ROBERT SPENCER American, 1879-1931 "Tohickon Valley, Point Pleasant Pennsylvania", 1910 oil on canvas signed and dated lower right "Robert Spencer / 1910", titled and dated on the stretcher, inscribed on the stretcher "To my Friend / W.W. Gilchrist"
Robert Spencer (American, 1879-1931) - Life on the Quai Signed 'Robt Spencer' bottom right; also titled on old label affixed to side stretcher verso, oil on canvas 14 x 12 in. (35.6 x 30.5cm) Executed circa 1928. Provenance Property from the Estate of Angela Gross Folk, New Jersey.
Robert Spencer (American, 1879-1931) - Study for 'The Seed of Revolution' Signed 'Robert Spencer' bottom left; also pencil titled and inscribed with Artist's name on upper stretcher verso, and titled on old labels affixed to side stretcher verso, oil on canvas 12 x 14 in. (30.5 x 35.6cm) Executed circa 1928. Provenance Property from the Estate of Angela Gross Folk, New Jersey. Lot Essay The final composition, for which the present Lot is a study, is now housed at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.
Robert Spencer (American, 1879-1931) - Swimming Hole Signed ‘Robert Spencer’ bottom right; also signed and partially titled on upper stretcher verso, oil on canvas 24 ½ x 29 ½ in. (62.2 x 74.9cm) Executed circa 1925-6. Provenance Ferargil Galleries, New York, New York (per sticker verso). Private Collection, Maine. Exhibition “Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition,” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 31-November 1926, no. 189. Lot Essay Robert Spencer's paintings of Manayunk, a neighborhood situated along the Schuylkill River in northwestern Philadelphia, offer a glimpse into the artist's nuanced exploration of the region’s architecture, landscape, and life. The neighborhood, with its rich industrial history and working-class character, serves as the protagonist in the present work, Swimming Hole. Executed after Spencer relocated to nearby Bucks County in 1906, the painting captures the complexion of the neighborhood, which, in many ways, was emblematic of the broader industrial transformation occurring in early 20th-century Philadelphia. Socio-economic undercurrents come to the fore in works like Swimming Hole and reflect Spencer’s commitment to depicting not just urban realities but forms of recreation. Here, tenement homes comprise the upper two-thirds of the composition, conveying physical presence—and a sense of permanence—while also framing the foreground figures, who, under a summer sky, find relief in the cool waters of the canal. As poignant reflections on working-class life and the human condition, paintings like Swimming Hole are empathetic, universal narratives that, for all their local color, transcend the particulars of time and place. Through compact brushwork and a blend of both Impressionism and Ashcan Realism, Spencer captures the architectural nuances of these often-crowded dwellings, emphasizing the interconnected lives of their residents. His subdued yet evocative palette—giving way from the drabness of the buildings to more optimistic daubs of red and blue in the foreground—spotlight the struggles and the resilience within these communities. For Spencer, “a landscape without a building or a figure [was a] very lonely picture.” In Swimming Hole, the artist celebrates both; he explores social dynamics, economic disparities, and human stories embedded in the walls of these dwellings.
Robert Spencer (American, 1879-1931) Life on the Quai Signed 'Robt Spencer' bottom right; also titled on old label affixed to side stretcher verso, oil on canvas 14 x 12 in. (35.6 x 30.5cm) Executed circa 1928. Provenance Property from the Estate of Angela Gross Folk, New Jersey. The unlined canvas in excellent original condition with no sign of inpainting as seen under UV light. To request additional information or access to more images, please contact Specialist Raphael Chatroux at [email protected]. Frame: 20 x 18 x 2 1/2 in.
Robert Spencer (American, 1879-1931) Study for 'The Seed of Revolution' Signed 'Robert Spencer' bottom left; also pencil titled and inscribed with Artist's name on upper stretcher verso, and titled on old labels affixed to side stretcher verso, oil on canvas 12 x 14 in. (30.5 x 35.6cm) Executed circa 1928. Provenance Property from the Estate of Angela Gross Folk, New Jersey. Note The final composition, for which the present Lot is a study, is now housed at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. The unlined canvas in excellent original condition with no sign of inpainting as seen under UV light. To request additional information or access to more images, please contact Specialist Raphael Chatroux at [email protected]. Frame: 18 x 19 3/4 x 2 1/4 in.
Manayunk Canal Swimming, Philadelphia Tenements, ca 1920; oil on canvas, signed lower right. Housed in an ornate gilt cove frame with linen liner, OS: 32" x 37", SS: 24 1/2" x 29 1/2", untouched.
