An unpublished Alice Neel portrait will headline a Dec. 10 fine art sale in Hatfield, according to Alderfer’s announcement. The auction house estimates its value at $200,000 to $300,000.
The auction house maintains a satellite sales office at 3359 Durham Road in Doylestown. The sale and previews will take place through its Hatfield auction center at 501 Fairgrounds Road.
The painting depicts William Hanaway Jr., a University of Pennsylvania professor and scholar of Persian language and literature. Alderfer says Neel gave the portrait to the sitter’s mother, Nell Prince Hanaway, a friend of the artist, and that it remained in the family until its consignment.
The auction house says that, to the best of its knowledge, the portrait has never been publicly exhibited or published.
Christian Answini, Alderfer’s senior fine art specialist, describes the work in Alderfer’s account of the portrait. Sailboats appear behind Hanaway against a blue harbor. Answini suggests the setting may refer to Hanaway’s connection with the Bellport Bay Yacht Club on Long Island; that interpretation is the specialist’s.
Neel, who lived from 1900 to 1984, trained at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, now Moore College of Art & Design. According to Alderfer, museums holding her portraits include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
A preview reception is scheduled for Dec. 3, from 3 to 7 p.m. Public previews will run Dec. 7 through Dec. 9, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the auction house’s announcement.
The two-day auction begins with jewelry and silver on Dec. 9 at 10 a.m. The fine arts and mid-century modern sale, including the Neel portrait, follows the next day at 10 a.m. Eastern. Online, telephone and absentee bidding are available. A buyer’s premium applies.
