fine Estate Art
|
Woodblock Print on Paper |
Signed Lower Right |
| Adolph Robert Shulz |
The Abandoned Road, Delavan Wis |
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This painting was featured in our weekly email on 10/9/13 along with the following gallery comments:
Adolph Shulz began his painting career in Delavan, WI where he found immediate success with his local landscapes. It was in 1900 that he first ventured to Brown County and continued to make frequent trips there before moving to Nashville permanently in 1917. The Abandoned Road, c. 1910 is a fantastic example from this period when he was splitting time between Delavan and Brown County, featuring great use of light and depth and painted to full completion. It is wonderfully representative of Shulz’s style with the intricate foreground contrasted with more tonal background elements. The painting has been cleaned and conserved and contains very minimal inpainting. It’s housed in the original frame that has been re-gilded in 16K pale gold.
–Curt Churchman, Fine Estate Art |
Oil on Canvas |
Signed Lower Right |
| George Jo Mess |
Farm in the Valley |
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This painting was featured in our weekly email on 10/18/13 along with the following gallery comments:
George Jo Mess and his artist wife, Evelynne made their home in Indianapolis, less than a mile from Fine Estate’s current location. Much of his art however, emanated from Brown County where they owned a cabin and the Adirondacks where they traveled periodically. This piece, likely from c. 1945 appears to be set in the Adirondacks and features Mess’ trademark abstractions, particularly the interesting perspectives and his signature trees. A nice example from this nationally acclaimed Indiana artist. The painting has been cleaned and conserved and is displayed in a period reproduction frame.
–Curt Churchman, Fine Estate Art |
Oil on Board |
Signed Lower Left |