Robert Spencer (American, 1879–1931) The Silk Mill Signed 'Robert SPENCER' bottom left; also titled and signed on upper stretcher verso, and titled again on right stretcher verso, oil on canvas 30 x 36 in. (76.2 x 91.4cm) Executed circa 1912-1913. Provenance Private Collection, New York. Private Collection, Florida. Exhibited "Twenty-Sixth Annual Exhibition," Art Insitute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, November 14-December 25, 1913, no. 340. "Seventeenth Annual Exhibition," Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 24-June 30, 1913. "Eighty-Eighth Annual Exhibition," National Academy of Design, New York, New York, 1913 (awarded the Julius Hallgarten 2nd Prize). "Pennsylvania School of Landscape Painting: An Original American Impressionism," Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, Pennsylvania, September 16-November 25, 1984; also Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., December 14, 1984-February 10, 1985; and The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, March 2-May 5, 1985. "Robert Spencer: Impressionist of Working Class Life," New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, New Jersey, June 18-August 28, 1983, no. 8. "Robert Spencer: The Cities, The Towns, The Crowds," James A. MIchener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, June 5-September 19, 2004. Literature Thomas Folk, Robert Spencer: Impressionist of Working Class Life, an exhibition catalogue, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, 1983, no. 8 (illustrated on front cover). Thomas Folk, The Pennsylvania School of Landscape Painting: An Original American Impressionism, an exhibition catalogue, Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, 1984, p. 15, fig. 1:12 (illustrated). Brian H. Peterson, Robert Spencer: The Cities, The Towns, The Crowds, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 2004, p. 36, plate 6 (illustrated). Note Unlike his fellow members of the New Hope School who devoted all their attention to the pastoral landscape of Bucks County, which they often immortalized on their canvases void of any human presence, Robert Spencer dedicated much of his career to portray the local working class and the nearby mills, factories, and warehouses in which they were employed. This choice of subject matter most likely comes from Spencer’s early studying years at the New York School of Art, where he was influenced by Robert Henri, a leader of the so-called Ashcan School, which counted William Glackens, George Luks and John Sloan among its ranks and who extensively depicted the lower classes of New York City. Through his impressionistic touch and brighter palette however, Spencer revealed the inherent charm and beauty of the workers' quotidien. Under his brush, the subject did not appear vulgar, dirty or unsightly. That is because Spencer did not aim at producing political canvases, nor did he necessarily relate with the tedious, and sometimes precarious aspects of the workers’ daily lives, thus avoiding unecessary pathos. Instead, the artist preferred to focus on the integration of the figures within the landscape, and remained particularly interested in the surrounding buildings. According to art critic Charles Burr Todd in The Philadelphia Record (1916), Robert Spencer aimed “to present (…) the beautiful side of the operatives’ life, the lyrical rather than the tragical.” The present painting is an important canvas by Robert Spencer. It was executed in 1913, a crucial period in the artist’s career–“the best year of his life as a painter” according to Brian Peterson, who lists The Silk Mill as one of at least seven major canvases he produced that decade. That same year, Spencer’s Repairing the Bridge was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and he won one of the gold medals at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition for The Closing Hour. The Silk Mill belongs to a series of important paintings depicting local mills, such as Five O’Clock, Grey Mills and One O’Clock (which won an honorable mention at the Art Club of Philadelphia). Todd described our work as “a greyer version of the graver side of the mill operative’s life. It is pay day and they are comparing envelopes and devising ways and means to make both ends meet with the weekly wage.” Although Spencer would later create completely imagined landscapes drawn from the artist’s own fantasies, the work depicts an actual building in Bucks County, which regularly appears in Spencer’s oeuvre: the William Maris Mill, built around 1813 and originally intended as a cotton yarn, until Simpson Company converted it into a silk mill in 1896. Here, the mill serves as the backdrop of the scene. With its imposing height (five stories high with two stone chimneys) and size (fifty feet wide and one hundred feet deep), the building completely blocks the horizon and dwarfs the local workers at the bottom. Its large gabled roof, partly in the shadows, conveys a menacing, almost ominous feel to the scene, as if the architecture itself acted as a visual representation of the workers’ plight and possible exploitation. All gathered around the gray building, which gives the work its overall grayish palette, they remain anonymous figures, without any individual trait or discernable expressions–they are small dots of color about to be swallowed by the immense factory. Yet, the dappled surface of the canvas caused by the rapid handling of the paint enlivens the composition, which is not entirely monochromatic but rather dotted by subtle variations of color throughout (turquoise, yellow, red and green hues). The presence of the trees at upper left and right (the only hint at a mere perspective), as well as the sliver of bright blue sky across the top of the canvas, help extend the space. Ultimately, they also bring hope and contrast the social commentary of the subject matter, thus reminding the viewer that above all, “it is the human side that interests” the artist, the life and the movement suggested by the mill's activity, which remains the sole subject of the painting.
