‘Washington Crossing the Delaware’ up for auction at Christie’s in May

Emanuel Leutze’s ‘Washington Crossing the Delaware’ portray arrange for public sale at Christie’s on Could 12, 2022, is seen in New York Metropolis, U.S. April 21, 2022. Image taken April 21, 2022. REUTERS/Hussein Waaile

NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) – The well-known “Washington Crossing the Delaware” portray, which hung within the White Home from the Seventies to 2014, is developing for public sale subsequent month, when it’s estimated to fetch about $20 million.

The 1851 oil portray is one in all three variations painted by Emanuel Leutze of the person who was to be the primary U.S. president main troops throughout a key second of the American revolution. Solely two survive.

The primary model was destroyed throughout a World Conflict Two air raid in Germany, mentioned American Artwork specialist Paige Kestenman at Christie’s New York.

“The second is the monumental work that’s the centerpiece of the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork’s American Wing, and the third is that this work proper right here,” mentioned Kestenman.

The model at New York’s Met measures 12.4 ft x 21.25 ft (3.78 m x 6.48 m). The portray up on the market on Could 12 is smaller – about 3 ft (0.9 m) by 6 ft (1.83 m). It had hung for many years within the White Home, primarily within the West Wing reception room.

The work depicts George Washington main troopers throughout the Delaware River to shock the infantry hiding on the opposite facet on Christmas Night time, 1776, Kestenman mentioned.

“A German-born American immigrant, Leutze was additionally a staunch abolitionist and in ‘Washington crossing the Delaware’ he intentionally included a wide range of the figures that make up the melting pot that shaped the American nation,” mentioned Kestenman.

She identified a Black soldier, one other soldier sporting a Scottish bonnet, and moccasins and buckskin clothes suggesting the American West and Native Individuals.

Reporting by Roselle Chen; Enhancing by Richard Chang

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