New Hampshire Auction

Reed's print presents a crowded rural auction taking place in front of a large farmhouse barn. A crowd gathers closely together with movement towards the barn’s open doorway, where an auctioneer can be seen standing on a pedestal above the crowd. The people in the scene are holding various objects such as bedframes, chairs, wheelbarrows, ladders, and other household items. Given its date, we might infer that bankruptcy is forcing the sale. The print is characterized by the artist's signature layered crosshatching and use of shading, to create contrast that draws the viewer's eye in. Campbell uses negative space to create depth in a busy area, intentionally allowing the subjects to blend into the white paper as they move into the background of the piece. Campbell uses sharp lines to cut through the blended background elements such as the ground, sky, and parts of the crowd. It’s notable that structures and objects of interest are structured in front of curved, blended elements of the work that are meant to show movement such as the busy crowd or the clouded sky.  While there's a strange energy to people carrying off purchases, a young girl points at a bedframe that might have belonged to her.

About the Artist

Blendon Reed Campbell was an American illustrator and painter whose life path, and even visual style, fundamentally transformed alongside events of the early 20^th century. Born in St. Louse in 1872, he moved to San Francisco two decades later and began his career as a staff artist for the Chronicle. In 1897, Campbell relocated to Paris, studying at the Académie Julien and exhibiting at the American Art Association show in Paris. Upon his return to the US in 1900, he joined a short-lived studio under James Abbott McNeill Whistler. In 1902, Campbell joined a group that founded the California Society of Artists with the intention of providing opportunities for young artists outside of the already-established San Francisco Art Association; still, he moved East to sustain his career. In New York, Campbell was a prolific commercial artist, creating covers and illustrations in the Art Nouveau style for periodicals like Scribner’s, Cosmopolitan, McClure’s,  St. Nicholas, and many others. In addition to magazine work, he provided illustrations for several books including Neith Boyce’s The Eternal Spring (1906), Booth Tarkington's The Beautiful Lady (1905), and William J. Locke’s A Christmas Mystery (1910). Some of Campbell’s most frequently reproduced works focused upon Abraham Lincoln: in The Century Magazine (1908), Ida M. Tarbell’s biography Father Abraham (1909), and Osborn H. Oldroyd’s The Poet’s Lincoln (1915). Meanwhile, Campbell also was in demand as a portrait painter. While in New York, Campbell became a charter member of the Whitney Studio Club. In line with his work in California, that association was an important venue for artists of the time who intended to push academic norms. During the Great Depression, Campbell was amongst many artists who participated in the Federal Arts Project. His work from this period often depicted rural life and labor. In later years Campbell lived in Connecticut and Florida with his daughter, also an artist, before passing in 1969. 10 Works at Philadelphia Museum of Art. 10 works at Whitney Museum of American Art. 5 works at Newark Museum of Art. 1 work at Victoria Art Gallery. 6 images at GSA.

Works Consulted: “With the Artists,” San Francisco Chronicle 5 Mar. 1899: 22; “Art Triumphs,” Oakland Enquirer 23 Jan. 1900:1; Marjorie Zak, “A Visit With Blendon Campbell,” Bradenton Herald 27 July 1969: 1-B+; Blendon Reed Campbell, “Surrealism: New School of American Art,” The Literary Digest 15 Dec. 1934: 19 Link