Robert Spencer (American, 1879–1931) Harlem River Signed 'Robert Spencer' bottom right; also titled (twice) on the left stretcher verso, oil on canvas 20 1/4 x 24 1/8 in.(51.4 x 61.3cm) Executed circa 1924-25. Provenance Collection of Philip and Dianna Betsch, Pennsylvania. Jim's of Lambertville, Lambertville, New Jersey. Acquired directly from the above. The Papageorge Family Collection, Carversville, Pennsylvania. Literature Thomas Folk, The Pennsylvania Impressionists, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, Madison; and Associated University Press, London, 1997, plate 33 (illustrated). James M. Alterman, New Hope for American Art, Jim's of Lambertville, Lambertville, 2005, p. 524 (illustrated as from the "Collection of the retired CEO of a New York lending institution, Bucks County, Pennsylvania). Brian H. Peterson, Robert Spencer: The Cities, The Towns, The Crowds, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 2004, p. 9737, plate 37 (illustrated). Note Robert Spencer's career in the early 1910s was characterized by a vast production of works featuring mill scenes set in the bucolic region near his home of New Hope, Pennsylvania. Following this decade, Robert Spencer started to venture outside of his adopted Bucks County, and his attention shifted towards New York City’s rivers and harbors. The present work is staged along the titular Harlem River, a view which many artists before Spencer were inspired to depict. Contrary to an Ernest Lawson, however, Spencer does not set his easel in the more rural parts of the riverflow, but instead in the middle of an urban setting, close to the bustling city itself, where he was able to simultaneously record the day-to-day life of the working class. The artist himself confessed: “It is the human side that interests me...a landscape without a building or a figure is a very lonely picture to me. I love the cities, the towns–the crowds...." With its signature detailed, tight brushwork and overall flat effect (almost fresco-like), Spencer captures the vitality of the dock, and achieves a harmonious integration of the workers within their landscape. Contrary to his contemporary Ashcan colleagues, he uses a bright palette (which includes yellow, purple, green, blue, red and brown) more so characteristic of his 1920s productions, to enliven the scene, which in turn conveys a dynamic, almost joyous, atmosphere that belies the harsh context. The work was indeed created at the turn of the Great Depression, as shown by the shanty boat at center, which contrasts with the richer schooner on the other bend. In leaving Bucks County, Spencer strove to reveal the beauty within more unexpected places–a radical approach compared to that of his mentor and friend, Daniel Garber, who preferred to erase any reference to urbanization and industrialization from his canvases. According to Brian Peterson, “by focusing so intensely and realistically on the seamier, less obviously beautiful side of life,” Spencer probably reacted “against the sentimental and utopian tendencies that captivated so many other painters of his day.” However, he did so without ridicule or sarcasm, and far away from the journalistic approach that Ashcan artists adopted at the turn of the century, which either echoed pre-Depression blues or forced the viewer's compassion. Spencer’s approach to workers is the most sincere: familiar yet distant. Harlem River features several of them carrying their heavy shift at left. None are stopping, whether to look at us, to pose or to rest; life is happening and they are simply part of a larger city scene depicted without any artifice or sentimentalism.
Robert Spencer (American, 1879–1931) The Stone Mill Signed and dated ‘ROBERT SPENCER -1909’ bottom right; also titled and dated on the upper stretcher verso, oil on canvas 20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61cm) Provenance Collection of C.F. Haseltine (per original label verso). Thomas Colville Fine Art, New York, New York. Acquired directly from the above. The Papageorge Family Collection, Carversville, Pennsylvania. Literature Art of Imagination and Enduring Quality, Thomas Colville Fine Art, New York, 1989, pp. 26-27 (illustrated). Note Robert Spencer arrived in Pennsylvania in 1906 and settled in various villages along the Delaware Valley. He was first acquainted with Edward Redfield, who had a studio in Point Pleasant near Spencer’s home. Although Redfield had already gained a stature within the community as well as on a national level, Spencer never became close friends with the Father of Pennsylvania Impressionism, and did not necessarily adopt his style of painting either. However, he would make strong ties with the other leader of the group, William L. Lathrop, whose tonal ranges may have influenced Spencer’s early works such as the present one. As Thomas Folk states however, “no artist had a greater influence on Spencer’s style” than Daniel Garber, whom the artist met in the summer of 1909, the year our painting was executed. At that time, Spencer not only studied with Garber at his home and studio in Cuttalossa Creek, near Lumberville, but he also lived with him and his family. Albeit an early example from the artist’s oeuvre, The Stone Mill already combines the hallmarks of Spencer’s later celebrated style: an old mill sits by the river, nestled in the hills and sheltered by bare trees. The only access to it is a dirt road, on which figures walk, and that helps guide the viewer’s eye towards the central building–the true subject of the painting. As Brian Peterson states: “this is not a grand moment greatly conceived, but a humble, everyday scene that is also oddly beautiful.” Spencer’s Garber-like fragmented, precise brushwork is at play in The Stone Mill, which stands as a jewel of harmonious pale, pastel-like colors. Through this camaieu of blues, grays and purples, which are alternatively used for the hills, the river or the figures approaching the mill, Spencer blends together all elements (building, landscape and figures), hereby showing the vital link, and interdependent relationship between nature, humans and their daily activities.
Property from the Estate of Angela Gross Folk Robert Spencer 1879 - 1931 The Canal signed Robert Spencer (lower right) oil on canvas 31 by 36 in. 78.7 by 91.4 cm.
