Bonhams & Butterfields Showcases Works of Art from the Estate of Nancy M. Daly

Written by Susan von Hart Wednesday, 18 May 2011 20:31

LOS ANGELES, CA.- Bonhams & Butterfields will hold its Spring auction of California and Western Paintings and Sculpture on April 20, 2010. The Los Angeles-based sale will feature a wide variety of important California, Western, Society of Six, Hawaiian scenes and Plein Air works by established American artists including Joseph Kleitsch, Franz Bischoff, Edgar Payne, Granville Redmond and William Wendt as well as early, rare to market works by William Hahn, Thomas Moran and Thomas Hill. Undoubtedly, the highlight of the April sale will be a selection of works from the Estate of Los Angeles philanthropist, Nancy M. Daly.

Following her move to Los Angeles in 1978, Nancy M. Daly quickly established herself as one of Southern California's most energetic and prominent activists on behalf of abused and neglected children. In 1979, Mrs. Daly accompanied some of her Hollywood acquaintances to a party for the MacLaren Children's Center, an emergency foster facility in Los Angeles County. The dismal setting she saw on her first visit to the Center galvanized her determination to harness the power, influence and monetary support of the entertainment industry to raise funds for some of the county's neediest children.

Daly's early work at MacLaren led to a much broader involvement in children's issues, which culminated in the creation of what is now the county Department of Children and Family Services in 1984. She served on its advisory commission from the department's founding until 1999. Her public advocacy and philanthropy also extended to the arts, serving on the board of the Los Angeles Opera as well as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, of which she was elected chair in 2005. Privately, Daly had a distinctly Californian 'collecting eye,' filling her home with exceptional examples of California Impressionist paintings, several of which will be offered on April 20th during the California and Western Paintings and Sculpture auction.

Highlights from the Estate of Nancy M. Daly will include an impressionistic painting by Joseph Kleitsch titled Woman in a garden sewing (est. $200,000-300,000). The work portrays a young woman seated in a lush pastoral scene where she is artfully arranged against a backdrop of colorful flowers and a cottage. Kleitsch captures a feeling of serenity by depicting the figure quietly off to the side, going about her sewing, as brilliant California light and foliage envelop her form.

"The marquee lot of the sale, Woman in a garden sewing, represents the pinnacle of Kleitsch's oeuvre as well as Mrs. Daly's refined California style. Bonhams & Butterfields is honored to feature the work, as well as other noted paintings from the Daly Estate within the auction," said Scot Levitt, Vice President and Fine Arts Department Director.

Additional highlights from the Estate of, Nancy M. Daly include a tropical masterpiece titled White Peacocks and Hibiscus by Jessie Arms Botke (est. $60,000-80,000); a highly sought after mountain scene titled Houses in the mountains (resort), 1926 by William Wendt (est. $60,000-80,000); The concert by Donna N. Schuster (est. $30,000-50,000) and In the studio, a portrait of Mademoiselle 'E' by Joseph Kleitsch (est. $15,000-20,000) as well as a muted impressionistic work titled Roses in a blue vase on a table with a mirror by Franz A. Bischoff (est. $80,000-120,000). Bonhams & Butterfields sold a Bischoff painting with a similar subject matter, titled Roses, in August 2009 for $798,000 - the highest price ever paid for a Bischoff work at auction. Roses continues to hold the world record for the artist at auction.

Simulcast to the firm's San Francisco gallery, the April sale will also feature a strong selection of early California paintings. Rare to market, highlights will include an unusual arctic scene titled Icebergs, 1891 by Thomas Moran (est. $50,000-70,000); a Western painting titled Indians in the snow, c. 1880 by William Hahn (est. $40,000-60,000); a majestic early California landscape by Thomas Hill dated 1870 (est. $80,000-120,000) as well as another work by Hill of the famous Tunnel Tree, 1903 (est. $25,000-35,000). In addition the auction features a figural work by the rare and highly collectable Arthur Matthews titled Pandora, c. 1900 (est. $40,000-60,000).

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