GEORGE SOTTER (american 1879-1953) ‘THE NEIGHBORS’ Signed 'G.W. Sotter' bottom right; also with 'George W. Sotter Studios' stretcher label, oil on canvas 26 x 32 in. (66 x 81.3cm)
$50,000-80,000 (£31,250-50,000)
jockey up or with a groom, to name but two common themes of the period, the horses’ identities and importance are both inseparable from, and justified by, the existence of sportsmen in full racing/hunting regalia. In 19th-century Britain, and to a lesser extent parts of the Continent, the worth of an animal is directly tied to its owner, with the latter viewing the former almost strictly as an instrument providing commerce and social standing. Rungius, along with many wildlife painters he would later influence, very rarely included humans in his paintings, for to do so would be wholly antithetical to his idyllic depictions, unspoiled by humans and their encroachment on nature. Freeman’s December 2 Fine American and European Painting & Sculpture sale, will offer a Rungius painting depicting a stately grizzly bear. Immortalized on canvas, this impressive creature joins his many other works of moose, big horn sheep, caribou, mountain goats, pack horses, and antelope, all capturing the spirit and beauty of magnificent animals in the precious natural and threatened world they inhabit.
SPECIALISTS Alasdair Nichol tel: +1 267.414.1211 anichol@freemansauction.com
David Weiss tel: +1 267.414.1214 dweiss@freemansauction.com
GEORGE SOTTER (american 1879-1953) ‘BROOK IN WINTER’ Signed 'G.W. Sotter' bottom right, oil on canvas 32 x 36 in. (81.3 x 91.4cm)
$50,000-80,000 (£31,250-50,000)
Nick Curnow Charlotte Riordan tel: +44 (0)131 557 8844 tel: +44 (0)131 557 8844 nick.curnow@lyonandturnbull.com charlotte.riordan@lyonandturnbull.com
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