Hedley William Waycott Sold at Auction Prices

Hedley Williams Waycott, Illinois (1865 - 1938), untitled seascape, 1934., oil on canvas, 13 1/2"H x 19 1/2"W (sight), 25 1/4"H x 31 1/2"W (frame)

Hedley Williams Waycott Illinois, (1865 - 1938) untitled seascape, 1934. oil on canvas signed and dated lower left. From askART: Biography for Hedley William Waycott For thirty years in the early 1900s, Hedley William Waycott was Peoria, Illinois' best-loved painter. His name symbolized art in the city. He influenced several generations of Peoria artists and patrons, and his local and regional landscape paintings, primarily prepared in a loose American Impressionist style, were collected eagerly during his lifetime. Many still hang today in homes and offices in Peoria and around the country - "gifts of lasting beauty that enrich our lives," as local columnist F R. Oakley wrote. Waycott was born in 1865 in a small town on the southerly tip of the Cotswolds in southwestern England. He was apprenticed to a London jeweler in 1879 at the age of 14. In 1882, he immigrated to America, joining his father and three sisters who were already established in Peoria. Waycott was unable to find work as a jeweler and accepted a job at Newkirk & Pay, a shop that sold mirrors, pictures and frames. By 1894 the original owners had retired, and Waycott took over the business, renaming it Hedley W. Waycott & Co., "dealer in paintings, engravings and artist's supplies…china firing a specialty… manufacturer and gilder of picture frames." Waycott made his first painting soon after he married Louise McFadden in 1887. She was a china painter and a watercolorist. One Sunday afternoon, she was working on an oil painting of a cluster of yellow roses and asked Hedley to fill in the last rose. He was pleased with the result and decided to try a painting of his own. He had no formal training in painting (other than the rudimentary instruction every young child received in school), yet he had learned about composition and design and handling a brush as an apprentice in England, and he applied these principles to his experiments with oil painting. Some time later, Waycott put a completed painting in the art shop window and it quickly sold. In the early years, Waycott was more interested in encouraging other artists than making his own pictures. He advised beginners to buy modest, inexpensive equipment instead of the elaborate outfits he might have sold them. He told them that a palette of seven (even five or three) colors was enough for all practical purposes. In later years, he shared the techniques he had learned by trial and error in the classes he taught at the Peoria Art League and the Art Institute of Peoria. Throughout his life, Waycott was an inspiration to local artists. His shop was a rendezvous spot for artists. They stored their easels in the back room, and gathered after work to paint and to look at the artwork and frames at the shop. On Sundays, they set out from the shop on foot to paint on the hillsides and prairies nearby. Later they exhibited their work at the store. Waycott was a member of the Men's Sketch Club, which started about 1888. He helped form the Peoria Art League in 1894, when the Sketch Club decided to invite women artists to join them and changed the organization's name. He was president of the Art League from 1914 to 1923. He was active in the Peoria Society of Allied Arts, an umbrella organization uniting the Art League, the Peoria Women's Club art and literature department, Bradley University's manual arts department, and the city's association of commerce. It was formed in 1913 to unite the art interests of the city and to lobby for a city museum. Waycott exhibited in most of the League and Society shows for 40 years. By 1915 when a Men's Saturday Afternoon Sketch Club was started under the auspices of the Society, Waycott was looked upon as the dean of the group. In 1923 the Society and Peoria Art League joined together to form the Art Institute of Peoria and Waycott was elected a director of the new organization. In 1904, he closed his art shop, committing himself to painting. He would supplement his earnings for the next 34 years by making the distinguished frames his patrons had grown to admire. His frames were masterfully carved, decorative constructions, designed and finished to enhance a particular work of art. In 1910, he sent a painting of a wheat field in full top to the Palette and Chisel Club of Chicago and won entrance into the club. Later he became a member of the American Federation of Arts and the National Academy of Design. By the 1920s Waycott had developed a loyal following for his local scene paintings. He received carte blanche orders from customers. They would tell him to "make up a painting that costs so much…you choose the subject. Make what you like to fill such and such a place. Include my card, and ship it to such and such an address." His one-man show in Peoria in 1927 brought him further acclaim and record sales. When he announced that he would travel in the Midwest the following year to sketch and paint, his Peoria patrons commissioned him to sketch specific places along the route. In 1928 and 1931, he showed paintings in the Independent Artists' Society exhibitions in New York City. His oil painting The Snow Storm hung in the 109th National Academy of Design exhibition in New York in 1932. Later, his work appeared in exhibits in Chicago and in New Mexico. Waycott's works were shown almost every year in the late 1920s and 1930s. The exhibit of his oils and pastels in Peoria in 1932 was the most popular art show held in the city in over 30 years. His paintings hung in private collections throughout Central Illinois and in California, even India, as well as the Midwest and the East Coast. Today his works are prized today for their beauty and representation of the bluffs and streams characteristic of the Illinois River valley. In addition, they act as historical documents for their time. He made a living with his paintings - and frame making. Waycott learned early on what Peorians liked, and he gave it to them. "They prefer landscapes," he once said. "That's why I paint landscapes. I would prefer to make marines. But inland people don't want marines. They want subjects with which they have intimate contact. That's why I paint Peoria for them." The Peoria arts community was very active in the first 40 years of the 20th century, and Waycott played a central role in making it so. "Probably no other individual has contributed more to the rise and growth of art in our city," a reviewer wrote some years after Waycott's death in 1938. He created over 800 paintings, and his work has been handed on from one generation to the next, given as gifts, and sought-after at auctions. A Waycott collector said recently that the artist's paintings make him feel as though he could step right into the scene. Another added that they appeal to the sense of beauty he finds in nature.

