Oval portrait miniature of a young woman; watercolor, signed indistinctly. She is wearing a lace and floral trimmed bonnet, braids coiled over her ears, pearls and a ruched off the shoulder rose dress, all typical of the 1840’s.

Frame: 5.5” x 4.75”

A By-path

Henry Hobart Nichols, Jr. (American, 1869-1962)

Watercolor on paper, signed and dated: “1897”.

Exhibited at the Third Annual Washington Water Color Club, 1898.

Illustrated in McMahan, The Artists of Washington, DC: 1796-1996, p. 158.

Provenance: from the Estate of Virgil McMahan.

A painter and illustrator, Nichols was a member of quite an artistic family. His father, brother and wife were all professional painters as well.

He had diverse training beginning with instruction from Howard Helmick. He also attended the Art Students League of Washington before heading to Europe. In Europe, he studied at both the Froebel Institute in Germany and at the Academie Julian in France.

His early career (1889-1905) included a position on the Board of the Art Students League, as well as employ by the U.S. government. He worked as an illustrator for both the U.S. Geological Society and the Bureau of American Ethnology.

A member of the Washington Watercolor Club and Society of Washington Artists, Nichols favored subject was landscapes.

Nichols is listed in Who Was Who in American Art by Falk.

Sight size: 13” x 9.5”
Frame size: 21” x 17”

** For other paintings by artists from Maryland, Virginia or Washington DC, type “local” into the search box.

Benson Bond Moore (American 1882-1974)

"Autumn in Maryland"

Oil on board, signed lower left and titled and dated "Oct. 1952" on the reverse

Painting: 9" x 12"
Frame: 11.75" x 14.75"

SAFA/10979 Provenance: The Estate of a Toms River Collector

** For other painting by artists from Maryland, Virginia or Washington DC, click on the "Regional Artists" button on our homepage

Benson Bond Moore, painter, etcher and teacher was born in Washington, DC. He studied at the Corcoran School of Art with Messer and Brooke , and also with Max Weyl . He continued his studies in drawing at the Linthicum Institute under Ballenger and learned painting conservation from his father.

Active in professional societies, he was a member and officer of the Landscape Club of Washington. He was also a longtime member of the Society of Washington Artists. He exhibited with both groups from as early as 1915 and continued through the 1930's. His work was also shown at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

As an artist, he became well known and honored for his local scenes, many of which are in major public collections. His works are held by the National Museum of American Art; Historical Society of Washington, DC; Library of Congress; The White House; Bibliothèque National de Paris; Cosmos Club; National Museum of American History; the Houston Museum of Fine Art and the Los Angeles Museum of Art. Over his life, he was honored with numerous awards for his work.

Sources:
McMahan, Virgil. "The Artists of Washington, D.C. 1796-1996"
Consentino, Andrew and Glassie, Henry. "The Capital Image, Painters in Washington, 1800-1915"
Strass, Sephanie, "A Seasonal View - The Landscapes of Benson Bond Moore"

Benson Bond Moore (American 1882-1974)

"September Afternoon"

Oil on Masonite, signed lower left and titled on the reverse

Ptg., 8" x 10"

Frame: 13.5" x 15.5"

Provenance: The Estate of a Toms River Collector

** For other painting by artists from Maryland, Virginia or Washington DC, click on the "Regional Artists" button on our homepage

Benson Bond Moore, painter, etcher and teacher was born in Washington, DC. He studied at the Corcoran School of Art with Messer and Brooke , and also with Max Weyl . He continued his studies in drawing at the Linthicum Institute under Ballenger and learned painting conservation from his father.

Active in professional societies, he was a member and officer of the Landscape Club of Washington. He was also a longtime member of the Society of Washington Artists. He exhibited with both groups from as early as 1915 and continued through the 1930's. His work was also shown at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

As an artist, he became well known and honored for his local scenes, many of which are in major public collections. His works are held by the National Museum of American Art; Historical Society of Washington, DC; Library of Congress; The White House; Bibliothèque National de Paris; Cosmos Club; National Museum of American History; the Houston Museum of Fine Art and the Los Angeles Museum of Art. Over his life, he was honored with numerous awards for his work.

