George Inness At Auction

This past weekend saw two paintings by George Inness at auction, one with a Pittsburgh connection. The first was offered by Fontain's Auctions in Massachusetts and sold for $10,000, exceeding the estimate of $5,000-$6,000. The price would seem very reasonable. We wrote to ask for a condition report and found that there was much inpainting in the sky. The auction house said they couldn't see any reason why the sky would have been impainted, however. The second seemed to be an early Inness and bears more likeness to a Hudson River School painting than the later style he was well known for. It shows a stream and birch trees. The interesting thing to those in Western, Pennsylvania is the label on the back "J.J. Gillespie, 35 Wood Street." At some point the painting had been in Pittsburgh's first art gallery. If you're in the market for an Inness or painting with a Pittsburgh connection, you may be in luck... Midwest Auctions had some sort of difficulty and the this Inness will be relisted.