Published: May 20, 2008 10:21 am         

'Mooreland Path' set for art auction

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — When prestigious Christie's auction house in New York presents its 2008 spring sale of "Important American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture" tomorrow, total sales are expected to total between $44 million and $65 million — and a piece featuring a Cape Ann landscape will be a part of it.



The painting is a 19th century work by Joseph de Camp, simply titled "Moorland Path, Cape Ann, Massachusetts," and carries an estimated value of $100,000 to $150,000, according to material sent by Christie's to the Times.



Christie's public relations spokesman, Rik Pike, said the piece is from a private collection.



"Apparently it was given to the first owner, then passed down from descent," Pike said. There was no indication, however, whether the unidentified owners have or had any specific Cape Ann ties.



Overall, Wednesday's auction features a 140-lot selection of works that span the 19th and 20th centuries. The auction is led by "Lighthouse" by Marsden Hartley, another artist who worked in Gloucester in the 1930s. "Lighthouse" is considered an American modernist masterwork and the finest painting of its kind to be offered in a generation, a statement from Christie's said.



Also included are exceptional works from the renowned Stegall Collection — the most important collection of Taos paintings to appear at auction in a decade, and one of the most complete and impressive collections of American Western art left in private hands, the statement indicated. Also in the sale are notable works by leading American impressionists, modernist pioneers, American Western and Hudson River School artists.



Ray Lamont writes for Gloucester (Mass.) Daily Times and can be reached at rlamont@gloucestertimes.com