Joseph Blackburn Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Joseph Blackburn Art Value Price Guide

Dec. 06, 2020
JOSEPH BLACKBURN (ATTR).
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
Oil on Canvas. Portrait of a Lady. From a Connecticut collection. Accompanied by a letter from Theodore Rousseau of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Clarke Auction Gallery
Mar. 18, 2018
Attributed to Joseph Blackburn, (British/American, 1730-after 1777, active New England ca. 1755-1764), "Portrait of a Lady in Blue S...
Est: $4,000 - $7,000
Attributed to Joseph Blackburn (British/American, 1730-after 1777, active New England ca. 1755-1764) "Portrait of a Lady in Blue Silk" oil on canvas unsigned. Framed. 29-1/2" x 24-1/2", framed 35" x 30" Provenance: Estate of Dr. George Porter III, New Orleans, Louisiana.
New Orleans Auction Galleries
Mar. 18, 2018
Attributed to Joseph Blackburn, (British/American, 1730-after 1777, active New England ca. 1755-1764), "Portrait of a Lady in Russet...
Est: $4,000 - $7,000
Attributed to Joseph Blackburn (British/American, 1730-after 1777, active New England ca. 1755-1764) "Portrait of a Lady in Russet Silk" oil on canvas unsigned. Framed. 28-1/4" x 23-1/4", framed 34" x 28-3/4" Provenance: Estate of Dr. George Porter III, New Orleans, Louisiana. Notes: When scholars first began to seriously study Early American portraiture within the larger framework of American art history, one of the main debates was how closely it was connected to and influenced by English portraitists; could it be considered a distinct style, or was it merely a location-based variation? Confusing the issue was the indisputable fact that many of these early American artists had lived, studied, or worked in England. In fact, it was not unusual for an artist to travel back and forth between the two countries and it is often difficult, if not impossible, to definitively track their travels. One such artist was Joseph Blackburn. Little is known of Blackburn's education or artistic experience, though it is likely that he apprenticed in the studio of a London portraitist. Much of his earliest work, spanning from his beginnings in England, and including his years in Bermuda and New England, reveal the influence of mezzotints of the 18th-century English masters of portraiture; figures are within a half or full oval surround, and there is a decided emphasis on the fabrics and accoutrements of wealth and prestige, often at the expense of true likeness. The two portraits offered here reveal several key characteristics of Blackburn's approach to portraiture: thin compressed lips with distinctive deep dimples at the corners, full cheeks and fleshy, rounded chins, strong linear bridge of nose, and what has been referred to as his "rococo palette" of clear blues, pinks and reds. They are less opulently dressed than some of his full-length or multi-figural portraits, but are strikingly similar to his "Portrait of a Woman", ca. 1762, now conserved at the Brooklyn Museum, New York, or "Portrait of Anne Saltonstall", at the San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas. References: Miles, Ellen G., ed. The Portrait in Eighteenth-Century America. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1993; Dresser, Louisa, "The Background of Colonial American Portraits: Some Pages from a European Notebook". Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, April 1966, Vol. 76, Issue 1, pp. 19-58; Barratt, Carrie Rebora. "Faces of a New Nation", The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Summer 2003, Vol. LXI, No. 1, pp. 5-55.
New Orleans Auction Galleries
Jan. 19, 2017
JOSEPH BLACKBURN (C. 1730 - C. 1778) | Portrait of Thomas Amory
Est: $15,000 - $25,000
signed J Blackburn Pinxiυt and dated 1760 (lower left)
Sotheby's
Jul. 30, 2015
JOSEPH BLACKBURN, American, 1925-2012, "Race Point Light, Provincetown"., Oil on canvas, 18" x 24". Framed 23.5" x 29.5".
Est: $250 - $350
JOSEPH BLACKBURN American, 1925-2012 "Race Point Light, Provincetown". Signed lower right "J. Blackburn 93". Also inscribed and titled verso. From the Julie Harris Estate Collection. Oil on canvas, 18" x 24". Framed 23.5" x 29.5".
Eldred's
May. 16, 2015
Joseph Blackburn (1700-1763)
Est: $600 - $800
Joseph Blackburn (1700-1763), Portrait of Mary Erving (1733-1768), oil on canvas, 50" x 39 3/4", damaged, Recorded: Blackburn, Theodore Bolton and Harry Lorin Binsse, "An American Artist of Formula: Joseph Blackburn, "The Antiquarian XV (Nov. 1930), p. 92, listed as "Mrs. George Scott", Exhibited: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1909, The Hudson Fulton-Celebration: An Exhibition of American Paintings, Furniture, Silver and Other Objects of American Art, no. 5, lent by John Erving, Mary Erving is the daughter of John Erving, Sr. and Maria Catherina Shirley Erving. She became wife of Sir William Scott, and thus is often referred to as Lady Scott.
Copake Auction Inc.
Apr. 13, 2011
Joseph Blackburn (Anglo/American, c. 1700-1780) Portrait of Colonel Benjamin Pollard (1696-1756). Unsigned, identified on a partial ...
