Art for sale

Auctions and Events

Spring 2025 Sale of Historic Indiana Art
Spring 2025 Sale of Historic Indiana Art
Twenty Paintings by Jerry Smith
Twenty Paintings by Jerry Smith
Prints and Drawings by William Forsyth
Prints and Drawings by William Forsyth
Works On Paper Auction, 2025
Works On Paper Auction, 2025
Fall 2024 Curated Sale of Historic Indiana Art
Fall 2024 Curated Sale of Historic Indiana Art
Spring 2024 Curated Sale of Historic Indiana Art
Spring 2024 Curated Sale of Historic Indiana Art
Fall 2023
Fall 2023
Spring 2023
Spring 2023

Gallery

Artist Title Thumbnail Notes old Media Signature status
Wilbur Meese Victorian Gothic Victorian Gothic This painting was featured in our weekly email on 2/24/17 along with the following gallery comments: Everything is broken at Fine Estate today! Email accounts are goofed up, phone batteries are dying randomly and reparations are moving like glue. So I'm improvising... Wilbur Meese worked almost entirely in watercolor throughout his career. Most of his traditional pieces are winter landscapes. But he had an alter-ego that liked to create these very formed, symetric fantasy pieces. Today's painting, Victorian Gothic is from that latter work. It's a very large piece -- painted on a 'full sheet' of watercolor paper. Painting is in great condition and is offered unframed. Mixed media on paper Signed lower right
Wilbur Meese Victorian Gothic #2 Victorian Gothic #2 (1982) This work was featured in our 2nd Annual Curated Sale of Historic Indiana Art, April 8th, 2018 at the Indianapolis Art Center. Gouache on paper Signed lower right
Hallie Pace Prow A Brown County Park View A Brown County Park View (1939) SOLD — This painting was featured in our weekly email on 3/17/17 along with the following gallery comments: Hallie Pace Prow hails from Salem, Indiana and lived most of her adult life in Bloomington. She was married to an older doctor and after he passed away, she took up painting in ernest to support herself. She received much early encouragement from T.C. Steele, whom she might have met in the last year's of Steele's life when he was artist in residence at IU. Today's painting, A Brown County Park View (her title) was created in around 1939 and is a nice, visceral example of Prow's work. We purchased this piece from a descendent a few years ago. It has gone through conservation and is housed in a antique reproduction frame and ready to hang. As noted above, this painting will appear in our 4/2/17 Curated Sale of Historic Indiana Art auction. Oil on Canvas Signed lower right
Arnold Turtle Lakeside Harbor Lakeside Harbor SOLD --- This work was featured in our 2nd Annual Curated Sale of Historic Indiana Art, April 8th, 2018 at the Indianapolis Art Center. --- Dated 1936 — This painting was featured in our weekly email on 4/7/17 along with the following gallery comments: Arnold Turtle wasn’t supposed to be an artist. He came to Chicago from England to work in the family business and his interest in painting led him to the Chicago Art Institute where he took night classes. He ultimately abandoned business and pursued art full time. Thank goodness – his paintings are just wonderful. Always loose and evocative – up close they are a brilliant mess and stepping back it all resolves into a perfect scene. Today’s piece, Lakeside Harbor (our title), is a fun, gouache example. I’m guessing it’s Belmont Harbor or another local Chicago lakeside scene though the painting itself is not talking. Relatively early work for Turtle. And it certainly reflects his obsession with painting coastals and harbor scenes from all over this country. Gouache on Paper Signed Lower Left
Dale (Philip) Bessire Brown County Autumn Lane Brown County Autumn Lane This painting was featured in our weekly email on 11/11/16 along with the following gallery comments: Welcome to the politic-free art zone. Today’s painting is by Dale Bessire. Bessire was a native of Indianapolis and studied art at John Herron as well as studying business at the University of Chicago. Interesting to note he was attending Herron at the same time as Frank Hohenberger, Carl Graf and John Wesley Hardrick according to Herron records of 1913. He moved to Brown County in 1914 and remained there the rest of his life, painting and operating an orchard just north of Nashville. Today’s work Brown County Autumn Lane (our title) is right out of the Bessire playbook. It’s very soft in tone with heavy use of a palette knife and representing a classic Bessire motif: road through the foliage-lined forest. It’s housed in the original frame. Both the painting and the frame went through light cleaning and conservation, were reunited and the piece is now sparkling and ready to hang. A classic Brown County work from one of Brown County’s well-collected painters. Oil on Canvas Signed Lower Left
Frank Hohenberger Homeward Bound Homeward Bound This painting was featured in our weekly email on 1/27/17 along with the following gallery comments: Frank Hohenberger left his sweet gig as an Indianapolis Star photographer and moved to Nashville, IN in the 1917 where he opened a photography studio and was very much part of the Brown County art colony. These colored prints are somewhat rare. And it's not known who did the coloring work but I've heard Mary Vawter's name mentioned in the past. Homeward Bound is one of Hohenberger's most collected prints and fun to see the colored version. Photographic Print Signed on Mat, Lower Left
Gustave Baumann All the Year Round, March All the Year Round, March (1912) ______________________________________________ Appearing in our Curated Sale of Indiana Art, taking place April 2nd, 2017 1:00pm at Jacksons Auction Company, 617 E North Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204 "Click here for Online Catalogue":http://www.invaluable.com/catalog/searchLots.cfm?scp=c&catalogRef=YYIFDNC5JC&row=1 Please contact us "here":mailto:info@fineestaterugs.com?subject=AuctionQuery if you have any questions, for absentee bidding or phone bidding requests. ___ Woodcut Print on Paper Unsigned
