MILFORD, Conn. – Quality consignments are currently being accepted for what is shaping up to be a banner fine art auction slated for Thursday, Oct. 29, at Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers, in the firm’s gallery located at 354 Woodmont Road in Milford. Consignments will be accepted through September 15th. Already, numerous important artworks are set to come under the gavel.

These will include an oil on wood by Everett Shinn (Am., 1876-1953), an early fall landscape by Jasper F. Cropsey (Am., 1823-1900), a collage by modernist and pop artist Nicholas Krushenick (Am., 1929-1999), and a beautiful river scene with flowers by the French-born American artist Louis Aston Knight (1873-1948). Around 250 works, representing many genres, will be sold.

“We anticipate this sale is going to be one of our largest in recent times,” said Gene Shannon of Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers. “We’re offering a broad spectrum of works from various schools and time periods. We already have many wonderful paintings secured, but we are still seeking high-quality, fresh-to-the-market examples. But they must be delivered by Sept. 15th.”

Already in the sale is a group of 175 European and American paintings from an important private American collection, offering pieces to collectors at all price ranges. Most are beautifully framed and there are multiple offerings, by artists such as Arthur Fitzwillian Tait (5), Alvan Fisher (3), Charles X. Harris (3) Henry Inman (3), Albert F. King (3), Henry Rittenberg (3), and others.

The collection also features single paintings by William Sonntag, William Merritt Chase, George Inness, Theodore E. Butler, Antonio Jacobsen, James Clonney, Joshua Shaw, Thomas Doughty, Hovsep Pushman, Alexander Archipenko, Charles F. Ulrich, Seymour J. Guy, Hermann Herzog, Anna H. Huntington, Pauline Palmer, George Deforest Brush, James Bard and Thomas Waterman Wood.

Everett Shinn was an American realist painter and a member of the Ashcan School. He’s best known for his robust paintings of urban life in New York and London (a hallmark of Ashcan art). Nicholas Krushenick was a forerunner of the pop art movement, having given up his soft brush abstract expressionist technique in the 1960s for bolder colors and lines, similar to illustration.

Jasper Francis Cropsey was an important American landscape artist of the Hudson River School. He studied watercolor and life drawing early on before turning exclusively to landscape painting in the mid-1840s. Louis Aston Knight was another noted landscape artist. His work titled The Afterglow was bought by President Warren G. Harding, who hung it in the White House in 1922.

As for the artists with multiple offerings, Arthur Fitzwillian Tait (Br., 1819-1905) was known mostly for his wildlife paintings. In 2006, his work titled Good Hunting Ground: The Home of the Deer was auctioned for $167,300. Alvan Fisher (Am., 1792-1863) was a pioneer in American landscape, genre and animal painting. He was the very first American artist to paint race horses.

Henry Inman (Am., 1801-1846) was a renowned portrait, genre and landscape artist. He painted more than 30 Native American portraits, of which nearly a dozen are in the collection of the White House, and in the Metropolitan Museum (N.Y.).

Albert King (Am., 1854-1945) lived and worked his entire life in Pennsylvania, and was known as Pittsburgh’s primary (trompe l'oeil) still-life painter of the 19th century. He also painted portraits and landscapes.

Previews will be held daily, starting on Monday, Oct. 19th, and continue through to auction day (closed Sundays). Preview hours are 11-6, except Oct. 29, when the preview will end at 5 p.m. Online bidding will be provided by Invaluable.com. Phone and absentee bids will be accepted.

Historically, Shannon’s has specialized in American and European art executed between 1840 and 1940. In recent years the firm has expanded more into post-war Modern and Pop Art. Shannon’s produces an extensive, 180-page color catalog, which is available for sale on their website (shannons.com). A large eight-page color brochure will be mailed to 18,000 clients.

Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers is always accepting quality consignments for future auctions. To consign a single piece of artwork, an estate or an entire collection, you may call them at (203) 877-1711; or, you can e-mail them at art@shannons.com. To learn more about Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers and the October 29th auction, visit www.shannons.com. Updates are posted often.

30 -