AUGUST HERMAN OLSON ROLLE (Minnesota/ Washington, D.C., 1875-1941). BACK BAY, OCEAN CITY, MD. signed and titled on verso. Oil on canvas
See Mr. Fastov's extended supplementary text here, which he had originally intended to be used solely as a prefatory essay for all of the Rolle works of art, that he prepared, without assistance/supervision/ editing/proofing from Sloans & Kenyon, specifically for this auction of a very large collection and smorgasbord of a wide variety of beautiful Impressionist landscapes by August Herman Olson Rolle (`Washington, D.C. 1875-1941). Such essay contains detailed Rolle biographical information and an extensive analysis of why Rolle is properly regarded as the leading Washington, DC Impressionist landscape painter of the early 20th century. This is predicated initially on the fact that Rolle and Benson Bond Moore were the only 2 D.C. Impressionist artists and 2 of only 12 Southern Impressionists selected by Professor William Gerdts, for inclusion in his very popular, scholarly, well-written, trailblazing book American Impressionism, published in 1984, which is still in print and selling well, and Rolle's unsurpassed Impressionist brushwork and freely imaginative coloring; diverse landscape subjects and compositions; his impeccable and highly sensitive depictions of the impact of light, shadow and weather of the 4 seasons on different kinds of water, land, buildings, trees, etc.; and other artistic components of his style, that he produced continuously throughout his life in the Impressionist style from c. 1905-1941 in the Potomac River Valley, the Washington, D.C. area and other locales. Mr. Fastov also discusses the high respect in which he was held by D.C. art community, as evidenced by his election and long time service as President of 2 of the 3 leading D.C. art organizations of the early 20th century, The Landscape Club of Washington, D.C. (1919-1932, except 1925) and the Washington Watercolor Club (1930-1937). Finally, Mr. Fastov discusses the economic value of Rolle's art. - Framed, 20 in. x 28 in. Estimate $30,000-50,000
CM EX#46 In original Rolle gilded frame
Provenance: Purchased directly from the artist's estate represented by Colonel August Goodyear (Rolle's son- in -law) in the 1970s.
Note 1) This is another Rolle version of this subject, a very similar, but more complex oil painting version of this subject, previously offered at this auction, which depicts shore buildings, a wharf and docked and moored boats in this cove on the back bay side of Ocean City, Maryland, and which has the same title as this watercolor. The oil painting was exhibited as # 46 in the exhibition of 108 of Rolle's works of art entitled "The Seascapes and Waterviews of August H. O. Rolle, 1875-1941" held at the Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons Island, Maryland on June 20-October 20, 1992
