catalog text
CULLEN YATES (AMERICAN, 1866-1945) ANTIQUE OIL PAINTING ON CANVAS
An Autumnal Landscape, signed "Cullen Yates Paris" lower right
Item # 1406ZUP12Q
A particularly striking scene capturing a lone figure trudging a dirt path through a desolate late autumn landscape, the horizon broken only by the farm peaking over the hill in the background and a loose ridge of trees, these having long shed their leaves beneath a gray Parisian sky. The work is rather moving, the depth and contrast of the colors in this somewhat dreary moment bringing a certain magnetic interest to the scene. True to much of Yates' work, every color is in motion - there is no static moment of pigment, each aspect of the landscape and figure swirling in his heavy impasto. It is an earlier work by Yates, executed in Paris as noted in the signature; later inscriptions on the stretcher bars detail something of the provenance, though we have no way of verifying the accuracy of these inscriptions. They note that the work was purchased by Carl Eric Linden in Paris in 1894, then acquired by Theodore Wassmen from the Linden estate in 1958.
This is a very fine work by Yates, a particularly interesting scene for it's uncomfortable perspective. Work by Yates almost without exception achieves four figures at auction, much of his work achieving low to mid five figures. This work has been professionally cared for by our conservator and is in an excellent state of preservation for immediate introduction to your collection. For any serious collector of American Impressionists, this is an outstanding acquisition.
Measurements: 21 7/8" W x 16 3/4" H [frame]; approximately 18" W x 12 3/4" H [canvas]
Condition Report:
Professionally restored by our conservator, the surface cleaned and vibrant. Relined on original stretchers, see picture of stretchers in slideshow for later provenance inscriptions. Original frame. Darkened craquelure throughout surface. Minor losses around edges where the frame rubs the canvas. Under UV showing scattered craquelure touch ups in the sky and approximately six small spots of touch up in the lower half. Overall an absolutely stunning work.