Thomas Elston Thorne

“Sebago Lake, Maine”

1932

Wonderful double sided oil on heavy fiber board paintings done by the well known North Fork Peconic Bay artist Caroline Bell. The coastal sailing painting is signed lower left. The haystack painting verso is signed in pencil lower right. The sailing painting is in good condition; the haystack painting is in good condition. Both done circa 1930. In a period but not original gold leaf over wood frame. Framed measurements are 19 by 23.75 inches. Provenance: A Long Island, New York estate. (1874-1970) Caroline Bell was the leader of a group of artists known as the Peconic Bay Impressionists...

Here for your consideration is a well executed watercolor and gouache painting by the American artist, James Milton Sessions. Signed lower right. Circa 1955. The landscape is of a Novia Scotia pastoral landscape. Here you see horses grazing and two men fishing nearby. The watercolor is in excellent original condition and is beautifully double matted and framed in a thin gold leaf gallery frame in fine condition. Overall framed measurement 16 by 18.25 inches. James Milton Sessions (born September 20, 1882 in Rome, NY) received his initial exposure to art from his mother, who was an accomplished artist. He trained at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1903–1906 and initially supported himself as a wheelsman aboard Great Lakes ships from 1906–1914, later serving in the Illinois Naval Reserve during World War I. He also worked as a commercial illustrator. He was a master watercolorist of marine, sporting, and military World War II scenes. He developed a love of the sea and is probably best known as a painter of marine subjects. Sessions painted images of numerous locations, from the Bahamas to New England's busy fishing harbors, north to the raw fishing grounds of Nova Scotia, and ultimately to the Navajo reservations in New Mexico. Not only do his works document important World War II historical events, they visually portray and convey the spirit of the American fighting forces in both the Pacific and European campaigns, commencing with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, followed by D-Day Europe through to the final phases of the Pacific war, such as Jimmy Doolittle's daylight bombing raids of the Japanese mainland to the unconditional surrender of the Japanese military. The Chicago Tribune newspaper utilized his talents and Sessions is considered to be the greatest "brush reporter" of World War II. His works can be found in Presidential collections, numerous important corporate collections and military establishments throughout the country. Sessions created numerous wartime advertisements. Examples are a 1943 Willys Jeep ad showing the Coast Guard at Guadalcanal, and a Borg-Warner ad in 1945 showing the mass production of radiators and clutches for motorized warfare manufactured in Detroit. His work is highly collectible in the field of Militaria/WWII/1939-1945. In 1962 the New York Graphic Society commissioned him to make four paintings, reproductions of which were distributed as part of the Society's Works of Masters Group. Many of his other paintings have been reproduced over the years, issued as posters and as high quality reprints on watercolor paper. Sessions was married in Chicago, Illinois in 1946 to Chrysanthy G. Deamanthopulos. Although very prolific in the style of John Whorf and Ogden Pleissner...

untitled (Maine Landscape near Mt. Desert Island) Watercolor on paper, c. 1945-1955 Signed by the artist lower left (see photo) Provenance: Estate of the artist Condition: Excellent ...

On-coming Tide, Winter Harbor, Maine Oil on artist's board, 1971 Signed lower right Signed, titled, and dated verso Provenance: Estate of the Artist Condition: Excellent Need a ...