Robert Spencer (American, 1879–1931) Study for Mob Vengeance Signed 'Robert Spencer' bottom right, oil on canvas 12 x 14 in. (30.5 x 35.6cm) Executed circa 1930. Provenance Private Collection, Florida. Exhibited New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, New Jersey, n.d. Note Robert Spencer is often credited for being the more social of the Pennsylvania Impressionists, not only conscious of the working class' daily activities and struggles, but also willing to show it on canvas. While his earlier works touched on the reality of their laborious life through depictions of working mills and realistic activities such as huckster's visits in carts, or workers walking home at the end of their shifts, we note that Spencer gradually started to paint imaginary events towards the end of his career. In a letter to Duncan Phillips in 1926, he described a tormented creative process by explaining the need to create a vision before painting it as if it were real, the painting thus becoming "imagination solidified." This shift in his career is not surprising since Spencer was already familiar with depicting real-looking places filled with inhabitants during his time in Europe, without necessarily having been there, or looking like a specific town. According to scholar Brian H. Peterson, applied to his figure paintings, such a philosophy meant that Spencer started to imagine events that never really occurred, yet seemed realistic, and to an extent imply an allegorical approach, and "gave him an outlet for a bit of a sly commentary on his less-than-perfect marriage" to Margaret Fulton Spencer. It is in this light that, according to Peterson, Mob Vengeance and the present study for the final work, should be analyzed, thus comparing it to Happy Family and Alarm Clock. Seeking an exact resemblance between the Spencers and the figures depicted in the oil might be hazardous. However, one can argue that the tempestuous relationship between the artist and his wife, as well the overall depressive personality of Spencer (who would commit suicide less than a year after executing the present study) can perhaps explain the genesis of such a body of works. At any rate, they betray Spencer's sardonic humor and self-deprecation. In the end, the artist -who never really identified with his models and considered himself a "patrician"- surely wanted to keep the meaning of such social allegories enigmatic, the real truth being known to him only. The unlined canvas in excellent original condition, with no sign of inpainting as seen under UV light. Frame: 19 x 20 3/4 x 1 1/8 in. To request additional information, please email Raphaël Chatroux at [email protected]
Robert Spencer (American, 1879–1931) Courtyard at Noon Signed 'Robert Spencer' bottom right, oil on canvas 20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61cm) Provenance Private Collection, Michigan. Note After spending most of the first decade of the 20th century in Bucks County, and along the Delaware River, Robert Spencer shifted his attention to other settings, New York City's docks and harbors for example, but also further away, in Europe, where he depicted their canals, bridges, towns and houses. Despite its very Italian theme, the present work was likely executed in America, near Bucks County, and before the artist's trip to Europe. It belongs to a series of several canvases (at least three) centered on an open courtyard at various hours of the day, from dawn to dusk, and featuring the daily activities of its inhabitants (see -with varying details- Courtyard at Dusk, 1913, from Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California; and The Courtyard, circa 1916 at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, Tennessee). Courtyard at Noon is probably the quietest of the series, as it only features three figures (all women) in the titular courtyard. Gathered in a corner, they appear to enjoy a break from their chores, while the men are likely out working. Executed in a limited palette of salmon pinks, turquoise blues and grey, the work still is charged with the brightness of the midday sun, which conveys a relaxed, and cheerful atmosphere to the scene. The dappled brushwork has a strong impressionistic feel to it, which suggests the artist worked on the spot, quickly before the sun's course moved too quickly. It also echoes the palpable excitement of Spencer, who according to Brian H. Peterson "had fallen in love with a real place that he tried to depict realistically, even though he almost certainly changed elements of the scene to enhance its picturesqueness." Beyond Spencer's painstaking attention to detail in this canvas, the picture also charms by its evident appreciation for the poetry of a modest yet distinctive building, which witnesses the many lifes of the people who live there. True to the artist's education at the National Academy of Design, the painting also recalls the many courtyard scenes of 17th century Dutch painter Pieter de Hooch, from whom Spencer seems to have borrowed the vision of a domestic simplicity, and tranquility. The unlined canvas in excellent original condition. Examination under UV light does not reveal any sign of inpainting. Frame: 27 1/4 x 31 1/4 x 2 in. To request additional information, please email Raphaël Chatroux at [email protected]
Robert Spencer (1879-1931) The Two Mills signed 'Robert Spencer.' (lower left) and inscribed with title and signed again (on the stretcher) oil on canvas 30 1/8 x 25 1/8 in. (76.5 x 63.8 cm.) Painted circa 1911. For further information on this lot please visit the Bonhams website
ARTIST: Robert Spencer (Pennsylvania, Nebraska, 1879 - 1931) NAME: Spanish Girl (titled on stretcher) MEDIUM: oil on canvas CONDITION: Very good. No visible inpaint under UV light. SIGHT SIZE: 14 x 12 inches / 35 x 30 cm FRAME SIZE: 19 x 17 inches / 48 x 43 cm SIGNATURE: lower right and on stretcher PROVENANCE: Wollheims Rosequist Galleries AZ (has gallery label on verso) SKU#: 118345 US Shipping $49 + insurance. BIOGRAPHY: Robert Spencer was born in 1879 in Nebraska, the son of a Swedenborgian minister. After studying medicine briefly, he decided to become an artist and moved to New York City, where he enrolled at the National Academy of Design. Later he studied with William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri at the New York School of Art. He moved to New Hope, Bucks County in 1906, and studied privately with the well-known Bucks County painter Daniel Garber.It was at the home of painter William L. Lathrop that Spencer met his future wife, Margaret Fulton, herself an accomplished architect. For the next 25 years Spencer lived and worked in Bucks County, becoming one of the most prominent members of the Pennsylvania Impressionist art colony. He suffered several nervous breakdowns in the 1920s, and in 1931 took his own life.Spencer became one of the most visible artists in the New York art world in the teens. His first success came in 1914, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased one of his major early canvases, "Repairing the Bridge". The celebrated collector Duncan Phillips then took an interest in Spencer's work, eventually purchasing eight of Spencer's canvases, currently housed in the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. The two men became friends, and Phillips appointed Spencer to the Committee on Scope and Plan of the new gallery then being created by Phillips. After Spencer's death, Phillips praised Spencer as "a rebel always against the standardized and stereotyped in art." Phillips believed that "there [was] no other painter, not John Sloan or Edward Hopper, more pungently American in expression."Spencer also has work in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Carnegie Institute, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Detroit Institute of the Arts. In 1915, he won a gold medal at the prestigious Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Stylistically, Spencer differed radically from most of his Pennsylvania Impressionist colleagues. Probably influenced by Henri and the Ashcan School, Spencer made his reputation with skillful, evocative renderings of the everyday life of his community, often depicting the mills, tenements, and factories of New Hope and surrounding areas. "A landscape without a building or a figure, " he said, " is a very lonely picture to me." Later Spencer painted more fanciful European scenes, many of which he did from his imagination, since he did not actually travel to Europe until 1925. Spencer's painting "Mountebanks and Thieves" won a prize at the 1926 Carnegie International Exhibition in Pittsburgh, and juror Pierre Bonnard said, "Mr. Spencer is in the full vigor of his talent which is great. His art does not resemble European art, a rare fact in America."
