George William Sotter

(American, 1879-1953)

Winter Nocturne, 1947

oil on Masonite

signed G. W. Sotter and dated (lower right)

22 x 26 in.

Housed in a giltwood Bernard Badura frame.

Provenance:

Private Collection, Colmar, Pennsylvania.

Private Collection, Pennsylvania.

Lot Note:

Originally from Pittsburgh, George Sotter lived and worked in Philadelphia and Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where he was a member of the New Hope art colony. An Impressionist through and through, Sotter nonetheless offered a distinct vision within the larger movement of Pennsylvania Impressionism. He particularly excelled at the genre of the nocturne, freezing in time the charm and quiet of slumbering rural hamlets.

In Winter Nocturne, the night sky contrasts with the bright snow cover on the ground. Though visually striking—and subtly echoed by the glimmering stars and candle-lit windows peppering the otherwise pitch-dark landscape—the dichotomy evokes calm and serenity. Nestled in its midst, a peaceful town finds itself doubly blanketed in soft snow and soothing darkness, while the trees and vegetation spring from the shimmering ground, only to morph into infinite darkness, further cocooning the houses.

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Adam Veil

VP, Head of Department, American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists

[email protected]267.414.1221

Adam Veil serves as Vice President and a Fine Art Specialist at Freeman’s.

Veil joined Freeman’s in 2021 following years of experience in both the auction world and the academy. His area of specialization is pre-WWII American Art, although he has lectured and published on topics ranging from Mexican landscape painting and Old Master printmaking to art market economics.

Veil earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in art history from Penn State University and pursued doctoral studies at Indiana University Bloomington. Prior to joining Freeman’s, Veil was Head of Fine Art at a Washington, D.C.-area auction house, and Executive Director of the Santa Fe Art Auction, where he oversaw market-setting auctions of classical and contemporary Western, Southwestern, and California art. He has also held positions in provenance research, art fair operations, and as editor and producer of The Conversation, a popular Los Angeles–based contemporary art podcast. Concurrent with his role at Freeman’s, Veil is a professor at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches courses in Renaissance, Modern, and American art history.

American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists

Winter Nocturne, 1947

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