Autumn Winter 2013 Preview

Autumn /Winter 20 www.antiquesandfineart.com DISCOVERIE S Paul Lacroix (1827–1869) Still Life with Pineapple, Grapes and Orange Circa 1860 Oil on canvas, 27¼ x 33⅝ inches Signed P. Lacroix, lower right Courtesy Debra Force Fine Art, New York, NY Paul Lacroix (1827–1869) was best known as a still life painter of fruit and flowers and worked primarily in New York after his emigration from France in the late 1840s. Following in the tradition of the Peale family and satisfying the taste of the period, he embraced America’s bounty in small vignettes and more rarely in major compositions such as Still Life with Pineapple, Grapes and Orange . The artist was heavily influenced by Severin Roesen in whose studio he may have worked before the latter’s departure to Pennsylvania. Lacroix, however, used a more frontal and naturalistic approach in painting his chosen subject. The inclusion of the landscape and column in the background adds to the complexity of the composition, while the addition of the pineapple is rare since this exotic fruit was a luxury in the nineteenth century. This painting is a recent discovery to the marketplace and is especially coveted because of the artist’s small body of work. Carved Lyre Window Seat Ernest Hagen (1830–1913) New York, ca. 1885 Mahogany; H. 32½, L. 45, W. 14½ inches Together with letter by Ernest Hagen, Jr. Also a pair of trick-leg card tables by Ernest Hagen, Jr, with letter Courtesy Stanley Weiss Collection, Providence, R.I. A carved lyre-base window seat by Ernest Hagen, circa 1885, and a pair of trick-leg card tables, circa 1928, by his son Frederick have entered the Stanley Weiss collection, complete with handwritten letters, dated 1931 and 1928 respectively, from Frederick describing his father’s very same window seat and his own card tables. The furniture and documents descended in the same family and have been transferred directly to Mr. Weiss. Furniture with such direct connections to the makers is extremely rare. Hagen and his son Frederick were exponents of furniture in the manner of Duncan Phyfe, one of New York City’s leading Classical furniture makers. Hagen acquired many of Phyfe’s tools and continued to make furniture in the Phyfe style for boutique clients; Frederick and his brother Henry continued the tradition. Visit http://stanleyweiss.com/item/sw01675 an d http://stanleyweiss.com/item/sw01684 for more images.