Barridoff Auctions Presents Early Works by Lynne Drexler, Wolf Kahn, Bo Bartlett, and More

Two major early paintings by Lynne Drexler are set to enter the auction market this month with Barridoff Auctions. The auction house’s Summer 2023 International Fine Art Sale will begin on August 19, 2023 at 1:00 PM EDT. In addition to live and telephone bidding, online bidding options will be available through Bidsquare. 

Lynne Drexler’s Keller Fair Racetrack from 1959 leads this auction (lot #74; estimate: USD 200,000 – $300,000). An artist with an eye for landscapes, Drexler had a promising career in the post-Impressionist and Abstract Expressionist scene. Her early work reveals the influence of mentors Hans Hofmann and Robert Motherwell, who together inspired Drexler to embrace abstraction. The available work dates back to this early period of her career. The unframed oil on canvas uses daubs of color arranged in strategically-placed clumps of pink, red, orange, and yellow. They together suggest a flower bouquet or a brilliant sunset. 

Another work by Drexler, titled Meadow’s Edge, is also available (lot #73; estimate: $100,000 – $150,000). The artist executed this work in 1967, a few years after her marriage to fellow artist John Hultberg. Drexler began traveling back and forth between New York City’s Chelsea Hotel and the couple’s home on Monhegan Island. She painted Meadow’s Edge at the height of her popularity, shortly before she withdrew from the New York art world due to her suffering mental health. This richly detailed painting balances swirling yellows with staccato, square greens and reds. 

A fellow student of Hans Hofmann, Wolf Kahn, also has work represented in the upcoming auction. Among the featured lots is Kahn’s Orange Treeline, a pastel on paper piece that depicts an autumnal forest (lot #97; estimate: $20,000 – $25,000). The German-American artist was known for blending elements of Color Field painting with realism, often crafting luminous landscapes that utilize intense colors. 

Bidders can also consider works by Bo Bartlett, Dahlov Ipcar, Maurice Freedman, and Henry Faulkner. Several works by contemporary American artist Katherine Bradford are particularly notable. Bradford explores feeling and memory through her works, which depict lonely-looking people in sparkling, blurred settings. Available in this sale is Bradford’s Yellow Suit, Blue Suit from 2016 (lot #40; estimate: $10,000 – $15,000) and River Tide from circa 2005 (lot #41; estimate: $10,000 – $15,000).  

Additional lots of interest in this sale include:  

• Rolph Scarlett’s Green Universe, a framed oil on panel painting (lot #78; estimate: $25,000 – $35,000) 
• A Pablo Picasso ceramic vase (lot #181; estimate: $10,000 – $15,000) 
• Eugène Boudin’s still life painting with eggs, cheese, and pumpkin (lot #137; estimate: $7,000 – $9,000) 
• Donald Sultan’s Two Blacks a Green and a Blue Conté crayon work depicting four buttons (lot #197; estimate: $6,000 – $8,000)
• A gelatin silver print of Berenice Abbott’s Pennsylvania Station Interior from 1936 (lot #18; estimate: $4,000 – $6,000)

Barridoff Auctions seeks out and finds compelling, beautiful, relevant works of art. It’s never just another auction. It’s an opportunity to help buyers and sellers of fine art realize their dreams by establishing that special connection in their appreciation of fine art. Barridoff Auctions was established in the mid-1970s by Rob and Annette Elowitch in their hometown of Portland, Maine. Initially the business began as a fine art gallery and expanded into auctions in the late 1970’s, ultimately shedding the gallery to focus solely on auctions alone. Barridoff Auctions quickly became known nationwide and beyond in the auction world as a leader in fine art sales and was the first auction house in Maine to specialize exclusively in the auctioning of fine art.

This Summer 2023 International Fine Art Sale from Barridoff Auctions will begin at 1:00 PM EDT on August 19, 2023. Visit Bidsquare to browse the complete catalog and register to bid.