Artwork by 19th century's 'greatest maritime painter' could bring $80,000

This seascape by Alfred Thompson Bircher will star in DuMouchelles' upcoming sale on December 12

A seascape by one of the 19th century's greatest maritime painters will feature amongst the lots at an upcoming DuMouchelles auction.

The 18" x 36" oil canvas by Alfred Thompson Bricher is the standout work in a sale of items from the estate of Paul and Norina Simon in Grosse Point, Michigan. With an estimated price of $60,000 - $80,000 it is an excellent example from an artist perhaps overlooked in recent years, and could prove very popular with maritime collectors.

Bricher was one of the last artists to be part of the Hudson River School, a mid-19th century American movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic principles were influenced by Romanticism. Their works featured idealised versions of nature, but as the times moved on the style fell from popularity to be replaced by the dynamism of the Modern Art movement.

The canvas is expected to fetch between $60,000 - $80,000

However, the most recent sale of his work at Christie's reached $80,500 in 2009 (beating its estimate by $20,000) and the record price for a canvas by him remains $233,500, reached at a Sotheby's auction in 1998. This is made all the more impressive by the fact that its original estimated price was $40,000 - $60,000, and shows that his popularity remains strong amongst collectors of the period.

The sale also features a number of other notable works including an 1883 Konstantin Makovsky oil on canvas portrait of a young girl, valued at $15,000 - $25,000, and a painting entitled 'Mother with Children and Dogs' by the German artist Adolf Echtler (1843 - 1914) priced at $10,000 - $15,000.

The sale will take place on December 12, and the range of items going under the hammer (including jewellery and sculpture) should guarantee interest from a wide variety of collectors and investors alike.

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Image: DuMouchelles