1. Ben Turner. “Village Among Cottonwoods,” c. 1950. Oil on linen canvas, 20 1/4 x 30." Frame: 29 x 39." This painting is a superb example of the animated quality that characterizes much of Ben Turner’s artwork. Glistening fall foliage throws into high contrast the massive, ancient and highly textured cottonwood trees that dominate the canvas. Glimpses of a village and distant hills are perhaps indicative that the scene is in Tesuque, a village Turner had painted on other occasions. Two tiny figures emphasize the grandeur of the cottonwood trees that are rendered with an immediacy reminiscent of works by Van Gogh. The intensity and vigor with which Turner approached his subject likely carried from his experiences drawing battle scenes in World War II.

Price: $15,000. [ More Info ]

2. Paul Wescott. “Sloops near Hall Island,” n.d. (1960s). Oil on linen canvas, 10 1/8 x 18 1/8." Frame: 13 5/8 x 21 5/8." Sloops near Hall Island is a superb example of Wescott’s ability to create a pervasive mood that extends well beyond the picture frame. Paul Wescott’s paintings are held in a number of important permanent collections including the William A. Farnsworth Library and Art Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Butler Institute of American Art, the University of Delaware, and the Delaware Art Museum.

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3. Theo White’s Remarkable Lithograph of the Desert Virga Phenomenon

Theo Ballou White. “Desert Rain,” c. 1934. Lithograph. Image: 7 7/8 x 11 5/8." Sheet: 12 1/2 x 17 5/8." In Desert Rain, White reduces mountains and clouds nearly to silhouetted cutouts. Virga showers hang from the dark thunderheads like curtains of gossamer, approximating the effect of falling rain that dissipates in mid-air long before it reaches the ground. According to Native American tradition, this is the “female” rain, which cannot replenish the earth. In hot and dry climates, rain changes from liquid to vapor and in the process removes heat from the air. The resulting small pockets of cold air descend rapidly, creating mircobursts and streamers of trailing precipitation. White’s image captures the phenomenon through skillful brevity and sensitive combinations of subtle textures.

Price: $6,500. [ More Info ]

4. A Scarce and Bold Depiction of the Sacred Taos Mountain

Theo Ballou White. “Taos Mountain,” c. 1934. Lithograph printed on wove paper from Holland. Image: 8 1/2 x 12 1/2." Sheet: 12 3/4 x 19 1/2." In Taos Mountain, White reduces the famous profile of the mountain to alternating silhouettes of black and white, surmounted by whimsically shaded snow-capped peaks. The forms fairly dance on the paper, transforming the image into a visual equivalent of the living presence for which the mountain is legendary.

Price: $7,500. [ More Info ]

5. Frémont’s Large Map of the West

John Charles Frémont / Charles Preuss. “Map of Oregon and Upper California from the Surveys of John Charles Frémont and Other Authorities. Drawn by Charles Preuss under the Order of the Senate of the United States 1848” (Baltimore: E. Weber & Co., Printers, 1848). Published in Geographical Memoir Upon Upper California in Illustration of his Map of Oregon and California, by John Charles Frémont: Addressed to the Senate of the United States (Washington: Wendell and Van Benthuysen, Printers, 1848). Lithograph with original green outline hand color showing boundaries for Oregon and Upper California. 32 3/4 x 26 3/8" at neat line. Sheet: 35 1/2 x 29 1/2." The maps that Fremont produced from his pioneering explorations of the American West provided a picture for the nation of vast territories lately acquired, and yet to be fully conquered. His 1848 map is the last of four major cartographic works documenting the recent U.S. western expeditions and covers all territories from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Carl Wheat calls this seminal map the “mother map of the West.”

