Thomas Bangs Thorpe Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Thomas Bangs Thorpe Art Value Price Guide

May. 28, 2022
Thomas Bangs Thorpe, The Homestead, 1876
Est: $2,000 - $4,000
Thomas Bangs Thorpe (1815 - 1878) The Homestead, 1876 oil on canvas signed and dated lower left: T. B. THORPE. / 1876
Santa Fe Art Auction
Nov. 20, 2021
Thomas Bangs Thorpe (American/Louisiana, 1815)
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
Thomas Bangs Thorpe (American/Louisiana, 1815-1878) , "Portrait of a Gentleman from Jackson, Louisiana", 1839, oil on canvas, signed, dated and inscribed "Jackson, LA" en verso, 30 in. x 25 in., framed. Note: Thomas Bangs Thorpe (also spelled Thorp) moved to Louisiana in 1837. Originally from Massachusetts, he attended Wesleyan University and exhibited promising artistic and literary talents, however health concerns would prevent him from graduating. He was advised to seek a warmer climate, thus spurring his move to the South where he eventually landed in Baton Rouge. Thorpe worked to establish himself as portrait and still life painter in New Orleans before heading upriver in 1839 to the towns of Jackson and St. Francisville in Louisiana. He befriended local planters, including Bennet H. Barrow (1811-1854) of Highland Plantation, and observed with a keen, analytical eye the daily life of those around him. While a northerner was generally looked upon with bemused skepticism, Thorpes easygoing and charming manners earned him invitation into local society, resulting in portrait commissions. In 1839, the same year as the date of the portrait offered here, Thorpes sketch story of a beloved local character Tom Owen, The Bee Hunter was published in the New York Spirit of the Times. The story was so well received that it was republished in many different markets both national and international and included in several mid-century anthologies of American literature such as Rufus Wilmot Griswolds Prose Writers of America and George and Ever Duyckincks Cyclopaedia of American Literature. The publication of Tom Owen launched Thorpes career as a writer and subsequent works such as The Big Bear of Arkansas placed him in the same league as other southern humorists such as Mark Twain. According to his biographer, Milton Rickels, [The Big Bear of Arkansas] became so well known that Bernard DeVoto has called the body of literature which followed it the Big Bear School of Southern humorists. His tone, always warm, jovial and bitingly precise, accurately conveyed his admiration for his newfound home from the eyes of a frank, yet respectful, outsider. Thorpes body of oil paintings proves incredibly difficult to study. While he relied mostly on his painting income while living in St. Francisville, there are not many known examples of his portraiture remaining. Additionally, he shifted his creative focus from painting to writing and editing for the Concordia Intelligencer in Vidalia, Louisiana in 1843 and would later pursue politics. Notably, no portrait by Thorpe has come to auction in at least twenty years, and most which have been recorded in local art history and portraiture books have been listed as unsigned and attributed to as is the case with The National Society of Colonial Dames Louisiana Portraits and Martin and Margaret Wiesendangers Louisiana Painters and Painting from the Collection of W. E. Groves. The painting offered in this lot is rare in that it is signed, dated 1839 and located Jackson, La en verso. The focus is a distinguished gentleman, dressed in fashionable period garb, with a thick black cravat and suit and crisp white shirt reminiscent of the contemporaneous famed portrait of Valcour Aime by Jacques Amans. He casts a gaze on the viewer that is stern and discerning. Rickels recounts in his biography that Thorpe did paint the family members of his aforementioned friend, Bennet Barrow, but there are not many other mentions of other potential subjects. While there were a finite number of planters and eligible sitters in East and West Feliciana Parish at the time, the mysterious gentleman in this portrait remains unidentified. Ref.: Milton, Rickels. Thomas Bangs Thrope, Humorist of the Old Southwest. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1962; Thomas B. Thorpe. Britannica. www.britannica.com. Accessed May 25, 2021
Neal Auction Company
Jun. 25, 2021
Thomas Bangs Thorpe (American/Louisiana)
Est: $7,000 - $10,000
