NEW YORK, NY.- Widely acclaimed American Impressionist Frederick Carl Frieseke’s "The Garden Chair" achieved a staggering $962,500 in the May 21 American Art auction at Bonhams, the third largest international fine art auction house. The saleroom was filled for the 92-lot auction.

Frieseke’s masterpiece of 1912 was painted in his Giverny home, where he was a neighbor to French Impressionist Claude Monet. The term “Decorative Impressionism” was coined by an art writer referring to Frieseke’s style which combined decorative style, expressively using color and pattern, with classic Impressionist interest in atmosphere and sunlight. Frieseke’s style is reminiscent of Renoir’s light and colorful palette.

Also highlighting the sale, George Catlin’s impressive “Blackfoot Indian Group” sold for $338,500. Catlin traveled with explorer William Clark, of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, studying and depicting the daily lives of more than 50 Indian tribes with meticulous detail. Additionally, Horace Pippin’s charming “Flowers with Four Doilies” achieved $146,500 (est. $50,000-70,000), while “Portrait of Ms. Theodore Frothingham, Jr.,” by John Singer Sargent brought $110,500 (est. $60,000-80,000).

Generating much attention during the sale were American landscapes, including a radiant woodland landscape, “Brook in Woods” by Albert Bierstadt that achieved $146,500 and an alluring “Haze in the Valley” by Charles Courtney Curran that sold for $80,500. John Marin’s “Village, Maine” reached $60,000 and a triumphant cityscape “Manhattan in Winter” by Guy Carleton Wiggins brought $134,500.

Interest was high in sculpture and multi-dimensional works of the sale, most notably “Ginerva” by Hiram Powers and “Briseis” by Paul Howard Manship, which each achieved $60,000.

Works by artists Henry Merwin Shrady, Charles Burchfield and James Abbott McNeill Whistler also brought strong results.

Kayla Carlsen, Senior Specialist and Head of Sales of American Art at Bonhams, commented of the sale, “We are pleased with the results of today's auction which indicates that the market is still responding to works that are fresh and have strong provenance. We now look forward to our summer sale of California and Western Art and our fall sale of American Art.”