Price: $6,500. [ More Info ]

6. Gerardus Mercator / Jodicus Hondius. “Hispaniae Novae Nova Descriptio” (Amsterdam: 1623 [1606]). Published in Atlas sive Cosmographicae, also known as the Mercator-Hondius atlas. Latin text edition. Copperplate engraving with exquisite original hand color and gold leaf highlights. 13 3/4 x 19" at neat line. Sheet: 19 1/4 x 23 1/4." Three highly decorative cartouches. Verso: description of New Spain, pp. 365–366. Mercator’s map of New Spain was drawn from the seminal map of Ortelius. The Ortelius map first appeared in the 1579 Latin edition of his atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, often referred to as “the first modern atlas.” The sources for the original map were not indicated and remain to this day a subject of debate among scholars. Nevertheless, Ortelius’s map remained the most authoritative model of New Spain for decades through the highly influential Mercator—Hondius editions, which were issued until 1634. In this 1623 edition of the map, the information overall remains true to the Ortelius model. Decorative embellishments have been added, including a sea monster and ship in the “Mexican Sea,” as well as a cartouche with distance scales. The luxurious and beautifully colored title cartouche makes this an extraordinary edition.

Price: $3,500. [ More Info ]

7. Petrus [Pieter/Petrum] Schenk & Gerhard [Gerardus/Gerardum] Valk, after Johannes Janssonius [Jansson]. “Belgii Novi, Angliae Novae et partis Virginiae,” third state (Amsterdam: c. 1694 [1651]), Latin text edition. Double-page copperplate engraving with superb original handcolor. 17 1/4 x 20 3/8" at neat line. Sheet: 20 1/8 x 24 1/8." Jansson”s landmark regional map was created through the compilation of significant maps issued from a number of countries involved in American settlement. Sources included Adriaen Block, Dutch merchant and explorer; Joannes De Laet, Flemish geographer and director of the Dutch West India Company; John Smith, Admiral of New England; Samuel de Champlain, French explorer. The map shows New England, New France, New Belgium, New Amsterdam, and part of Virginia. Highly valued as a detailed record of seventeenth-century colonies in America, this map is also an important document of the Native American villages that remained at the time.

Price: $10,000. [ More Info ]

8. A Beautiful Map of the Americas with California as an Island

Petrus [Pieter/Petrum] Schenk. “America Septentrionalis Novissima / America Meridionalis accuratissima” (Amsterdam: 1695). Copperplate engraving with beautiful handcolor. 18 3/4 x 22 1/8" at neat line. Folio sheet: 20 x 24." Petrus Schenk’s map of the Americas is based primarily on the Hondius and Jansson map of 1636, which widely disseminated the idea of California as an island. The earlier map presents California according to the cartography of Henry Briggs, with a flat northern coast. The Schenk map displays California with a crescent shaped northern coast, a form that appears as early as 1640 and was perpetuated mainly in French maps.

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9. Carl von Hassler. “Aspens on the Sangre de Cristos,” c. 1930s. Oil on canvas board. Signed at l.l. 23 x 27 1/2." Period frame: 30 x 34 1/2." A lovely autumn scene of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains by the “Dean of the Albuquerque Art Colony,” this superb painting features glowing autumn foliage contrasted with a brooding sky. Von Hassler spent more than 20 years developing a new painting technique that caused a stir among his colleagues. He discovered what he called an “atomic substance” upon which he painted and which could withstand great heat. This was important, as he baked the paintings at up to 600 degrees—a process that imparted a ceramic quality to his colors and prevented them from fading. The technique is evident in the work offered here and accounts for the painting’s softly glowing, enamel-like quality.

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10. An Outstanding Tableau by Karl Bodmer in Chine Collé, with Superb Hand Color

Karl Bodmer, “Herds of Bisons and Elks on the upper Missouri,” Tableau 47 from Travels Into the Interior of North America (London: Ackermann & Co., 1843). Aquatint and etching on Chine collé with Imperial vellum paper and superb hand color. Image: 10 1/4 x 12 3/4." Chine: 13 3/4 x 16 1/2." Vellum: 18 x 21 1/4." From 1832 to 1834 Swiss artist Karl Bodmer accompanied the Prussian naturalist Alexander Philipp Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied, to America as illustrator on an expedition to the upper Missouri River country. The expedition was an unprecedented scientific endeavor to record in detail the landscape, natural history, and aboriginal life of the American wilderness frontier. Maximilian engaged Bodmer to provide a visual record of his investigations, which were principally focused upon the Plains Indians. The artistic product of the two-year adventure far outlasted its anthropological purpose however. Going beyond the precedent set by Thomas McKenney and George Catlin, Bodmer painted the people and places of frontier America with sensitivity to individual character and an accuracy of ethnographic detail that is considered unsurpassed.

