Estimate: $15,000 - $25,000
American Art & Pennsylvania Impressionists
Auction: June 3, 2018 3:00:00 PM EDT
Signed and dated 'Gollings 1912' with artist's cipher bottom center right; also inscribed with title verso, oil on canvas
24 1/8 x 34 1/8 in. (61.3 x 86.7cm)
Provenance: The Artist.
Acquired directly from the above.
Private Collection, New Jersey.
By descent in the family.
Private Collection, New Jersey.
NOTE:
Elling William Gollings spent the beginning of his adult life traveling through the Midwestern United States. He immersed himself in the expansive landscapes of South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming, capturing the waning years of the storied Old West in his numerous depictions of Native Americans and cowboys. Gollings arrived in South Dakota in 1896. Much like the artist Charles M. Russell, who was also enchanted by the disappearing saga of the wild American west, Gollings' work harkens back to the folkloric narrative of the heyday of the Old West: bucking broncos and the fabled cowboys and Native Americans who lived amidst the scrubby, unchartered mountainous terrain. "The Fear of the Great Spirit" was completed in 1912, and demonstrates the artist's intimate knowledge of the techniques and quotidian livelihoods of the actual inhabitants in the remote, sprawling reaches of the country.
In 1930, Gollings took an inventory of all his studio paintings and decided, foolhardily, to destroy those he was not fond of, with the intention of redoing them based upon his improved painting skills from years of practice. After his death, many of the remaining paintings were stored in Gollings' studio before being inventoried by his estate's executors. The present lot was designated #47 of this inventory and was originally sold at an estate auction for $60.00. "The Fear of the Great Spirit" has been kept in the same family since its initial purchase, and is fresh to market after quite some time.
We wish to thank Mr. Gary L. Temple for his kind assistance in cataloguing this lot. Mr. Temple owns and operates The Meadowlark Gallery in Joliet, Montana.