
Mount Chocorua, New Hampshire by Thomas Cole
The 2025 auction season is now starting to kick off. While there have been a smattering of assorted sales earlier in the month, the first sale in the section of the art market relevant to Rehs Galleries took place on Thursday at Christie’s New York. The American Sublime sale comprised a collection of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American paintings from a single collection. The sale did moderately well, yet serves as another example of how a single painting can make or break an auction.
The top lot, the image of which was used by Christie’s for marketing the sale, was Thomas Cole’s 1827 landscape Mount Chocorua, New Hampshire. The mountain was a popular subject for Cole and other Hudson River School painters. The painting last sold at Sotheby’s in 1995 for $277.5K w/p (or roughly $571K in 2025). Not only was it the most highly valued painting in the sale, but it perfectly encapsulates the overall theme of the auction. As I’ve noted in previous articles (about J.M.W. Turner and the French Barbizon school), the fixation on ‘the sublime’ was a key component of Romantic art. Cole achieves this not only by expertly depicting the untamed wilderness of New England but also by capturing its enormity with the inclusion of a fisherman dressed in red in the foreground. It’s not just a landscape, it is a work that conveys the physical and spiritual greatness of the natural world, which makes human achievement seem insignificant by comparison. The Cole, predicted to sell for between $800K and $1.2 million, hammered slightly above its estimate at $1.3 million (or $1.6 million w/p). This set a new auction record for the artist, displacing the painting Catskill Mountain House, which sold at Christie’s in 2003 for $1.4 million w/p.

Still Life with Raisin Cake by Raphaelle Peale
From the enormous to the intimate, the second place lot at Christie’s on Thursday was Raphaelle Peale’s Still Life with Raisin Cake. Peale was part of a large family of professional artists: his father, Charles Willson Peale, was one of the first prominent portraitists in the revolutionary and post-independence periods of the United States. Raphaelle and many of his siblings became involved in the arts as well. Peale carved out a niche for himself as one of the most prominent American still-life painters of the early nineteenth century. Despite his success, only about fifty of his paintings survive today, making them incredibly desirable for collectors. Still-Life with Raisin Cake was estimated to sell for no more than $350K. However, a bidding war broke out, and the hammer came down at $450K (or $567K w/p). Finally, there was Winter Evening in the Country by Jasper Francis Cropsey, another example from the Hudson River School. William Henry Vanderbilt was likely the painting’s first owner, and was kept in the Vanderbilt family until 1942. The work, created in 1865, shows children playing on a frozen lake. In the foreground, a young boy pretends to be a Union soldier since the American Civil War was in its final months at the time of the painting’s creation. Cropsey was an enthusiastic Unionist and conveyed optimism through his use of color and light despite showing a cold winter scene. Like the other two top lots, the Cropsey sold slightly above its estimate, selling for $320K (or $403.2K w/p) against a $300K high estimate.

Winter Evening in the Country by Jasper Francis Cropsey
Several of the lots sold for more than double their high estimate, with the most notable of the surprises being the very first lot of the sale: Adirondack Lake by Homer Dodge Martin. The 1863 Hudson River school landscape sold for $140K (or $176.4K w/p), approximately 2.8 times its $50K high estimate. However, as I mentioned earlier, the top lots and the surprises were insufficient to completely rescue the sale, as several highly-valued lots went unsold. The biggest disappointment was Winslow Homer’s 1880 watercolor Boy with Blue Dory. The painting last sold at auction at Sotheby’s New York in 2003 for $859.2K w/p. Christie’s specialists believed it would achieve a similar price, assigning it an estimate range of $700K to $1 million. However, interest began to dissipate after a few bids, and the Homer was bought in. Similarly, the Martin Johnson Heade painting River at Twilight and the William Merritt Chase work Flower Beds, Central Park (both valued at $300K to $500K) also went unsold. Five works of the total forty-three went unsold at Christie’s on Thursday, giving the sale and overall sell-through rate of 88%. Of the paintings that sold, ten (23%) sold within their estimates. Fourteen paintings (33%) sold below, while the same amount sold above. Though the total low pre-sale estimate amounted to $5.42 million, the lots bought in brought the total down to $5.41 million, only $10.2K short.