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11. [After Peter Rindisbacher]. “Hunting the Buffaloe” from History of the Indian Tribes by Mckenney and Hall (Philadelphia: E.C. Biddle, 1837). Lithograph with original hand color after the painting by Peter Rindisbacher. Image: 9 X 15 3/8." Frame: 18 1/2 x 23 1/2." Rindisbacher worked as an artist on the western frontier well before George Catlin, Alfred Jacob Miller and Karl Bodmer. The buffalo hunt was a popular theme and Rindisbacher made several versions. Reportedly, Governor Bulger of Manitoba at one time organized a buffalo hunting party for Rindisbacher to depict.

Price: $4,500. [ More Info ]

12. Datus Meyers. “Deer Dance,” 1930s. Gouache on fabric, 13 1/4 x 18 1/4." Frame size: 23 x 27." In Deer Dance the influence of native artists such as Pablita Velarde is marked. Meyers portrays this ritual event simply and accurately, revealing a sensitive understanding of its nature.

Price: $7,500. [ More Info ]

13. Datus Meyers. “Burros,” 1932. Gouache on fabric, 11 1/2 x 17." Frame size: 21 x 27 1/2." In the painting Burros, Myers transforms these influences with a more modern formalism, reminiscent of the cubists.

Price: $6,500. [ More Info ]

14. John [Jack] Clark Okey. “Lake with Surrounding Mountains,” n.d. (c.1915). Oil on canvas, 18 1/8 x 30 3/8." Frame: 24 x 35 1/2." The landscape is evocative of the austere environment of interior southern California, and may depict the Salton Sea. His assured brushwork renders the scene with thinly painted textures in the rocks and water, while the sky is heavily painted with sweeping strokes.

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15. Bernard Corey. “Sailing Off Rockport,” n.d. (early 1960s). Oil on canvas mounted to panel, 10 x 14 1/8." Frame: 18 1/2 x 22 5/8." The present painting is a superb example of Corey’s ability to capture the essence of a landscape with dynamic brushwork. The rocky coast is boldly rendered, imbuing the scene with a sense of the incessant movement of the tides and waves. Distant sailboats are implied with wispy brushwork akin to the clouds, just as all elements in this seascape participate in a continual flux.

Price: $5,800. [ More Info ]

16. Bernard Corey. “Rockport,” n.d. [early 1960s]. Oil on canvas mounted to board, 8 1/2 x 14." Frame: 12 1/4 x 17 3/4." Here we see Rockport on a crystalline, windswept day. Through the high-key color of the inlet, one perceives a sunlit clarity. The rhythmic brushwork pervades the wispy clouds and rocky coast, so that one senses the direction of the wind. In contrast, the density of brushwork in the foreground foliage gives a sense of calm and solid ground.

Price: $6,500. [ More Info ]

17. An Important Map from the American Revolution.

Antoine de Sartine. “Carte Réduite des Côtes Orientales de l’Amérique Septentrionale Contenant Partie de Nouveau Jersey, la Pen-sylvanie, le Mary-land, la Virginie, la Caroline Septentrionale, la Caroline Méridionale et la Georgie.” (France: Depot General de la Marine, 1778). Engraving by Petit with beautiful hand color. 23 x 34" at neat line. Sheet: 24 1/2 x 35 1/4" with full margins. This highly detailed map of the east coast of North America was created by order of Antoine de Sartine, Secretary of State for the French navy, and published in the same year that France joined America in its war with the British.

Price: $5,500. [ More Info ]

18. Edward Wells. “A New Map of the Terraqueous Globe according to the latest Discoveries and most general Divisions of it into Continents and Oceans.” Published in A New Sett of Maps both of Antient and Present Geography (Oxford: Edward Wells, 1700–30). Copper engraving with original outline hand color and attractive later hand color. 14 3/8 x 19 7/8" to neat line. Frame: 24 1/2 x 29 3/4."

Price: $1,800. [ More Info ]