ARTIST: Robert Spencer (Pennsylvania, Nebraska, 1879 - 1931) NAME: Spanish Girl (titled on stretcher) MEDIUM: oil on canvas CONDITION: Very good. No visible inpaint under UV light. SIGHT SIZE: 14 x 12 inches / 35 x 30 cm FRAME SIZE: 19 x 17 inches / 48 x 43 cm SIGNATURE: lower right and on stretcher PROVENANCE: Wollheims Rosequist Galleries AZ (has gallery label on verso) SKU#: 118345 US Shipping $49 + insurance. BIOGRAPHY: Robert Spencer was born in 1879 in Nebraska, the son of a Swedenborgian minister. After studying medicine briefly, he decided to become an artist and moved to New York City, where he enrolled at the National Academy of Design. Later he studied with William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri at the New York School of Art. He moved to New Hope, Bucks County in 1906, and studied privately with the well-known Bucks County painter Daniel Garber.It was at the home of painter William L. Lathrop that Spencer met his future wife, Margaret Fulton, herself an accomplished architect. For the next 25 years Spencer lived and worked in Bucks County, becoming one of the most prominent members of the Pennsylvania Impressionist art colony. He suffered several nervous breakdowns in the 1920s, and in 1931 took his own life.Spencer became one of the most visible artists in the New York art world in the teens. His first success came in 1914, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased one of his major early canvases, "Repairing the Bridge". The celebrated collector Duncan Phillips then took an interest in Spencer's work, eventually purchasing eight of Spencer's canvases, currently housed in the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. The two men became friends, and Phillips appointed Spencer to the Committee on Scope and Plan of the new gallery then being created by Phillips. After Spencer's death, Phillips praised Spencer as "a rebel always against the standardized and stereotyped in art." Phillips believed that "there [was] no other painter, not John Sloan or Edward Hopper, more pungently American in expression."Spencer also has work in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Carnegie Institute, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Detroit Institute of the Arts. In 1915, he won a gold medal at the prestigious Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Stylistically, Spencer differed radically from most of his Pennsylvania Impressionist colleagues. Probably influenced by Henri and the Ashcan School, Spencer made his reputation with skillful, evocative renderings of the everyday life of his community, often depicting the mills, tenements, and factories of New Hope and surrounding areas. "A landscape without a building or a figure, " he said, " is a very lonely picture to me." Later Spencer painted more fanciful European scenes, many of which he did from his imagination, since he did not actually travel to Europe until 1925. Spencer's painting "Mountebanks and Thieves" won a prize at the 1926 Carnegie International Exhibition in Pittsburgh, and juror Pierre Bonnard said, "Mr. Spencer is in the full vigor of his talent which is great. His art does not resemble European art, a rare fact in America."
ARTIST: Robert Spencer (Pennsylvania, Nebraska, 1879 - 1931) NAME: Spanish Girl (titled on stretcher) MEDIUM: oil on canvas CONDITION: Very good. No visible inpaint under UV light. SIGHT SIZE: 14 x 12 inches / 35 x 30 cm FRAME SIZE: 19 x 17 inches / 48 x 43 cm SIGNATURE: lower right and on stretcher PROVENANCE: Wollheims Rosequist Galleries AZ (has gallery label on verso) SKU#: 118345 US Shipping $49 + insurance. BIOGRAPHY: Robert Spencer was born in 1879 in Nebraska, the son of a Swedenborgian minister. After studying medicine briefly, he decided to become an artist and moved to New York City, where he enrolled at the National Academy of Design. Later he studied with William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri at the New York School of Art. He moved to New Hope, Bucks County in 1906, and studied privately with the well-known Bucks County painter Daniel Garber.It was at the home of painter William L. Lathrop that Spencer met his future wife, Margaret Fulton, herself an accomplished architect. For the next 25 years Spencer lived and worked in Bucks County, becoming one of the most prominent members of the Pennsylvania Impressionist art colony. He suffered several nervous breakdowns in the 1920s, and in 1931 took his own life.Spencer became one of the most visible artists in the New York art world in the teens. His first success came in 1914, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased one of his major early canvases, "Repairing the Bridge". The celebrated collector Duncan Phillips then took an interest in Spencer's work, eventually purchasing eight of Spencer's canvases, currently housed in the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. The two men became friends, and Phillips appointed Spencer to the Committee on Scope and Plan of the new gallery then being created by Phillips. After Spencer's death, Phillips praised Spencer as "a rebel always against the standardized and stereotyped in art." Phillips believed that "there [was] no other painter, not John Sloan or Edward Hopper, more pungently American in expression."Spencer also has work in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Carnegie Institute, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Detroit Institute of the Arts. In 1915, he won a gold medal at the prestigious Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Stylistically, Spencer differed radically from most of his Pennsylvania Impressionist colleagues. Probably influenced by Henri and the Ashcan School, Spencer made his reputation with skillful, evocative renderings of the everyday life of his community, often depicting the mills, tenements, and factories of New Hope and surrounding areas. "A landscape without a building or a figure, " he said, " is a very lonely picture to me." Later Spencer painted more fanciful European scenes, many of which he did from his imagination, since he did not actually travel to Europe until 1925. Spencer's painting "Mountebanks and Thieves" won a prize at the 1926 Carnegie International Exhibition in Pittsburgh, and juror Pierre Bonnard said, "Mr. Spencer is in the full vigor of his talent which is great. His art does not resemble European art, a rare fact in America."
