MILFORD, CONN.- Important American paintings from the 19th century through the contemporary era will be available during Shannon’s semi-annual American and European Fine Art Auction to be held at 6PM on Thursday, October 25, 2018 in Milford, Connecticut. Featuring 238 lots, the auction will include quality examples of American Impressionism, American Coastal scenes, Modernism and European paintings.

Leading the auction is a New England landscape by American Impressionist Willard Leroy Metcalf. The painting, titled “The Road that Leads Home,” romantically depicts a quiet village scene. Metcalf masterfully captures the atmosphere and the shadows of the trees. The painting is fresh-to-the-market and in very good condition. It will be listed in the forthcoming catalogue raisonne on the artist. (est. $200,000-300,000)

Another leading highlight in American Impressionism is a café scene by Irving Ramsey Wiles. The panting is dated 1887, only three years after the artist returned from studying in Paris. Wiles undoubtedly encountered works by artists like Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet while in Paris, their influences are apparent in this painting. (est. $100,000-150,000)

Other highlights in American Impressionism are an early work by Willard Leroy Metcalf depicting a young woman in a garden of sunflowers; a large-format Winter Landscape by Pennsylvania Impressionist Walter E. Schofield; a view of New York City’s Washington Square by Guy C. Wiggins; another view of Washington Square by Impressionist Alfred S. Mira; two fresh-to-the-market snow scenes by Walter L. Palmer; a still-life of Chrysanthemums by Emil Carlsen; and many others!

Another leading fresh-to-the-market painting is a dramatic sailing scene by Edward Moran. In the painting, circa 1876, the Madeleine and the Countess of Dufferin race around the buoy in the winning race of the America’s Cup. The Madeleine, at the time, was the fastest boat in the New York Yacht Club fleet. It easily defended the cup beating the challenger in every leg of the race. The panting has descended in a private Connecticut family since it was painted. It is in excellent original condition and will be offered at a $40,000-60,000 estimate.

The sale will also feature several other outstanding examples of 19th century American Art including a Luminist seascape by William Trost Richards (est. $60,000-90,000); a painting of Grand Manan by Mauritz F.H. De Haas (est. $20,000-30,000) and quality paintings by Martin Johnson Headed, John J. Enneking, Hermann Herzog, William Wilcox, J.F. Peto, William Mason Brown, Albert Bierstadt, George H. Smillie, Virgil Williams, Louis Aston Knight and William Bradford.