73 of 110 lots
73
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus (American, 1874-1952) Autumn Aspen Forest, 1949
Estimate: $30,000-$50,000
Passed
Live Auction
American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists
Size
25 1/4 x 30 1/8 in.
Description
Oscar Edmund Berninghaus

(American, 1874-1952)

Autumn Aspen Forest, 1949

oil on canvas

signed O. E. Berninghaus and dated (lower right)

25 1/4 x 30 1/8 in.

Signature
signed O. E. Berninghaus and dated (lower right)
Provenance
This present work will be included in the Kodner Gallery Art Research Project on the artist Oscar Edmund Berninghaus.Provenance:Pauline Gillespie Townsend, Wichita, Kansas. Private Collection, by descent.Sotheby's, New York, Sale of March 28, 2018, Lot 161.Acquired directly from the above sale.Private Collection, New York.Lot Note:A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Oscar Berninghaus first visited Taos in 1899 and returned frequently over the next several decades. He became a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists in 1915 and permanently settled there in 1925 until his death in 1952. Painted in 1949, Autumn Aspen Forest serves as a late-career nod to the cherished scenery that lured him to the Southwest initially. Berninghaus was a keen observer of the interplay of sunlight and shade on the landscape. In Autumn Aspen Forest, the yellow green hues of the treetops, a result of the sun shining on the changing leaves, contrast with the dimmer, cross-hatched forest floor. From there, the towering tree trunks take the viewer’s gaze on a graceful but steep ascent towards the canopy. The forward path cutting through the trees is also skyward, a further invitation to look up and take in the peak in the background, emerging within the golden crown of the foliage. Berninghaus believed in extracting a fundamentally American meaning from local splendor. In celebrating the grandiose forests and mountains of the Southwest, the artist was also stating the limitless beauty and potential of the nation.