"Spanish Girl", oil on canvas, signed lower right, titled verso, depicting a woman in nightdress seated on her bed, in a gilt molded frame with linen liner, OS: 19 1/2" x 17 1/2", SS: 13" x 11". Good condition.
Robert Spencer (American, 1879–1931) The Old City Signed 'Robert Spencer' bottom right, oil on canvas 12 x 14 in. (30.5 x 35.6cm). Executed circa 1924 (per inscription verso). provenance: Bianco Galleries, Buckingham, Pennsylvania. Acquired directly from the above. Private Collection, New Hope, Pennsylvania.
Robert Spencer (American, 1879-1931) Man Along a Canal Signed and dated 'Robert Spencer/1910' bottom right, oil on canvas 12 x 16 in. (30.5 x 40.6cm). In an Arthur Meltzer frame. provenance: Alderfer Auction, Hatfield, sale of September 13, 2006, lot 3405. Acquired directly from the above sale. Private Collection, New Jersey.
Robert Spencer (American, 1879-1931) Boating Party Oil on canvas 25 x 30 inches (63.5 x 76.2 cm) Signed lower left: Robert Spencer PROVENANCE: Constantine "Gene" Mako, Tennis Hall of Famer and Gallerist, California; Stolen from the above, 1995; Recovered by Art Recovery International and the Los Angeles Police Department, 2019. EXHIBITED: James A. Michener Museum of Art, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, "Robert Spencer: The Cities, The Towns, The Crowds," June 5-September 19, 2004. HID01801242017
Robert Spencer American, 1879-1931 Pennsylvania Farm House, 1919 Signed Robert Spencer. (lr); signed Robert Spencer., dated Feb. 28, 1919., inscribed as titled, and further inscribed To my friend John Suster's son - Bart Suster in memory of a fine visit from his father, John. Oil on canvas 12 x 14 inches (30.5 x 35.6 cm) C Estate of Laura M. Mako
Robert Spencer (American, 1879–1931) Canal Bridge (New Hope, Pennsylvania) Signed 'Robert Spencer' bottom right, oil on canvas 12 x 14 in. (30.5 x 35.6cm) provenance: Private Collection, California.
Robert Spencer (American, 1879–1931) Tohickon Valley, Point Pleasant, Pennsylvania Signed and dated 'Robert Spencer/1910' bottom center right; also titled, dated and dedicated 'To my friend/W.W. Gilchrist' on upper stretcher verso, oil on canvas 25 x 30 in. (63.5 x 76.2cm) provenance: W.W. Gilchrist. Christie's, New York, sale of September 30, 1988, lot 312. Acquired directly from the above sale. Private Collection, New Jersey. Freeman's, Philadelphia, sale of December 8, 2013, lot 160. Acquired directly from the above sale. Private Collection, New York. exhibited: "Robert Spencer: The Cities, The Towns, The Crowds," James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, June 5-September 19, 2004. LITERATURE Brian H. Peterson, Robert Spencer: The Cities, The Towns, The Crowds, James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown; and University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2004, plate 4, p. 31 (illustrated).
Titled on Rosequist Galleries, Tucson, Arizona label affixed to stretcher. Canvas stenciled "Toiles & Colours /Lucien Lefebvre Foinet Paris." Robert Spencer, who from 1906 until his death lived and painted in Bucks County, became one of the most prominent members of the Pennsylvania Impressionist Art Colony. Later in his life, he is known to have painted fanciful European scenes from his imagination. Artist: ROBERT SPENCER (American, 1879-1931) Condition: Very good.Frame: Period carved giltwood frameMedium: Oil on canvasSignature: Signed lower right "Robt Spencer"Title: "FEUDAL"Work Size: 12" x 14" Condition: Dimensions: Framed: 20 -1/2" x 18 -3/4" x 3".