Sources:
McMahan, Virgil. "The Artists of Washington, D.C. 1796-1996"
Consentino, Andrew and Glassie, Henry. "The Capital Image, Painters in Washington, 1800-1915"
Strass, Sephanie, "A Seasonal View - The Landscapes of Benson Bond Moore"

Henry Maidment signing as R. Fenson (British, fl. 1889-1914)

Stepping Stones

Oil on canvas, signed

Painting size: 9” x 12”
Frame size: 13.5” x 16.5”

Maidment was a painter in oil of rural scenes and landscapes. He is variously catalogued as Robin or Robert Fenson but usually just signed “R. Fenson” in red, often with a date. This was a pseudonym for Henry Maidment who also was known to have signed “A. Wynn”. Dated examples of his work have been seen spanning from 1898 until 1914. The quality of his paintings and the decorative subject matter have fueled an ever growing demand for Maidment’s work.

Source:
Wood, Jeremy. "Hidden Talents, A Dictionary of Neglected Artists working 1880-1950"

La Maison Carrée, Nîmes, France

Miniature oval watercolor, framed.

Oval 1.25" x 1.75"

La Maison Carrée is one of the best preserved temples of the Roman Empire and was a major influence during the Classical Revival, inspiring Thomas Jefferson's design for the Virginia State Capitol.

Three 18th-century English Landscapes

Oils on paper, unsigned.

Painting size: 3” x 4.5” (Approximately)
Frame size: 7” x 8.5” (Approximately)

Travelers in an Alpine Landscape

Swiss or German School, circa 1860.

Oil on paper, with a gilt sand mat.

Painting Size: 6” x 4.5” Oval
Frame Size: 12.25 ” x 10.25”

Slightly Bawdy Cut Sihoulette of dancing man and woman by Charles Handrup, signed and located "Paris" and dated "1909"

Sight Size: 6.5" x 8.5"
Frame: 13" x 14.25"

Handrup was a Danish Silhouettist who lived in London between the wars. For years he ran a Silhouette Parlour at D.H.Evans Department Store in Oxford Street. Handrup was awarded a silver medal at the Empire Exhibition at Londons Crystal Palace. Printed on the reverse of some of his poatcards is the statement: : " This Silhouette Portrait is executed entirely freehand by Handrup, who begs to observe that his likenesses are executed by the Scissors alone and are preferable to any taken by machines inasmuch by the Scissor process the passions and peculiarities of Character are brought more into action. Silver Medal awarded Festival of Empire Crystal Palace 1911. "

Evelyn Hoffer Floyd (American, 1919 - 2003)

Magpie on a Branch

Oil on Porcelain, signed lower right

Frame: 13 ½” x 11 ½”

Floyd, a notable porcelain artist in Alexandria, learned to paint on porcelain in the early 1970’s and taught her craft in workshops for the Fairfax County Adult Education program.

She was a Pennsylvania native who attended a business college before moving to Washington in 1941 to work as a secretary in the Pentagon.

Floyd settled in Alexandria in 1963

Edgar Nye (American, 1879-1943)

Hillside Landscape

Watercolor on paper, signed lower right

Painting size: 11.5” x 17” Unframed

Nye lived, worked and taught in Washington, DC for 58 years. While he may have been born in Richmond, VA, his love for the city earned him the distinction of a "native" son.

Nye was educated in public schools before entering the Corcoran School of Art at age 13. He studied there for eight years before setting off on the requisite European travels. He traveled among England, France and Washington, DC for thirteen years. Along the way, he acquired a wife and a brief education at Oxford.

Once settled in Washington, DC, Nye began to produce the vast body of work by which he is remembered today. Most commonly, Nye painted landscapes and street scenes. A natural outcome of his prolific creativity was participation in numerous exhibitions.

His works were both included in group exhibitions and given total focus in one-man shows. The Washington Watercolor Society, Society of Washington Artists, Society of Independent Artists, Landscape Club of Washington and the Corcoran Gallery of Art were hosts to many of the exhibitions in which he participated. The Society of Washington Artists presented him with many awards during his career. On the year anniversary of his death, the Corcoran Gallery of Art presented a memorial exhibition of his work in recognition of the prominent place he held in the Washington art community.

Today, his work is held domestically in the permanent collections of the National Museum of American Art, Phillips Collection, Georgetown University and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Overseas, his work is represented in the Plymouth Gallery, England.

