For Immediate ReleaseNovember 20, 2009

Contact: Erin McAndrew 212.636.2680 emcandrew@christies.com

THREE GENERATIONS OF WYETHS HIGHLIGHTCHRISTIE’S AMERICAN ART SALE ON DECEMBER 2

The Wyeths, Albert Bierstadt, John Singer Sargent, Charles Prendergast, Walter Ufer and Milton Avery Lead A Strong Line-Up of Exceptional Works

Important American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture

December 2, 2009

New York – Prominent private and institutional collections are the source for a stellar line-up of

works to be offered at Christie’s sale of Important American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture on

December 2, 2009 in New York. Lead highlights of the sale include a significant and deeply

personal work by the late Andrew Wyeth that has not been available on the market in nearly 50

years, and a celebrated series of paintings by family patriarch Newell Convers (N.C.) Wyeth that has

never before been offered at auction. In all, over 135 exceptional works by the leading American

masters of the 19th and 20th century will be offered, with expected totals in excess of $30 million.

Above the Narrows by Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009)

Leading the sale is Above the Narrows (pictured, page one), an exceptional work by Andrew Wyeth, the

celebrated master of American Realism. Executed with the precise detail and refined surface that is

the hallmark of Wyeth’s greatest works, the painting depicts the artist’s then-teenaged son Nicky as a

lone figure standing on the bluff at Bradford’s Point, overlooking the St. George River in Maine.

Imbued with stillness and Wyeth’s characteristic atmosphere of mystery, the scene cleverly

juxtaposes the rugged permanence of the Maine landscape with the ephemeral beauty of youth. The

painting stands as one of Wyeth’s most profound and personal meditations on the passage of time, a

recurring theme in his body of work

Completed in 1960, Above the Narrows was acquired the following year by Jack J. Dreyfus, Jr. the late

founder of the Wall Street firm Dreyfus & Co. Offered to the market for the first time in nearly 50

years, the painting is estimated at $3-5 million. In recent years, Christie’s has achieved exceptional

prices for works by Andrew Wyeth, including the world auction record price of $10.3 million for

Ericksons, 1973, sold in May 2007.

The Robinson Crusoe Series by N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945)

Among the great American illustrators, N.C. Wyeth is perhaps best known for his brilliance in

illustrating many beloved adventure novels, including Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and The Last of the

Mohicans, among others. At the upcoming sale, Christie’s will present for the first time ever at

auction the iconic series of images used to illustrate Daniel Defoe’s classic novel Robinson Crusoe.

This extraordinary suite of full-size oil paintings will be sold to benefit the Wilmington Institute

Library in Wilmington, DE, which has owned and displayed the works since the 1920’s (see separate

release).

The fourteen paintings each depict a pivotal scene from the novel, from Crusoe adrift at sea on his

raft (For a mile, or thereabouts, my raft went very well-, estimate $300,000-500,000) to his landing on the

seemingly deserted island (Making it a great cross, I set it up on the shore where I first landed, estimate:

$250,000-350,000), to the dramatic moment when Crusoe discovers the human footprint in the sand

that signals he is not alone (I stood like one thunderstruck, or as if I had seen an apparition, estimate:

$300,000-500,000).

Rounding out the offerings of Wyeth works in the sale is a 1982 work on paper by Jamie Wyeth (b.

1946), the grandson of N.C. Wyeth and son of Andrew Wyeth. A Couple of Chairs Sitting Around the

Coast of Maine depicts the abandoned yard of a summer beach house on a blustery, cloudy day

(estimate: $120,000-180,000).

Rare Works from Prominent Collections

Fresh-to-market works with exceptional provenance continue to drive strong prices in the art

market, and the upcoming sale presents collectors with a number of exciting examples of this kind.

From the estate of the late American businessman Oscar G. Mayer, grandson of the founder of

Oscar Mayer Foods, comes a masterful work by Walter Ufer (1876-1936), a leading member of the

Taos Society of Artists. Entitled A Pueblo Well Scene (pictured below; estimate: $1.5-2.5 million), the

painting was commissioned by Oscar F. Mayer, who was an early supporter of Ufer’s talents.