ROBERT SPENCER American (1879-1931) A Field in France oil on canvas, signed lower left "Robt Spencer" 12 x 14 inches Provenance: David David Art Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Private Collection, Pennsylvania. Other Notes: Tags: Oil Painting, European, French, Landscape, listed artist
ROBERT SPENCER (american 1879–1931) "NIGHT LIFE" Signed 'Robert Spencer' bottom right; also inscribed with artist and title on stretcher verso, oil on canvas 14 x 12 in. (35.6 x 30.5cm) Executed in 1931. provenance: Jim's of Lambertville, Lambertville, New Jersey. Acquired directly from the above in 1999. Collection of Bonnie O'Boyle, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. EXHIBITED: "Earth, River and Light: Masterworks of Pennsylvania Impressionism," James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, September 21-December 29, 2002; and Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, Connecticut, June 28-September 28, 2003 (traveling exhibition). "Robert Spencer: The Cities, The Towns, The Crowds: The Paintings of Robert Spencer," James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, June 5-September, 2004. "The Painterly Voice: Bucks County's Fertile Ground," James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, October 22, 2011-April 1, 2012. LITERATURE: Brian H. Peterson, Pennsylvania Impressionism, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002, p. 266, plate 184 (illustrated). Brian H. Peterson, Robert Spencer: The Cities, The Towns, The Crowds, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2004, p. 97, plate 58 (illustrated). NOTE: In stark contrast to the large-scale pictures of buildings he produced earlier in his career, Spencer turned to small, intimate images of people caught in their domestic life in the late 1920s. Most of these vignettes feature women hanging clothes or bathing by a river, but some go beyond ordinary life in Bucks County, and depict informal street scenes inspired by the artist's last trip to Europe in 1929. Of the present work, Brian H. Peterson says: "Perhaps the most haunting of these scenes is "Night Life," which depicts two ladies of the evening greeting their clients in a dimly lit Parisian doorway with what appears to be an elderly 'madam' looking on. The heavy makeup, harsh light from a single overhead bulb and Spencer's strange, angular drawing style combine to give the two prostitutes an inhuman, animal-like quality. The sinister atmosphere is enhanced by the nearly faceless rendering of the men and the expressionless, almost skull-like head of the elderly woman. Spencer made this picture at most a few months before he killed himself, and one can't help but wonder if its dark tone reflects his mood at the time."
ROBERT SPENCER (1879-1931) The Crossroads signed and dated ‘Robert Spencer. / 1909.’ (lower left), signed and dated again and inscribed with title (on the stretcher) oil on canvas 25 1/8 x 30 1/8in Painted in 1909.
ROBERT SPENCER (american 1879-1931) "COLLECTORS" Signed 'Robt Spencer' bottom left; also inscribed with title and artist on upper stretcher verso, oil on canvas Executed in 1929. 12 1/8 x 14 1/8 in. (30.8 x 35.9cm) provenance: The Artist. The Estate of the Artist. David David Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Private Collection, New Jersey. exhibited: "Robert Spencer, The Cities, The Towns, The Crowds," James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, June 5-September 19, 2004, no. 64 (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue).
ROBERT SPENCER (american 1879-1931) "THE GRAY HOUSE" Signed and dated 'Robert Spencer 1910' bottom right; also inscribed with date, title and artist on upper stretcher verso, oil on canvas 25 1/8 x 30 1/8 in. (63.8 x 76.5cm) In a Harer frame. provenance: Bianco Gallery, Buckingham, Pennsylvania. Private Collection, Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Freeman's, Philadelphia sale of December 5, 2004, lot 125. Acquired directly from the above sale. Private Collection, New Jersey. exhibited: "Annual Exhibition," National Academy of Design, New York, New York, 1911. "International Exhibition," Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1912. "Annual Exhibition," Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1912, no. 725. "The Pennsylvania School of Landscape Painting - An Original American Impressionism," Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, Pennsylvania, September 16-November 25, 1984 (illustrated p. 67 in the exhibition catalogue); and The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., December 14, 1984-February, 1985; and The Westmoreland Museum of Art, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, March 2-May 5, 1985 (traveling exhibition).
Oil on canvas. Housed in a giltwood frame. Signed lower right "Robt Spencer" SIZE: 25" x 30". Overall: 29" x 34". CONDITION: Minor surface grime with several areas of restoration and stretcher marks. 52099-40
ROBERT SPENCER (american 1879-1931) "MEADOWLAND" Signed ''Robert Spencer'' bottom right; also signed and inscribed with title on upper stretcher verso, oil on canvas 12 x 14 in. (30.5 x 35.6cm) In a Harer frame with incised signature ''HARER''. provenance: Private Collection, New Jersey.
ROBERT SPENCER (american 1879-1931) "FLOTSAM" Signed ''Robert Spencer'' bottom right; also signed and inscribed with title verso, oil on canvas 30 x 26 in. (76.2 x 66cm) provenance: Purchased from the Spencer family (per label verso). Private Collection, New Jersey.
ROBERT SPENCER (american 1879-1931) "THE BERRY PICKERS" Signed ''Robert Spencer'' bottom right; also inscribed with artist and title on stretcher verso, oil on canvas 12 x 14 in. (30.5 x 35.6cm) provenance: Christie''s East, New York, sale of October 4, 2000, lot 76. Debra Force Fine Art, New York, New York. Private Collection, Pennsylvania.
