DALLAS, TX.- On June 5 Heritage Auctions will present its most expansive Fine European Art Signature® Auction in the past 15 years. Featuring a superb private collection of drawings and a rich selection of paintings, the auction spans six centuries of art historical periods, styles and countries of origin. “This season’s auction offers a journey through the heart of European art history,” says Dr. Marianne Berardi, Heritage’s Co-Director of European Art, adding, “From Renaissance paintings of sacred subjects to views of the south of France and Venice, to Old Master drawings that reward close looking, this exceptional range of works highlight the astonishing range and beauty of the tradition.”

Drawings from the Private Collection of William A. Glaser

Most artists agree that drawing is the most essential art form. Ingres said drawing is “seven-eighths of what makes up painting,” and Gorky said, “A bad painter cannot draw. But one who draws well can always paint.” The visionary collector William A. Glaser (1925 — 2023) spent more than 60 years assembling a connoisseur’s collection of works on paper — drawings, sketches and watercolors — by some of history’s greatest draftsmen, as well as gifted lesser-known figures. A highlight among the 97 works offered in this event is Francesco Fontebasso’s stunning Fall of the Rebel Angels, c. 1736, a virtuoso composition of cascading bodies by this gifted and prolific draftsman of the late Baroque. Other notable artists from the collection include Annibale Carracci, Pietro Faccini, Jacques de Gheyn III, Jan van Goyen, Stradanus, Edward Lear, Jean-Louis Ernest Meissonier, James-Jacques Tissot, Max Beckmann and many more. Glaser, an esteemed sociologist and scholar of international health care, developed a zeal for works on paper and began collecting in earnest around 1960. He loved the thrill of chasing unsigned or questionably attributed Old Master and 19th-century drawings, then tenaciously researching and documenting them. His copious letters, all filed neatly and chronologically in curatorial files he kept for decades, usually start with his trademark line, “I collect Old Master drawings.” Glaser’s comprehensive files provided invaluable documentation for each work on offer.

Paintings by the Gifted Pissarro Family

This season’s auction also has an exceptional range of paintings, notably works by five members of the enormously talented Pissarro family, all direct descendants of patriarch Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), a prominent member of the French Impressionists. The seven oils and a pastel on offer include works by four of his children, as well as Le hangar Hanlon à Maghery and Irlande, bords de rivière, two interesting and appealing landscapes by his grandson Hughes Claude Pissarro (born 1935).

A Vibrant Vallotton Landscape

Also featured is Platanes Ébranchés (Branched Plane Trees), an exceptional 1921 view of Cagnes by Félix Vallatton. The Swiss-born painter was a member of Les Nabis, the group of artists in Paris who were instrumental in the transition from Impressionism to early Modernism. Vallatton’s lifelong skill at photorealistic painting, along with his notable success in the pared-down aesthetics of woodblock printing, can both be discerned in the luscious colors of this vibrant work.

Exceptional 19th-Century Landscapes

Landscapes from the 1800s include two serene and intimate works by the masterful French Realist Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot — one a view along a marsh and the second a somewhat more atypical scene of peasants collecting hay onto a wagon on a warm day. The latter once belonged to the Houston hoteliers Mr. and Mrs. James Oliver Ross, who owned the Rossonian, the city’s most exclusive, state-of-the-art apartment-hotel in the 1910s. Additionally, a trio of attractive scenes of Venice by Antonio María de Reyna Manescau, Martín Rico y Ortega and Ludwig Mecklenburg are included in the auction. These come from the collection of celebrated Napa Valley winemaker Frederick Schrader.

Noteworthy Old Master Works

The event also features several noteworthy Old Master paintings, including Saint Peter and Saint Louis, an egg tempera and gold leaf panel by Spanish artist Pere Vall from the early 15th century. This work formed part of Vall’s predella for a retablo likely produced for the Church of San Miguel in Cardona. An exceedingly tender Madonna and Child with Saint Elizabeth and the Infant Saint John the Baptist from c. late 1660s by a gifted artist in the orbit of Antonio Carneo features the dramatic lighting and dark shadows of the early Baroque. One work, a surprise find from a storage unit purchase in Scranton, Pennsylvania, is a handsome three-quarter-length portrait of a gentleman by Dutch portraitist Nicholas Maes. Finally, a rare 1732 history painting by Jean-Etienne Liotard, who later achieved great celebrity for his remarkable pastel portraits, theatrically depicts a scene from 1 Samuel 21:8-9, in which David is given Goliath’s sword.

Other highlights in the sale include Return of the Viking Raiding Party, an exquisite oil study that recalls a North Sea fortress at the edge of the world by Pre-Raphaelite artist Edmund Blair Leighton, and a large selection of work by Parisian painters. “It’s rare to bring together a selection this wide-ranging yet so cohesive in its celebration of European artistry,” says Seth Armitage, Heritage’s Co-Director of European Art. “From the spirited bidding we’re already seeing to the extraordinary interest in both Glaser’s drawings and the standout paintings, this auction has sparked genuine excitement among collectors across generations. It’s a privilege to present works that speak so strongly to the enduring appeal of European Art.”