100 - LOUIS MICHEL EILSHEMIUS (AMERICAN 1864-1941)

LOUIS MICHEL EILSHEMIUS (AMERICAN 1864-1941) Romantic Landscape, 1921 oil on fiberboard 56.8 x 75.5 cm (22 3/8 x 29 3/4 in.) framed dimensions: 69.5 x 88.5 cm (27 3/8 x 34 7/8 in.) signed lower right; dated lower left PROVENANCE Ferargil Galleries, New York (label on verso, titled and numbered 7351) Private Collection, Virginia LOT NOTES Painted in 1921, the year Eilshemius gave up painting for good, this is among the last pictures of his career. A wooded bluff frames a wide, glowing river at dusk. Below, two small figures haul a beached sailboat onto the sand, and a castle-like silhouette rises on the far headland. The amber haze recalls the Romantic landscapes he admired, filtered through his own dreamy, idiosyncratic hand. Marcel Duchamp championed Eilshemius after “discovering” him in 1917, and he later found strong support among New York dealers and collectors. Ferargil Galleries, which offered this work, was a leading dealer in American art on East 57th Street, active from 1915 to 1955. The Hirshhorn Museum holds about 250 of his works. Keywords: Hirshhorn, American Outsider Artist, Eilshemius Landscape, Duchamp Discovery, Romantic Landscape, Ferargil Galleries N.B. Condition reports are available upon request. All lots are sold in as-is condition at the time of sale. Please note that any condition statement regarding works of art is given as a courtesy to our clients in order to assist them in assessing the condition. The report is a genuine opinion held by Shapiro Auctions & Appraisals LLC and should not be treated as a statement of fact. The absence of a condition report or a photograph does not preclude the absence of defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of any others. Shapiro Auctions & Appraisals, LLC., including its consultants and agents, shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.