Est: $1,500 - $2,000
Joseph Blackburn (Anglo/American, c. 1700-1780) Portrait of Colonel Benjamin Pollard (1696-1756). Unsigned, identified on a partial label affixed to the reverse. Oil on canvas, 33 1/2 x 26 in., framed. Condition: Craquelure, lined, retouch. N.B. The sitter descended from a Boston military family. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, William Pollard, who was a 17th-century member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, Benjamin Pollard became the fourth sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1726. His uncle, Edward Winslow, was a sheriff of Suffolk County, and Pollard assumed his position for thirteen years, until 1756. (1) 1. Oliver Ayer Roberts, History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts, now called the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts: 1637-1888, (New York: A. Mudge & Son), 1895, p. 424.
Skinner
Apr. 10, 2010
Joseph Blackburn (Anglo/American, c. 1700-1780) Portrait of Colonel Benjamin Pollard (1696-1756) Unsigned, identified on a partial l...
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
Joseph Blackburn (Anglo/American, c. 1700-1780) Portrait of Colonel Benjamin Pollard (1696-1756) Unsigned, identified on a partial label affixed to the reverse. Oil on canvas, 33 1/2 x 26 in. (85.1 x 66.0 cm), framed. Condition: Craquelure, lined, retouch. N.B. The sitter descended from a Boston military family. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, William Pollard, who was a 17th-century member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, Benjamin Pollard became the fourth sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1726. His uncle, Edward Winslow, was a sheriff of Suffolk County, and Pollard assumed his position for thirteen years, until 1756. (1) 1. Oliver Ayer Roberts, History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts, now called the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts: 1637-1888, (New York: A. Mudge & Son), 1895, p. 424.
Skinner
Jan. 29, 2010
Joseph Blackburn (Anglo/American, c. 1700-1780) Portrait of Colonel Benjamin Pollard (1696-1756) ...
Est: $12,000 - $15,000
Joseph Blackburn (Anglo/American, c. 1700-1780) Portrait of Colonel Benjamin Pollard (1696-1756) Unsigned, identified on a partial label affixed to the reverse. Oil on canvas, 33 1/2 x 26 in. (85.1 x 66.0 cm), framed. Condition: Craquelure, lined, retouch. N.B. The sitter descended from a Boston military family. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, William Pollard, who was a 17th-century member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, Benjamin Pollard became the fourth sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1726. His uncle, Edward Winslow, was a sheriff of Suffolk County, and Pollard assumed his position for thirteen years, until 1756. (1) 1. Oliver Ayer Roberts, History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts, now called the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts: 1637-1888, (New York: A. Mudge & Son), 1895, p. 424.
Skinner
Dec. 13, 2009
Joseph Blackburn, (American, 1750-1774), Portrait of Mrs. Knight of Gosfield
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
Joseph Blackburn (American, 1750-1774) Portrait of Mrs. Knight of Gosfield oil on canvas titled (lower left) 49 3/4 x 40 inches.
Hindman
Oct. 25, 2009
JOSEPH BLACKBURN (BRITISH, ACT. 1752-1778). PORTRAIT OF CAPTAIN NATHANIEL CUNNINGHAM, JR., CIRCA 1756.
Est: $30,000 - $50,000
JOSEPH BLACKBURN (BRITISH, ACT. 1752-1778). PORTRAIT OF CAPTAIN NATHANIEL CUNNINGHAM, JR., CIRCA 1756. Nathaniel Cunningham Jr. (1725-1756) was the son of a wealthy prominent Boston merchant. When his father died in London in 1748, he inherited most of the estate, which was valued at 50,000 pounds and included property in Boston and Cambridge. Nathaniel Jr. married Sarah Kilby in 1754; the couple had two daughters before Nathaniel died in 1756. Buried in the Granary Burying Ground, he shares a tomb with his father, sister, and brother-in-law, the patriot James Otis.Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 inches. The reverse affiixed with museum and gallery labels. Provenance: Descended through the family of the sitter:Mrs. James Otis (Ruth, d.1789), his sisterMary Otis Lincoln (d. 1851), her daughterMrs. Luther Stearns Cushing, her daughterMrs. Alexander S. Porter, her daughterMrs. William Stanley Parker, her daughterMr. Alexander Parker, her sonVose Galleries, Boston, 1961.Mr. and Mrs. Ellerton Jette, BostonVose Galleries, Boston, 1973Exhibited:The reverse with three labels for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This painting was on loan to the museum several times during the period 1910-1948: June 27, 1910-October 5, 1910May 24, 1916 - January 17, 1917June 5, 1925 - December 18, 1931June 21, 1935 - April 30, 1948Also loaned to Colby College, Waterville, Maine, in the early 1960s. Literature: Frank W. Bayley, " Five Colonial Painters," 1929, listed mistakenly as painted by Smibert, illustrated on p. 373." American Portraits Found in Massachusetts, 1620-1825" compiled by the Works Progress Administration, 1939, p. 100, no. 529.
Bourgeault-Horan Antiquarians
May. 22, 2002
*JOSEPH B. BLACKBURN (1700-1763)
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
signed J. Blackburn pinxit and dated 1760, l.l.; also inscribed Thomas Amory/by/Blackburne[sic]/1760 on an old label affixed to the frame oil on canvas
Sotheby's