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Emma Fordyce MacRae (1887-1974) Pink and Freckled Lilies 30 1/8 x 34 in. (76.5 x 86.4 cm.) (Painted in 1922.) image 1
Emma Fordyce MacRae (1887-1974) Pink and Freckled Lilies 30 1/8 x 34 in. (76.5 x 86.4 cm.) (Painted in 1922.) image 2
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE NEW YORK COLLECTION
Lot 292

Emma Fordyce MacRae
(1887-1974)
Pink and Freckled Lilies 30 1/8 x 34 in. (76.5 x 86.4 cm.)

28 July – 7 August 2025, 12:00 EDT
Online, New York

Sold for US$30,720 inc. premium

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Emma Fordyce MacRae (1887-1974)

Pink and Freckled Lilies
signed and dated 'EMMA FORDYCE MACRAE / 1922' (lower left)
oil on canvas laid down on board
30 1/8 x 34 in. (76.5 x 86.4 cm.)
Painted in 1922.

Footnotes

Provenance
Louis Levy Horch (1888-1979) and Nettie (née Silverstein) Horch (1896-1991), Hallandale, Florida.
Gift to the present owner from the above, grandson of the above, October 20, 1976.

Exhibited
New York, The National Academy of Design, Winter Exhibition, November 17-December 17, 1922, p. 19, no. 327.
New York, Dudensing Galleries, February 1923.
(probably) Newport, Rhode Island, Twelfth Annual Exhibition of Pictures by American Painters, The Art Association of Newport, July 14-August 11, 1923.
(probably) New York, Milch Gallery, October 1923.
Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 119th Annual Exhibition, February 3-March 23, 1924, p. 52, no. 330.
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, Twenty-Third International Exhibition of Paintings, April 24-June 15, 1924, n.p., no. 88.
(probably) North Shore Arts Association, July 1924.
The Art Institute of Chicago, The Thirty-Seventh Annual Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago, October 30-December 14, 1924, n.p., no. 125.
Indianapolis, The John Herron Art Institute, Fortieth Annual Exhibition of Work by Contemporary American Artists, January 1925, no. 33.
(probably) Grand Rapids, Michigan, Grand Rapids Art Association, 1925.
(probably) Muskegon, Michigan, The Hackley Gallery of Fine Arts, 1925.
(probably) Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines Art Association, 1925.
Los Angeles Museum, First Pan-American Exhibition of Oil Paintings, November 28, 1925-February 28, 1926, n.p., no. 142.
(probably) New York, Cosmopolitan Club, 1926.
New York, Corona Mundi International Art Center of Roerich Museum, extended loan for public exhibition, 1930.

Literature
"Five Painters in a Varied Display" American Art News, New York, vol. XXI, no. 18, February 10, 1923, p. 6.
P. Redd, "International Still Attracts Many Lovers of Art: Lesser Landscapes are Placed on View Downtown," The Pittsburgh Sunday Post, June 8, 1924, no. 170, section 6, p. 6.
"The Annual Exhibition," The Bulletin of the Art Association of Indianapolis Indiana The John Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis, January 1925, vol. 12, no. 1, p. 6, no. 33.
Corona Mundi International Art Center of Roerich Museum, Exhibition of Paintings by Emma Fordyce MacRae (Mrs. Homer F. Swift), exhibition catalogue, New York, 1930, n.p.
James T. White & Company, The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time, New York, 1927, vol. B, p. 310.
P.H. Falk, A.A. Bien, eds., The Annual Exhibition Record of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: Volume III, 1914-1968, Madison, Connecticut, 1989, p. 305, no. 330.
P.H. Falk, A.A. Bien, eds., The Annual Exhibition Record of the National Academy of Design: 1901-1950, Madison, Connecticut, 1990, p. 342, no. 327.
P.H. Falk, A.A. Bien, eds., The Annual Exhibition Record of the Art Institute of Chicago: 1888-1950, Madison, Connecticut, 1990, p. 581, no. 125.
P.H. Falk, ed., Record of the Carnegie Institute's International Exhibitions: 1896-1996, Madison, Connecticut, 1998, p. 216.
P. Talbott, P.T. Sydney, The Philadelphia Ten: A Women's Artist Group 1917-1945, exhibition catalogue, Philadelphia, 1998, p. 153.

We would like to thank the family of the artist for their kind assistance in cataloguing this lot.

Emma Fordyce MacRae's Pink and Freckled Lillies painted in 1922 beautifully demonstrates her celebrated style influenced by Japanese print making, Renaissance frescoes, and early modernism. MacRae, born in Vienna and raised in New York City, studied at the Art Students Leage before famously becoming a member of the Philadelphia Ten. MacRae stood out among her peers for her distinctive handling technique that involved using thin, abraded paint layers that reveal the gessoed surface of her canvas. The resulting effect is one that leaves here compositions with a soft, chalky texture. Furthermore, MacRae emphasized pattern, flat perspective, and a soft color pallet. Over the course of her celebrated artistic career, MacRae exhibited frequently at some of America's most prized venues, such as the National Academy of Design, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and Corcoran Gallery of Art. In 1951 she was elected a full member of the National Academy of Design, the only member of the Philadelphia Ten to receive the distinction. MacRae's unique approach to still lifes that balances a decorative elegance rooted in academic principals with modern compositional arrangements and abstraction continue to earn her special praise as an influential female voice in 20th century American Art.

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