Old Masters, European and American 19th and 20th Century Paintings Featured in Dallas Fine Art Auction

Portraits by Bernini and Vige-LeBrun, Allegory by Rubens
Plus Works from Walsh Family Art Trust

Dr. Edmund P. Pillsbury Organizes First Paintings Sale for Heritage Auction Galleries

DALLAS, TX: October 18, 2006 - A strikingly dignified portrait of a man by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, two intimate paintings by Thomas Eakins, and Maxfield Parrish murals from a home of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney are among the highlights of the Heritage Auction Galleries' Important Fine Art auction, which will be held in Dallas, Texas on November 9.

A preview of selected works of art from the evening auction will be held in New York City from November 1 through 4 at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion (Ukranian Institute of America), 2 East 79th Street.

The auction was organized by Dr. Edmund P. Pillsbury, former director of the Kimbell Art Museum, in Ft. Worth, Texas, and, since January 2006, Chairman and Managing Director of Heritage's Fine and Decorative Art Department.

The auction is strong in Old Master European paintings and includes a recently reattributed work by Jacopo Bassano, The Journey (Jacob's Rest). The exemplary pastoral landscape is punctuated by the vibrant colors and vital brushwork characteristic of the Venetian master (lot 24047, estimate $300,000/$400,000).

A remarkable 17th century portrait of an unknown sitter by Gian Lorenzo Bernini captures an emotional immediacy rarely found in Roman Baroque portraiture. Professor Claudio Strinati, Superintendent of Fine Arts in Rome, suggests that the subject may be Pietro da Cortona, an artist favored by the aristocratic Barberini family in the early 1630s (lot 24049, estimate $400,000/$600,000).

Sir Peter Paul Rubens's painterly oil sketch, Allegory of the Spanish Monarchy as Fortitude, presents a female figure hoisting two marble pillars. Long recognized as Fortitude (the sketch is a preliminary model for a set of tapestries, Triumph of the Eucharist), elements of the painting strongly suggest an allegory of the Spanish Monarchy. The monarchy claimed direct descent from Hercules, who is suggested in the lion skin worn by the robust, bare-breasted woman and by the marble pillars, a reference to the Columns of Hercules that are part of the Spanish Royal Family's coat of arms (lot 24051, estimate $600,000/$800,000).

Both the European and American segments of the auction contain property from the Walsh Family Art Trust. The late William Flemming and his son-in-law F. Howard Walsh were among the visionary oilmen of Texas's exploration period, from the 1930s through the 1950s, and collected fine art with such Fort Worth contemporaries as Kay Kimbell, Amon Carter, and Sid Richardson. Among the paintings from the Walsh Art Trust is a work by the foremost female artist of the 18th and 19th centuries, Elisabeth Louise Vigee-LeBrun (lot 24064, Portrait of Madame de Moreton, La Comtesse Moreton de Chabrillan, estimate $150,000/$200,000).

Among the American paintings from the Walsh Family Art Trust are three works by Thomas Moran. The Devil's Tower, Green River, Wyoming (lot 24014, estimate $250,000/ $350,000) is suffused with a yellow-pink light and presents a winding Green River heading towards the dramatic monolith, which was America's first national monument.

Among the gems in the auction is Thomas Eakins's profoundly tender oil sketch, Nude Study, which depicts his future wife, Susan Macdowell (lot 24019, estimate $100,000/ $200,000). Shown seated with her legs stretched in front of her, the pale figure occupies the center of the frame against a subdued background of ochres and umbers.

Prominent among the 20th century works is Milton Avery's Newark Meadows, a charged urban landscape plastered with signs, words, and logos in a discordant composition. The painting's surface noise anticipated the environmental destruction of the New Jersey Meadowlands (lot 24039, estimate $300,000/$400,000).

Four Maxfield Parrish murals from the Old Westbury summer residence of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney will be offered in two lots: numbers 24043 and 24044, estimate

$2 million/$3 million each. Measuring over five by six feet, the works present idyllic interactions of young men and women in Renaissance dress. In the murals, Parrish - with Whitney's blessing - was free to use warm, rich tones that are missing in many of the artist's other works, notably his well-known lithographs.

The evening auction of 86 lots is one of three sessions in a two-day sale estimated to bring $16.6 to $26.0 million. Heritage will offer Illustration Art on Thursday, November 9, at 2:00 PM and more American and European paintings on Friday, November 10, at 10:00 AM.

Commenting on his role as auction specialist, Dr. Pillsbury said, "This first Heritage Fine Art sale held under my direction has given me the opportunity to bring a new standard of scholarship to auction cataloging. Auction houses can be to the art market what museums are to scholarship, and I am gratified to work with the many consignors and with the Heritage Auction Galleries staff, for their assistance in presenting and bringing together so much revealing information about the properties we are handling."

Dr. Pillsbury served as director of Yale University's Center for British Art before moving to Texas as Fort Worth's director of Kimbell Art Museum, which he brought to international prominence during his 17 years at the museum. He was also director of the Meadows Museum of Southern Methodist University in Dallas and has been an advisor to collector and casino entrepreneur Steve Wynn and a partner with Santa Fe art dealer Gerald Peters.

Heritage Auction Galleries was founded in 1976 and by the 1990s had become one of the largest sources for coins and currency collectors. In 2001, it expanded its offerings to include collectibles and pop culture memorabilia and, in 2004, held its first fine art auction. For more information, visit www.HeritageAuctions.com.

Highlights:

GIAN LORENZO BERNINI (Italian 1598 - 1680)
Portrait of a Man, possibly Pietro da Cortona, circa 1625 - 30
Oil on canvas
13-3/4 x 15-2/5in.
Estimate: $400,000 - $600,000

SIR PETER PAUL RUBENS (Flemish 1577 - 1640)
Allegory of the Spanish Monarchy as Fortitude
Oil on panel
25-_ x 17-3/8in.
Estimate: $600,000 - $800,000

ELISABETH LOUISE VIGE-LEBRUN (French 1755 - 1842)
Portrait of Madame de Moreton, La Comtesse Moreton de Chabrillan
Signed E. L. LeBrun and dated 1782 at lower right
Oil on canvas
27 x 20 inches (oval)
Estimate: $150,000 - $200,000

THOMAS MORAN (American 1837 - 1926)
Devil's Tower, Green River, Wyoming, 1919
Oil on canvas
20 x 16in.
Signed and dated at lower right, TMoran 1919. [TM in monogram]
Estimate: $250,000 - $350,000

MAXFIELD PARRISH (American 1870 - 1966)
The Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Murals, four murals offered in two lots,
East Wall Reception Room A and East Wall Reception Room B, 1914
Oil on canvas
63-3/4 x 74-1/4 inches (each)
Signed
Estimate: $2,000,000 - $4,000,000

Auction:

Important Fine Art Auction, II: Old Master and Modern Art
November 9, 2006, 6:00 PM
Heritage Auction Galleries, 3500 Maple Ave., 17th Floor, Dallas, Texas

Previews:

New York:

Tuesday, November 1 through Friday, November 3, 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Saturday, November 4, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion (Ukranian Institute of America), 2 East 79th Street

Dallas:

Monday, November 6 through Wednesday, November 8, 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Heritage Auction Galleries, 3500 Maple Avenue, 10th Floor Auction Room