Sources:
The Artists of Washington, D.C. 1796-1996; McMahan, Virgil E.
Who Was Who in American Art; Falk, Peter Hastings.
The Capital Image: Painters in Washington, 1800-1915; Cosentino, Andrew J. and Henry H. Glassie.

** For other paintings by artists from Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC or North Carolina, click on the “Regional Artists” button on our Homepage.

English School (ca. 1850-1870)

Two Antique English miniature watercolors with printed borders.

Frame size: 7.5" x 8.5"

American School, Early 19th Century

Carib Indians Around a Jungle Campfire, with a Piton in the Background

Oil on canvas, signed indistinctly on the stretcher. Mid 19th century carved wood, compo and gilt frame

Painting Size: 9.25” x 12”
Frame Size: 13.5” x 16.5”

Ebenezer Colls (British , 1812-1887)

"The Old Ship Victory off Southampton Water"

Signed lower left and titled on an old label on the reverse.

Painting: 26" x 17.25"
Frame size: 32" x 23"

Colls was a painter of shipping and coastal scenes who lived in Camden Town, London and exhibited at the British Institution from 1852-4. The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich has a pair of his paintings. Denys Brook-Hart (see below) comments "Ebenezer Colls' pictures are quite rare although some paintings which are not his are sometimes attributed to him."

HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. After 1824 she served as a harbor ship. In 1922 she was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth, England, and preserved as a museum ship.

Sources:
Archibald, E.H.H. "Dictionary of Sea Painters"
Brook-Hart, Denys. "British 19th Century Marine Painting"
Wood, Christopher. "Dictionary of British Art. Vol. IV, Victorian Painters"

Henry Perlee Parker (1795-1873)

“On the qui vive” (The Smuggler)

Oil on canvas , titled, signed and dated on the reverse

"QUI VIVE" (A French phrase meaning long live who? (a sentry’s challenge), used to mean a state of alertness or watchfulness.)

Painting: 30" x 25"
Frame: 36.5" x 31.5"

One of the best-known painters working in north-east England during the early nineteenth century Henry Perlee Parker specialized in pictures of marine subjects and smugglers and came to be known as "Smuggler" Parker. He was a leading artist in Newcastle in the 1820s and 1830s, a member of the Northumberland Institution, and a co-founder (with T.M. Richardson) of the ill-fated Northern Academy of Arts. He died penniless in Shepherd's Bush in 1873. There was an exhibition of his work at the Laing Art Gallery, 1969-1970.

See Wiikpedia entry for a more complete biography

Edmond Darch Lewis (American, 1835-1910)

Schooner off the Atlantic Coast

Watercolor on paper, signed lower left and dated “1896”

Sight Size:13" x 26"
Frame Size: 23.25" x 36"

Lewis was born and died and Philadelphia where he studied with Paul Weber from about 1850-55. According to Peter Falk ("Who Was Who in American Art"), “he was one of the most popular landscape painters of Philadelphia during the late 19th century. His early works were chiefly scenes of the Lehigh, Susquehana, and Wissihickon Rivers of Pennsylvania, and were in great demand. Before 1860 he also exhibited landscapes of New York and New England and even some Cuban scenes. By the mid 1870’s he turned increasingly to shoreline views with yachting scenes, painting prolifically in watercolor from Cape May, NJ to Narragansett, RI. Wealthy and admired, he entertained in a grand style in his opulent Philadelphia home surrounded by an extensive collection of antique furniture, china and decorative arts.”

Autumn River Landscape with Ducks

Charles Lanman (American, 1819-1895)

Oil on paper laid-down, signed.

Lanman is listed in The Artists of Washington, DC 1796-1996 by McMahan.

Painting size: 11” x 15”
Frame size: 16” x 20”

Pastoral Landscape with a Young Girl and Her Dog

James Curnock (British, 1812-1870)

Oil on canvas, signed.

A resident of Bristol, Curnock was best known for his portraits and figure subjects. He exhibited at both the Royal Academy and the Society of British Artists, Suffolk Street. His work is held in the permanent collection of the Bristol Art Gallery.

Curnock is listed in the Dictionary of British Artists, Vol. IV, Victorian Painters by Wood.

Painting size: 19” x 24”
Frame size: 25” x 31”