by Mark Diekhoff
Contributor
INDIANAPOLIS — The Spring Sale of Historic Indiana Art occurred on the afternoon of Sunday, April 16 at The Arch on the near eastside of downtown Indianapolis. Over one hundred artworks covered the walls of the spacious venue and were put up for sale for those in attendance or bidding online. Co-hosted by Fine Estate Art and Jacksons Auction & Real Estate Company, the sale consisted of mostly Indiana-related paintings and other two-dimensional works that were either purchased by collectors or admired as if a museum exhibition by the more casual art lovers in the crowd.
A great variety of Indiana’s historic art and artists were represented including the stately, century-old views of Indiana beech forests by William McKendree Snyder, fiery first trees of autumn in woodland views by Hoosier Group artists J. Ottis Adams and Otto Stark, and bright colored impressions of summer by Irvington master, William Forsyth. Speaking further of Forsyth, two examples of his quirky and wonderful watercolor greeting cards were also sold. One of the cards, an art nouveau mini-masterpiece of an idyllic waterfront included the humorous New Years caption in the artist’s recognizable hand, ‘1st 1916 – To The Forsyths From The Forsyths’. It was sent to nearby neighbors who shared not only Forsyth’s Irvington neighborhood, but also his friendship and the same last name.
Also noteworthy were two Brown County exhibition-size paintings possessing a warm, soft-focus grandeur by Adolph Robert Shulz, a bi-colored pinwheel of red and white summer flowers in a still life by Leota Loop and several stunning (and large!) architectural streetscapes by Harry Davis.
For specialty collectors, original James Whitcomb Riley book illustration artworks were sold including an Ethel Franklin Betts’ unusual Mother and Child, in which both the face of mother and child are hidden and unseen due to the artist’s daring composition. Will Vawter was not only a favorite Riley book illustrator, but also a member of the Brown County Group of artists. Several of his commercial illustration originals were sold such as the grayscale gouache Easy Chair (along with a copy of the J.W. Riley book in which it appeared) and the graphite sketch of a yesteryear’s slacker, Daydreamer.
The drama-infused glitter of Glenn Cooper Henshaw’s dynamic nocturnal pastel drawings, particularly Woolworth Building, New York, were popular with a crowd of excited young collectors who sat in the front few rows and snatched them up one after the next as the gavel fell.
Contemporary and still living artists sold well including 1980s Indianapolis artist Stephen Stoller’s street person portrait Outside the Corner Store which reached the pre-auction estimate maximum with its winning bid.
Of particular interest to my eyes was Jan Zwara’s virtuoso Brown County Winter Landscape. A Steve Mannheimer art column from the Indianapolis Star back in 1993 discussed this talented and troubled artist at length. Like Vincent Van Gogh, this artist suffered periods of mental illness. Indeed, Zwara was confined to Indianapolis’ Central State Hospital in 1938 for treatment. His Winter Landscape denotes no distress, but rather a balanced and poised perfection. Close inspection of the painting reveals the singularly unique and novel brushstrokes of a beautiful mind.
Mark Diekhoff resident of Irvington since 1992 and operated several art galleries including Five Ten Gallery in Indianapolis from mid 1990s to mid 2000s
