The painting was a simple oil of an old man in a buggy pulled by a mule. In the background – which appeared to be too close and too overbearing – was a building with an iron-railing balcony.
The man in the foreground and the building in the background seemed out of proportion. Shouldn’t the building be a little smaller to add depth to the painting, I thought.
No matter, because the painting appealed to me. It reminded me of the folk art that I’d seen and bought at auction, including the Jimmie Lee Sudduth and a few others by unknown artists.
I could find no artist’s signature in the customary bottom left or right corner of the painting, so I turned it over to the back to check there. At the bottom was a label:
20th Century New Orleans School
Mule and Buggy
1961
Oil on board
Signed ‘Doyle’ and dated upper center
Framed
14 x 17
The label carried a price of $3,000 and the name of a company, Pall Mall Art Advisors.
I turned the painting to the front and searched for a name in the upper center. Then I saw it, Doyle, but the ‘61 looked like ‘67 to me. Armed with part of a name, I figured I could find the artist on the web. After many searches, I could not find an artist named Doyle whose style resembled that of the man and buggy.
I suspect that he was a local artist without a pedigree, and I’d just have to live with the painting as it was without knowing anything about the artist.
But this mystery painting kept nagging at me. So, I finally emailed the company on the label, Pall Mall Advisors, whose office was located in a suburb of Philadelphia. Kate Molets, the director of appraisals for the company, kindly helped me out.
“This painting was one I saw in a home in Cherry Hill, NJ in 2014,” she wrote in an email after I talked to her over the phone. “It was a nice little collection and I remember this painting well. The client had picked it up when she visited New Orleans. I was able to track down that sale … We were unable to determine who the artist was.
“The label on the back is simply a cut-out of our appraisal, not a label. The value on it of $3,000 is a retail value and not a fair market/auction value. I am guessing when the sale company picked it up from the owner they attached it or the owner had at some point. I hope this helps. It is a wonderful painting!”
The painting had been sold in 2012 at an auction in New Orleans. The auction house titled it “New Orleans School, ‘Mule and Buggy,’ 20th C., Oil on Board.” The only change was the frame; the new one was intricate and gold-toned.
I was curious about the New Orleans School, and wondered if it was similar to such artists movements as the Hudson River School and Ashcan School in New York or the New Hope School in Bucks County, PA.
Googling, I could find nothing about a New Orleans School and wondered if it even existed. I was certain now that this was a local folk artist from New Orleans or a smaller Louisiana town who painted for the love of it. I’m sure the painting isn’t very valuable, but I’m always on the lookout for new artists whose stories are waiting to be told. My aim is to give them a presence on the web.
I reached out to the auction house but never heard back. If it’s like the mom-and-pop auction houses I frequent, it likely no longer has any information on the artist or who consigned the piece.
I’d still love to know more about the artist Doyle. If you recognize the work, please drop me a line in the Comments Box below.