Thomas Bangs Thorpe (American/Louisiana, 1815-1878) , "Portrait of a Gentleman from Jackson, Louisiana", 1839, oil on canvas, signed, dated and inscribed "Jackson, LA" en verso, 30 in. x 25 in., framed. Note: Thomas Bangs Thorpe (also spelled Thorp) moved to Louisiana in 1837. Originally from Massachusetts, he attended Wesleyan University and exhibited promising artistic and literary talents, however health concerns would prevent him from graduating. He was advised to seek a warmer climate, thus spurring his move to the South where he eventually landed in Baton Rouge. Thorpe worked to establish himself as portrait and still life painter in New Orleans before heading upriver in 1839 to the towns of Jackson and St. Francisville in Louisiana. He befriended local planters, including Bennett H. Barrow (1811-1854) of Highland Plantation, and observed with a keen, analytical eye the daily life of those around him. While a northerner was generally looked upon with bemused skepticism, Thorpes easygoing and charming manners earned him invitation into local society, resulting in portrait commissions. In 1839, the same year as the date of the portrait offered here, Thorpes sketch story of a beloved local character Tom Owen, The Bee Hunter was published in the New York Spirit of the Times. The story was so well received that it was republished in many different markets both national and international and included in several mid-century anthologies of American literature such as Rufus Wilmot Griswolds Prose Writers of America and George and Ever Duyckincks Cyclopaedia of American Literature. The publication of Tom Owen launched Thorpes career as a writer and subsequent works such as The Big Bear of Arkansas placed him in the same league as other southern humorists such as Mark Twain. According to his biographer, Milton Rickels, [The Big Bear of Arkansas] became so well known that Bernard DeVoto has called the body of literature which followed it the Big Bear School of Southern humorists. His tone, always warm, jovial and bitingly precise, accurately conveyed his admiration for his newfound home from the eyes of a frank, yet respectful, outsider. Thorpes body of oil paintings proves incredibly difficult to study. While he relied mostly on his painting income while living in St. Francisville, there are not many known examples of his portraiture remaining. Additionally, he shifted his creative focus from painting to writing and editing for the Concordia Intelligencer in Vidalia, Louisiana in 1843 and would later pursue politics. Notably, no portrait by Thorpe has come to auction in at least twenty years, and most which have been recorded in local art history and portraiture books have been listed as unsigned and attributed to as is the case with The National Society of Colonial Dames Louisiana Portraits and Martin and Margaret Wiesendangers Louisiana Painters and Painting from the Collection of W. E. Groves. The painting offered in this lot is rare in that it is signed, dated 1839 and located Jackson, La en verso. The focus is a distinguished gentleman, dressed in fashionable period garb, with a thick black cravat and suit and crisp white shirt reminiscent of the contemporaneous famed portrait of Valcour Aime by Jacques Amans. He casts a gaze on the viewer that is stern and discerning. Rickels recounts in his biography that Thorpe did paint the family members of his aforementioned friend, Bennet Barrow, but there are not many other mentions of other potential subjects. While there were a finite number of planters and eligible sitters in East and West Feliciana Parish at the time, the mysterious gentleman in this portrait remains unidentified. Ref.: Milton, Rickels. Thomas Bangs Thrope, Humorist of the Old Southwest. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1962; Thomas B. Thorpe. Britannica. www.britannica.com. Accessed May 25, 2021
Neal Auction Company
May. 29, 2021
Thomas Bangs Thorpe, The Homestead, 1876
Est: $2,000 - $4,000
Thomas Bangs Thorpe (1815 - 1878) The Homestead, 1876 oil on canvas signed and dated lower left: T. B. THORPE. / 1876
Santa Fe Art Auction
Jul. 14, 2020
THOMAS BANGS THORPE (Louisiana, 1815-1878) waterco
Est: $300 - $500
THOMAS BANGS THORPE (Louisiana, 1815-1878) watercolor on paper, pastoral landscape with reclining cow and women and children playing and picking flowers, a house in the distance. Image measures 16.5" x 24.25", signed "Tho. Thorpe" lower right and dated 1877. In a gilt wood frame, 29" x 37" overall.