Hedley Waycott (American, 1865-1938) "First Snow, Peoria, Illinois", oil on board, signed "Hedley Waycott 1932", inscribed title on ...

Hedley Waycott (American, 1865-1938) "First Snow, Peoria, Illinois", oil on board, signed "Hedley Waycott 1932", inscribed title on reverse, mounted in original Arts & Crafts custom frame, 9-1/4" x 12", framed 13-1/4" x 15-3/4", good original condition under glass

Hedley Williams Waycott (1865-1938) Oil on Board

Early fall landscape of rolling fields. Signed and dated Feb 25 -1930 lower right. Probable original carved and gilded frame. Appears in excellent condition; a few minor surface drip spots, etc. Waycott was active/lived in Illinois. 19" x 27" approx.; 24" x 32" frame.

Hedley Williams Waycott, Illinois (1865-1938), Rolling landscape, 1935, oil on board, 18 x 24 inches

Hedley Williams Waycott Illinois (1865-1938) Rolling landscape, 1935 oil on board signed and dated lower left, framed. The Clark Estate, Jacksonville, Illinois 18 x 24 inches

HEDLEY WAYCOTT, 1865-1938. Farm landscape with orange and red buildings amongst the trees.

HEDLEY WAYCOTT, 1865-1938. Farm landscape with orange and red buildings amongst the trees.

Hedley Williams Waycott, (American, 1865-1938), Haystacks, watercolor, 6.5" x 9.75"

Hedley Williams Waycott (American, 1865-1938) Haystacks watercolor signed lower left 6.5" x 9.75"

Hedley Williams Waycott, (American, 1865-1938), Autumn River, watercolor, 8" x 12"

Hedley Williams Waycott (American, 1865-1938) Autumn River watercolor signed lower right 8" x 12"

HEDLEY WAYCOTT OIL ON BOARD (Illinois, 1885-1938)

HEDLEY WAYCOTT OIL ON BOARD (Illinois, 1885-1938) Landscape with river and cattle crossing a bridge. Image measures 30" x 26", signed "Hedley Waycott" lower left. In a period wood frame.

Hedley Waycott, (American, 1865-1938), In the Marshes, 1934

Hedley Waycott (American, 1865-1938) In the Marshes, 1934 oil on canvas board signed Hedley Waycott and dated (lower left) 28 x 34 inches.

Hedley Waycott (IN) 17x21 O/B Red Barn, Landscape

Hedley Williams Waycott (IN, 1865-1938) 17.5 x 21.5 oil on board, signed lower left, dated 1935, Indiana Red Barn in a summer landscape

Framed pastel landscape with river & trees, signed

Framed pastel landscape with river & trees, signed lower left Hedley Waycott 1937, 14" x 16" overall.

