LOS ANGELES, CA.- Competitive bidding at Bonhams & Butterfields on Monday night pushed the price for a 1914 oil on canvas painted by E. Charlton Fortune to a record high for the artist. The international fine arts auctioneers' Winter sale of California and American Paintings & Sculpture established a new world auction record for Fortune when the artist's Late Afternoon, Monterey sold for $1,832,000 - the highest price ever paid for a Fortune work crossing the auction block.

The top painting of the 280-lot sale was the impressionist work by E. Charlton Fortune, who, by 1913, was spending summers on the Monterey Peninsula. Working in obscurity for much of her career, Fortune utilized the 'E.' (for Euphemia) to disguise her gender when submitting art to shows and competitions. She was born in Sausalito, CA in 1885 and was living in Europe by her early teens. Although the artist is possibly better known for her later work in the genres of portrait and religious compositions, Late Afternoon, Monterey is an earlier impressionistic style painting with emphasis on subtle color and light. The fresh-to-market work is one of several known Fortune depictions of Monterey, each capturing the natural beauty of Monterey's rugged landscape.

"Although works by Fortune are rare to public auction, they are becoming highly sought after," says Scot Levitt, V.P. and Fine Arts Department Director for Bonhams & Butterfields. "Buyers are looking for pieces from the early part of her career, such as Late Afternoon, Monterey. The new record more than tripled the previous auction record of $480,000, set here at Bonhams in our sale earlier this year."

Bonhams & Butterfields' December 10, 2007 auction offered bidders a wide array of extraordinary landscapes, florals, Western scenes and coastal views. With strong prices realized for works by highly sought-after American masters such as Fortune, Guy Rose, Frank Tenney Johnson, Maynard Dixon, and William Keith, the auction totaled nearly $7.2-million, setting as many as ten auction records. The sale was simulcast between the auctioneers' galleries in San Francisco and Los Angeles, each salesroom supporting a large crowd, with much bidding via telephone from clients across the North American continent.

"Bidding was strong for choice pieces," said Scot Levitt. "It was an energetic and highly competitive sale, with particular interest paid to high-caliber and fresh-to-market works."

Another fresh-to-market offering was completed by Guy Rose, one of the most important California Impressionist painters. Originally from a private Southern California collection where it has been held for some time, Yellow Trees, Giverny is from the highly sought after period when Rose had settled in Giverny, France and collaborated with master painter Claude Monet. According to Levitt, "Good examples of Rose's work from this period, such as Yellow Trees, are not often seen on the market." The oil on canvas sold above estimate, bringing $628,000.

Several lots selling strong were also by female artists -- Hopi Women, with a distinctly modernist tone by Laura Adams Armer, brought $27,000, a new record for the artist and Customs House by Monterey artist M. Evelyn McCormick sold for a new record at $108,000. McCormick's work was offered to benefit the Philomathean Club of Stockton, California. The club's directors attended the sale in San Francisco and were incredibly impressed with the result. Customs House was one of three works offered and sold on their behalf, the art had recently been discovered, having been stored and unseen for many years.

Bidding exceeded estimates for a number of American masterworks including: Thomas Moran's The Rock of Acoma, New Mexico (sold for $480,000); Under the Open Sky by Frank Tenney Johnson (brought $216,000); William Wendt's Hidden Valley (No. 6) doubled its high estimate to fetch $180,000; Homeless Man, Study for 'Destination Unknown' by Maynard Dixon sold for $144,000 and Edgar Payne's Sierra Lake brought $132,000.

The auctioneer's catalog cover lot, a playful cliffside beach scene by William Keith entitled Land's End, San Francisco, sold for $192,000 - far surpassing the pre-sale estimate. A Coastal View, from painter Willis E. Davis, brought $31,200 and Ray Strong's North of the Golden Gate fetched $16,800, rounding out the offerings of cliffside paintings. These works each achieved new auction records for their artists.

Additional auction records were established including: $108,000 paid for View of Portland, Oregon by Olaf Grafstrom, far surpassing the previous record for his paintings; Norton Bush's A Memory of the Tropics brought a record $39,000; a 1980 pastel depiction of the Golden Gate Bridge by John Clymer fetched $5,100 and a modern view of Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, California by Innocenzo Daraio sold for $6,000, each establishing auction records.

The next sale of California and American Painting and Sculpture will be held at Bonhams & Butterfields in April 2008. The auction will feature a wide variety of important Western and Hawaiian scenes, Plein Air, Society of Six, and land and cityscapes by established American artists including an unusual tonalist landscape by Granville Redmond done in the dark vibrant hues of blue, green and violet with yellow ocher highlights.