O'Gallerie
May. 05, 2020
THOMAS BANGS THORPE (Louisiana, 1815-1878) waterco
Est: $300 - $500
THOMAS BANGS THORPE (Louisiana, 1815-1878) watercolor on paper, pastoral landscape with reclining cow and women and children playing and picking flowers, a house in the distance. Image measures 16.5" x 24.25", signed "Tho. Thorpe" lower right and dated 1877. In a gilt wood frame, 29" x 37" overall.
O'Gallerie
Jul. 16, 2019
THOMAS BANGS THORPE (Louisiana, 1815-1878) waterco
Est: $700 - $900
THOMAS BANGS THORPE (Louisiana, 1815-1878) watercolor on paper, pastoral landscape with reclining cow and women and children playing and picking flowers, a house in the distance. Image measures 16.5" x 24.25", signed "Tho. Thorpe" lower right and dated 1877. In a gilt wood frame, 29" x 37" overall.
O'Gallerie
Jun. 04, 2018
THOMAS BANGS THORPE (Louisiana, 1815-1878) waterco
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
THOMAS BANGS THORPE (Louisiana, 1815-1878) watercolor on paper, pastoral landscape with reclining cow and women and children playing and picking flowers, a house in the distance. Image measures 16.5" x 24.25", signed "Tho. Thorpe" lower right and dated 1877. In a gilt wood frame, 29" x 37" overall.
O'Gallerie
Jan. 18, 2017
THOMAS BANGS THORPE WATERCOLOR ON PAPER (Louisiana
Est: $1,500 - $2,000
THOMAS BANGS THORPE WATERCOLOR ON PAPER (Louisiana, 1815-1878) Pastoral landscape with reclining cow and women and children playing and picking flowers, a house in the distance. Image measures 16.5" x 24.25", signed "Tho. Thorpe" lower right and dated 1877. In a gilt wood frame, 29" x 37" overall.
O'Gallerie
Jul. 31, 2015
LANDSCAPE BY THOMAS BANGS THORPE (AMERICAN, 1815-1878).
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
LANDSCAPE BY THOMAS BANGS THORPE (AMERICAN, 1815-1878). Oil on canvas, signed and dated "1874" lower right. Group of sheep under a large shade tree in a bucolic landscape setting with a town in the distance. 23.5"h. 35"w., in a period carved and gilded frame, 34"h. 46.25"w.
Selkirk Auctioneers & Appraisers
Apr. 01, 2015
THOMAS BANGS THORPE WATERCOLOR ON PAPER (Louisiana
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
THOMAS BANGS THORPE WATERCOLOR ON PAPER (Louisiana, 1815-1878) Picking flowers in the pasture, depicting a landscape with women and children playing in a pasture with a reclining cow and a house in the distance. Image measures 16.5" x 24.25", signed "Tho. Thorpe" lower right and dated 1877. In a period gilt wood and gesso frame.
O'Gallerie
Aug. 10, 2014
Thomas Bangs Thorpe (Louisiana/Minnesota/Massachusetts, 1815-1878) The Old Stone Mill, Newport, R.I. Signed and dated "T.B. Thorpe/1859
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
Thomas Bangs Thorpe (Louisiana/Minnesota/Massachusetts, 1815-1878) The Old Stone Mill, Newport, R.I. Signed and dated "T.B. Thorpe/1859" (under the liner) l.r., signed, dated, titled, and inscribed "The Old Stone Mill/Newport/R.I./Presented to W.J.A. Fuller/by T.B. Thorpe/1859." Oil on canvas, 19 1/2 x 24 in., in an elaborate gilt-gesso frame with oval liner. Condition: Retouch primarily to sky and to address frame abrasion at edges.