ROBERT SPENCER (american 1879-1931)/span "WATERSIDE" Signed 'Robt Spencer' bottom right; also inscribed with artist and title verso, oil on canvas 25 x 30 in. (63.5 x 76.2cm) provenance: /spanHollis Taggart Galleries, New York, New York. Acquired from the above. Private Collection, New Jersey. note:/span While his style was influenced by and honed alongside other Pennsylvania Impressionists such as Daniel Garber and William Langson Lathrop, whose work was frequently of rural settings, Robert Spencer often uniquely depicted imagery of laborers, factories, and other urban settings. Similarly to Garber, Spencer was interested in figurative painting, but instead of painting familiar individuals, he often preferred to depict anonymous members of a crowd. He once said, "it is the human side that interests me...a landscape without a building or a figure is a very lonely picture to me. I love the cities, the towns--the crowds....It is a curious contradiction that I live in the country". The present painting is an excellent example of the artist's statement above, with its dynamic groupings of people on the dock of a harbor. Spencer also favored more subdued tones and employed a bolder, looser style of brushwork and patterning than some of his contemporaries. His color palette, as seen in the present lot, utilizes a range of cold and warm gray and brown tones, while blending blues, reds, and violets to fashion subtle synchronization of color.
ROBERT SPENCER (american 1879-1931)/span "THE LITTLE VILLAGE" Signed 'Robert Spencer' bottom right, oil on canvas 30 x 36 in. (76.2 x 91.4cm) In a Bernard Badura frame incised 'BB' and inscribed 'Frame by "Badura" New Hope, Pa' provenance: /spanJim's of Lambertville, Lambertville, New Jersey. Avery Galleries, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Private Collection, Pennsylvania. exhibited:/span Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1920. Group Exhibition with William Lathrop, Joseph T. Pearson, Jr., and Daniel Garber, Milch Gallery, New York, New York, February, 1921. International Exhibition, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1922. Group Exhibition with Henry Golden Dearth and Daphne Dunbar, New York, New York, May 1923. Solo Exhibition, Milwaukee Art Institute, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1925. literature:/span International Studio Magazine, "Spencer and Romance", March 1923, p. 490 (illustrated).
''Note of the City, No 2'', City view with church spire, signed lower right: Robt. Spencer., signed again and titled on the stretcher, oil on canvas, 12'' H x 14'' W, est: $10,000/15,000.
Oil on board Housed in a wood frame with white liner Signed lower left "Robert Spencer" SIZE: 8" x 10". Overall: 14-1/2" x 16-1/2" CONDITION: Very good 9-92026
ROBERT SPENCER (american 1879-1931)/span "STORMY BEACH" Signed indistinctly in pencil bottom left; titled verso, oil on canvas 12 x 14 in. (30.5 x 35.6cm) provenance: /spanButterfield's San Francisco. December 12, 1995, lot 4832. Private Collection, Pennsylvania.
ROBERT SPENCER (american 1879-1931)/span "TOHICKON VALLEY, POINT PLEASANT PENNSYLVANIA" Signed and dated 'Robert Spencer 1910' bottom center right; also titled, dated and inscribed 'To My Friend W.W. Gilchrist' verso, oil on canvas 25 x 30 in. (63.5 x 76.2cm) provenance: /spanW.W. Gilchrist. 'American Watercolors, Drawings, Paintings and Sculpture.' Christie's, New York. September 30, 1988, lot 312. Private Collection, New Jersey. exhibited:/span "Robert Spencer: The Cities, The Towns, The Crowds." The James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania. June 5 - September 19, 2004.
ROBERT SPENCER (american 1879-1931)/span "THE GRAY HOUSE" Signed and dated 'Robert Spencer 1910' bottom right, inscribed on stretcher verso oil on canvas, in a Harer frame with incised signature 'HARER' verso 25 x 30 in. (63.5 x 76.2cm) provenance: /spanBianco Gallery, Buckingham, Pennsylvania. Private Collection, Doylestown. Freeman's sale of Fine American & European Paintings & Sculpture, December 5th 2004, lot 125. Acquired at the above sale by the present owner. Private Collection, New Jersey. exhibited:/span National Academy of Design, New York, NY, Annual Exhibition, 1911. Carnegie Institute's International Exhibition, Pittsburgh, PA, 1912. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Annual Exhibition, 1912, Cat. No. 725. Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA, 'The Pennsylvania School of Landscape Painting - An Original American Impressionism', September 16 - November 25, 1984. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, December 14, 1984 - February, 1985. Westmoreland Museum of Art, Greensburg, PA, March 2 -May 5, 1985. literature:/span Thomas Folk, The Pennsylvania School of Landscape Painting - An Original American Impressionism Allentown Art Museum, 1984, pg. 67 (illustrated).
Robert Spencer, 1879 - 1931, New Hope, Pennsylvania,, oil on canvas, Waterloo Row, 25" x 30", signed on reverse: "Robert Spencer", c 1917-1918, reproduction frame, This painting is in excellent condition. It has been cleaned and varnished.
Painting attributed to Robert Spencer (Pennsylvania, 1879-1931), woodland landscape, signed lower right "Robert Spencer", inscribed verso "#115 Spencer...", oil on canvas board, 18-1/8 x 23-3/4 in.; carved painted wood frame. Yellowed varnish, some lifting from board; frame with abrasions. Private Collection, Brevard, North Carolina
