Nye & Co. to Auction Fine Art by Guy Carleton Wiggins, Peter Hujar, and More

The latest two-day sale from Nye & Co. brings to market a wide array of American fine art from the 19th and 20th centuries. Ranging from sumptuous still lifes to striking Modernism, the 275-lot catalog includes paintings, prints, multiples, and sculptures from such notable artists as Guy Carleton Wiggins, Peter Hujar, and others. 

Live bidding on day one of the sale will begin on January 22, 2025 at 10:00 AM EST. Learn more about the top lots before placing a bid. 

William Mason Brown

Among the top lots of this Nye & Co. sale is a still life painting by William Mason Brown (lot #214; estimate: USD 3,000 – $5,000). This oil on canvas painting depicts an arrangement of fruit on a pedestal. Amid the grapes, peach, and chestnuts is a delicate glass goblet, engraved with twisting vines and scrolls. A serving knife juts out from the shining fruit. In the background is an indigo tapestry edged with gold fringe. 

American artist William Mason Brown was born in Troy, New York, a town near the state’s eastern border. He followed in the artistic footsteps of Hudson River School painters such as Thomas Cole, favoring Romantic landscapes and detailed still lifes. Brown enjoyed success during his lifetime, in part due to the chromolithograph, which allowed replicas of his paintings to be broadly distributed to the American public. His work is associated with lifelike detail, particularly when depicting fruit. 

Guy Carleton Wiggins

Another key artist with work in the catalog is Guy Carleton Wiggins. Winter Scene comes to auction framed and with a presale estimate of $1,800 to $2,400 (lot #146). This small oil on canvas work is signed in the lower left and depicts a string of houses under a layer of snow. Icy blue undertones peek through in parts, lending shadow and depth to the ground and sky. 

The son of a renowned landscape painter, Guy Carleton Wiggins grew up around art. He learned to paint at his father’s feet before formally studying at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and the National Academy of Design in the early 1900s. Wiggins specialized in landscapes, which helped support him financially during the Great Depression. The artist is best-known for his extensive series of winter city paintings, alternately showing New York City bustling despite the frigid weather or temporarily quieted by it. The offered work is a more pastoral variation on this theme. 

Leon Polk Smith 

Leon Polk Smith belonged to a new generation of American artists, one unafraid to depart from familiar landscape scenes and still lifes. Smith was born in rural Oklahoma before it became a state. The artist, of Cherokee descent, encountered art for the first time in college. He turned to Columbia University and encountered the work of Piet Mondrian and other De Stijl artists. This influenced Smith’s own work, which is defined by bold colors, clean lines, and curved elements. 

An untitled work by Leon Polk Smith is a highlight of Nye & Co.’s upcoming sale (lot #92; estimate: $2,000 – $3,000). This paper collage dates back to 1960. Bubblegum pink shapes stand out against a navy blue background; further contrast is introduced by straight edges that meet well-defined curves.

Peter Hujar 

Available from Peter Hujar is Hand Sculpture from the Tomb, a pigmented ink print dated from 1967 (lot #77; estimate: $1,000 – $2,000). This particular edition, one of 10, was executed in 2010. The work references Paul Thek’s The Tomb, a renowned sculpture installation that made headlines in 1967. Thek, a sculptor and installation artist, had created a life-sized effigy of himself and placed it inside a pink tomb. Peter Hujar, Thek’s lover at the time, captured a series of photographs of Thek working on the sculpture. This photo belongs to that series. 

Peter Hujar was a major artist of the 1970s and 80s in his own right. His favored medium was photography, which he mastered under the tutelage of Richard Avedon, Alexey Brodovitch, and Diane Arbus. He documented queer life during his career, specializing in intimate and revealing portraits. 

Nye & Co.’s Chic & Antique Auction will begin at 10:00 AM EST on January 22, 2025. To browse the complete catalog and register to bid, visit Bidsquare. 

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