***WAYCOTT HEADLY WILLIAM (1865-1938 American)

***WAYCOTT, HEADLY WILLIAM (1865-1938 American) Framed arts and crafts style triptych depicting sailboats in harbor, each panel framed oil on canvas, approximate total size with frame 39'' x 47'', signed center section lower left. CONDITION: Good.

Hedley Waycott (American, 1865-1938) Grist Mill on Spoon River, 1934 26 x 32in

Grist Mill on Spoon River, 1934 signed 'Hedley Waycott 1934' (lower left) oil on canvas 26 x 32in

HEDLEY WILLIAM WAYCOTT (American 1865-1938)

HEDLEY WILLIAM WAYCOTT (American, 1865-1938) EARLY FALL LANDSCAPE.Oil on board scene shows a fenced pasture with colorful trees and grasses under blue and white sky. Signed lower right and dated "1925". Housed in a molded wood gilt frame. SIZE: 25" x 35". CONDITION: Board is warped, otherwise very good. 9-90653

Hedley Waycott Oil Painting Landscape Arts Crafts

Hedley William Waycott (American, 1865-1938), Birch trees and road in landscape, oil on board?, image approx 32" x 26", signed lower left and dated 1930. Under glass and sealed in frame, nice arts and crafts frame. Very good condition.

Waycott '32 Oil Impressionist Landscape Haystacks

Hedley Williams Waycott (American, 1865-1938) Impressionist oil on canvas with haystacks. Signed and dated '32 lower left. 23 1/2" x 29". Waycott was a landscape painter from Peoria, IL. He was a member of the All-Illinois Society of Fine Artists and the Peoria Art institute.

Hedley William Waycott (American

Hedley William Waycott (American, 1865-1938), "Forest Stream", c. 1935; oil/board, 26" x 32", signed and dated. Waycott was a landscape painter from Peoria, IL. He was a member of the All-Illinois Society of Fine Artists and the Peoria Art institute. His work is in several public collections in Peoria.

Hedley William Waycott

Hedley William Waycott (American, 1865-1938), "Grist Mill on Spoon River (Bernadotte, Illinois)", c. 1934; oil/canvas laid down on board, 26" x 32", signed and dated. Waycott was a landscape painter from Peoria, IL. He was a member of the All-Illinois Society of Fine Artists and the Peoria Art institute. His work is in several public collections in Peoria.

Hedley Waycott (American, 1865-1938)

The Marshes Signed "HEDLEY WAYCOTT" l.l. Oil on board, 11 x 15 in. (27.8 x 38 cm), framed (under glass). Condition: Good.

Hedley Waycott (American, 1865-1938) The Road to the Mountains, Sunset. Signed l.r. Oil on board, 9 x 12 in., framed

Hedley William Waycott (American, 1865-1938), "Raven Landscape", c.1925; oil/board, 11" x 15",

signed. Waycott was a landscape painter from Peoria, IL. He was a member of the All-Illinois Society of Fine Artists and the Peoria Art institute. His work is in several public collections in Peoria.

Hedley William Waycott (American, 1865-1938), "Autumn Landscape", c.1925; watercolor/paper,

9" x 12", signed. Waycott was a landscape painter from Peoria, IL. He was a member of the All-Illinois Society of Fine Artists and the Peoria Art institute. His work is in several public collections in Peoria.

Hedley William Waycott (American, 1865-1938), "Haystacks", c. 1925; pastel/paper, 7" x 10", signed.

Waycott was a landscape painter from Peoria, IL. He was a member of the All-Illinois Society of Fine Artists and the Peoria Art institute. His work is in several public collections in Peoria.

Hedley William Waycott (American, 1865-1938), "Lake Michigan Dunes", c. 1934; oil/board, 26" x 32",

signed and dated; original artist carved frame. Waycott was a landscape painter from Peoria, IL. He was a member of the All-Illinois Society of Fine Artists and the Peoria Art Institute. His work is in several public collections in Peoria.