Skinner
Dec. 04, 2013
THOMAS BANGS THORPE WATERCOLOR ON PAPER
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
THOMAS BANGS THORPE WATERCOLOR ON PAPER (Louisiana, 1815-1878) Picking flowers in the pasture, depicting a landscape with women and children playing in a pasture with a reclining cow and a house in the distance. Image measures 16.5" x 24.25", signed "Tho. Thorpe" lower right and dated 1877. In a period gilt wood and gesso frame.
O'Gallerie
Nov. 19, 2011
Thomas Bangs Thorpe (1815-1878, active N.O.)
Est: $40,000 - $60,000
Thomas Bangs Thorpe (1815-1878, active New Orleans 1836-1854, and 1862-1863), "The 'Temple'" and "The Pyramid", both at Chichén-Itzá, Yucatán, 1843; a pair of paintings, oil on canvas, signed and dated en verso of the canvas "Thos. B. Thorpe, Pinx. / after B. M. Norman 1843", and with stencils of New Orleans art-supply houses also en verso of the canvas, each 21 1/2 in. x 27 in., framed Accompanied by B.M. Norman, Rambles in Yucatan...1843, 3rd edition, 3/4 leather, 304 pgs
Neal Auction Company
Sep. 11, 2010
Thorpe, Thomas Bangs [American, 1815-1878] oil on
Est: $2,500 - $3,000
Thorpe, Thomas Bangs [American, 1815-1878] oil on canvas landscape painting of ancient ruins on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, c.1848, with gallery label verso "James E. Earle & Son, Earles' Galleries, No. 816 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia", signed verso "Tho. B. Thorpe, Pinx, After____1848". 21.5"x27"
Wiederseim Associates, Inc.
Sep. 11, 2010
Thorpe, Thomas Bangs [American, 1815-1878] oil on
Est: $2,500 - $3,000
Thorpe, Thomas Bangs [American, 1815-1878] oil on canvas landscape painting of the Chichen Itza pyramid on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, c.1848, with gallery label verso "James E. Earle & Son, Earles' Galleries, No. 816 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia", unsigned. 21.5"x27"
Wiederseim Associates, Inc.
Aug. 06, 2004
THOMAS BANGS THORPE
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
Signed and dated "T. Banks 1875" l.r.; titled l.l.
Barridoff Auctions
Nov. 29, 2001
(Thorpe, Thomas Bangs)
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
(Thorpe, Thomas Bangs) "The Big Bear of Arkansas," in The Big Bear of Arkansas, and Other Tales Illustrative of Characters and Incidents in the South and South-West. Edited by W[illiam]. T. Porter. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart, 1845 In 6s (7A x 4A in.; 194 x 117 mm). Additional engraved pictorial title-page and 9 engraved plates by Darley; some foxing and soiling, plates moderately to severely browned. Original printed green wrappers; frayed, chipped, repaired, spine splitting, shaken. Half green morocco slipcase, chemise. First edition. "'The Big Bear of Arkansas' by Thomas Bangs Thorpe is the finest example of the maN0 stories of legendary hunters who pursued fabulous bears, a genre coeval with the arrival of the white man on the Atlantic frontier. The tale itself became so popular and exemplary that it provided a designation, 'the big bear school,' for the Southwestern frontier writers who followed Thorpe. Though comic in tone and modest in scope, Thorpe's yarn has much in common with two other important American hunting stories, Melville's Moby-Dick (1851), and Faulkner's The Bear (1942). ... As a popular magazinist, Thorpe successfully employed the romantic themes and genteel style that were conventional in his day. He remains of literary interest, however, for his originality, earthy comedy, realism, and the sense of dignity which he saw in the life and people of the Southwestern frontier" (Humor of the Old Southwest, ed. Cohen and Dillingham, 2d ed., Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1964, pp. 267-68). Scarce in wrappers, in aN0 condition. References: Litchfield 27; BAL 20301; Wright 2061
Sotheby's