The American Sublime At Christie’s, New York
Mount Chocorua, New Hampshire by Thomas Cole
The 2025 auction season is now starting to kick off. While there have been a smattering of assorted sales earlier in the month, the first sale in the section of the art market relevant to Rehs Galleries took place on Thursday at Christie’s New York. The American Sublime sale comprised a collection of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American paintings from a single collection. The sale did moderately well, yet serves as another example of how a single painting can make or break an auction.
The top lot, the image of which was used by Christie’s for marketing the sale, was Thomas Cole’s 1827 landscape Mount Chocorua, New Hampshire. The mountain was a popular subject for Cole and other Hudson River School painters. The painting last sold at Sotheby’s in 1995 for $277.5K w/p (or roughly $571K in 2025). Not only was it the most highly valued painting in the sale, but it perfectly encapsulates the overall theme of the auction. As I’ve noted in previous articles (about J.M.W. Turner and the French Barbizon school), the fixation on ‘the sublime’ was a key component of Romantic art. Cole achieves this not only by expertly depicting the untamed wilderness of New England but also by capturing its enormity with the inclusion of a fisherman dressed in red in the foreground. It’s not just a landscape, it is a work that conveys the physical and spiritual greatness of the natural world, which makes human achievement seem insignificant by comparison. The Cole, predicted to sell for between $800K and $1.2 million, hammered slightly above its estimate at $1.3 million (or $1.6 million w/p). This set a new auction record for the artist, displacing the painting Catskill Mountain House, which sold at Christie’s in 2003 for $1.4 million w/p.
Still Life with Raisin Cake by Raphaelle Peale
From the enormous to the intimate, the second place lot at Christie’s on Thursday was Raphaelle Peale’s Still Life with Raisin Cake. Peale was part of a large family of professional artists: his father, Charles Willson Peale, was one of the first prominent portraitists in the revolutionary and post-independence periods of the United States. Raphaelle and many of his siblings became involved in the arts as well. Peale carved out a niche for himself as one of the most prominent American still-life painters of the early nineteenth century. Despite his success, only about fifty of his paintings survive today, making them incredibly desirable for collectors. Still-Life with Raisin Cake was estimated to sell for no more than $350K. However, a bidding war broke out, and the hammer came down at $450K (or $567K w/p). Finally, there was Winter Evening in the Country by Jasper Francis Cropsey, another example from the Hudson River School. William Henry Vanderbilt was likely the painting’s first owner, and was kept in the Vanderbilt family until 1942. The work, created in 1865, shows children playing on a frozen lake. In the foreground, a young boy pretends to be a Union soldier since the American Civil War was in its final months at the time of the painting’s creation. Cropsey was an enthusiastic Unionist and conveyed optimism through his use of color and light despite showing a cold winter scene. Like the other two top lots, the Cropsey sold slightly above its estimate, selling for $320K (or $403.2K w/p) against a $300K high estimate.
Winter Evening in the Country by Jasper Francis Cropsey
Several of the lots sold for more than double their high estimate, with the most notable of the surprises being the very first lot of the sale: Adirondack Lake by Homer Dodge Martin. The 1863 Hudson River school landscape sold for $140K (or $176.4K w/p), approximately 2.8 times its $50K high estimate. However, as I mentioned earlier, the top lots and the surprises were insufficient to completely rescue the sale, as several highly-valued lots went unsold. The biggest disappointment was Winslow Homer’s 1880 watercolor Boy with Blue Dory. The painting last sold at auction at Sotheby’s New York in 2003 for $859.2K w/p. Christie’s specialists believed it would achieve a similar price, assigning it an estimate range of $700K to $1 million. However, interest began to dissipate after a few bids, and the Homer was bought in. Similarly, the Martin Johnson Heade painting River at Twilight and the William Merritt Chase work Flower Beds, Central Park (both valued at $300K to $500K) also went unsold. Five works of the total forty-three went unsold at Christie’s on Thursday, giving the sale and overall sell-through rate of 88%. Of the paintings that sold, ten (23%) sold within their estimates. Fourteen paintings (33%) sold below, while the same amount sold above. Though the total low pre-sale estimate amounted to $5.42 million, the lots bought in brought the total down to $5.41 million, only $10.2K short.