Auction in New England

Compare this slightly earlier lithograph to Campbell's New Hampshire Auction (1938) to appreciate the artist's stylistic fluidity through the years. The situation is virtually identical: we're spectators on the outer fringes, perhaps witnessing the sale of farm and its contents. There's even a sleigh in the foreground, although here it's not a spectator watching the auction but (perhaps) a traumatized owner who can't bear to watch. A much harsher, high-contrast lighting gives the scene a documentary and even brutal quality that is matched by the physical actions. A glowering man carries a barrel from out of the cellar; the full bodies of bidders is shown pressing forward, instead of the later print's more abstracted forms.

All of this suggests that Campbell may have considered his earlier print more documentary, and borrowed a social surrealist aesthetic for the revision. As he wrote in a 1934 article, "The problem-picture—the one that has to be explained—seems to have a vogue nowadays. Here is a field for the propagandist, where he has a new idea to get across. Some artists paint so one grasps the entire picture at one all-encompassing glance; others so something new can be read into the painting at each new look."

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

Campbell, Blendon Reed (1872 - 1969)

Cooper, Ken (description and biography)

Killela, Keira (biography)

Helquist, Morgan (photography)