Gustave Baumann All the Year Round, September All the Year Round, September (1912) Woodcut Print on Paper Unsigned
Randolph LaSalle Coats December December SOLD — This painting was featured in our weekly email on 12/16/16 along with the following gallery comments: Randolph Coats was from Richmond, IN and studied art under William Forsyth at Herron and later under Frank Duveneck at the Cincinnati Academy of Fine Arts. He would later teach at both institutions. Most of his professional life was spent in Indianapolis though he maintained a studio for some years on the East Coast. Beyond landscapes, he’s known for portraiture and figural pieces. Today’s painting, December, is a nice little example. It was likely executed in the 1920s based on what I understand about Coats’ evolving style. It’s housed in the original frame which we refinished in-house. A charming (if chilly!) piece. Oil on Board Signed Lower Right
Fred Rigley Brown County Tonal Study I Brown County Tonal Study I This work was featured in our 2nd Annual Curated Sale of Historic Indiana Art, April 8th, 2018 at the Indianapolis Art Center. Oil on Board Signed Lower Left
Fred Rigley Brown County Tonal Study II Brown County Tonal Study II This work was featured in our 2nd Annual Curated Sale of Historic Indiana Art, April 8th, 2018 at the Indianapolis Art Center. Oil on Board Signed Lower Right
Wilbur Meese Hoosier Covered Bridge Hoosier Covered Bridge Watercolor on Paper Signed Lower Right
Louis Oscar (L.O.) Griffith Grandma Barnes' Farm Grandma Barnes' Farm — This painting was featured in our weekly email on 12/9/16 along with the following gallery comments: L.O. Griffith was originally from Greencastle, IN and life then deposited him in Texas and St. Louis before he embarked on a career in commercial art in Chicago. During his Chicago days he was also part of Chicago Galleries Association, Palette and Chisel Club and often ventured down to Brown County to paint with fellow Chicago artists. Eventually he moved to Brown County in 1922 where he remained the rest of his life. During his time in Chicago, he worked for an engraver and became familiar with the etching process. By the time he moved to Brown County, he was an accomplished etcher (as well as painter). Griffith liked to do his printmaking in the winter months, in lieu of painting in the cold weather. Through his years in Indiana, he produced a few hundred different monochromatic and colored etchings. Today's etching, Grandma Barnes Cabin is among his most famous pieces. Wonderful -- it’s at least six colors and represents a high point in his printmaking career. AND it features the iconic Grandma Barnes cabin which artists at the time couldn’t get enough of. This piece is featured on page 96 of Lynn Lettsigner Miller’s Book The Artists of Brown County. And if you’d like to read more about Washington and Grandma Barnes, click here. Colored Etching on Paper Signed Lower Right
Burling Boaz Still Life with Squash Still Life with Squash Egg Tempera on Board Signed Lower Right
Burling Boaz Winter Timber Haul Winter Timber Haul Mixed Media Signed Lower Right
Burling Boaz Path Between the Barns Path Between the Barns Mixed Media on Board Signed Lower Right
James Topping Farmer in the Dell Farmer in the Dell Chicago Gallery Association Tag Verso Oil on Canvas Signed Lower Right
James Topping Charms of Autumn Charms of Autumn Chicago Gallery Association Tag Verso Oil on Canvas Signed Lower Right
Louis Oscar (L.O.) Griffith Favorite Bypath Favorite Bypath SOLD — This painting was featured in our weekly email on 9/23/16 along with the following gallery comments: Louis Oscar (L.O. by way of signature) Griffith was born in Greencastle, Indiana yet moved to Texas in his youth. As a boy, he was obsessed with drawing and was an inveterate sketcher. Griffith studied under famous Texas artist Frank Reaugh and then attended the St. Louis School of Fine Arts and the Chicago Art Institute. He eventually settled in Chicago and was employed as a commercial illustrator. He was adept at several mediums – oil, etching and watercolor. He even created the occasional wood block print. Through his association with the Palette and Chisel club and fellow member Adolph Shulz, he became familiar with Brown County. He began visiting in 1907 and settled there permanently, to paint full time, in 1922. Though Griffith traveled a fair amount (particularly to Texas and New Orleans), most of his output was from Brown County. Today’s painting, Favorite Bypath is a very nice oil featuring a Brown County setting. It’s a slight departure from his typical landscape as it’s such a contained view rather than an expansive vista. This piece contains the original 1949 Hoosier Salon Annual Exhibition studio label, verso. Though it doesn’t tie to anything in the Hoosier Salon’s record in that period and I can only conclude that it was entered but not selected for the Annual Exhibition. The painting was recently cleaned and it’s in flawless condition. The original frame was lightly restored and complements the painting perfectly. A wonderful work by one of Brown County’s most sought after historic artists. Oil on Canvas Signed Lower Left
Fred Rigley Green Valley Green Valley This painting was featured in our weekly email on 11/18/16 along with the following gallery comments: Fred Rigley spent most of his adult life in Nashville, IN. By chance, that… He met Ada Shulz while studying at Ringling in Sarasota, where Adolph Shulz taught for many winters. He ferried a car back up north for the Shulz’ and the rest is history. He worked in both oil and watercolor and while he did paint along the East Coast, most of his subjects are from greater Brown County. Today’s painting, Green Valley, is a nicely representative piece. It appears to be along the Salt Creek which runs through the ‘Peaceful Valley’ which also contains the village of Nashville. A happy painting by one of the later Brown County impressionists. Oil on Board Signed Lower Right

Highly sought artists