Description:

William Henry Buck (Norwegian/Louisiana, 1840-1888), "Louisiana Pastoral with Wooden Bridge", 1883, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower left, 18 in. x 30 in., period frame. Provenance: Acquired from the artist by Mr. and Mrs. Aristide Hopkins, New Orleans and Biloxi; thence by descent in the family. Note: Aristide Hopkins (1839-1925) and his wife, Mary McNeil Hopkins (1847-1908), were avid collectors and patrons of the arts. As close friends of William Aiken Walker, the couple was introduced to a variety of portrait, landscape, and genre scene painters, and their house on Esplanade Avenue (now the Fisk-Hopkins-Schwartz Home at 730 Esplanade) was filled with works by Louisiana artists such as William Henry Buck, Richard Clague, George Louis Viavant, and Achille Perelli. Aristide Hopkins worked at Merchants’ Mutual Insurance Company on Canal Street; he was an agent for Baroness Pontalba and managed properties within the city. During the Civil War, Hopkins served as a Lieutenant in the Louisiana Cavalry (New Orleans Light Horse) and after the war, he and Mrs. Hopkins maintained homes in both New Orleans and Biloxi. Collected by the Hopkins' amongst other important landscapes and nature mortes, the lovely scene in the current lot displays Buck’s characteristic skill with Louisiana flora and fauna, including majestic oak, pine, and cypress trees laden with Spanish moss. A student of Clague, Buck developed his skills on plein air sketching excursions with his mentor and artists such as Andres Molinary and Marshall Joseph Smith, Jr. These trips, many along the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, were undoubtedly influential on the development of Buck's use of lighting effects and evocative atmosphere. The arrangement of the landscape offered here, on the edge of a lake with a curving wooden bridge, is a rare example of an asymmetrical configuration that beautifully guides the viewer's eye around the canvas. The composition, with the inclusion of a picket fence on the left, a farmer and his dog crossing the bridge, and cattle grazing in the background, suggests a farm just beyond the trees and hints at a bucolic narrative. The reflective surface of the water adds an additional element of light and highlights the natural bend in the geography. The painting also includes hints of the Barbizon tradition in the luminous sky, and the loose brushwork that forms the reeds and bushes in the foreground, combining overall into a classic naturalistic view of the Louisiana landscape dating from the height of Buck’s career. Ref.: Trovaioli, August P. and Roulhac B. Toledano. William Aiken Walker: Southern Genre Painter. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1972.

  • Notes: All lots are sold “As is” and “Where is”. Neal Auction provides condition reports on items with a low estimate over $500 as a courtesy to aid in your bidding decision. No statement regarding age, condition, kind, value, or quality of a lot, whether made orally at the auction or at any other time, or in writing in this catalogue or elsewhere, shall be construed to be an express or implied warranty, representation, or assumption of liability. Completed condition reports are posted as an additional image with the lot. Neal Auction does not give refunds.

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November 18, 2017 10:00 AM CST
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