Date: Fri 14-May-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: LIZAM

Quick Words:

Shannon's-Easton-Milford

Full Text:

Shannon's Breaks 7 Figures

(with 4 cuts)

By Rita Easton

GREENWICH, CONN. -- Five auctions after the opening of Shannon's Fine Art

Auctioneers in Milford, Conn., a year and a half ago, the auction house broke

the $1 million mark.

The April 22 event, featuring approximately 300 American and European

paintings, drawings, frames and sculpture, drew a standing room audience of

175 to the Greenwich Harbor Inn, with 400 additional absentee and phone

bidders participating. The majority of consignments were from private

collectors, estates, pickers, and antiques dealers.

Fetching $50,400 from a private buyer, the starring bid of the day was an oil

on canvas by Severin Roesen (American, 1815-1872), "Still Life with Fruit and

Wine Glass," 30 by 25 inches.

The painting was unsigned and came with a letter of authentication from the

art expert Judith O'Toole of the Westmoreland Museum in Pennsylvania, who has

published a scholarly book on the work of Roesen.

"Apple Blossoms," an oil on canvas by Julian Alden Weir (American, 1852-1919),

signed on the lower right, the subject thought by Shannon to be a view of the

Weir farm in Wilton, Conn., went to the trade at $39,200. A rendering of the

Matterhorn by Carl Josef Kuwasseg (French, 1802-1877) brought $26,880 for the

oil on canvas; and an oil on canvas by George Hitchcock (American, 1850-1913),

"The Colors of Fall," a pastoral scene with sheep, signed on the lower left,

went to a retail buyer at $22,400.

A 10 by 12 inch oval by John F. Francis (American, 1808-1886), "Currants in a

Compote," an oil on panel dated 1865, signed on the lower center, fetched

$23,520 from a retail buyer. Predictably, the Italian trade, bidding by phone,

snapped up "Lime Kiln Capri," an oil on canvas monogrammed by Charles Caryl

Coleman (American, 1840-1928) on the lower right, inscribed "Capri" and dated

1923, at $20,160; and an Edward Willis Redfield (American, 1869-1965) oil on

canvas, a view of a French Village signed on the lower right and inscribed

"France, 1901," made $20,160, going to a private buyer.

A view of East Gloucester, Mass. houses painted by Jane Peterson (American,

1876-1965), signed on the lower right, reached $16,800 for the oil on canvas,

going to a private buyer. A member of the German trade on the phone won an oil

on canvas at $14,560, painted by the Seventeenth Century Dutch artist Gerrit

Adriaensz Berckheyde (circle of), depicting the Town Hall on the Dam in

Amsterdam; and an oil on canvas painted by William Trost Richards (American,

1833-1905), "View of the Catskills," signed lower right and dated 1864, went

privately at $15,680.

An Anthony Thieme (American, 1888-1954), "Jurgens Lane, Rockport,

Massachusetts," an oil on canvas signed lower left, titled verso, sold at

$11,200; and a river snowscape by E. A. Gruppe went out at $9,520. A nude in a

boudoir setting by George Elmer Brown (American, 1871-1946), "Before the

Mirror," signed lower left, achieved $16,800; an oil on canvas by Margaret

Pomeroy, "Sewing," which was estimated at $2,5/3,500, realized $10,080 from a

private buyer; and an oil on canvas by the Belgian artist C. DeCock, estimated

at $3/4,000, brought $8,400 from the American trade.

"The surprise was the strength of the $2,000 to $10,000 range," said Gene

Shannon, "which made up 82 percent of the sale. Extremely solid. We opened

this auction company only a year and a half ago after having been in the art

business for 24 years as private dealers, [and] we've had five auctions, each

one grossing higher than the last.

"Now we've crossed the million dollar mark and I don't think we're going to

look back," he predicted.

A Shannon color catalogue can be viewed on the website at

www.shannonsauction.com. Prices quoted reflect a 12 percent buyer's premium.