BENSON BOND MOORE (Washington, DC/Florida, 1882-1974). A Branch Of The Anacostia River With Snow-Covered Banks In An Industrial Area In D.C., c. 1920, signed lower right, circa 1920. Oil on canvas
- Framed, 22 in. x 24 in. Estimate $15,000-25,000
Provenance: Dawson Gallery, Annapolis, MD
Note 1) This painting was executed by Moore c. 1920 in his more classic period of American Impressionist painting style and prior to beginning his shift c. 1925 to his mature form of more realistic, anthropomorphic Impressionist painting. It also is a beautiful winter snow scene, which is one of the Moore subjects that many of the Moore collectors favor, consistent with the historic tastes of collectors of American Impressionist painting, which still obtains today. The painting depicts a rare scene of the Anacostia River area of D.C., as opposed to the far more common views of Northwest D.C., such as Rock Creek and the Georgetown University areas. Moore does so in a fashion that features the cool, quiet of an overcast day in a snow-blanketed area, without emphasizing the possible bitter cold of a winter day, and a relatively rural aspect to this industrial area that started to emerge in the early 20th century. His subtle depiction of the eddying water and snow-covered rocky river banks on the river is a triumph of Impressionist painting technique. The painting is in excellent, unrestored condition and has Moore's original period gold frame. For these and other reasons, the presale estimate of $15,000-$25,000 is reasonable and appropriate.
To see Mr. Fastov's extended introductory essay that he solely prepared, without assistance/supervision from Sloans & Kenyon, specifically for this auction of a large collection of beautiful Impressionist landscapes by Benson Bond Moore (Washington, DC/Florida, 1882-1974) click here to view supplemental information for this lot. Such essay contains Moore's biographical information and an extensive analysis of why Moore is properly regarded as the second leading Washington, DC Impressionist landscape painter of the early 20th century. This is predicated initially on the fact that Moore and August Herman Olson Rolle (Washington, DC 1875-1941) were the 2 DC 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 Moore's classical American Impressionist style, up through c. 1925 and his post c. 1925 evolution into a truly unique form of Impressionism, not practiced by any other American artist, in which almost all of the Moore works being offered at auction by Sloans and Kenyon were painted. Mr. Fastov discusses both Moore's first and second phases Impressionism, focusing primarily on the characteristics of the second phase of Moore's oeuvre. This phase is characterized by Moore's painting in the thinnest layers of paint, with virtually no impasto; diluting his primary pigments with light colored paints, not the white paint favored by classical Impressionists; and his depiction of anthropomorphic trees, sometimes in truly spectacular fashion, in his landscapes, which was inspired by the prints of 16th century printmakers, like Albrecht Durer, which is readily understandable, as Moore was also an excellent, classically trained printmaker, and his prints also depict trees in this manner. Mr. Fastov discusses how Moore spent his life up to c. 1950, focusing almost exclusively on the Potomac River Valley, the Washington, DC area, but started painting all over the South, including Florida, to which he moved from DC to Sarasota, Florida. Finally, Mr. Fastov discusses the economic value of Moore's art .
