Lot 89
  • 89

WILLARD LEROY METCALF | Spring Tide

Estimate
150,000 - 250,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Willard LeRoy Metcalf
  • Spring Tide
  • signed W.L. METCALF. (lower left)
  • oil on canvas
  • 26 1/4 by 29 1/4 inches
  • (66.7 by 74.3 cm)
  • Painted in 1910.

Provenance

Estate of the artist
E. & A. Milch, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Blauvelt, by 1928
Hiram Blauvelt, Oradell, New Jersey (by descent)
Ann Blauvelt Sanderson, Cumberland Foreside, Maine, 1957 (his sister)
By descent to the present owner, 1970s

Condition

The canvas is wax lined and there is frame abrasion at edges. The work appears to be slightly dirty and there is fine surface cracking in the sky. Under UV: there is no apparent inpainting; some pigments fluoresce but are original to the artist.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Willard Metcalf painted Spring Tide in Falls Village, a small town in northwest Connecticut, in 1910. Utilizing a wide range of rich green and golden hues, he masterfully captures the lush New England landscape, a favored subject of the artist’s that he depicted often. Richard J. Boyle writes, "Although Metcalf touched on many of the reasons for painting landscape, he also had a true affinity for it, a genuine feeling. He traveled a great deal to find terrain to satisfy his sense of place, finding what suited him best in the countryside of New England ... it was just right for Metcalf, who marshaled his skills and used the formal qualities of his art to depict that landscape and convey what he felt was its essence.  So, his sense of color and organization and his orchestration of tone as well as the abstract qualities of line and shape were directed toward that end, as would not be the case according to the modernist aesthetic....The landscape as subject was obviously very important to Metcalf: he used his thorough training and his considerable formal mastery to interpret it and to express what he felt was its primary truth" (Sunlight and Shadow: The Life and Art of Willard L. Metcalf, New York, 1987, pp. 244-45). 

This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonne being coordinated by Betty Krulik and the Willard Leroy Metcalf Catalogue Raisonne Project, Inc.