Catalog: Fine Art (20)

1924 watercolor painting of Red Mountain, California, by listed artist Arthur J. Hammond (signed and titled lower left). This is a beautiful work employing soft desert colors in shades of blues, greens, and purples.

The frame is not comtemporary to the piece.

Hammond was born in Vernon, Connecticut in 1875 but lived mostly in Rockport, Massachusetts.

Listed in

• AskART.com's "The Artists Bluebook: 23,000 North American Artists", 2000
• P.H. Falk's "Who Was Who In American Art: 1564-1975", 1999, p. 7433
• the National Academy of Design's "Annual Exhibition Record: 1901-1950", 1990, p. 622
• Falk's "Dictionary of Signatures & Mongrams", 1988, p. 556
• G.B. Opitz' "Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors, et. al.", 1986, p. 1081
• Falk's "Who Was Who in American Art: Artists Active 1898-1947", 1985, p. 707
• Opitz' "Dictionary of American Artists", 1982, p. 372
• P. & H. Samuels' "Encyclopedia Artists American West", 1976, p. 549
• D.T. Mallett's "Index of Artists", 1948, p. 811.

Sight size 11"x8-3/4". Condition: excellent, although it appears to have two 3/4" paint runs immediately above the roof of the house (visible in the enlargement); more vivid and brightly colored than it appears in the photographs.

We will soon be offering another oil painting of a Rocky Mountain scene by Hammond.

Early 20th century Dutch harbor scene by Gerard Wiegman (1875-1964). The painting depicts a large cargo ship moored at harbor and surrounded by a variety of smaller ships, fishing boats and tugs. The sky is painted in moody shades of grays that echo the colors of the dark smoke rising from the other large ships in the background. This choice of coloring suggests the obvious industrial nature of this unidentified harbor. The paint was primarily applied with broad brushstrokes, but a thicker impasto suggests the business and confusion on the deck of the ship. The perspective is quite deep and suggests a great deal of forward movement. Signed lower right “G. Wiegman”. The painting is framed in a mid-century carved giltwood frame.

Though not Jewish, Gerard Wiegman was forced to escape Holland at the beginning of the Nazi invasion. He smuggled a small number of paintings out with him. Both this painting and the other harbor scene we are offering were among the paintings he smuggled out and kept for his own collection. Eventually, he settled in upstate New York, where he lived until his death. This painting was acquired from the family of the artist.

Origin: Holland, ca. 1930. Condition: excellent surface, one puncture repair near both upper corners. Size: canvas, 22" x 31"; frame, 27-3/4" x 36-1/4".