The
following description has been prepared entirely by the current owner, Roberts
S. Fastov, Esq., and, at the collector’s request, has not been edited by Sloans
& Kenyon
Note 1) It does not appear that
Joseph Decker worked in pastels. No pastels by Decker have shown up at auction
or are in a museum collection, of which, Mr. Fastov is aware, although the
crispness and sharp, but sensitive delineation and portrayal of the squirrels
is very close to being the equal of Decker; and there is the outside
possibility that this pastel could have been an early Decker experiment or a
study for an early oil painting. Thus, this picture is catalogued as
"Follower of Joseph Decker," and this is reflected in the presale
estimate of $2,000-$3,000 for this pastel of squirrels munching away, while
their reddish-orange breasted avian friend and bystander looks on. The
following biographical materials are taken from the Askart.com website regarding
Joseph Decker:
" One of the most interesting
artists this country has ever produced, Joseph Decker lived on the periphery of
the Brooklyn art world in the 1880's and 1890's as a still life painter. He was
born the son of a carpenter in Wurttemburg, Germany. In 1867, he traveled to
the United States where he first took up residency in Reading, Pennsylvania. He
soon settled permanently in Brooklyn.
He studied art at night at the National Academy of Design, and in 1877 began
showing paintings at the annual Brooklyn Art Association show. During the day
he was an apprentice to a house painter and also worked as a sign painter. In
1879, Decker returned to Germany where he studied at the Munich Academy,
studying under history painter Wilhelm Lingerschmidt. There he was introduced
to the fluid, dark-toned, bravura style that represented the school. When he
returned to the United States a year later, he proceeded to paint still lifes
with the same bold, vibrate colors as he did before he left.
His work is often said as falling into of two different periods or categories,
the Hard and the Soft. Hard early and the Soft later, Concurrent with the
arrival of Impressionism in this country he was a product of his time, as he
adapted to the changing market circumstances. Decker's early works, mostly
still life and some genre, have an unsettling detachment of viewpoint, as a
close focus and a dramatically cropped composition that was similar to the
twentieth-century photography of Alfred Stieglitz and others. The flatness of
the picture plane and the boldness of Decker's colors bothered the art critics
of his time but appeal to the modern eye.
Decker's later work was much influenced by impressionism: his landscapes
followed the style of George Inness, and his still lifes adopted a balanced,
classical composition.
While the rarest of his works are the "Hard" scenes of hanging
apples, his images of squirrels gathering nuts are considered no less
desirable. According to family lore the artist had a pet squirrel in the last
decade of the 19th century named Bonnie, whom the artist fed chocolate covered
almonds. Bonnie was the subject for many of his finest works, including the
famous one in the collection of the Terra Museum in Evanston, Illinois. Judging
by the date and subject matter, "Squirrel with Nuts, 1899", is
perhaps the final example from this series. As such it might well be regarded
as punctuation mark of sorts symbolizing the end of an era.
Source:
Alexander Boyle, who was featured on the television show "America's First
River, Bill Moyers on the Hudson. Boyle worked with the Metropolitan Museum of
Art as the Assistant Director of a film, "American Paradise, the World of
the Hudson River School" and from 1988 to 2001 was Vice-President of Godel
& Co. Fine Art in New York where he bought, sold and wrote about the
artists of the Hudson River School, American marine painting, and American
Impressionism (Emphasis added)."
Note 2) Whoever executed this pastel
was a very talented artist, whose name may be disclosed by further research, as
more detailed data than we possess today may help someone to solve this
mystery. Mr. Fastov has tried very hard to solve this riddle over the years,
but has not succeeded, and leaves it to the purchaser of this pastel to pursue
the inquiry, while having the visual enjoyment of looking at this very fine and
cute pastel at his or her residence or office. It is a very high quality pastel
in excellent condition with no restoration. The presale estimate of
$2,000-$3,000 in this case is most certainly not excessive, given all of the
foregoing observations. See auction records (below) for the highest price paid
for a Decker painting, $759,000 for “The Red Admiral” on 7/30/1989 and some
Decker squirrel paintings to see what a visual bargain one would obtain by
buying this squirrel pastel by an unknown artist at this auction, who, at a
minimum, clearly appears to have been influenced by Decker or some other
artist's work. This pastel is the equivalent in artistic skill and generating
artistic pleasure for the viewer, to that manifested by Decker in the
“squirrel” paintings below.
Title/Subject: The Red Admiral
Signed. Oil on canvas. 8 in. x 14 in. sold for $759,000 on 11/30/1989 at Sotheby’s, NY
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Title/Subject: A Great Feast
Signed. Oil on canvas. 10 in. x 20 in. did not sell on 12/01/2004 at Sotheby’s, NY, but had
presale estimate of $500,000-$700,000
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