October 30 Fine Art Sale

On October 30, 2018, the second session of our Fall Fine Art and Prints auction will offer nearly 400 lots of original and print artwork by regional artists and collectors of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Northern Delaware.

Local aficionados and gallery connoisseurs have been championing a conversation about the unexamined “Philadelphia School” of art for years. Fusing urban tendencies towards the large format and abstract with the countryside’s métier of soft impressionism, 20th century artists from eastern PA, northern DE, and southern NJ, created tonal, naturalistic artwork with strong brushstrokes and bold color choices. Still lifes and landscapes abound, most often incorporating sentimental regional backdrops and crumbling, yet poignant architecture.

We are proud to feature art from the Pinto brothers, an Italian-American family of artists patronized by Albert C. Barnes. Angelo, Salvatore, Biagio, and Joseph began their training in the Barnes Foundation art education program, where Dr. Barnes took a special interest in the four boys. He took them to France to meet Henri Matisse and to Northern Africa to paint. In 1932, he purchased four of their paintings to display in the Barnes Foundation; the Pintos were the first Philadelphia artists featured in the collection. Today, the Barnes has five of Angelo’s paintings and two of Biagio’s on display and a hold of Salvatore’s work in the private collection kept in storage. While Joseph continued to paint, he made his career as the official White House photographer for presidents Truman through Reagan.

Lot 15057: Salvatore Pinto (American, 1905-1966), nude woman, acrylic on wood panel, unsigned, 12-1/8" x 15-3/16", good condition

Lot 15083: Joseph Pinto Sr. (Italian-American, 1915-1997), spinning Ferris wheel and roller coaster, acrylic on artists' board, unsigned, 8" x 10", framed size 9-3/4" x 11-3/4", good condition with small losses

Lot 15063: Salvatore Pinto (American, 1905-1966), self portrait, acrylic on canvas, 20" 16", framed size 26-3/4" x 22-1/2", good condition with some age cracking

Lot 15014: Lajos Szalay (Hungarian, 1909-1995) pen and ink drawing with a sleeping woman cradling a baby in the foreground and a sleeping man the background, pen and ink on paper, measures 17-5/8" x 12-5/8", good condition with some age toning and minor wear around edges. Pinto Family Archive

Lot 15015: Lois Mailou Jones (American, 1905-1988) oval format still life of a vase of roses, watercolor on artist's board, signed "Lois M Jones '34", measures 20" x 24", fair condition with a stain in the upper right image area and some minor abrasions to surface. Pinto Family Archive

Our sale includes 151 lots of artwork both by and from the collections of the Pinto brothers. It is the largest contingent of Pinto art to be auctioned at once.

In addition to the Pinto portion of the sale, our Day 2 Fine Art auction includes nearly 100 lots of regional artwork from the collection of Chester County patron David Davis. Davis has been purchasing original artwork by local names for decades, but a move from his 17th century farmhouse into Philadelphia has prompted him to liquidate his extensive assets. Regional art buyers will be pleased to see work by George Cope, Harry Dunn, Tom Bostelle, Dale O. Roberts, Dennis Haggerty, John Suplee, John Redmond, Karl J. Kuerner, Andrew Wyeth, and other immediately recognizable local talents.

Lot 15116: Dennis Haggerty, American, PA, 1947-1912, oil on paper, sunset in Taos, NM, 30" x 22", framed size 38" x 30", matted in a narrow gilt frame

Lot 15132: George Cope, oil on canvas, three dead pheasants hanging, dated 1900, 21" x 16", framed size 29-1/4" x 24-1/2", in the original oak frame with corner brace stretcher tighteners

Lot 15146: Jeff Schaller, American, PA, 20th cent, encaustic on board, "Use the Coupon, Mr Gardener", 11-1/2" x 11-1/2", framed size 13-1/4" x 13", exhibition label verso

Lot 15201: William (Bill) Ewing III, American, PA, 20th cent, acrylic on panel, still life of silver creamer and strawberry on shelf, 10" x 8", framed size 13-1/2" x 11-5/8"