Inspired by the regionalist movement in art in the early 20th

century, the elder Mayer joined with other prominent Chicago

businessmen in 1914 to send Ufer and other burgeoning artists to

the Southwest, with the goal of developing a distinctly American

style of painting. With its saturated colors and closely-cropped,

pared-down composition, Ufer’s A Pueblo Well Scene is a strikingly

modern depiction of three Taos Indians engaged in their daily

chores. Never before offered at auction, the painting was handed

down from Mayer to his son, who kept the painting within the

family’s private collection.

Exceedingly rare, Three-Panel Screen by the renowned frame-maker and painter Charles Prendergast

(1863-1948) is likely the first of only three screens that the artist created during his prolific career

(estimate: $1-1.5 million). Painted circa 1916-17, the panels are a virtual playground for the eyes, with

a rich, imagined landscape of sky, land, and water populated with figures, trees and animals. The

reverse of each screen is decorated by a trio of stylized angels, and gold leaf and delicate punchwork

enlivens the surface throughout. The screen has descended in the family of Duncan and Marjorie

Phillips, founders of the esteemed Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.

A luminous portrait by John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), Mademoiselle

Suzanne Poirson, (pictured right; estimate: $700,000-1 million) comes

from the Estate of Thomas J. Carroll, a prominent American

collector. Painted in 1884, in the period following the scandalous

debut of his infamous Portrait of Madame X, Sargent was faced with a

dearth of lucrative portrait commissions. In lieu of paying rent for his

studio, it is believed that Sargent painted this elegant portrait of his

landlord’s daughter Suzanne, portraying her in a classic three-quarter

pose and with a dark coat and bright red bow. A second portrait

Sargent painted of the girl’s mother, Seymourina Poirson, is in the

permanent collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Highlighting the Western Art section of the sale is Albert Bierstadt’s Mountainous Landscape by

Moonlight from 1871, a dramatic, naturalistic night-time scene lit by a combination of reflected moon

light and a lone camp fire (estimate: $1.2-1.8 million). Among the artists who made expeditions

throughout the American West, Bierstadt (1830-1902) excelled with his profound ability to convey

the grandeur of this wondrous region to the American public. Widely exhibited in museums around

the U.S., this superb painting is consigned to sale from the Corcoran Gallery of Art to benefit the

museum’s Acquisitions Fund.

Among the many excellent examples of American Modernism in the sale is Milton Avery’s Hills by

the Sea (estimate: $400,000-600,000). Painted in 1960, the work exemplifies Avery’s unique ability to

simplify a scene to its broadest possible forms while retaining tension and balance through color and

shape. Exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and at the Whitney Museum of American

Art, the painting comes fresh to the market from an important private New York collection, where

it has remained since 1975. Additional works from this exceptional collection include Avery’s Orange

Hat, a gouache and pencil on paper from 1944 (estimate: $150,000-250,000); Stuart Davis’s Study for

“Men Without Women” (estimate: $70,000-100,000) and Still (estimate: $40,000-60,000); and Ralston

Crawford’s Wharf Objects at Santa Barbara #2 (estimate: $30,000-50,000) and Net (estimate: $30,000-

50,000).

Auction: Important American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture December 2

Viewing: Christie’s, 20 Rockefeller Plaza November 28–December 1

About Christie’s Christie’s, the world's leading art business, had global auction and private sales in 2008 that totalled £2.8 billion/$5.1 billion. For the first half of 2009, art sales totalled £1.2 billion/$1.8 billion. Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and expertise, as well as international glamour. Founded in 1766 by James Christie, Christie's conducted the greatest auctions of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and today remains a popular showcase for the unique and the beautiful. Christie’s offers over 450 sales annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewellery, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $80 million. Christie’s has 53 offices in 30 countries and 10 salerooms around the world including London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Dubai and Hong Kong. More recently, Christie’s has led the market with expanded initiatives in emerging and new markets such as Russia, China, India and the Middle East, with successful sales and exhibitions in Beijing, Mumbai and Dubai.

*Estimates do not include buyer's premium

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Images available on request

A complete e-catalogue for the sale is available at

http://www.christies.com/eCatalogues/index.aspx?saleid=22173&CID=5447002225b