New-York tribune., 1899-02-17
THE CLARK Art ,SALE.
A SMALL INNEss SELLS FOR OVER TEN
THOUSAND DOLLARS.

The evening Of February l6. 1889, VIII hereafter 0e
regarded as marking an epoch IN the history o.
American art for il was last evening that me Fs'
painting by an American artist was so.d ior
sum rivallng the amounts paid by picture collectors
for the finest examples by the masters Of the Oo
World An example by George Inness. a smdh
picture compared with the size OF canvas usdaiy
used by him, was sold for the enormous SUI" u
Sl0fO This Is 5000 more than the largest pIlce
previously paid for an American painting Inc
buyer 70 the regret OF every one IN CncKeUl.s
Hall desired to remain unknown. Thomas r.
Kirbv the auctioneer sent a special request that
he would allow his name 10 be announced from
the platform but the reply was retus"' " "".
Tribune reporter spoke TO the purchaser VIZ"
the same purpose, he declared that the ""'.o
Charles Jones' was that "iICh "' '''' 7''
the bookkeeper.
The picture was No. $50 in tho catalogue OF the
Thomas e. Clarke collection. II was the famous
"Cray. Lowery Day" which although measuring
only l6 by q inches, has been generally Iegalueu
as one Of the masterpieces OF the painter. AI'
Kirby described it, when 1t was put upon the staha
as unique in he history Of art and as the most
famous Inness in the collection" The oslding
started at g 000 the second bid being for ~"
more After the sum o. $500 was reached, the
bidding was confined TO three persons all OK "loin
are strangers in this city. The bidding WAS IRE
ouenty interrupted by applause, and when the
picture was knocked down at last the cheering was
loud and long Every one I'm the hall seemed TO
realize that the most interesting occurrence IN the
art world Of the present season had taken place.
Another picture by Inness topped the best pre-
vious figure which has ever before been paid for
work by an American painter. This was the large
The Clouded Sun" The bidding was begun ~
81 900. and after a brisk competition the work was
knocked down 70 Knoeder & co. :or $oIt
The other Illnesses IN the collection brought mucn
lower figures Among them were "Od Homestead
Medfeld" $3.50: Twilight N.eJ; september Az
.--a III Mnon
The Winslow Homers brought poor prices COM
pared with those realized on the former evenings
sales. The best $l,o25 for the "Ga.e amp
fire" was knocked down for $40 host OF me
Judges IN the audience considered this 10 ne one OF
the bargains Of the sale.
The Homer Martins also brought less than on tne
previous evenings. "Headwaters OF the Hudson
was sold for $500 and the small picture ""o
Cherry Trees" went for Sl1j.
Had II not been for the Illnesses Mr. Clarke
would have lost considerable on this the thro
evening OF the sale. All ,h- figure pictures "ent
for small amounts Autumn" by John La farga,
brought &3O The Last Favorite by NJ siddon'
MGw9TSy sg3SqSh5 S Sbb @o man. se o e.or bSesd
would bring one of The best prices in The sale, was
MSscr oGhg which Mr. KrSy declared 70 be as ne as
| a Messonier brought N525. 4na IAe importer, j.
$500 The only figure picture which brought
| large sum was George FLlers A komahy orr
! This was knocked down after a spirited compeu-
| Among other prices were tAe rOloNlNs. news,
Louis M,silcr $50 Mermaid George ". May
| narA san. The Water Gate" Bruce Crane Ne,
| Prospect Park" William NJ Chase. S2l0. me same
| PAINTERS "Girl IN Costume" SS. Along thu
| Shore" Charles Melville Dewey. 1925; Harvest
! Moon" Carleton Wgsins. SOLO. sunset Walter
| Clark 500 and The Glass Blowers Charles I.
| Trich S25 The last-named picture was declared
| by the auc,ioncer 10 be Mr. Ulrich's masterpiece
| and he evidently expected a much higher price.
| The Corcoran Ar Gallery. Of Washington. d. {,
| bought the last pictures on the catalogue tor
the evening These were II. Bolton Joness Spring,
! time" for which 500 paid. and The Road
| IN l..
was knocked down for NlC0. Ninety-two pictures
were sold in the evening for a total sum OF Sol.22O
The average price of the TWO previous evenings O!
| the sale was therefore maintained, but had Il rot
been for the big prices for the lnness pictures the
| sale would have been a poor
| I'm the afternoon. az the galleries Of the Amer!
can Art Association. the sale ot Mr.. Clarkes col
lection Of mis- ,elaneOus art objects was continued
| There was a good attendance. IN spite OF the bad
| a total value OF $4,000. M Richmond paid 500
for a pale turquoise porcelain vase. ard the same
| buyer secured pum-colored vase, with elaborate
| decorations for $500 and large Yuan vase or
| namenttd with many figures IN high relief. FOR
| 500 Mrs Wood paid ssoO FOR a large green bottle
| from the Brayton Ives collection. while Mr.. Rlcn-
| mond secured pear-shaped Yuan vase. with per
| forated decorations for $3.50 The blue and white
miniature vases and a large collection ot cabinet
other rare materials brought good prices on the
whole. ,,, ,,...,
This afternoon Mr. Clarkes celebrated collection
| of Greek and Roman glass, with the Greek vases
| and statuettes from Tanagra and other places, VIII
| he sold