Record Prices and Robust Bidding Define Freeman’s $4.6M December American Art Sale

Freeman’s American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists auction, held December 7 in Philadelphia, realized an outstanding $4,590,770, propelled by record results across categories including Pennsylvania Impressionism, Western art, and traditional American painting. The sale achieved an impressive 115% sell-through rate by value, with 86% of lots sold and 17% of buyers new to Freeman’s, underscoring the firm’s continued leadership in the American art market.

 

 

Lot 118 | Morgan Colt, The Canal Boat, c. 1915-25 | Sold for $216,400

World Auction Record for the Artist

 

Adam Veil, VP and Head of Department, American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists indicated, “Once again, Freeman's is delighted to achieve such exceptional results for our clients and, in doing so, reaffirm our footing across a broad cross-section of traditional American art.”

 

Lot 10 | Alexander Phimister Proctor, Pursuit of the King of the Herd, conceived 1914, cast c. 1917 | Sold for $254,500

 

Mastery of the American West: A Standout Result for Alexander Phimister Proctor

The auction was led by Alexander Phimister Proctor’s dynamic bronze Pursuit of the King of the Herd (Lot 10), which achieved $254,500, marking the third-highest price at auction for the artist and the second-highest for a non-monumental bronze. Proctor collaborated closely with Nez Perce rider Jackson Sundown, nephew of Chief Joseph, to perfect the composition’s anatomical accuracy and sense of motion. The final work captures the tension and athleticism of a buffalo hunt—its rider leaning forward at full tilt as the charging bison anchors the sculpture’s dramatic momentum.

 

LEFT TO RIGHT: Lot 128 | Edward Willis Redfield, Homestead | Sold for $229,100

Lot 125 | Edward Willis Redfield, Centre Bridge | Sold for $229,100

 

Pennsylvania Impressionists Excel

Freeman’s reaffirmed its longstanding leadership in the field of Pennsylvania Impressionism, delivering exceptional results across the category. The sale set a new world auction record for Morgan Colt with The Canal Boat (Lot 118), which realized $216,400, more than tripling its low estimate. The largest known oil by Colt—and among his most ambitious compositions—the painting offers a cinematic view of the Delaware River rendered in shimmering brushwork and luminous reflected light. Painted in the studio due to the artist’s chronic heart condition, the workstands as a rare and important example of Colt’s Pennsylvania landscapes. This marks the third time Freeman’s has set (and then reset) the auction record for Colt, and the firm now holds the top three results for the artist.

 

Works by Edward Willis Redfield, leader of the New Hope School, also saw strong demand. Freeman’s sold all five Redfield paintings offered, led by Centre Bridge (Lot 125) and Homestead (Lot 128), each achieving $229,100 and more than doubling pre-sale estimates. Redfield’s celebrated winter scenes—painted en plein air in single, marathon sessions with canvases strapped to trees—remain among the most sought-after works in the Pennsylvania Impressionist canon.

 

Lot 13 | Edward Troye, A Bazaar in Damascus | Sold for $254,500

 

Edward Troye: A Rare Foray into Orientalism

Another exceptional highlight was Edward Troye’s A Bazaar in Damascus, 1856 (Lot 13), which soared to $254,500 against an estimate of $12,000–18,000—Troye’s second-highest auction result and his highest in more than two decades. Best known as the foremost American painter of thoroughbred horses, Troye produced this rare Orientalist composition during his 1855–56 travels in the Middle East with Kentucky horseman Alexander Keene Richards. While searching for Arabian horses, Troye created a small but significant body of landscapes and cultural scenes, including this evocative depiction of a Damascus marketplace before the entrance to the Great Mosque, anchored by an Albanian officer on a white mare, “Lulie.” Offered by Bethany College, the painting—along with works by Charles Courtney Curran (Lot 38, sold for $114,800) and Edmund Henry Osthaus (Lot 61, sold for $38,400)—exceeded expectations and will support the institution’s educational mission.

 

LEFT TO RIGHT: Lot 89 | Milton Avery, Oxcart | Sold for $203,700

Lot 45 | Rockwell Kent, Home Again-Asgaard, 1942-43 | Sold for $165,600

 

Additional Auction Highlights

• Lot 89 | Milton Avery, Oxcart | Sold for $203,700

• Lot 45 | Rockwell Kent, Home Again–Asgaard, 1942-43 | Sold for $165,600

• Lot 36 | Grigory Gluckmann, Debut | Sold for $152,900

• Lot 134 | Edward Willis Redfield, Frosty Morning, 1933 | Sold for $114,800

• Lot 47 | Albert York, Girl in Rowboat | Sold for $102,100

• Lot 124 | Daniel Garber, Frog Hollow, 1918 | Sold for $89,400

• Lot 132 | Mary Elizabeth Price, Rhododendron | Sold for $83,050

• Lot 41 | Howard Pyle, The Two Cornets of Monmouth: On sped the light chestnut, with the little officer bending almost to the saddle-bow, 1891 | Sold for $76,700

• Lot 12 | William Trost Richards, Rolling Surf, 1900 | Sold for $64,000